Inspiration/Revelation: What It Is and How It Works

Seven Modalities of God’s Communication

What were some of these “divers manners” by which God communicated with mankind? There seem to have been at least seven methods: IRWHW 47.3

1. Theophanies (visible manifestations of God; face-to-face communication). Abraham met the preincarnate Christ and two angels near his tent on the plain of Mamre (Genesis 18); Jacob wrestled with an “angel” at Peniel, only to discover “I have seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:30); and Moses spoke to the Lord in the mount “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). IRWHW 47.4

2. Angels. Those “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14) have often come to mankind, to bring messages of hope and comfort (Daniel 10:11, 12; Genesis 32:1), to direct the servants of the Lord to those whose hearts were receptive to God’s truth (Acts 8:26), or to warn of imminent disaster if God’s word was not heeded (Genesis 3:24). IRWHW 47.5

3. Audible voice of God. Sometimes God spoke on His own! At Sinai the Ten Commandments were spoken audibly, jointly, by the Father and the Son in a transcendent “duet” ³⁷ that literally caused the earth (as well as the hearts of the human hearers) to tremble. IRWHW 47.6

Upon occasion the audible voice of God addressed the high priest from the Shekinah—that exceeding bright glory that rested between the cherubim in the center of the ark of the covenant. ³⁸ The Shekinah was the visible manifestation of God’s presence in the desert tabernacle. IRWHW 47.7

And, of course, God’s voice was heard three times during the earthly ministry of our Lord—at Christ’s baptism, upon the mount of transfiguration, and when the Greek philosophers called upon Him in the temple during the week that preceded the crucifixion. At these times God was heard commanding men to heed the message of His beloved Son. ³⁹ IRWHW 47.8

4. Optics. During the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel, the high priest’s breastplate had two large stones imbedded at the top—the Urim and the Thummim. The high priest could ask questions, and Jehovah would respond. If the answer were “yes,” one stone would glow with a halo of light and glory; if the answer were “no,” the opposite stone would be partially obscured by a shadow or a vapor. ⁴⁰ IRWHW 47.9

The high priest had another means of receiving answers from God. In the most holy place the angel on the right side of the ark would glow in a halo of light if the answer were affirmative, or a shadow would be cast over the angel on the left if the answer were negative. ⁴¹ IRWHW 47.10

5. Casting of lots. In Old Testament times God also communicated with His people by means of casting lots. A modern counterpart is “drawing straws”—a number of straws of different lengths are held in the hand, with all the ends appearing to be even, the difference of length being hidden by the hand. After the straws are drawn, and are compared, it is easy to determine who drew the longest or the shortest. IRWHW 47.11

Lots were cast upon goats, upon cities, and upon men. The most celebrated instance of the latter was the discovery of Achan and his theft of the “goodly Babylonish garment” as the cause of Israel’s humiliating defeat of Ai. ⁴² IRWHW 47.12

Interestingly, there is only one instance in the New Testament of determining God’s will by the casting of lots—the selection of Matthias to take the place vacated by Judas among the 12 apostles. ⁴³ When and why this method fell into disuse is not revealed; but we do know that when the practice of casting lots was resorted to by the Austin, Pennsylvania, Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of selecting church officers, Ellen White wrote from Australia, “I have no faith in casting lots.... To cast lots for the officers of the church is not in God’s order. Let men of responsibility be called upon to select the officers of the church.” ⁴⁴ IRWHW 47.13

6. “Open” visions of the day. The trancelike state into which a prophet entered when going into vision has already been referred to, and will be dealt with more fully below. Both the Old and the New Testaments are replete with references to prophets and apostles receiving visions from the Lord. ⁴⁵ IRWHW 47.14

7. Prophetic dreams of the night. Often the prophets would receive messages from the Lord in the “night seasons” as well as during the day. There is no evidence that physical phenomena accompanied the prophetic night dreams, nor is there evidence that the kind of messages given at night were in any way different from those transmitted in the visions of the day. IRWHW 47.15

Ellen White was once asked if she, a prophet, experienced ordinary dreams at night as noninspired people did. She smiled and said that she did. The next question was inevitable: How are you able to differentiate between ordinary dreams and inspired dreams? Her response was right to the point: “The same angel messenger stands by my side instructing me in the visions of the night, as stands beside me instructing me in the visions of the day.” ⁴⁶ IRWHW 48.1