What does it mean to say that our faith comes by hearing the message, or hearing the Word of God? This verse, perhaps unintentionally, has encouraged people to listen to a great many messages from God’s servants, and to receive the Word chiefly through their voices. Does this, then, discourage us from reading the Word for ourselves? Or does it simply mean that we ought to read it aloud, so that we might hear it with our own ears?
Whatever Romans 10:17 actually conveys, people have, by instinct, formed the habit of hearing the Word or the message rather than reading and studying it for themselves. As a result, they know the Word only vaguely: they often miss its context and cannot say where in Scripture a given passage is found. Instead, they say, “it is written somewhere in the Bible,” because they have grown accustomed to hearing others speak rather than hearing the voice of God Himself. Their knowledge of the Word therefore remains incomplete, and they are left trying to piece it together by gathering fragments heard from various sources. In the Book of Isaiah, God satirically warned His people of this very practice:
So then, the word of the LORD to them will become:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there —
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured and snared and captured.
Isaiah 28:13 (NIV)
The Negative Impact of Hearing
When a person who is facing various trials, cornered by darkness, hears the Word, it torments them further instead of granting him peace. What, then, are we to say — that the Word of God is a two-edged sword that wounds those who hear it? While we are compelled only to hear the Word of God through sermons, the messenger’s words become mere statements that settle uneasily alongside the turmoil the person is presently facing. This increases the grief within the hearer, who begins to think that God is casting light upon his practical situation; and in time, he grows accustomed to such statements, taking them as the path God has set for him in this world. Perhaps he even comes to think that the more he suffers, the greater his reward will be in His Kingdom when he draws his last breath.
With this, the deceiver takes his chance to blind the eyes of the sufferer to the light of the Gospel, offering him a soothing effect by deceiving him with words that merely echo the similarities of his dreadful condition. This is then mistaken for a confirmation of his belief, and he becomes further entrenched in his grief and agony. For example, when Paul, by his own experience and through the leading of the Holy Spirit, declared that the troubles of this world are light and momentary, a believer may mistake this for a general rule rather than Paul’s personal testimony — one that holds out the possibility of experiencing troubles in the same manner. Instead, he concludes that for him, the trouble is heavy and permanent. This kind of misunderstanding traps him within the walls of darkness, and he fails to see the light.
Likewise, “there is trouble in this world” is a statement made by every preacher to establish a connection with oppressed people, and this keeps them confined to disbelief, without allowing them to understand that Jesus has overcome all such trouble.
With a negative impact, these kinds of hearers find fault with the Holy Spirit when He convicts them, and instead of repenting, they retain the unhealthy thoughts within them. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply with their own misconceptions.
Attentive Hearing
The phrase “Whoever has ears, let them hear” appears multiple times in the Bible, most notably in the Gospels spoken by Jesus (such as Matthew 11:15, 13:9, Mark 4:9, 4:23, Luke 8:8, and 14:35) and throughout the Book of Revelation (such as Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22, and 13:9).
It means that listeners need an open heart and mind to truly understand spiritual truth, rather than merely hearing physical sounds. It is astonishing that the deaf and mute spirit heard the command of Jesus and obeyed. Even the dead heard His voice and came back to life. This shows us that the voice of God is heard not by our physical ears connected to our mind, but by a spiritual ear connected to our heart. Jesus brought this out in His parable of “The Good Shepherd and His Sheep,” where He indicated that the devil enters through our physical ears, but He Himself enters through our spiritual ears.
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
John 10:2 (NIV)
The main aspect of attentive hearing is paying close attention to what we hear. With this, the act of hearing progresses to the stage of listening, and the speaker expects people not merely to hear but to listen carefully; conversely, the hearer encourages the speaker to continue by affirming, “I am listening (1 Samuel:3:9).” In Scripture, Jesus urged people to consider carefully how they listen (Luke 8:18). By this, Jesus made people aware that whatever thoughts they form through listening will be taken into account, and nothing can be hidden from God. Almost in the same context, Jesus said,
Consider carefully what you hear, he continued. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.
Mark 4:24 (NIV)
We see in the book of Isaiah that God opened the ears of His Son to listen to Him (Isaiah 50:5). Further, when God gave His commandment to love Him wholeheartedly, He alerted them by saying, “Hear.”
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV)
In the verse above, the Hebrew word shema is used to express the meaning “hear,” which means to hear and obey at the same time. Jesus reiterated this by declaring that He will recognise only those who do the will of His Father. Hence, attentive hearing makes the hearer do what he has heard.
Decibels (dB) and Hertz (Hz)
In a game console, when we choose to play a particular game, the console takes time to load, and the sign “Now Loading” appears. This means the processor is pulling the required data out of the many datasets stored within the console. It is amazing to understand how this system of data storage works. In earlier days, we needed floppy disks and discs to store a limited amount of data, but now we can store virtually limitless data because of advances in science. This kind of scientific progress sometimes tempts us to underestimate the hearing power that God has given to mankind.
Consider carefully what you hear, he continued. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.
Mark 4:24 (NIV)
Jesus speaks of two units used to measure our hearing capacity: decibels (dB), which measure sound intensity or loudness, and hertz (Hz), which measure frequency or pitch. He says that if we continue listening to Him attentively, He will increase the frequency of our hearing, enabling us to understand His teaching more fully.
Our brain can actually process words faster than people can speak them. The difference is major. People speak, on average, hundred and twenty-five words per minute, but our brains are capable of taking in eight hundred words per minute. That is why we can take in words while still thinking as the words are coming in. The important question here is, why has God given this tremendous ability to mankind? Apart from the quest mankind has to explore and invent what is needed for daily life, there is a more important aspect of understanding the Creator through His creation. To arrive at this truth, we must ask the question of why God gave us this ability. This shows that hearing is common to everyone, whereas listening is something different; listening becomes intensive when we begin to question the truth we hear.
Faith Comes Through Hearing The Word Of God
While hearing is common, listening is specific; it analyses the substance of what we hear. Hearing relates to our ears, but listening involves our brain, which discerns good from evil. Once we have discerned this, if evil draws our attention more and leads us to dwell in that area, then we are not good listeners—we are biased listeners, who hear not to understand but to reply and justify what is wrong. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, the minds of His disciples were predominantly occupied with the question of when Jesus would conquer Rome. This made them poor listeners, and they were unable to discern the truth in the words of Jesus.
Likewise, what is it that blocks our minds and stops our hearts from receiving the truth of His Word? It is the lies of the world and even our leaders pull us back to a life under the jurisdiction of the law, rejecting the grace of God.
A good illustration to help us understand this is found in the teachings of false teachers who ask us to do something to earn our salvation—the forgiveness of our sins. While the act of salvation was completed by God through the death and resurrection of His Son, we are still encouraged to do something about it. The reason we do this is that the word of God has entered our minds through the voices of the servants of God, and we have never had the chance to listen to the voice of God when we read the Bible on our own and wait for Him to explain it through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us for this very purpose.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 14:26 (NIV)
To make use of this provision to its optimum level, we should ask questions about the context, the reason, and what is hidden in the heart of God when He spoke those words. Only then will the Teacher be able to address our doubts and disbeliefs. Unfortunately, we are trained not to ask questions, as so-called spiritual leaders have already filled our minds with a set of false answers, which are not at all relevant to the teachings of God.
The Purpose Of God Giving Us His Word
Towards the end of His earthly ministry in the flesh, Jesus reported to His Father that He had given us the Word of God, because in this world only the Word of God is truth, and all else is falsehood. Jesus further prayed to His Father to sanctify us through this Word, which is truth. Now it is our turn to listen to His voice so that we may receive faith in our hearts. But we have not used His Word to listen; instead, we have recited it again and again without even understanding its value. God knows our thinking, and He warned us, saying,
I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something foreign.
Hosea 8:12 (NIV)
With this fuller understanding, let us empty our hearts of the unwanted information that has been blocking us from grasping the truth. We remain ignorant of the truth that the Word of God conveys, because we never make the effort to read it for ourselves. If we try to read it and struggle to understand, God is always ready to help us. When a eunuch was reading the book of Isaiah and could not understand it, God sent Philip to him to explain the Word. Our mistake is that, unlike the eunuch, we do not wait even when we do not understand. When the eunuch did not understand it, he did not close the scroll, but waited, acknowledging his inability to understand. If we do not give up, God will always draw near to help us understand the truth of His Word. For reading His Word makes us wise, and David experienced this and recorded it as a source of understanding. Hence, let us read the Word, rid ourselves of our lack of knowledge, and become wise.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:130 (NIV)
The Jordan Valley 
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