SPIRITUAL DUMBNESS
“And they bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain”. (Mark 7:32 - 35)
In our last series – Spiritual deafness – we discussed why our ears need to be opened so that we can live a holy life, avoid satanic deception, and be a good soldier of Christ to defend the flocks of Christ from the Nicolaitanes and Balaam doctrines (Revelation 2:14-15).
This man was also dumb, he was brought to Jesus; after touching his tongue; He looked up to heaven, sighed and said, “Ephphatha!”. Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. Who else can do such wonder " He that has the key of David; He that opens, and no man shut; and shuts, and no man opens” (Revelation 3:7b). No one or nothing can undo Jesus’ word.
He opened this Deaf man’s ears and freed his bound tongue, so that this man would plainly praise and thank the Lord.
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According to Cruden’s Bible Concordance, there are 5 different kinds of dumb people. The first is the usual meaning of the word dumb; the others are, of course, only figurative applications of the term.
1. NATURAL DUMBNESS
Those that cannot speak for want of natural ability. Many people may ask this question, “Why is this person dumb? Is it his sin or his parents’? Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (John 9:3); Furthermore, “And the Lord said unto him, who hath made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? “(Exodus 4:11).
Spiritually, the man who is still in trespasses and sins is dumb; for he is dead (1 Corinthians 2:14); and there is none so dumb as a dead man. They cannot sing God’s praises; and they don’t know him, and, therefore, they cannot exalt his glorious name. Sin has taken control of their tongue; that they can’t acknowledge the creator of the tongue. They need to repent, confess their sin, and say that Jesus is Lord ((1 Corinthians 12:3) and God will be glorified in their tongue.
2. DUMB WHO CANNOT SPEAK SPIRITUALLY
The person that cannot speak to, and teach others, for lack of grace and knowledge. “His watchmen are ignorant, they are dumb dogs, they cannot bark” (Isaiah 56:10). There are some preachers who have eloquence to preach about many things, but little or nothing about Jesus Christ. They lack the grace of God (Hebrews 12:15) and don’t desire the required knowledge to preach the Gospel; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16); “and God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2corinthians 9:8)
No people make such good preachers as those who were once dumb. If the Lord opens their mouths, they will think they cannot preach often enough, and earnestly enough, to make up for the mischief they did before, “In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD”. (Ezekiel 24:27)
If we are dumb as professed ministers, may God open our mouths, and force us to speak forth his Word. The Lord of Hosts has issued the command, ”Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.(Exodus 4:12), “and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house”(Ezekiel 3:27); ‘then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.(Ezekiel 33:4).
Remember that God said that” So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”. (Isaiah 55:11), and “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned”. (Mark 16:16)
We pray that every pulpit will be filled with a man who has a tongue of fire and a heart of flame, and who shuns not to declare the whole counsel of God, neither seeking the smiles of men nor dreading their frowns. The man that can speak like an Oracle of God,” If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11).
3. DUMB WHO DARE NOT SPEAK
Those that will not speak, though he can, being submissive and silent under the dispensations of God’s Providence.
”I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it” (Psalm 39:9). King David restrained himself from uttering what was in his mind, because he felt that it would do harm, by encouraging the wicked in their views of God and of his government; He was now silenced and acquiesced and had no disposition to say anything against the government of God. He was a person who is unable to speak, not by putting a restraint on himself, but because he had nothing to say.
Even the child of God will sometimes do as Job did when he sat down upon the ground for seven days and seven nights (Job 2:13), and said not a word, for he felt that his trouble was so heavy that he could say nothing.
There are times when you and I, beloved, are obliged to keep the bridle on our tongues, lest we should murmur against God. We are in evil company; our spirit is hot within us, and we want to take vengeance for the Lord; we are like the friends of David, who would have slain Shimei. “Let us cut off this dead dog’s head,” (2 Samuel 16:9) we say; and then Jesus tells us to put our sword into its scabbard, for “the servant of the Lord must not strive.” (2 Timothy 2:24). How often have we thus been dumb!
We may have been accused or our character being slandered. Please remember that Jesus left a good example when “the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.” (Mark 15:3). It may be hard to keep dumb in these circumstances. but “blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matthew 5:11)
Brethren, if we have been dumb under great sorrow, such that we couldn’t offer praise to Almighty God; remember His promise, “The tongue of the dumb shall sing.” (Isaiah 35:6). God’s greater grace will be poured into our hearts, and His praise shall continually be in our mouths (Psalm 34:1)
4.DUMB BY DIVINE ECSTASY
Those that are made speechless by divine ecstasy.” And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.” (Daniel 10:15)
Daniel became dumb; not able to speak a word, as is the case of persons sometimes in surprise, probably from the nature and importance of the things that the Angel said.
The presence of a heavenly being, the majesty of his appearance and the fact that he had important revelations to make respecting the future, overcame him, and he laid his face upon the ground in silence.
Zechariah was struck with dumbness when he didn’t believe the good news that the Angel had brought. “he said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years., and the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believe not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” (Luke 1:18-20)
Is there any one of us who would not be awed into profound silence if a heavenly messenger should stand before us to disclose what was to occur to us, to our families, to our friends, to our country, in far-distant years?
5. DUMB THAT HAVE NOTHING TO SAY
Those that cannot speak in their own cause, either through ignorance and infirmity or because of the dread of their more potent adversaries, or of the majesty of him that sit in judgment. "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction”(Proverbs 31:8)
God’s word is being preached to us regularly but refused to obey, or we may choose the aspect of God’s word that we like and disregard other laws of God. Can we conveniently stand before God and ask for a blessing when we ignore his word?
"Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him"; (Hebrews 2:1-3)
Are we not dumb when we stand on lawful terms with God, when we forget that Jesus Christ and his blood and righteousness were our full acquittal? (Romans 5:1). Are we not obliged to be dumb when the commandments are laid bare before us, and when the law of God is brought home to our conscience?
God can sometimes use a sharp affliction to open our dumb mouth, when we are ungrateful and do not praise Him; but "His grace is sufficient for us" (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Oh, minister of God that just preached against fornication to your church members, and you are caught in the act by the same people that you condemned. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1Peter 4:17)
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30)
"Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables" (Acts 6:2) so that we will not be dumb on Judgement Day.
If he has taken away all your self-righteousness, and all your trust in yourself, — as truly as ever he has shut your mouth, he will open it and make you to follow after His righteousness (Proverbs 21:21); "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.(2 Corinthians 5:21)
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22)
SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF GOD AND HE WILL HEAL YOUR DUMB
There was a prophet, Jeremiah. He was one of the greatest prophets of old because he spoke the words of God to his people without compromise. They were not easy words to speak. They were harsh words of rebuke which often brought him beatings and punishments. But he stood his ground and never wavered to tell the people the truth.
But Jeremiah was not always like this— a bold and courageous man of God who spoke the word of God plainly. In fact, he was a timid man who barely spoke out any words at all. One day, God spoke to him and said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) Then Jeremiah panicked and said, Lord: “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” But God said to him, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” (Jeremiah 1:6-8). Then God did something wonderful that changed Jeremiah’s life forever. Jeremiah says that God “Reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth.’” (Jeremiah 1:9).
When God touched his mouth, Jeremiah did not feel that he was a person who was unable to speak anymore. Jesus touched the man's tongue as well, and the man began to speak plainly.
When we are ready to let God touch our mouth and our tongue, then muteness is healed, and an outspoken man or woman of God is born.
Heavenly Father, please touch my mouth so that I can speak your word plainly, and become a good soldier of Christ because you have set me over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). Kindly allow the tongue of the dumb to sing praises to your holy name and declare the glory of God in Jesus Name, Amen.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:6)
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY
James Dina
james@mountzionblog.org
5th January 2022
https://mountzionblog.org/spiritual-dumbness/
REFERENCES
1. Cruden’s Bible Concordance
2. The Dumb Singing by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
3. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/psalms/39.htm
4. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/daniel/10.htm
5. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/daniel/10.htm
6. EPHPHATHA! BE OPENED! By Mark Moon.
