Isaiah
28:23
23 Give ye ear ['azan], and hear [shama`] my voice [qowl]; hearken [qashab], and hear [shama`] my
speech ['imrah]. KJV-Interlinear
23 Give ear, and hear my voice; give
attention, and hear my speech. ESV
The biggest problem and why people fail, is that they
do not feel obligated to listen or to pay attention to the teaching of the
scriptures, even though that condition is mandated and required by God. They may hear words, and even repeat them, but
the words do not stick in their heads, but just spill out of their ears and
mouth and onto the ground, for what good they do.
Give ear means to give some semblance of courtesy to
the speaker. And hear, means to
listen. And hearken, means to pay
attention, to focus, to concentrate. And
hear again is repeated, that you actually listen and hear and gain and retain, something
from that which is being taught.
In life we have two obligations that command our life.
The first is to be prepared for the next life, for this
life is short while the next life is forever.
And even though we look at our life now, as the minutes turn to hours,
turn to days, turn to years, and on and on, it just does not seem short, except
in hindsight, and then we wonder, where did all of those years go.
So, preparation for the next life should be our
priority and focus since our next life has a potential value beyond measure.
And the second obligation, is preparation in this
life, just to get through this life.
When we were born into this world, God imputed the
breath of life, the spark of life, so that we could be separated from our momma
through that umbilical cord, and begin to function on our own. We learn to listen and speak and read and
write and how to get along with people and work and pay bills and so
forth. But this is all temporary, for
none of it will go with us into the next life.
Only our soul and spirit will depart from here and begin the next life
process, as we wait for the resurrection and then the Judgment Seat of Christ, which
is a good place for us as believers, receiving our evaluation, and then on to
eternity and so forth.
That evaluation, is where we begin this study, in this
verse. Hear, listen, pay attention and
actually benefit from that which is being taught.
Why?
Because your evaluation from Christ is not going to be
based on your sincerity or intentions, but on the doctrine actually resident in
your soul.
And if you never listen, you never learn, and you have
no spiritual assets within your soul, meaning your reward will be zip.
There are many examples in this world. You can be born wealthy or poor. Which is better?
In heaven you will be wealthy from reward, or poor due
to no reward. Having a reward is an
honor, because it comes from God specifically to you. Having no reward is an embarrassment because
you could have paid attention in this life and had a reward, but you didn’t.
And so God deals with each person in different ways,
because each person is not the same and each person needs a little or a lot of
incentive to get them going in their spiritual life. So, in some cases, God gives us each a swift
kick in the back-side, so to speak, in order to get our attention.
It will either work or not, depending on your degree
of desire to learn, or your arrogant stupidity in refusing to pay attention.
One of the biggest problems in this generation, is the
sense of entitlement in which people presume that they should have everything
given to them, without them doing anything to earn or get it. In which case, welfare programs grow, governments
take advantage of that in order to have a large controllable population, and to
preserve their power and authority. And,
eventually it all becomes a trap for everyone and a recipe for major disaster
sooner or later.
With this attitude, the spiritual life becomes less
and less important for everyone from bottom to top. And then God has to step in to shake up
everyone through major disasters of one sort or another. And when that happens, there is a great deal
of suffering and sorrow and loss.
Remember that Isaiah is looking not only at life in
general, but specifically at the ends times.
And if you remember our study in Revelation, then you will recall that
when things get really bad, people will mourn over the loss of their life-style
more so than their loss of a relationship with God.
And phony noble comments like, I don’t need money or
wealth or prosperity, in order to veil an indifferent attitude toward the
spiritual life, is a sham and an insult to God who is the provider of all
things, and the conduit through which all success and happiness and contentment
and so forth may be achieved.
But of course you have to pay attention, and before
that you have to hear, and before that you have to listen, and before all of
that, you have to want it, genuinely want it.
The first thing we as students should learn is to keep
our mouths shut and our ears open. For a
student’s job is to listen and learn, and then to apply what is learned to ones
daily life. And, then do it all over and
over, again and again, throughout ones entire life.
And that will prepare you, eventually, for your
eventual final test when standing before Jesus.
Which you will do one day.
The only question is, what will you have to show for
your life?
