In classical antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions of the future, inspired by the gods. Later, an oracle became associated with the words such people gave; the word in English comes from the Latin ‘orare’, to say.
It is good for us to acknowledge wisdom and counsel, but the Bible makes it plain that the words of God, spoken by God, are powerful beyond any human words. God spoke creation into being (Genesis 1); Ps 33:6 and 9 say, ‘By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth… For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.’ Jesus is referred to as ‘the Word’ (Jn 1:1); Heb 1:1-2 says ‘In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.’ We need to pay careful attention to all God says.
In Ps 110, we are twice told that God speaks: Ps 110:1 (‘The LORD says to my Lord’) and Ps 110:4 (‘the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.’) Our responsibility as God’s people is to have ears that hear, rather like the character in Ezra Pound’s poem who wishes to know everything: ‘I guzzle with outstretched ears’. Listening to God is no easy task (it is all too easy to be like the people in Isaiah’s prophecy, ‘ever hearing, but never understanding.’ (Is 6:9)), but God is looking for people who will ponder and weigh all He says and has said. Ps 110 reminds us that God is a God who speaks, a God who wishes to communicate with us. Jesus frequently spoke about having ears that hear (Matt 11:15, Matt 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 6:47), about hearing leading to action (see Matt 7:24-27). The question is not so much ‘does God speak?’ as ‘are we listening, really listening?’ (Matt 11:15, The Message)
