HOW GOD SPOKE IN OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT DAYS

HOW GOD SPOKE IN OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT DAYS

If God is still talking, how does He speak? We can discover His methods by reviewing the different ways He revealed Himself in Old and New Testament days. First, He spoke by direct revelation. By His Spirit He spoke to the spirit of men like Abraham, who one day heard God directly tell him to leave the land in which he was living and go into a land that God would show him:

Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB)

1 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;

2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;

3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Second, the Bible says God spoke through dreams. A good example is evident in the experiences of Daniel, to whom God revealed His world destiny in a series of dreams. Through visions Daniel saw the empires that were to come. In this way, God gave Daniel tremendous insight into future world events that are still in the process of unfolding today.

This is a point, however, in which we must be extremely careful. The Bible does not ever say to seek the mind of God in dreams. For instance, I remember one Saturday night when I dreamed that nobody was in church the next morning, except me. If I had adhered to that dream, I probably would have just stayed home and slept!

Neither are we ever encouraged in the Word of God to seek the mind of God through visions. I had a friend who was flying home from a business trip one day, when he saw the sun reflecting through the clouds making the form of a cross. He interpreted that vision to mean that he was saved. Unfortunately, that does not have anything to do with confession, repentance, or belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bible explains salvation.

Third, God spoke through His written words, such as when He gave Moses the Ten Commandments and then used the Law to communicate to His people. God also spoke audibly in biblical days. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to persecute believers in Damascus. The Bible says that he:

Acts 9:4 (NASB)

4 “And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Fourth, God spoke through His prophets. The prophets exclaimed, “Thus saith the Lord,” and the people obeyed because they knew it came directly from God.

Fifth, God spoke through circumstances. We’ve all heard the story of how God revealed Himself to Gideon. God wanted Gideon to lead the nation of Israel in battle against the enemy. Being a little fearful, Gideon decided to lay out a fleece. In fact, he laid it out twice. One morning he asked that it be soaking wet in the midst of dry grass, and the next morning he asked that it be as dry as gunpowder in the midst of wet grass. God graciously reached down to Gideon and gave him the assurance and confidence he needed.

Sixth, He spoke through angels, introducing to Mary and Joseph the birth of Jesus Christ through angelic proclamation.

Seventh, God often spoke through the Holy Spirit. You remember that in the life of Paul, who was on his way to Asia, God spoke to him through the Holy Spirit, forbidding him to go there:

Acts 16:6-7 (NASB)

6 “They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.”