This direct communication continued in the days of the patriarchs such as Noah (Genesis 6:13-22), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4), Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30) and a few centuries later Moses (Numbers 12:8). But the words of Jesus had not yet been recorded, although the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, already existed. As Jesus himself reminded His disciples: “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17).
At the time of the Exodus, Moses recorded what God told him on Mt Sinai in a book called the Book of the Law so God’s will, His “voice,” would be preserved for future generations (Deuteronomy 30:10-14). God also spoke to other prophets by special dreams, visions, angelic messengers, as well as by His voice. In the New Testament book of Hebrews we read, “God … at various times and in various ways spoke in time past by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). These messages were then written down and later canonized as the inspired Word of God, forming the second part of the Bible, generally referred to as “the Prophets.” As time went on other divinely inspired books such as Psalms and Proverbs were added.
The final writings that were added were Jesus Christ’s teachings. The New Testament disciples heard mysteries from Christ that were not given to the Old Testament prophets, but Christ often quoted from the Old Testament. In one instance He stated: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4 quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3). “Every word” was a reference to the Old Testament.
Jesus also referenced the Scriptures in the Old Testament to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection: “Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself ” (Luke 24:25-27). Later Jesus confirmed He had referenced all three sections of the Old Testament in these exchanges: “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me’” (Luke 24:44).
The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that “in these last days [God has] spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2). What Christ taught during His human life and the instruction given to the Apostles after His death and resurrection, including that recorded in the epistles and Revelation, was canonized and became the New Testament and, like Christ, the Apostles often quoted directly from the Old Testament.
We can all “hear” God’s voice by reading the Bible, or by having it read to us. The Bible contains all we need to know about our obligation to both our Creator and our neighbor. If someone claims to be speaking on God’s behalf it must be verified from the Bible, by putting together all the verses on that subject. Ideas that do not match up to all that the Bible teaches on a subject should be rejected. In order to hear God’s voice we should study the Bible, which is God’s Word and a great blessing to mankind: “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17).
