God Has Spoken (pt. 2)

God speaks to us and through in many ways. Read the following to understand how amazing
Our Father is and His chosen methods of teaching and guiding us


"The heavens declare the glory of God...the commands of theLord are radiant giving light to the eyes." Psalm 19:1,8

King David's Psalm speaks of nature's message about God -- and it also speaks of another message. We "see" not only by the lights God placed in the heavens. We see also by another light, a spiritual light, "The commands of God." To know God, man needs more light than nature alone gives.



Nature Alone Is Not Enough

Nature has many valuable lessons for us. The amazing order in all things, living and non-living, tells us of wisdom and power far, far higher than ours. Our hearts reach upward in praise. "Laws of nature" are always so steady, so dependable, that we are led to believe that the great Law-Giver can also be trusted.

Nature also raises many questions. For example, since God is so great does He care about us who are so small? Some have felt that He is too high and too distant to be bothered. Therefore, they have turned to things of this earth, or to other spirits, for help in times of need.

Others feel that God is against them. They say, "If plenty of food is a sign of God's kindness, then what does the lack of food mean? In our times of suffering and death, has God changed from His kind ways?" Nature by itself does not give us important details about God's character and thinking. It does not tell us how to approach Him. It raises the questions, but does not give the answers we need.



The God Who Speaks

Why do some think it so strange that God speaks or communicates in some manner? Surely plain reason tells us that He should be ABLE to speak. Humans speak (some would say "too much"). Is the great Creator of humans LESS able to speak? When people thought that God failed to notice their sins, the writer of Psalms reasoned with them,

"Does He who implanted the ear not hear? Does He who formed theeye not see?" Psalm 94:9

That logic can be continued, "Does He who made the tongue not speak? Can He who gave language not use it? If God chooses to use special messengers, can He not provide His messengers with clear speech?" God wanted Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. When Moses had doubts God reasoned with him in this way:


"Who gave man his mouth?...is it not I, the Lord? Now go; Iwill help you speak and will teach you what to say." (Exodus4:11-12)

Moses, of course, could speak. He worried that he could not speak well -- his words might not be clear and well-chosen. God assured him that He, the Creator of speaking ability, could do what was needed for a clear message. If we have worried that God's message is poorly given or is unclear, we can stop worrying. God not onlycommunicates. He communicates Very Well.


God Spoke By The Prophets

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways" (Hebrews 1:1).

God's love for people is such that He did not remain silent. He did not leave us alone and ignorant. "God spoke." He could have communicated in any number of ways. "In the past," He chose to speak "through the prophets." Prophets were God's spokesmen, passing along God's message to the people.

The writer of the book of Hebrews had no doubt who those prophets were. He quoted often from them -- prophets like:

MOSES (Hebrews 1:6; 8:5)DAVID (Hebrews 1:5a,8; 4:7)NATHAN (Hebrews 1:5b)ISAIAH (Hebrews 2:13)JEREMIAH (Hebrews 8:8)HABAKKUK (Hebrews 10:37) andHAGGAI (Hebrews 12:26)

Hebrews chapter 11 also names many prophets. We call these the "Old Testament prophets." The book of Hebrews shows that the words given through these prophets were not their own words, but God's words.

When Psalm 95 is used, David is recognized as its human writer. Yet look at how it is expressed:


"God...spoke through David" (Hebrews 4:7).

In Hebrews 3:7 the same words by David are said to be from God's Spirit:

"So, as the Holy Spirit says...."

Similarly, through Jeremiah's writing,

"the Holy Spirit testifies to us..." (Hebrews 10:15).

Hebrews and other books of the Bible often speak like this. Nehemiah 9:20,30 is an example from the Old Testament. It tells how God's Spirit was in His prophets, teaching and warning His people for many years. In the Bible there is no doubt about it. God has spoken by His prophets so clearly that people long after can depend on their words. The books of Nehemiah and Hebrews were written hundreds of years after the old prophets died. Yet they still quoted and trusted those prophets' words as the true words of God.



How Were God's True Prophets Recognized?

But any person can claim to be a prophet speaking for God. He may do this to get money or power or fame. Some might even do it sincerely, for their own 'good' reasons. This was a problem in the past, and it is still a problem today. Many who now claim to speak for God argue AGAINST each other. Their messages do not agree. After speaking about God's true prophets of long ago, the apostle Peter warns,

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just asthere will be false teachers among you" (2 Peter 2:1).

God knew there would be false prophets. He also knew that people might have trouble knowing which speaker was true and which was false. So God made it very clear which prophets were truly sent by Him.


Look again at the example of Moses when God made him a prophet to carry His message to Egypt. Moses had grown up in Egypt and had not been known as a prophet then. How could the people possibly know that now God had made him a prophet? The people might even think of him as a false prophet. Moses asked God,

"What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'theLord did not appear to you'?" (Exodus 4:1).

In reply, God told Moses to throw his stick on the ground. By God's power, the stick became a snake. Then He had Moses pick it up. By God's power, it changed back into a stick.

"This," said the Lord, "is so that they may believe that theLord... has appeared to you" (Exodus 4:5).

God then gave Moses other miracles -- just as amazing -- to also prove that he was from God. God called these "signs" (Exodus 4:8,30).

We must be aware that God's enemies also had some power. "By their secret arts" Egypt's sorcerers and magicians copied a few things done by Moses (Exodus 7:11). But God has ALL power, so His miracles were always far greater. He showed the kind of power that only the Creator has over His creation. The power in Moses was so great that all could see that Moses was God's prophet.

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Tests For Prophets

Once God had proved the authority of Moses it was not always necessary for true prophets after him to do all the miracles he did. But through Moses God gave tests for future prophets. At that time any 'prophet' failing these tests was put to death. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 has one of these tests:

"But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I havenot commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the nameof other gods, must be put to death. You may say toyourselves, 'How can we know when a message has not beenspoken by the Lord?' If what a prophet proclaims in the nameof the Lord does not take place or come true, that is amessage the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spokenpresumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."

Yet God also knew that some dreamers and leaders might foretell events that actually happen. (This might be by luck, or by clever powers like the Egyptian magicians had.) So, in Deuteronomy 13, God told how to test such cases:

"If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among youand announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if thesign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and hesays, 'let us follow other gods'...you must not listen to thewords of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God istesting you to find out whether you love him with all yourheart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).

We have seen 3 tests --

All True Prophets After Moses Were Proved True By:

1. "Signs" -- if they had any -- clearly showing the CREATOR'S POWER over creation. (The weaker power of magicians was no proof.)2. ALL that they foretold coming true. (God NEVER lies or makes mistakes.)3. Agreeing with what God had revealed about Himself through Moses. (God does not deny Himself or His own teachings.)


Learning From The Prophets

False prophets did not have the power of God or the truth of God. At one point or another they all failed to pass these tests. In this way, through many centuries, God made clear who were His true prophets, and who were not. That is why the Bible not only says that "God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets" (Hebrews 1:1), but it actually names those true prophets. Their writings, called "Scripture," are God's words through His proven prophets.


If we really seek God and His way, we will go to Scripture.The Scripture itself claims to be the truth given by God(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).