The Voice of The Spirit

The Divine Presence In Visions And Prophetic Dreams

Although not as spectacular as a real and visible visit by a divine or angelic Being, the divine Presence is also manifested in the prophet’s life through visions. Although we do not fully understand the exact process by which the Spirit communicates a message, the prophetic experience helps us, at least partially, to comprehend the process. Apparently, the five senses with which human beings perceive images, sounds, smells, tastes, or sensations in real life, are also used by the prophet to perceive the various aspects of a divine communication. Hearing and sight seem to be the main media. The prophet sees and hears images and sounds. However, comparing his perceptions with our own leads us to conclude that the visions are apparently more like a dream than reality. In a dream we see and hear not with real sight or hearing but through the subconscious. In the case of the prophet, although he may be awake and conscious at the moment of receiving a vision, he immediately loses the sense of his actual real surroundings. He is given access to systems of information and perception apparently unknown to human beings in general. If God uses the conscious, unconscious, or subconscious mind, we do not know. What we do know is that when the prophet returns to the real world, he is totally aware of having experienced the divine presence. VOTS 45.2

It would be foolish on our behalf to deny the reality of this communication solely on the basis of not fully understanding it. At the moment of writing these lines, I am flying on a transcontinental trip. I am using a portable computer to take advantage of the several hours of flight time. This same computer, with the right connections and in the right place, gives me access to world-wide systems of communication such as the Internet that allow me to send, in seconds, a message to the other side of the world. I would be the first to admit that I do not fully understand the process. However, when I receive the answer to my message in minutes, I have to accept that, although I do not fully understand the process, the communication system works in surprising ways, almost magically for me, since I am not an expert in electronic systems. VOTS 46.1

To tell the truth, at this precise moment I am surrounded by systems of communication that I cannot explain. A cellular telephone is located in the back of the seat in front of me on the airplane. By simply passing a magnetic card though a slot, that small apparatus allows me to hear a familiar voice. I don’t know exactly how it gets here, but I am happy it works the way it does. The television on the plane offers news, earphones allow me to hear the voices of those appearing on the screen, and I can even hear the pilot’s voice in contact with the air controllers in the tower. All these systems of information and communication are apt illustrations of the divine communication systems. I do not fully understand them, but that does not deprive me from accepting them and recognizing the benefits they offer me. VOTS 46.2

Something similar happens in divine communication to the prophet. Although not even the servant of God is able to explain fully the experience in which he is involved, and consequently we are even less able to comprehend it, the conviction that the divine presence has been manifested; that His voice has spoken, is fully certain in his mind. VOTS 47.1