Definition of Revelation
God reveals Himself to specific people at specific times and places.
- Special revelation cannot be learned by oneself.
The Holy Spirit reveals Himself spiritually through His words.1 Corinthians 2:13-14: “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
- A divine revelation is accepted by faith.
Without faith, one will never see, understand, or hear God.Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Need for Special Revelation
- Man’s salvation depends on it.
Faith comes from the special revelation of God’s words.Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
- Man cannot appreciate general revelation unless he first accepts special revelation.
General revelation is basically God revealing Himself not to one specific location, place, or person but in a general manner to a whole group.Romans 1:19-21: “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Psalm 8:3-5: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”A lost man is not thankful to the true God for His creation because he doesn’t believe in His words. Creation is an example of a general revelation.
Prophets Who Were Given Special Revelation
- The formula for the right prophet who is given special revelation:
Key phrase: ‘Thus saith the Lord’
There are 413 such verses in the Bible. For example:Exodus 4:22: “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:”
Joshua 7:13: “Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.”
Judges 6:8: “That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;”
1 Samuel 2:27: “And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?”
2 Samuel 7:5: “Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?”
1 Kings 11:31: “And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:”
2 Kings 1:4: “Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.”
1 Chronicles 21:10: “Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.”
2 Chronicles 34:23: “And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,”
Isaiah 7:7: “Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.”
Jeremiah 2:2: “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.”
1 Kings 13:15-24: “Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.” - When the prophet is given a special personal revelation by God, the pattern of revelation shows that he can be known to do strange things. The following are accounts of revelation to prophets:
Here, the Lord asked Ezekiel to eat his own dung.Ezekiel 4:12-15: “And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.”
The Lord asked Isaiah to go out naked.
Isaiah 20:2: “At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.”
A prophet tore off his clothes into 12 pieces.
1 Kings 11:29-31: “And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field: And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:”
A prophet asked people to smite him.
1 Kings 20:35-38: “And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.”
The Lord told Hosea to marry a whore.
Hosea 1:1-2: “The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.”
No matter how the trolls or liberal news media depict a Bible-believing preacher, don’t count out that their actions might just be of God. Their actions may defy human wisdom/human nature and what modern “church leaders” say to do.
- A woman, a wild man, etc.
2 Chronicles 34:22: “And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.”
Mark 1:6: “And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;”
1 Samuel 19:23-24: “And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?”
The Lord used a soothsayer.
Joshua 13:22: “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.”
Numbers 23:5: “And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.”
Mark 12:36: “For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”Zacharias was a priest.
Luke 1:1: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,”
Luke 1:67: “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,”
Luke 1:5: “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.”
Daniel 6:2: “And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.”
Matthew 24:15: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
False Prophets
The idea of revelation has so fascinated the Christian church who go all out to claim that they have been given a divine truth through a personal revelation from a supernatural entity. Those who say they have received supernatural revelation today, are not of divine inspiration. Here are some ways to mark them:
- They do not go by ‘Thus saith the Lord’.
1 Kings 13:18-21: “He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,”
- They do not use great swelling words.
2 Peter 2:1-3: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
2 Peter 2:15-18: “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.” - Their prophecy fails.
Deuteronomy 18:22: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
- Their prophecy is true, but still wrong because it does not follow the word of God.
Deuteronomy 13:1-4: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.”
Paul says that if one is spiritual, he must go by his writings in the word of God.
1 Corinthians 14:37: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
Modern Days
John wrote about the things that will happen in the future.
Revelation 1:19: “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;”
The things that John has written in this book cannot be added to.
Revelation 22:18: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:”
In modern days, God does not show special revelation person to person. There is no more “special revelation” or private revelations from God.
Men do have special revelation, but the problem is, why don’t they use the gifts of their own testimony and the Bible?
Scriptures are man’s prophecy. Scriptures are a direct revelation from the word of God.
2 Peter 1:19-21: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 19:10: “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
If men have the testimony of Jesus Christ in them, they are prophesying.
Testimony: One is saved in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prophecy: One is going to heaven. He is not going to burn in hell.
Peter had the special revelation, both audio and visual, from God, but what’s above all that?
v19 – There’s a more sure prophecy
v20 – The word of God
Why? Because it’s the combination of all prophecies of all prophets throughout all times.
2 Peter 1:17-20: “For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
It is dangerous to be looking out for a “personal experience” and to seek out supernatural revelation at this day and age. Instead of human experience, we should be looking to the Bible for the source of knowledge and prophetic words.