Who will listen to Yahweh’s voice? When will a person be born who will listen to Yahweh and lead his people to fulfill the mission for which they were created? The issue of obedience is central to the story of Scripture. The plot of the story is driven by God’s desire to relate to humanity as Father and humanity’s desire to go their own way.
When will the seed of the Eve and Abraham and David be born who will crush the head of the lying snake by refusing to listening to his voice? Obedience is interwoven with the central hope of biblical theology, the hope of a coming Messiah, a human being who will obey and open the door to new creation flourishing.
Throughout the story, the theme of obedience is signaled with the words “listening to Yahweh’s voice.” The paradigm of obedience-disobedience is built on שׁמע and קוֹל. “Listening to the voice” is the motif. Obedience-disobedience is the theme. The plot is driven forward as humanity vacillates between obedience and disobedience and we all wait for the arrival of the promised seed, the Messiah who will truly listen to Yahweh’s voice.
The chart below demonstrates how “listening to Yahweh’s voice” appears throughout the Old Testament story to give readers a vision of what God expects of his people. From beginning to end, God calls his people to listen to his voice so that they can live well and flourish.
Listening to Yahweh’s Voice: שׁמע and קוֹל
| Gen 3:17 | Adam listened to a voice other than Yahweh’s. |
| Gen 22:18 | Abraham is blessed because he did listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Exod 3:8; 4:8, 9 | Moses is sent to call Israel to listen to his voice. |
| Exod 15:26 | On the other side of the Red Sea, Israel is called to listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| ֵ Exod 19:5; 23:21, 22 | Israel’s relationship with Yahweh at Sinai is predicated on listening to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Num 14:22 | Israel’s failure in the wilderness is summarized as a ten times failure to listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Deut 4:33; 30:2, 8, 10 | Israel’s repentance “in the latter days” will be characterized by listening to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Deut 8:20 | Moses promises that failing to listen to Yahweh’s voice will lead to exile. |
| Deut 9:23 | Moses says Israel failed to enter the land when the spies were first sent because they wouldn’t trust Yahweh by listening to his voice. |
| Deut 13:5, 19; 15:5; 30:20 | Moses frames obedience around the focal point of listening to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Deut 21:18–20 | Normal, parent-child relationships are framed in terms of listening to the parent’s voice. |
| Deut 26:14, 17 | “I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh” is a statement that appears in Israel’s rituals because, as this chart demonstrates, these are the words that Scripture uses to frame paradigmatic obedience/disobedience. |
| Deut 27:10; 28:1, 2, 15, 45, 62 | Blessing and curse is predicated on listening to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Josh 5:6 | Joshua says the Exodus generation perished in the wilderness because they didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| Josh 22:2 | Joshua says his generation listened to his voice, which was a mediation of Yahweh’s voice. |
| Josh 24:24 | Joshua’s generation committed to listening to the voice of Yahweh. |
| Judg 2:2, 20; 6:10 | Israel’s disobedience in the Judges era is characterized by not listening to the voice of Yahweh. |
| 1 Sam 2:25 | Eli’s sons would not listen to his voice when he warned them about the importance of honoring Yahweh. |
| 1 Sam 12:14–15 | Samuel says that the success of Israel’s kingship is predicated on whether or not the the king and the people listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| 1 Sam 15:1 | Samuel called Saul to listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| 1 Sam 15:19 | Saul did not listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| 1 Sam 15:22 | Samuel established frequent juxtaposition between offering Yahweh sacrifices and gifts versus listening to Yahweh’s voice. Sacrifices are worthless without listening to Yahweh’s voice. |
| 1 Sam 15:24 | Saul finally admits that he listened to the voice of the people rather than Yahweh’s. |
| 1 Sam 28:18 | Saul’s disobedience re: Amalek is characterized as failing to listen to Yahweh’s voice. |
| 1 Kgs 20:36 | Prophets speak about obedience in terms of listening to the voice of Yahweh. |
| 1 Kgs 18:12 | Israel’s exile happened because they did not obey the voice of Yahweh. |
Brian W. Davidson 
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