Verizon made this question popular nationwide in commercials advertising their cell phones. Many listened and bought their phones. This same question is asked several times in God’s inspired word. Sometimes it was asked by God to man, and other times it was asked by man to God.
In Matthew 13:1-9 Jesus told the parable of the sower or the different types of soils. According to Matthew 13:10-17, Jesus, when answering the Apostles question as to why He spoke in parables, said he did so in order that those who heard but did not understand would be able to do so. He gave them his answer by quoting from Isaiah 6:9-10. At the conclusion of the parable Jesus said, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Most everyone has ears, but many don’t understand or choose not to hear. In Matthew 11:15, Jesus said “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
From the beginning of time, God has always let mankind know of His love and the many blessings they would receive when listening to Him and living according to His word. He also warned of the misfortunes that could and would come when they refused to hear what he had to say. Many times when they became disobedient, he caused a particular disaster, which was His way of saying, “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” Some did and some did not.
I once asked members of a Bible class if there was ever a time when God would not hear us. One of the members answered, “No.” We then turned to Isaiah 59:1-2, and read the passage together. God, in that passage, said that His arm was not too short to save man and neither was His ear to dull or heavy to hear when they called. However, God then said their iniquities had separated them from Him, and their sins had hidden His face from them so that He would not hear.
The book of Judges is a good example showing us of the misfortunes that happened when God’s people refused to listen to Him. He, in turn, refused to listen to them and allowed some nation to control them for a number of years. It is also a good example of showing the people’s repentance. They finally got tired of being controlled by another nation and prayed to God asking for His forgiveness, aid, and deliverance. That was their way of asking God, “Can you hear us now?”
According to Romans 10:17, our faith comes from hearing the Word of God. His inspired word tells us of our origin, man’s fall into sin, and the consequences of that sin. Fortunately, the Bible also tells us of God’s plan to save mankind from those sins, thus allowing us the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with God, Jesus, the Son of God, and His Holy Spirit. That allowance, however, is determined by whether or not we can truthfully answer yes when God says to us today, “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
-Bill Laird
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