Hearing the Word of God
This scriptural phrase means to recognize, listen to, perceive, obey, hearken, and to follow His word. The word of God is that pathway back to the tree of life, which is found in the revelations from God and is represented in the Book of Mormon as a rod of iron, and in Covenant of Christ as the iron railing.1 Words spoken as a consequence of the influence of the Holy Spirit become the words of God.2 They have power and are independently corroborated by the spirit when received by the spirit.3 After the Lord’s visit to the land of Bountiful, the people obeyed the commandments they received from their Lord and God, continuing in fasting and prayer and in meeting together often, both to pray andhear the Lord’s word(4 Nephi 1:2 CE). When they gathered, they were fasting, they were praying, they were bearing testimony, and they were listening to the word of God, meaning they were reading the Scriptures. They got together to “hear the word of God.”4Faith comes by hearing the word of God (LOF 3:1). The word of God comes only when He is the author of it.5 Alma provides a valuable insight into how the church worked in his day: When their priests left their work to shareGod’s word with the people, the people also left their work tohearGod’s word. When the priest had sharedGod’s word with them, they all returned diligently to their work, the priest not regarding himself as better than his audience, since the preacher wasn’t any better than the hearer and the teacher wasn’t any better than the learner. They were all equal (Alma 1:5 CE).
God’s word is such a remarkable source of power that Christ was called the Word of God because He embodies the Father’s will so completely. God’s word alone is what ordains one to the priesthood and confers the sealing authority. It is the only constant that will never fail, and whether He speaks it or authorizes someone else to speak it, it is the same. Those who have God’s word know how to proceed in all things.6 But men are rarely reliable sources from which to attain the word of God.7 When any will receive it, faith in Him comes by hearing the word of God. Faith does not come by listening to a pretender or to someone who is guessing, nor by listening to someone offering up their theory of how the Scriptures ought to be understood; it does not come by hearkening to someone citing you a bibliography. Faith comes only by hearing the word of God delivered as He would have it delivered, by whomever it is that He may choose to deliver it. “If you receive God’s word sent by someone He sends, then you might have faith, and that too in the Son of God. Then you also might receive Him.”8 The purpose of giving His word to His people is to lead them to Him. If they will actually come to Him, He will come and dwell with them.9
Hearing the Lord’s word without giving heed, diligence, and obedience to what He asks of you yields nothing. What good does it do to know more about the Scriptures than another if it does not affect one’s behavior?10 Nephi gave a strong warning to those who read his words: Woe to those who say: We’ve received God’s word; we don’t need more of God’s word because we have enough. This is what the Lord God has said: I’ll give mankind line upon line, a teaching here and a teaching there, a little here and a little there….And I’ll give more to those who receive; but from those who say we have enough, even what they have will be taken away (2 Nephi 12:6 CE). Nephi saw the latter-day restoration of the Gospel and saw a day in which there will no longer be a famine of hearing the words of God. Instead, the Lord’s Saints will be fed, watered, and nourished.11 “Hearken to the word of the Lord. End your days on this barren treadmill and rise up. There is no reason to fail when the Lord offers you His word, and even His presence, today.”12 He expects us to develop the virtues of gratitude and patience by the experiences He gives us in mortality. When we can gain no further benefit from being required to wait, then an acceptable time to “hear” us arrives and God responds, but He determines that moment.13 Hearing God’s voice is not just automatic or easy. Even when He is speaking directly to an audience, they must first attune their ears, through faith, before they know it is He and what He is speaking. (See 3 Nephi 5:2.)14See also STUDY THE SCRIPTURES; VOICE OF GOD.
1 The Second Comforter, 120.
2 “Covenants,” 40 Years in Mormonism Lecture Series, Lecture 4, October 6, 2013, Centerville, UT, transcript, 17.
3 “Mosiah 3:23,” June 12, 2012, blog post.
4 “Zion Symposium,” February 23, 2008, transcript, 7–8.
5 “Christ: The Prototype of the Saved Man,” 40 Years in Mormonism Lecture Series, Lecture 7, June 28, 2014, Ephraim, UT, paper, 72.
6 “The Power of God’s Word,” October 27, 2011, blog post.
7 “Godliness,” March 23, 2010, blog post.
8 “Christ: The Prototype of the Saved Man,” 40 Years in Mormonism Lecture Series, Lecture 7, June 28, 2014, Ephraim, UT, paper, 49.
9 “Mosiah 3:11–13,” June 4, 2012, blog post.
10 “Christ: The Prototype of the Saved Man,” 40 Years in Mormonism Lecture Series, Lecture 7, June 28, 2014, Ephraim, UT, paper, 53.
11 Nephi’s Isaiah, 139–140.
12 “Christ: The Prototype of the Saved Man,” 40 Years in Mormonism Lecture Series, Lecture 7, June 28, 2014, Ephraim, UT, paper, 12.
13 Nephi’s Isaiah, 133–134.
14 Ibid., 289n395.