 |  |
EPHPHATHA, or Be Opened.
#1.
The Opened Ear: "To Learn."
pp. 111, 112
A common expression, belonging to no one aspect of service is that of an "opening"
being found for a person who has sought employment. The word is used in several
suggestive ways in connection with the greatest of all service, the service of the Lord. It
may be a word in season to some of our readers if we give the usage of this expression a
consideration. In what order shall we deal with the many "openings" that are discovered,
is the first question that presents itself. Of what use is an "open" door, if our mouth is
closed? Or what use is an "open" mouth, if we have nothing to say? Consequently,
before we think of the openings for service that await the believer, we must pay attention
to the messenger himself. Our first study therefore is associated with
THE
OPENED EAR.
A twofold charge is brought against the "Hebrews" in chapter 5:--they were "dull of
hearing" and they "ought to have been teachers". This suggests that the opened ear is a
very important factor in the equipment of a teacher. The Apostle makes it very plain,
when speaking of the gospel which he preached, that he was but passing on a message
that he himself had received:--"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received" (I Cor. 15: 3), and whatever way the Lord chose to reveal the truth to His
servant, the figure of the opened ear is suggestive.
The greatest of all Servants, wonderful to say, is the Lord Himself, and it is in the
prophetic record written by Isaiah long before His first advent, that we find our perfect
illustration.
"The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to
speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He
wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened Mine ear, and I
was not rebellious, neither turned away back" (Isa. 50: 4, 5).
What a full passage is this. First of all we observe that the "tongue" is intimately
associated with the "ear". It is a physical truth that many are dumb simply because they
are deaf. The Lord once had a man brought before Him who was deaf and who had an
impediment in his speech.
"He put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched his tongue: and looking
up to heaven He sighed, and said unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
Straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue loosed, and he spake
plain" (Mark 7: 33-35).
In this miracle we may see a picture of the believer, who because he has not "the
hearing ear" has an impediment also in his speech. The Lord said Ephphatha, "Be