- God as a Spirit spoke to Adam in the Garden of Eden as they walked together in the cool of the evening.
- God spoke to Cain about his sacrifice being unacceptable and his future as a wanderer.
- God spoke to Noah about the Ark and the coming flood.
- God spoke to His angels about the Tower of Babel and confusing their language.
- God spoke to Abraham about establishing the Nation of Israel as an example to all nations.
- God spoke to Joseph in dreams about his leadership providing security for his family.
- God spoke to Moses about leading Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
In all of these interactions with humans, God was continually pointing to when He would speak through His Son Jesus Christ.
Jesus spoke what He heard from His Father to speak. Jesus did what His Father directed. Jesus came to be the manifestation of His invisible Father in a body of flesh. Jesus came to be the ‘Rhema’ or Spoken Words of His Father to mankind. Jesus was the Immanuel or God with us.
In the Book of Acts Jesus speaks to His twelve disciples who are now called Apostles or those who have been sent out on a mission. Their mission was to spread the Good News about His death, resurrection and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit into the hearts of men everywhere.
- Peter looked upon the lame man at the temple and was ‘moved’ to say to him; “Silver and gold have I none but such as I have, give I thee, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
- Peter in questioning Ananias about the sale of his property and his offering to the church, God revealed to Peter that Ananias was lying about the price his property sold for, and God did the same with Sapphira.
- Stephen saw the heavens opened and the Lord Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God as he was stoned to death. He cried, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.”
- Another disciple named Ananias at Damascus saw the Lord in a vision telling him to seek Saul who later became known as Paul to pray for his sight to be restored. Paul had seen the Lord on the road to Damascus in a Vision that blinded his eyes for three days.
- Cornelius saw a vision with the Angel of God informing him of Peter who would guide him into the New Birth experience promised by Jesus to Nicodemus. Peter had a vision at the same time letting him know that Cornelius would be coming to see him soon.
- Paul was ‘moved’ as he looked intently at a lame man at Lystra, saying to him; “Stand upright on your feet!”
The book of Acts is full of examples where God through Jesus Christ, an Angel, in visions and dreams spoke and directed people towards the Gospel of Grace, Mercy and Truth.
Today there are many people, both in the church and outside the church who say that they have heard the voice of God. Many cults have been started by men and women who have supposedly heard the voice of God or seen a vision of an angel.
The 2016 Presidential Election brought us many prophetic voices saying that Clinton would win and many others saying that Trump would win. Why is there so much confusion today as to who is and who is not really hearing from God?
When the Old Testament Prophets foretold something as from God, they had to be absolutely correct or they were stoned as False Prophets. Today, if a ‘prophet’ or ‘prophetess’ gets something wrong, they simply shrug it off saying, “I guess I missed it.”
God does still speak to His people today. There are still genuine Prophets of God today, although not all that call themselves a prophet are actually prophets of God.
So, the answer lies in the time they spend alone before God. We live in a very busy microwave age and thus we expect God to give us push-button answers within a few minutes. Although God can work that way, His history of speaking with men shows that many times, there are years in between His communications with a Abraham.
God ‘moved’, God sent angels, God gave Visions and Dreams, God blinded Saul with the brightness of His Presence, God spoke to Moses in a Burning Bush, to Jacob at an altar at Bethel, and many times there were years in between His communications. Yet again, today, we expect God to speak within minutes of our seeking Him.
The main thing we forget about these men and their experiences with God is they each walked with God day after day, year after year, meditating, praying before His Presence. God spoke when He chose to do so, not when the seeker demanded it.
Today’s prophetic leaders all live a busy life in their ministries as well as in their day to day responsibilities with their homes, and families. How many hours do they spend alone before God? Could this be the reason why they misinterpret some of their revelations from God when it really is coming from their own unbroken egos and biases?
The Bible speaks of ‘Times of Refreshing’ coming from the Spirit of God and ‘the Time of the Promise drawing nigh’ and a ‘‘Tme of visitation’. God does not work on our time schedule. A day with the Lord is as a 1000 years in His sight. My seventy years on this earth is like .0027 of a day with God. God works on His time which is timeless!
Hopefully the election of Donald Trump will bring new hope to America and new zeal from believers in Christ to rededicate themselves to prayer and fasting for a genuine revival of the gifts and offices of the Holy Spirit that indeed can show us that God can and does reveal hidden things to His sanctified Prophets.
Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever! His gifts are without repentance meaning that His gifts are present, the vessels for the gifts have to rededicate themselves as totally separate from the world before He can manifest His Gifts like He did in the Book of Acts.
“Genuine spiritual knowledge lies not in wonderful and mysterious thoughts but in actual spiritual experience through union of the believer’s life with truth.” Watchman Nee