9.a. Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it

Joel 1:2   Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

Psalms 49:1    Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

Isaiah 34:1    Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.

Jeremiah 5:21    “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

Micah 1:2    Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

Matthew 13:9    He who has ears, let him hear.”

Psalms 50:1    The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Isaiah 1:2    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

Have you ever tried to make a point to someone who did not want to listen to what you were telling them?  You start by reasoning and logically speak about what you know is to be true.  However, no matter what you say they have determined what you are telling them does not apply to them or they are different or it is foolishness.  Their mind is made up and you might as well be speaking to a rock.  Such it is with the very Word of God to those who harden their hearts against it.  God’s Word can bring hope, faith, courage, rest, refuge, power, joy, purpose, focus, and love if the hearer would be open to hear it speak into their heart, mind, and soul.  God calls out through His prophets and His Word, “Listen”, “Hear This”, “Give Attention”, “Pay Attention”, and “Give Ear”.  To what is God asking His creation to give ear too?  This can be summed up in John 3:16-21  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

He calls out to each person “Come onto me” “Cast your cares upon Me” “Receive redemption and salvation through My Son and spend eternity with me” and yet deaf ears are turned toward His invitation.  God warns each person that rejection of His Son will result in eternal torment for eternity and yet deaf ears are turned toward Him.

How many times do we go through our day with deaf ears turned on?  How many times do we listen more to what the world has to say and offer rather than seeking and desiring God’s Word speaking into our life for each moment of every day?

Pleading to listen

“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.”

“Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you;”

Joe 1:2
Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Hosea 5:1
Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you;

Psa 49:1
Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

Jeremiah 5:21
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

Amos 3:1
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

Micah 3:1
Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

Matthew 13:9
“He who has ears, let him hear.

Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

I wonder how many times we have to be told to listen to what the Lord is saying to us.  God wants to give us peace, rest, hope, love, guidance, and assurance yet we choose to keep Him at arms length until something comes into our lives that upsets it.  Can you imagine looking at this from outside and seeing the Creator of all there is reaching out to His creation and telling them how much He loves them and what He expects from them, and how these people reject His love and guidance – what would you think of people who have rejected and neglected their creator?  Do we think for a minute we will not be held accountable for the rejection and neglect?  Every day we have a choice to learn more of Him or to neglect Him.  We come up with multiple reasons and excuses of why we don’t have time.  The bar of what it means to humbly serve, honor and glorify God in our lives needs to be raised higher.