“A voice, still and small” is the literal translation of the Hebrew. The prophet Elijah heard this gentle voice on Mount Horeb after fleeing from Queen Jezebel. When Elijah heard that voice, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And behold, a voice came to him, saying, “What do you want here, Elijah?” God spoke to Elijah in a different voice at Mount Horeb. It was not the usual voice of God. This time the tone was: quiet, soft, gentle, thin, small and mild. This is expressed in the three Hebrew words Kol Demama Daka (קול דממה דקה).

In the Bible, Horeb is the mountain of God on which Moses received the tablets of the law. At that meeting, God spoke with a mighty voice. God did not speak to Moses in a still small voice. There is a lot of talk and debate about these three Hebrew words and how to really interpret them. And I will be writing more about the still small voice of God and Elijah in the near future.

But in the meantime, don’t miss our desert journey to the mountain where God revealed himself to the people of Israel with thunder and lightning and spoke to Elijah in a still small voice. A voice that probably penetrated deeply into Elijah. This is what I wish for each of us to hear, the still small voice of God in our hearts. In exactly four weeks we will be on Mount Horeb, still enough time to make a decision and be there with us. Just do it!

Time is running away from us. We always have excuses that keep us from doing something. We constantly convince ourselves that we don’t have the time. But if you want, you can take the time to experience something new. Especially now, when the world around us seems to be going crazy and uncertainty reigns. It is precisely in such situations that people have to pause and reconsider everything. What better place for that than the biblical desert? A place where God’s voice is heard most clearly in the stillness and under the endless starry sky. “A voice, still and small.”

Learn more about the upcoming hike and sign up: In Search of the Mountain of God: An Israel Today Desert Trek