God Interpreters: No Love Lost in Translation

By Mathias Hilliker

God Interpreters: No Love Lost in Translation is a book that is pragmatic, innovative, and instructional. Using biblical concepts, it makes the unseen realm both visible and tangible. In this book, you are invited to get to know the Holy Spirit as a person, not an impersonal force but rather a friend, comforter, counselor, guide, teacher, and constant helper. Mathias shares what he calls the “sequence of three.” The first is to recognize God’s voice, then to understand what He is saying, and then how to respond to His voice. There is always a responsibility that comes with responding to His voice. In John 10:27, it says, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.” Part of God knowing us is also knowing how He speaks to us so we can understand Him and understand His voice. A voice is the sound that communicates the content of a language. Language has four primary ways to communicate with us: verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual. God’s language is expressed in all of these ways.

As we experience an increase in revelation being poured out in these days (Acts 2), we will also be experiencing the sequence of three in prophetic revelation: godly revelation, soulish prophecy, and false prophecy. God Interpreters: No Love Lost in Translation will give practical insight and a wisdom perspective on the Office of the Prophet, the seven-mountain mandate, how to function in the marketplace, prophecy and healing in the workplace, and manifesting the invisible God.

The questions for reflection at the end of each chapter enable you to think through the content and will benefit those who take the time to contemplate them.

—Aaron and Jill-Marie Evans, The Emerging Daniel Company Int’l

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638746263

Book preview

Chapter 1

Recognizing God’s Voice

Both saved and unsaved people hear God’s voice. The difference between saved and unsaved is their response to the voice of God. In the Scriptures, there are a number of examples of God speaking but people not recognizing it as the voice of God. For example, in John 12:28–30, Jesus speaks to God in the presence of some others and says, Father, glorify thy name. After this, a voice comes from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. But the people standing nearby did not recognize that as the voice of God. Some said, It thundered. Others said an angel spoke to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. So we all hear God’s voice, but do we accredit it to God? Jesus heard God’s voice and knew that it was His Father. Others heard God’s voice and did not believe that it was God’s voice at all. The third group of people recognized that what they heard was a voice, but they were still missing something until Jesus pointed it out. The voice was not for His sake but theirs. That is still the case. It is for our sake that God speaks to us. And that is the purpose of prophecy, to hear God’s heart for a person, place or thing. (This definition is from John Thomas of Streams Ministries.)

When God speaks, we may recognize it as something else. If that is the case, I don’t think we fall in bad company. Let’s look in 1 Samuel.

And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. (1 Samuel 3:1–10)

As we look at this section of the Bible, we see that Samuel heard God’s voice but thought at first that it might be Eli the high priest calling to him.¹ It took Eli three times before he knew it was God. One reason for this might be that the word of God was precious in those days.² In this context, the word precious means rare. But precious also means valuable. I want to challenge you to understand that every time God speaks, it is both a valuable and rare moment. Even if He speaks to you once a year or once a minute.

Notice that in this story, Samuel goes to Eli three times because Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.³ I believe that when God first speaks to you, He does it in a sequence of threes. The first time is to plant the seed to awaken your senses. The second time is to make you aware that it is not you or your imagination. The third time is so that you may become familiar with Him and to confirm His nature.

I remember the first time I looked back and could say without a doubt that I heard God’s voice. (Although He had spoken to me before this, I thought it was a coincidence.) My wife and I were recently married and were living two doors down from a convenience store. I wanted to buy a drink and a snack, so I unlocked the front door of our home and headed outside to go to this store.

As I was leaving, I heard a voice in my head say, Take your keys.

I thought, What? I don’t need my keys. I’ll only be gone a short time, and I know the door is unlocked since I checked it three times.

Halfway down the front stairs, I heard it again. Grab your keys.

What? I will only be at the store for a short time.

At the bottom of the stairs I heard, Grab your keys.

What? No, I will be done in three minutes.

Well, in that short amount of time, my wife came home and left again, locking the door behind her. I was outside for an hour. No phone (most people did not have cell phones then) and no keys.

Hey, God, Is That You?

In the story of Samuel, we see Samuel tell God, Speak. Thy servant heareth.⁴ It takes a lot more than listening to hear someone speak. When God awakens our senses, He presents us with the risk factor of following His lead and doing what He says.

A week after being locked out of the house, I was at the laundromat and I was reading about Elijah and praying. I prayed a dangerous prayer that day. God, I will do what you want when you want.

He then said, Okay, go and pray for that lady.

"What, here? You want me to pray for this lady now? Can I pray for her when I get home?"

Then I remembered the scripture that tells us to test the spirit that comes⁵ (1 John 4:1). I know, I know—like the devil would want me to pray for someone! I just had to get over my fear and insecurities. I walked up to the lady, thinking how upset and unapproachable she looked.

I said, Hello, my name is Mathias, and I believe God wants me to pray for you. Is it okay with you if I do so?

To my shock, she said, Yes, and she made the sign of the cross, a beautiful demonstration of her faith as I was exercising my faith.

I had no clue what to pray or why.