"Ephphata"

Mark 7.

Some caring people brought to Jesus a deaf man with a speech impediment and begged Him to put His hand on him. Jesus pulled him away from the crowd, put His fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. Then He looked up to heaven, and sighed, and said to the man, "Ephphata," that is, "Be opened."

Immediately, his ears were opened and his tongue was set free and he could speak plainly. Everyone was astonished beyond measure and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
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From the time I was twelve and on up into my early twenties, I attended a deaf church with my family. The pastor was hearing and he signed and spoke at the same time. He was a wonderful man and I have fond memories of that community of deaf and hearing believers. Above the pulpit on the wall were written beautiful words, "In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book," from Isaiah's prophecy about the coming Savior.

My sister got her master's degree in deaf education and later married a man who was instrumental in rescuing deaf people from mental institutions and setting up homes for them to live in. He was their go-between; helping them acclimate themselves to a 'normal' world. Later, he and my sister adopted a 8 or 9 year old Korean deaf boy who has since grown up and married a deaf woman and they have two children-both deaf. My brother-in-law is finishing up his doctorate and it has something to do with deafness as well.

When I was in high school, I took sign language classes to better communicate with my deaf friends. Two of my close friends in high school were twin deaf boys who could speak and communicate without a great deal of sign language. I would help them when they didn't understand something that was going on. I also found that knowing how to read lips had its advantages.

I always thought that the deaf people I knew in church had good marriages because they could never turn their backs on one another if they wanted to communicate a message. Face to face, eyes reading eyes, lips reading lips, hands reading hands, in their own private world.

I say all this to say that the world of deafness is not foreign to me, but I only know it from the outside looking in. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to have Jesus' fingers in my ears, watch Him spit, feel His touch on my tongue and the warm breath of His heavenward sigh on my face, and watch His mouth say, "Ephphatha. Be opened."

I love that Jesus took that man away from the noise of the crowd so His voice would be the first voice he heard.

Perhaps we too, must be taken away from the crowd in order that we may first hear His voice.
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I like these verses about our ears and our tongue.

Isaiah 50:4,5~"The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD has opened My ear and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away."

These words were prophetic about Jesus' relationship with His Father
and His kind way with weary people,
but I think God would delight in giving us a learned tongue
to speak a word to the weary as well.
He would like to open our ears to hear as the learned.

John 10:3,4~"The sheep hear His voice...and they follow Him, for they know His voice."

The reason a child responds to its parent's voice in a crowd
is because it knows that voice from being alone with its parent at home.
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God is not deaf. Not only does He hear us; He heeds us.
The word 'heed' or 'hearken' means to give careful attention to;
to listen carefully.

Psalm 34:4 says, "I sought the LORD and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears."

Isaiah 65:24-"It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear."

God is eager to answer our prayers.
Sometimes He answers our thoughts
before they turn into words of prayer.

And Romans 8:26 says, "...for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

Too often we think that because God is Sovereign, God will do what God will do. But His Sovereignty gives Him the freedom to heed what we are saying and to change circumstances and hearts because of our words. Just look at what Moses did for the Children of Israel with his intervening words.

Sometimes, life strikes us dumb with its cruelty and pain. Our mouths are shut up and we have no idea what to say or how to pray. But God hears even our groanings which cannot be uttered. God does not have human ears. He hears the broken heart that cannot even make a sound,
and for this, I fall at His feet and love Him all the more.

Thank you
Dear Merciful Hearing God.