God Speak

QUESTION: How did God speak to His prophets?

ANSWER:

When I read the words of the mighty prophets of God -- words of Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah -- I cannot help but ask myself, How did God speak to His prophets? These men whose words rang with clarity and power, who spoke and it came to be, how did they receive their message? In part, I envy the day in which they lived and the way in which God communicated His love, will, and truth to them. I long to hear God in the same way! But in other ways, I know that I would also tremble and fall in fear, if I stood face to face before the holiness of Almighty God.

How did God speak to His prophets? God spoke to each of His prophets directly through visions and dreams. They saw them succinctly and with clarity, and upon awaking, recorded precisely what they saw and heard. I can sometimes remember my own dreams which are often so vivid and powerful at the moment, but upon awaking, they are lost in mist or so disjointed I know they belong only to the world of night, sleep, and restlessness. But when God spoke to His prophets, there was no disjointedness. Vivid clarity, not confusion, filled each vision; minute details were noted with distinct images and clear words.

Read what Isaiah wrote when he woke up from a dream: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory'" (Isaiah 6:1b-3 ESV). Upon awakening, each remembrance was stark in clarity and the words were still ringing with vibrancy.

Over and over, prophet after prophet, the manner of communication between God and His prophet bears the same mark. "In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream" (Daniel 7:1). He writes further: "In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa..." (Daniel 8:1-2b).

Regardless the prophet, regardless the message, how God spoke to His prophets remained a unique visitation through vision and dreams in which they heard God's voice, saw God's unfolding plan, than faithfully recorded each detail that we might read, see, and know. How did God speak to His prophets? He spoke with a love that desired to be heard and seen and known. These same loving words are branded upon the written page today, waiting to speak to your own heart.

How does God speak to us today? Learn more.