The word "hear" in Hebrew is "shama," and means to hear intelligently and is translated many, many times "OBEY," or "understand" instead of "hear" (merely to perceive sound.) That is a major and vital concept lost to most of the apostate church which is stuck in "simply believe and receive" mode and think it means to merely "perceive sound." Two examples:
De 6:4 Hear [shama`], O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
De 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey [shama`] the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey [shama`] the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
[Heb. 8085] shama` (shaw-mah')God really does mean what He says! If one does not "believe" enough to "do" what He says, that man's faith is in vain, of none effect and even that which he hast shall be taken from him. He needs no man to deceive him, he has deceived his own self.
a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):--X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), X indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, X surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.[Heb. 8091] Shama` (shaw-maw')
from 8085; obedient; Shama, an Israelite:--Shama.
Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Look at this promise -- "THEY KNEW NOT!"
Mt 24:39 And *knew* not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Knew:Ps 53:2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
1097. ginosko*
ginosko ghin-oce'-koa prolonged form of a primary verb; to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed):--allow, be aware (of), feel, (have) know(-ledge), perceived, be resolved, can speak, be sure, understand.
It is time to lay every tradition and every doctrine at the foot of the cross and REPENT! Start over! The timeframe in the word above is consistent with a look at this year's Jewish Feasts. Sept. 11 was the towers of Babel/Babylon falling. "Yet 7 days" -- the same words the Lord said to Noah before the Judgment of the flood -- brings us to Sept. 18 -- Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of TRUMPETS, and the head of the New Year, and perhaps JUDGMENT and THE DAY OF THE LORD.
The number 18 equals Judgment. Trumpets equals Judgment. The number 23 in the Bible means death. On July 23, a fireball shaped like a trumpet fell into the Northeast. Tropical Storm Gabrielle is currently blowing in! Apparently the trumpet needs to blow enough to wake the spiritually dead. Wake up! Wake up!
Judgment is coming like the headlights of an oncoming train and people persist in doctrines and traditions of men and of devils! I tell you for a truth that the Lord Jesus Christ IS the Messiah, the son of the God and He is coming back in vengeance on those that know not God and obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and that includes those who SAY but do not DO. 2Th 1:8. Most of the American church is apostate and so far from the true gospel that the "Christian Church" is not recognizable to one who just simply reads the Bible, Genesis through Revelation, with a submitted heart.
The false church has exalted itself like Jezebel, allowed the wicked one, that old serpent and his ministers to preach and seduce the saints. He has been given pulpit time and voting rights and has deceived the church. If one wants to go to heaven, it is through the shed blood, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, and in obeying Him, in departing from evil, purifying oneself and preferring HIM and what He says rather than what the false prophets say He says. One understanding of the wicked one standing in the holy place, is sin, standing in the heart of the so-called believer. "Believer "should not be used as synonomous for "Christian." Devils believe and tremble. Most Christians don't have sense enough to tremble and shall perish for lack of knowledge because they have rejected God by not acknowledging Him by their works and doing what He says.