How will God speak to me? (Part 3 of 5)

This is the channel we are most familiar with: prophets, who stand as connections between God and mortals; persons anointed to be able to see into the spiritual realms, as most others cannot.  When people are not sure about the will of God, they usually seek to a prophet of God.  For example, it took a prophet to tell David that he was not supposed to build the temple of God (2 Samuel 7:4-13).  When the people of Israel wanted to know the mind of God in the closing days of the Kingdom of Judah, they went to Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 42:1-4).

In this broad category of “prophet,” we would put all inspired agents of divine utterance, whether they be pastors or teachers or prayer partners; anyone who becomes the third-party instrument for a message from God.  In other words, in this general respect, “prophet” would refer not only to those who stand in that specific office or go by the title but also everyone through whom God speaks to someone else, or to whom one seeks for the voice of God on a matter; in some sense, a ’seer,’ or ‘inspired knower.’

To the extent that the ‘prophet’ in this context is any human intermediary between God and humans, anyone through whom the voice of God comes to others, we shall consider two important scriptures, one from the Old and the other from the New Testament: 1 Samuel 28:6 and Matthew 23:34.  Both passages describe the channels or persons whom God uses to reach others, and the means by which they convey their message.

While this verse tells us that God did not answer King Saul, and states the channels by which God did not answer him, it also reveals the ways by which God could have answered him, and ultimately the ways or channels by which God speaks to people:

Dreams are personal revelations from God; they are visions that come directly to the person concerned.  Even when it comes to a person for another person, there would usually be a connection. Dreams would then technically not belong in our ‘prophetic’ class as it is direct personal communication rather than through a third party, as with No. 2 and No. 3.

The urim and thummin, described as “lights and perfections” or “light and truth,” were objects of divination in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:30; Num 27:21; 8:8).   What they are or how they are used remains unclear, but they seemed to have been objects that the priest consulted on the behalf of the people to get a Yes or No on matters, like going to war or not, etc.

By extension, we can align those to be the voice of God through the channel of the priest, the shepherd, the preacher, the pastor, in congregational context.  By further extension, sermons and third-party counsels by which God grants direction to people could be brought under this class.  Like the priest who consults those divine objects to determine the mind of God, the pastor consults the Bible to divine the mind of God, receiving a rhema unplanned for someone.  Like the prophet, he is an external witness; God’s messenger on a matter.

In Matthew 23:34, Jesus lists three kinds of messengers that God sends to the world, but they are mentioned in terms of the modes of their function:

They are all third-party messengers.  They differ only in how they convey their message: prophets generally speak out, from inspiration; wise men speak from inspired experience, giving counsel; scribes write.  Any of those can be a source of guidance.

Could it be the voice of God if an ‘epistle,’ like this, or a book, spoke so timely to me about a matter?  Paul spoke much through that channel to the churches.  Also, if elders should advise someone on what to do or not to do, could God be using them when they do not have the title of a prophet or pastor?  According to Hebrews 5:14, can age and experience be trusted to guide? Is the written wisdom of Solomon less authentic as the word of God than the prophecies of Isaiah?