God expects us to listen and obey. Ears Turned Away God expects us to listen and obey.

Introduction Proverbs 28:9 - One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Abomination – abhorrent, hatred, hateful, disgusting, loathed Wycliffe Bible Dictionary – “Revulsion at great wrong in religious matters.”

Introduction John 12:48 - He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. Have you turned your ears away from hearing and obeying God?

Proverbs 1:24-26 24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, 25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,

Proverbs 1:28-30 28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.

Proverbs 1:28-30 Wisdom – personified as the actions of God God – called, stretched out His hand Man – refused, did not heed Proverbs 1:31 - Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

Isaiah 65:12b Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight. God called – you did not answer God spoke – you did not hear, but did evil

Isaiah 66:4a So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; Their delusions (mockings) will bring fear God called, no one answered

Jeremiah 7:12-13 12“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13And now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,

Jeremiah 7:12-13 God is calling, speaking to His people The Jews refused to obey Vs. 14 - therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

Jeremiah 6:16 Jeremiah 6:16 - Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Jeremiah 11:8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.

Jeremiah 11:8 Vs. 11 - Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.

Ezekiel 8:16 So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.

Zechariah 7:11-12 11But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. 12Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

Zechariah 7:13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts.

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Many dismiss the OT passages This is NT – same truth

CONCLUSION God will not come running to a person living in disobedience Hearing is more than listening to a sermon Hearing is heartfelt obedience We must obey God if we want God to hear our cries