LISTENING WITH PERSEVERANCE
On February 18, NASA landed its Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars. In addition to amassing incredible photos and video of the landing itself, an onboard microphone recorded the first-ever direct sounds from another planet. At a press conference on February 22, the audio recording was played, and the sense of the world holding its breath and leaning forward to hear it was palpable. After the whirring of the rover itself was filtered out, the puff of Martian winds was clearly audible. On a barren plain 129.9 million miles away, an alien wind blew, and humans strained to hear.
LISTENING FOR DELIVERANCE
In our passage today, the children of Israel wondered how they could tell the difference between the words of a false prophet and the words of a prophet sent from God. They were leaning forward to hear, but there was interference that made discernment difficult—and their very deliverance as a people rested on hearing correctly. God told Moses to have the people watch to see if the alleged prophet’s words came true. If they didn’t, that person was not a prophet sent from God.
Questions
- What’s the most memorable sound you’ve ever heard?
- When have your ears told you that something was wrong or dangerous?
- How do you know when you’re hearing from God, from yourself, or from some other source?
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