When there is a narrator in a movie, the script writer will put the initials “v.o.” next to the narration lines to indicate that the lines are “voice over”. There may be any number of actual lines, actions or sounds going on at the same time that the voice over is speaking, but the emphasis is always on what the narrator is saying. The characters are completely oblivious to the voice-overs, but would probably benefit greatly if they were to actually hear what is being said. In some more recent films, the characters will hear the voice-overs and it is either comical or experimental in nature, but this is only because it seems ridiculous to us that there would be a running commentary on our lives.
It may not be so much a reaction to the absurdity of a Commentator, but rather a nervous rejection of the necessary thought process that would follow the existence of an interested omniscient Being. Recognizing that there is Someone completely unaffected by the confines of our human experience is a fearful thing. The glorious reality, though, is that the Voice in our case is sympathetic to our condition because He lived in skin just like us in arguably the least comfortable time and place in history. Having a Voice come from beyond our understood existence forces our minds to a humble perplexity.
In an age in which there are hundreds of voices telling us to do so many things, in the media, in the spiritual realm, in our families, it is becoming increasingly important to determine which voice we will give authority to as “The Voice”. We must determine from whom our chief commands will come. Many people will tell us what to do, most of them will have good reasons, some of them will mean will, few will have right motives and only One will lead us into all truth. Our allegiance must be predetermined or else the default will not be a good option. There is only one voice that sheep know and listen to, their shepherd’s. Others may dress just like him, say the same things in the same ways and even be given responsibility over the flock, but only the shepherd’s voice commands the flock. It is the right of every believer to hear and know the Voice of our Shepherd.
It is a supreme honor to be given the ability and right to hear a Voice from another realm. Every time that the Father speaks to us, He speaks from Eternity. Isaiah called Him “He who inhabits eternity”. His primary existence is outside of existence as we understand it. When we speak of “eternal truths” or “eternal life”, we are not just talking about truths or life that has no expiration date on the label. Eternal things are things which exist apart from existence. “Eternal” is not a characteristic, it is a nature, an essence, an irrevocable quality. My roommate in ministry school is an American citizen, but he was born in Russia. Try as he may, he is not an American, he may act like one, think like one, operate in society like one, but he is not an American. (This is not at all to imply that America is comparable to Eternity, the example is purely for illustration)
So when The Voice speaks out of Eternity, Peter’s cognitive circuits are fried. He went from babbling about making three tents on a hill because he didn’t know what else to say to not saying anything about the encounter for a long time. If it were not for the frightening touch of Eternity, any one of us would be liable to boast about what we had seen. The closer we get to the heart of the Shepherd, the softer He can speak to get our attention. We can have dozens or hundreds of people demanding healing from us when anointed with a healing ministry, but we are listening for what the Father is saying so that we can do what He is doing. When men and women find their true identity in the opinion of Eternity, that is when temporal taunts become worthless whispers in disinterested ears.
*We turn our ears to the Voice that spoke us into being, give us ears to hear. Amen*
