“Hear, O Israel…”

There is something powerful in the fact that one of the central declarations of Scripture begins not with a command to speak, but with a command to hear.

Deuteronomy chapter 6 begins:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”

Before Israel is told to love God with all the heart, soul, and might, Israel is told to hear.

Hear.

That word deserves attention.

To hear in Scripture is more than allowing sound to enter the ear.

It carries the idea of receiving, recognizing, and responding.

The command is not merely:

Listen to these words.

It is:

Let these words enter you deeply enough to shape the way you live.

The Shema begins with hearing because relationship with God begins with receiving what God has said.

“Hear, O Israel.”

Know who God is.

Remember who you belong to.

Let that knowledge reorder the heart.

Then comes the command to love Him with the whole person.

In that sense, hearing comes before alignment.

We hear.

We receive.

We respond.

We become ordered toward God.

The Word of the Kingdom

This makes Matthew chapter 13 especially interesting.

Jesus speaks there repeatedly about hearing.

He tells the parable of the sower, and then says:

“Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

The question is no longer whether sound has reached the ear.

Everyone in the crowd heard the words.

The deeper question is:

What kind of hearer are you?

Jesus then explains the seed.

The seed is the Word.

And He says:

“When any one heareth the word of the kingdom…”

That phrase is important.

The Word being heard is not merely information.

It is the Word of the Kingdom.

The message carries within it the announcement of another order of Reality.

The Kingdom of God.

And what happens to that Word depends upon the hearer.

Some hear, but do not understand.

The Word remains on the surface.

It never enters deeply enough to take root.

Some receive quickly, but there is no depth.

The Word begins to grow, but it cannot endure pressure.

Some hear, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke what has been received.

The Word is present, but competing voices become stronger.

And then there is the good ground.

Jesus describes the one:

“that heareth the word, and understandeth it…”

And that hearing produces fruit.

This seems to reveal something very important.

Hearing is not completed when the ear receives sound.

Hearing is completed when the Word becomes fruitful.

Deuteronomy says:

Hear.

Love God with all that you are.

Matthew says:

Hear the Word of the Kingdom.

Understand it.

Let it take root.

Let it produce fruit.

The two passages seem to stand on the same foundation.

God speaks.

Man must hear.

But true hearing changes the hearer.

The Ear of the Heart

This may be why Jesus places so much emphasis on ears.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Most people hearing Him physically had ears.

So Christ must be pointing toward something deeper than anatomy.

There is an ear of the body.

And there appears to be an ear of the heart.

The physical ear can receive sound while the inner person remains closed.

That is why Jesus quotes the prophet concerning those who hear but do not understand.

The failure is not in the sound.

The failure is in reception.

The Word comes.

But the heart can become hard.

The ears can become dull.

The eyes can close.

And the Kingdom can be near while a person remains unable to perceive it.

That is a sobering thought.

The Kingdom of God can be proclaimed in the hearing of Man, yet remain unreceived.

The Word can be present without becoming Life.

The seed can be good while the ground remains resistant.

This places responsibility upon the hearer.

Not responsibility for creating the Word.

The Word comes from God.

Not responsibility for giving the Word its power.

The seed already contains life.

The responsibility is to receive.

To hear.

To understand.

To allow the Word to enter deeply enough that it can transform the ground.

An Opening

This brings us back to the Shema.

“Hear, O Israel.”

The command to hear is not passive.

It is an opening.

An opening of the mind.

An opening of the heart.

An opening of the life.

It is the posture that says:

Speak, and I will receive.

Teach, and I will consider.

Command, and I will obey.

Reveal, and I will allow what is revealed to change me.

The Kingdom begins with hearing because the Kingdom is first announced as a Word.

Before the fruit, there is seed.

Before the seed takes root, it must be received.

Before obedience, there must be hearing.

Before transformation, there must be an opening of the inner person.

This may also explain why the Kingdom of God is so often missed.

Man can be surrounded by words and still not hear.

We can hear Scripture read.

We can hear sermons.

We can hear arguments.

We can hear religious language.

But hearing in the spiritual sense requires something more.

Attention.

Humility.

Understanding.

Willingness.

A heart that has not already decided that nothing new can enter.

Which Voice Will We Hear?

The world is filled with voices.

Fear speaks.

Ambition speaks.

Pride speaks.

Pain speaks.

Culture speaks.

Power speaks.

Desire speaks.

And somewhere among those voices, the Word of the Kingdom speaks.

The question becomes:

Which voice will we hear?

Deuteronomy begins with:

Hear, O Israel.

Jesus says:

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

And then He speaks of the Word of the Kingdom.

I do not think these are disconnected ideas.

The God who commanded Israel to hear is the same God whose Kingdom Christ proclaims.

The posture remains the same.

Hear.

Receive.

Understand.

Respond.

Let the Word become Life.

Let the Life become fruit.

The Kingdom of God is not merely something to be observed from a distance.

It is something that must be received.

And perhaps the doorway into that Kingdom begins with one of the simplest and most difficult commands in Scripture:

Hear.