There are those who would tell us that personal revelations are part and parcel of being a Christian. Some of those on the pentecostal wing of the faith would actually say that without personal revelations we are not truly Christians. Numerous books have been written on the subject of personal revelation and how to increase our prophetic ability. Often the arguments presented to readers of such novels make use of Biblical figures. The argument usually follows the pattern of “if God could speak with x, then God can speak to us”.
If God could speak with Moses, then God can speak to us
If God could speak to Jeremiah, then God can speak to us
Which is of course... TRUE. God can talk to us and no one denies that. However the difference is in understanding the way in which God chooses to talk, and if indeed He does still talk in that prophetic sense. In the Old Testament Korah rightly believed that God could speak to anyone, the problem however was, as Korah learned in a terrible yet decisive way, that God spoke only through Moses. Yes He could have talked through anyone and even everyone had He wanted to, but He chose to speak through Moses alone.
So, is being the recipient of special revelation normative for all? Looking at Scripture it is clearly not. Time and again we see God choosing to speak to the patriarchs, to Moses, to the prophets and to the Apostles. Small groups or solitary figures rather than the masses.
But if one looks at the Bible one will quickly notice something else, long periods without revelation. From Joseph until Moses and the Burning Bush there is no record of any revelation. Yet God was working. From Malachi to John the Baptist there were no prophets of God yet God was working. The Book of Maccabees is testament to the fact that there was no authoritative prophet (1 Maccabees 4:46) around at that time and also that God was working in the lives of His people. Esther is another brilliant example of this work of God. Though never mentioned throughout the entire Book, God works to turn a lowly Jewish girl into a Queen. He works providentially through Esther to save His people and to keep His promises and what we can see from these examples is that during those periods, without any revelation (other that what had been given previously to others), God still worked His plan through people just as effectively as He did through direct revelation.
6 comments:
Hi Wandering Pilgrim,
Sorry for not leaving a comment here for sometime. Many thanks for these last few very thoughtful posts on the theme of 'Revelation'.
I'm always extremely wary of those people who tell you, "And God said to me..." over & over again as if they have some special hotline to God giving them a new revelation every day. God has revealed himself in his Son, Jesus Christ & does continue to speak through the Scriptures. But I do have grave doubts about people who claim to have had a personal revelation, especially if it is at odds with the traditional understanding of the teaching of Scripture.
Sorry - I also meant to say that your link to my blog seems to be broken!
chaplain.cz you have no need to apologise, I honestly do not not what is wrong with the "Blog of Fame". A week or so ago it disappeared for no reason and I had to search out blog URLs hence the reason for the change in some of the featured blogs. Your link should be pointing straight to www.rickyyates.com but doesn't seem to, so I'm going to create a little "friends list" like you have on your page in the hope that will remedy the situation.
As for the "Revelation" theme I thank you for your comment. Truth be told I hadn't realised just how big the subject really was and how much of a theological minefield revelation can be but I'm glad your enjoying the articles :)
Hi there, I'm a new visitor to your blog and just read this. I'm a Christian and I believe God speaks to anyone who seeks after him. I don't believe God constantly speaks to me (wouldn't that be nice), but I've never ruled out the idea that he could. I also believe God never has and never will tell anyone anything that contradicts scripture.
Your examples above are very OT based (which isn't a criticism as ALL scripture is God breathed), but I feel another OT verse should be mentioned. 'In the last days I will pour out my spirit on ALL flesh, your young men shall dream dreams and your old men shall prophecy' etc.
In the light of the Acts of the Apostles, I think it's clear that we are in a new time where God is using everyday "normal" Christians in some very supernatural ways. I think the spread of the good news should be accompanied by miracles. What could be more convincing of the truth of the gospel than the sick being healed infront of non believers eyes? It proves our message. This is how Paul worked, and I believe we should do everything we can follow this biblical style of evangelism.
Maybe I'm going off the point...wandering into the territory of miracles rather than revelation. The NT clearly speaks of words of knowledge and how God uses that and wants to give these gifts to believers. Thanks for your post, I found it interesting. please feel free to come back to me on any of the above points :)
Hi holymansam and welcome to the blog! I too believe in a personal God with whom we can have (indeed as Christians should/must have) a close relationship, taking our worries and questions to Him and awaiting His words of guidance. My issue is really with “prophecy” in the vein of Harold Camping or Benny Hinn, whereby men claim to speak God's words and then end up with a false prediction as though God was making it up all along or revelations whereby men try to force their own beliefs on the church as though they were God's. For me and the church (most churches with the exception of the pentecostal and charismatic denominations) the gift of prophecy ended with the closing of the Canon.
That is to say the Bible is complete. It contains everything necessary for the Christian's learning and can be the only basis of belief, doctrine and exhortation. It is God's complete and correct Revelation of God to man and no further one is needed. It is a matter of Scriptural suffiency.
The historic position of most protestant denominations was that gifts described in Acts etc. were for a certain time and purpose (the establishment of the Church) and once that purpose was fulfilled the gifts were retracted. Hence they could be mentioned in Acts and the rest of New Testament but not today. This is why most protestant churches deny “speaking in tongues”, “faith healing”, revelation (like I'm talking about namely that can affect doctrine or teaching) etc. as being ceased. I on the other hand feel that God can heal today though the medium through which he does that is debatable (is it through men -faith healers? Pastors? Prayer? Etc.), I believe also in the gifts of ministry, faith and also the discernment of spirits (using the Scripture as a guide) but speaking in tongues (and as such the interpretation), wisdom and prophecy have ceased.
Your quote from Acts 2:17 backs up this view of cessationism and it is summed far better than I ever could here: http://bible.org/question/how-does-one-support-cessationism-light-acts-217
I understand but must disagree with your view of evangelism. I feel that Jesus saves. The Gospel call will convict those members of the elect of their sin and will enable them by the grace of God to turn from that sin. It is not based on how big the choir is, nor what songs we sing or even the number of healing we have at our missions but is instead entirely down to the will of God and the Gospel call.
Thanks for the questions and I hope I've answered some of your questions (even a little) though I feel you will disagree with me totally. We are both on our own journey in faith and will make different decisions and reach different decisions but in the end Christ is really all that matters and not cessationism or continuism.
Nice reading. And a nice blog template,
Bishop jordan
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