Direct revelation of God - 1 Kings 19:11-18

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50104488920

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>> 11 And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" <<

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As I have said before, we must be trained to hear the voice of God and discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. Above all, blessed is the one whose heart is pure for he can see God. God comes, in voice, upon a clean and calm mind like a lake. ‘There came a voice to him, and said. (v. 13)’ The word contains the person and will of the speaker. It is 'by word' that God, who is the invisible spirit, most certainly manifests himself to man. If your mother is in another room, so you can't see her, and if she talks to you, then you can realize her presence. Likewise, if we hear God's voice in any way, then in fact we are seeing his presence.

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When God meets man, he meets him to give him a revelational word, not to beguile the tedium. Also in the text of the Bible, God met Elijah and told him to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, to anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place (v. 15-16). And there is a pattern when God meets human beings. Let's look at the scene where God meets Abraham and gives special revelation. “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nations which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. (Gen 15:12-14)” This is an unbelievable revelation of God to Abraham about the future that his descendants will be slaves in Egypt for 430 years, and come out from there as a great nation. God revealed also the future of Abraham, an individual, to him. “As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. (Gen 15:15)” The main point here is that 'the voice of God' came after 'fear' (in the dream). Let's look at Jacob's case. >And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you.” (Gen 28:11-15) The important point here is that God 'in the high place' met Jacob (also in the dream). If the ladder reached from the earth to the heaven and Jacob was on the ground, he maybe  felt some pressure. There was a kind of 'fear'. In such an atmosphere, God gave Jacob special revelation in his dream.

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Now, let's go back to the story of Elijah. Elijah heard a still small voice of God given as a special revelation after a strong wind, a fire and an earthquake. Strong wind, earthquake, and fire are all threatening to humans and cause fear. Yes! The voice of God was heard, after the fear - this is natural. When the holy God goes somewhere, he places his majesty and dignity before himself. God's majesty and dignity comes upon people like strong wind or fire when he reveals himself. If we sense the divine majesty and dignity, then we can expect God's still and small voice coming to us.

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If Abraham and Jacob received God's revelation after they had sensed his majesty and dignity, we must admit that, even today, God may say to us in dreams about the future of individuals or churches, especially in a process similar to that of Abraham, Jacob and Elijah. A certain denomination in Korea asserts that there is not direct revelation of God any more about the future and makes it a doctrine, which is guilty of repressing God's freedom. Of course, there are those who dream only wild dreams every day and call them God's revelation, only to disturb the church. Both are wrong. God's revelation is given for the benefit of individuals and churches, and for the edification of the believers.

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If there was a holy fear in the dream, and then there was a quiet small voice (or some words or some sentences that were soundless and occurred in the mind half asleep), if the voice (or the word) had dignity and holy character, and if it is for the benefit of me and church, and if it is closely related to the prayer I am doing these days, the voice is highly likely to be God's revelation. (Of course, there can be God’s voice without the preceding fear.) If such word comes upon you, do not say it carelessly to others (for the word can be just your own thought), but keep it in mind, and act accordingly. Especially if it is a word that gives me comfort and great hope, it is, I think, a voice of God. If it is a word that reproves my sins committed these days, it is 100% God's voice.

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God is the God of order. He hardly ignores the pastor and gives a revelation concerning the church or the saints to a layman. Laymen should not disturb the church by prophesying rashly to the saints and the church after they had empty dreams. And will the God tell the pastor or the saints when a believer in the hospital will die? Is God so free? If he were somewhat free, why should he let the pastor or the saints know about such a thing? I mean, a layman should not make light of the pastor after he saw a believer, who had been hospitalized for a long time and died that day, in the dream of the last night, thinking he has received a holy gift of prophecy (that the pastor who didn’t dream such a dream hasn't received). If anyone of the church members is in a hospital, he appears in dream to anyone of the church and at any time even when there is no God's revelation. Do not mistake an accidental dream for God's revelation.

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Again, 'hope, promise, determination of something, reproof' - these are the main contents of God's revelation. Here hope and promise are usually related to the prayer we give to God these days, and reproof is related to the sins we have committed these days. In the Bible, hopes and promises are usually given directly from God while the words of reproaches and punishments, through others. It seems that God as well as man hates to see sinner's face. Doesn't he say to him not directly but through others because he hates to see his face? No, Rather, God thinks of sinner's fame, and first directly rebukes him (so that no one may know his sins). However, those who are sinning or disobedient are already confused in heart, so that, even if there is the voice of God like thunder, they often fail to understand it or deliberately ignore it. Then God indirectly speaks to the sinner through others in order to give him a chance to realize his faults clearly and to repent. (God never punishes sinners without warning them! Because he is merciful and faithful.) Sometimes, therefore, you happen to see another's faults by God's revelation and to hear God's rebuke against him. Then you can confirm if the revelation you've received is true. And if the revelation and his deed correspond, you should give the words of the revelation to him so that he may promptly correct his life. It is a gross dereliction of duty for a prophet not to warn.

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While talking, we've taken a little a byway. In short, today's theme is 'the direct revelation in the voice of God.' The revelation may come in a dream, in which case the still small voice of God falls into the heart as the revelation after a holy fear, and the contents of the revelation are hope, promise, rebuke, and decision.

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However, God wants us to live by faith, not by receiving God's special revelation on every affair. All the basic outlines of the truth about the God, the salvation related to Jesus, the end of the future and the kingdom of heaven are already given to us, and we need not know some of them. Do not claim to have received any special revelation about these things. And most questions we have in our religious life can be overcome by faith in the faithful God. In addition, if a man is promised a blessing in God's special revelation, he can become arrogant and lazy in religious life after that. Therefore God tells us that we should trust in God's goodness, that we should just be faithful to the work entrusted to us, and that we should not worry about the future for he will lead us in the best way. God's special revelation occurs when the faith of the individual alone is not sufficient. Abraham and Jacob received special revelations concerning their offsprings. The revelation was primarily for their descendants hundreds of years later rather than for Abraham and Jacob themselves. If Abraham and Jacob had not been given special revelation, how could their descendants live in the right faith in God's plan? And see also Elijah. Hazael, Jehu and Elisha had nothing to do with Elijah's faith. Had it not been for God's special revelation, would he have anointed them? Like this, God's special revelation is extremely official and businesslike. Of course, there are personal special revelations, but these are given to encourage the believers who have looked forward to God's grace for a long time.

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And with regard to God's revelation, we should never do anything presumptuous. In the book of Revelation, chapter 5, there is a scroll sealed with seven seals in which judgments upon the world are written. However, none of the human beings could open it and reveal its contents. only Jesus, the Lamb of God, was worthy to break the seals and proclaim the contents. When a country hosts Olympic Games, its head usually declares its opening. Just any man can not declare the start of the great ceremony. If that is normal, can you now see how presumptuous it is for a man to claim to have received a special revelation and to declare the day of the end of the world and the day of the last judgment? only God the Father, the Creator, is worthy to make a great and solemn declaration of the last day of the world-history that has lasted hundreds of millions of years and the first day of the new eternal life. Therefore, we must know that all of those who, claiming to have received a revelation about the last day of the world, gather Christians to make religious groups are false believers who are presumptuous and proud. They are not true Christians. They are Devil's soldiers. And God's direct revelation has infinite weight. See the Old Testament. A prophet, who received God's direct revelation and broke it a little, was torn to death by a lion! You must know that receiving God's direct revelation is in fact extremely severe and fearful! God's direct revelation can never be lightly handled!

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We must live by faith in God's goodness. This is the right life of faith. If any special revelation of God comes upon you in such a religious life, you must see if it is God's revelation. If it is God's revelation, you must exert yourself to do God's will.

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