Deuteronomy 30:11-14
For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
Israel did not overhear God. They were not listening with a cup against the door of heaven in order to eavesdrop. Israel heard God because He spoke to them. He initiated by opening His mouth.
"Revelation is God's gracious self-disclosure, whereby He forfeits His own personal privacy, that His creatures would know Him." -- Albert Mohler, Jr., The John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership
God is not found because anyone was looking for Him anymore than He is heard because anyone was listening for Him. If He remained silent, He would remain invisible to us. We would see His invisible qualities speaking loudly in nature, but from Him we would hear nothing directly. In nature, perhaps, we could hear His footsteps upstairs, but we might easily mistake it for the wind or the house settling. But we hear God because He makes Himself heard.
Israel did not understand God. He cannot be comprehended or apprehended. Israel did not hunt Him down or deduce Him. He cannot be determined by calculation. He is not a conclusion one can merely come to or a destination at which one can inevitably arrive. He cannot be obtained or contained. Israel stood under God because He stooped. He initiated by coming down. He revealed Himself. He was not discovered, He disclosed Himself.
We do not overhear or understand God.
He stands over and speaks to us below.
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