Discerning The Voice Of God: Is It In Line With The Bible?

There are a lot of voices in our world today that claim to be speaking for God. How do we discern if what we hear preached is actually a word from God? What does the voice of God sound like?

God speaks in many ways. Sometimes, He speaks in a spectacular way and at other times He speaks through ordinary experiences. In the Bible, God spoke audibly to people, but He also communicated through angels, a burning bush, dreams, visions, donkeys, prophets, preachers, as well as many other ways. The important thing was never how God spoke, but that He spoke.

For the next few weeks I would like to look into those who actually speak God's word and those who say they are speaking for God. Hopefully, through this, we can learn to separate what God is truly saying to us versus the voices in the world.

Does this sound familiar? An older woman received a disturbing phone call. The person said, "Grandma I'm so glad you answered. He identified himself as Mike, her oldest grandson. He said he had been in a car accident and the other driver was injured. The police had arrested him and taken him to jail. He needed her to send money so he could be released on bail.

This woman loved her grandson, but something didn't seem right. She told him that he didn't sound like her grandson. She had known Mike all his life. He had even lived at her house for a time when he moved to her city. The caller insisted that he was her grandson and surely she didn't want him to spend a night in jail. Yet the woman knew her grandson's voice and this was not it. She hung up.

This world is filled with false and deceptive voices and many of them even claim to speak for God. And with the immergence of AI, they can imitate most anyones’ voice. Please beware what you listen to. Much of it is a lie. But the Bible shows us quite clearly how we can distinguish between what is valid and what is not.

Today we're going to look at one way to discern if the word preached or taught is actually God's word. We ask the question, "Does it agree with the Bible?” Prayer

God wants to share His thoughts and intentions with you. It's amazing that Almighty God, who spoke an entire universe into existence, would choose to speak to His creatures. God's word brings life and sets people free.

Sadly, many people have never learned to recognize God's voice. In a world that is filled with a mass of voices, it's vitally important to be able to discern God's voice from every other voice. This is very important if you want to experience all that God intends for you. Again, we ask. "What does God's voice sound like?" Well, first of all, it sounds exactly like what He has already said in the Bible.

The first two chapters of Genesis present this breathtaking account of creation and the paradise where the first couple, Adam and Eve lived. But the first verse of chapter 3 presents us with the fact that there is a snake in paradise. To clear up one of the questions you may have about this serpent, Genesis doesn't identify the serpent as being inhabited by the devil. But the Scripture later identifies this serpent with Satan in:

Revelations 20:2 – “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”

Genesis 3:1 – “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Many Christians worry that they might not be able to discern the difference between Satan's voice and God's voice. But one way that you might be a little more sure of that is to remember that God and Satan speak in ways that are consistent with their nature. God never speaks in a manner that contradicts His word that He has his previously spoken. God never communicates in a way that misrepresents His character or His standards. Satan, on the other hand, does so continuously.

Jesus said that Satan is the father of lies and a master deceiver. He tempts Eve to sin and he does so with three of his tactics.

1. Satan questioned God's words. Did "God really say that?" Rather than challenging God's word outright, he began by raising doubt. Any time someone says something that causes you to doubt God's instructions, you can be certain it is not God who is speaking.

2. Satan misrepresented God's word. (On purpose.) He asked, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden?'" The wording was a huge misrepresentation of what God had actually said. God clearly told Adam and Eve that they were free to eat from any tree in the garden except one. God freely gave an entire paradise to Adam and Eve and told them to freely help themselves to as much as they want.