Who Told You That?

Recently I was reading in the Bible in the beginning of the book of Genesis. In chapter 3, Adam has eaten the fruit and now He has been found hiding in garden. God has just called for him and Adam has come out of hiding and is having a conversation with God. A phrase jumped out at me while revisiting this very old story. After Adam tells God that he was hiding because he was afraid because he was naked, God responds with the following words from Genesis 3:11a: "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?..." I opened up my journal and wrote down those words in big letters...Who Told You That?

This has been circling my mind for a while, and I'd like to press into this question during today's post. Who told you that? As God asked Adam, I feel we need to often ask ourselves the same question. Who told me that? What am I believing? Did God tell me that or someone else? So without further ado, let's jump into it.

Competing Voices

We are bombarded with voices today. The voice of our culture, the voice of of the world, the voice of people, the voice of the media, the voice of the government, the voice of "the experts", the voice of friends good and bad, the voice of family, the voice of social media, the voice of celebrities, the voice of television, the voice of the church, the voice of ourselves, the voice of our flesh, the voice of the enemy, the voice of God. We are surrounded by so.much.noise. So many different opinions being yelled at us by so many different voices that sometimes we are completely overwhelmed and don't know what to believe, which voice to listen to, or how to tell the voices apart.

In Adam's case, there were several voices at play. The voice of the enemy, the devil, the serpent in the garden whispering lies, half truths. Planting seeds of doubt, mistrust of God, false promises. The voice of Eve, who was persuaded by the devil to partake of the fruit and led her husband in the path of sin. And then the the voice of sin itself. I do not know exactly what happened, but is says in Gen 3:7 right after Adam and Eve had both eaten the fruit, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked..." In their sin, in eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, their eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil, sin revealed new understandings to their hearts as innocence was taken away and nakedness was revealed.

Like Adam, the same voices attempt to lead us astray today. The voice of the devil, whether you think you believe in him or not, is continually talking. Through a multitude of speakers his voice is being broadcast and it is attempting to deceive you. He slithers in where you do not notice him, he is cunning, crafty, and persuasive, he is a smooth talker and can be extremely convincing. Pro tip- don't listen! His message is the very same as it was to Adam and Eve. He attempts to discredit God and cast doubt on His word, because satan knows that God's word is unrivaled in power. It is through God's word He created the world, it is through His word that all enemies shall one day be defeated, it is His word that heals, brings the dead to life, and brings light to darkness...and Jesus Himself takes on the title The Word of God. His word is of the utmost importance. So satan sneaks in to cast doubt on His word, knowing that if we don't believe it we remove ourselves from the power and protection of it, we remove ourselves from truth, light and life.

How do we know if the the voice that we are listening to is actually the voice of the enemy? The enemy's voice casts doubt, brings discouragement, and stirs discontentment. It discredits our value and worth and the value of every life created by God. It seeks to dishonor and tear down, it kills our relationships. It forces focus on self. It breeds discord and disunity. It is the "counter voice" to God's voice, meaning that it will always oppose the truth of God with lies and perversions of truth. It erodes trust in God and waiting on His timing and instead causes us to seize things for ourselves and take matters into our own hands. It tarnishes the character and motive of God, challenging His nature and slandering His Name. The voice of the enemy brings fear, aims for our destruction, and leads to death. John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." This is his sole motivation, to dishonor God and destroy people. There is no good in him, and every single word spoken by him is a lie. He weaves in just enough truth to make you believe it and then twists it, perverts it, and deceives. John 8:44 says it very clearly. "...He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

I also pointed out that Adam heard the voice of Eve. Eve was well meaning but deceived. We too may have friends who have bought into some lie and wish to share it with us. We must identify that voice. Eve bought into the devil's lies and repeated them. We may have dear people in our lives that give us advice speaking what they believe to be true. Maybe it is and maybe it's not. While their intent may not be malicious or deceitful, they may be repeating a lie that they have bought into. We must always test the words of others and see if their voice aligns with God's voice, with God's truth.

Third, I will point out what I will refer to as "the voice of sin." After Adam and Eve ate the fruit...after they sinned...they had new understanding, so to speak. They "knew they were naked," it said. I perceive naked to be a word here implying more than just physical nakedness, but that it revealed them to be lacking, exposed, vulnerable, weak, insufficient. Their reality had not changed, they had always been naked and God created them beautifully so. But their perception of what they were had changed. When they sinned, how they perceived themselves changed. So, to apply this to us...how does sin change the way we perceive ourselves? How does it tell us we are not enough, insufficient, lacking. The Bible says we are made in the image of God, precious to Him, know by Him, woven together intentionally, created uniquely for His glory, loved by Him, seen by Him, chosen by Him, and called by Him. But sin says the opposite....we are unloved, unworthy, unseen. It tells us we are unwanted, nonredeemable, worthless, and undesirable. Who we are is not different, but the perception of who we are is false when we listen to the "understanding" that sin provides us. Will you listen to who sin tells you you are, or who God says you are?

On the good side, it is this revealing of our own nakedness, our insufficiency, that can open our eyes to our need for a sin conquering Savior. I am not saying here that if we just perceive ourselves to be good, we are good, because that is false. We are all in need of Jesus, the only one who is good, to free us from the bondage of sin. To take our sin and give us life. Rather than Adam's response to hide from God in fear and attempt to cover our own nakedness, our response to the understanding of our sin and nakedness is to go to God. When we go to Jesus, confessing our nakedness, we will discover that He offers to cloth us with robes of righteousness and the garment of salvation. (Isaiah 61:10) And from there, we cease to listen to what sin calls us, but choose to listen to who God says we are in Jesus.

Adam listened to the wrong voice, leading him to a path of death, destruction, consequence, separation from God. In God's response to Adam in the garden, I wonder if He was calling Adam back through His question...who told you that Adam? I wonder if there was an underlying message to Adam pointing out that he had listened to, believed and acted on the wrong voice...that it was not in fact God who told Him that. For God's voice is the voice of truth. His voice leads to eternal and abundant life.

I want to wrap up Adam's story with hope, for it does so in the Bible and because I like happy endings. God was not shocked that Adam and Eve were deceived and made the wrong choice. Before He had even created man He already had a plan in place to do away with the sin they brought into the world, to overcome death and the bondage of sin through the very Word of God Himself. Jesus had already been designated to be the Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer. He would right what had been wronged, He would pay the full price for sin once and for all, restoring relationship between God and man. And while Adam and Eve faced the consequence of their sin, the message of the hope of the Messiah was foretold. Alas, there is a happy ending to the story, all was not lost through their mistake. A messiah would come, and that Messiah has come. His name is Jesus, and He exposes the lying voice of the the enemy, the misguided voice of others, the false understanding of sin. Jesus Himself is the Voice of Truth.

God's Voice

So how do we discern and perceive His voice? What is the Voice of God like?

I can not do God justice in describing the power and authority of His words and of His voice, but here are a few things to note. His words are always true, eternal (Isaiah 40:8), and every thing He says will be. His words create, His words produce what it intends and they will come to pass (Isaiah 55:10-11). God's words build, strengthen, prune, refine, and purify. His words bring light, wisdom, revelation, and understanding. And ultimately, His words bring life.

He speaks through His written Word, the Bible. He also speaks to the hearts of His followers through the Holy Spirit living within those who trust in Jesus.

Earlier in describing the voice of the devil we looked at the first part of John 10:10, revealing the motives of the thief to steal, kill and destroy. Let us look at the expanded passage from John 10 as Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd and tells us how we can hear and know His voice.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

How do we know God's voice? First, we must be a sheep. We must recognize Him as our Shepherd. Jesus invites us all to be His sheep by very simply believing Him. If you have never trusted Jesus to be your shepherd, it is as easy as telling Him you believe in Him, you want Him to be your shepherd, and you want to know and follow Him all of your days. And in doing so He will lead you to life, eternal and abundant. He will show you the way, He will bring you to a relationship with God the Father. And you will know His voice.

I want us to visit one more passage from 1 Kings.

1 Kings 19:11-12

11 Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”…

God does not scream at us as the world screams. He whispers. To hear a whisper you need to be quiet, you need to be still, you need to listen, you need to lean in. Many times in scripture you see God saying, "incline your ear..." or "listen to My words" (Isaiah 55:3, Proverbs 22:17) . In other words He is inviting us to lean in. To come near. That we might hear Him, that we might know Him, and that our soul might live. His is the voice of the shepherd, leading us to life and life abundant. As His sheep we will know the voice of our shepherd. It is not harsh or angry, it is the voice of truth and love. Lean in, get to know Him, and you will learn to know His voice and follow Him, and in doing so you will find life.

A few questions to ask yourself when you are discerning "Who told you that?"

• Where did that thought or idea come from?

• Where will that thought or idea carry me to?

• Does it build or tear down?

• Does it lead to trust or fear?

• Does it unite or divide?

• Does it honor God or dishonor Him?

• Is it true or is it a lie?

• Does it ultimately lead to life or death?

• Is it a shout or a whisper?

• Does it sound like the voice of my Shepherd?