The Bible gives us much more that just a definition of SR. There are a couple of things we need to study from Heb. 1:1-2: what are the various ways God spoke through the prophets; and what does it mean that He has spoken through His Son?
B. B. Warfield
summarized the subject with three “modes” of revelation:
·
External manifestations. This included “theophany,” miracles and any
other supernatural intervention in the affairs of men.
·
Internal suggestion: This includes prophecies as
well as visions and dreams, God using a means to give men a message to be
relayed to others.
·
Concursive operation: This involves God speaking
through men in a psalm, epistle or historical account. In other words, God guiding men as they put
in written form the words He desires to be communicated.
Let’s
get a little more specific as to the “various ways” God has revealed Himself to
His people.
o
First, for God to speak to man He had to make it
possible for man to understand the divine truth. I believe there are two ways God did
this. First, in creating man in His
image He place within man the ability to understand. But that was insufficient, especially with
the introduction of sin in man. Thus,
God had to condescend to man. God used anthropomorphisms,
meaning He spoke of Himself in human terms.
When the invisible God speaks of His mighty arm or His heart, He is not saying
He has a physical arm or heart. He is
speaking in language we understand to describe His perfections. He also used analogies, using earthly
things to speak of heavenly truths. For
example, in Deut. 32, God primarily speaks of Himself as Israel’s Rock. And God spoke in human language, our
language. How thankful we are for
that.
v
Here are some of the ways God used to reveal
Himself and His will to men.
o
The lot (yes, like throwing the dice; Prov.
16:33; Acts 1:21-26).
o
The Urim and Thummim (Ex. 28:30; Num. 27:21; I
Sam. 28:6). This is a bit mysterious,
yet said to be reliable. The High Priest
had these two rocks
o
The dream (emphasis on what is seen)(Gen.
37:1-11).
o
The vision (combines pictoral &
oral)(Psa.89:19).
o
Theophanies (Gen. 16:7-13). “Theophany” means “a God appearance.” It refers to pre-incarnate appearances of
God. There are numerous appearances of
the “Angel of the LORD” in the OT. When
people saw this manifestation, they understood they had been in the presence of
God (e.g. Jud. 6:21-23). This Angel
actually equates Himself with God (Gen. 22:11-12).
o The
rapturing of man to a vision of God (e.g. Moses in Ex.33, seeing God's glory
from a cleft in the rock; or Isa. 6; or Ezek.1, the wheel within a wheel; or
Dan 7 and the Ancient of Days; of John in Rev. 4).
As you think about these ways God spoke to
man, do you see His humbling Himself to speak in a way we could understand? This is a demonstration of His great love for
us. To make clear what He was doing, we
have time and again the prophets beginning their preaching with the words, “Thus
saith the Lord” (415 times in the OT in the King James Bible. The prophets did not speak “a” word of God
but rather “the” word of God. Sometimes
He spoke to them inwardly, sometimes with an audible voice, and sometimes He
guided the prophet (or Apostle) as they wrote.
But always, the prophet spoke for God.
The greatest demonstration of His love is yet
to come. He “has in these last days
spoken to us by His Son!”
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