GOD SPEAKS THROUGH REVELATION - What is it and how does it happen?

I love it when the Lord talks to me through sudden bursts of revelation. It is as though I heard or saw something with a veil over my understanding, and then suddenly it is removed and I see it in a different light. They are bursts of understanding when He spotlights some detail and it comes alive through His quickening power.

Revelation is a foundational experience that permeates ALL the ways God speaks.  Learning what revelation is and how it works is important if we want to be sure God is speaking.  The Lord sometimes hides the fact He is saying something to you, then suddenly it “dawns” on you, it is HIM.   When He speaks to us, He suddenly “reveals” that He is the One speaking.  Revelation is the sudden awareness of Him or understanding of His Word. Revelation is the realization, “OH! That was God speaking to me!”

Do you remember when the two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus and they were thoroughly preoccupied with recent events of Jesus death? Jesus joined them on the road and they did not recognize Him at all.  When Jesus discussed the scriptures, they were moved and touched (quickened) by what He said and asked Him to stay with them.  Later when Jesus sat at the table with them and took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them... WHOA!  The blinders came off and they recognized they had been with JESUS and He vanished out of their sight.  (Luke 24:29-31)

That sequence of events is a great example of how revelation works.   If it is one thing they knew, it was Jesus breaking bread.  The disciples ate with Jesus hundreds of times during the 3 years they walked together.  Two times they saw Jesus take the bread, break it and multiply to thousands.  And in their last meal together before He was crucified, He broke the bread and told them it represented His broken body and that as often as they did this, to remember Him. 

WHAT DON'T YOU KNOW?

EXAMPLE ONE:  ON THE SHELF

A lady from our class sent in her rhema the day I was working on this lesson.  It is a great example of the process of revelation.  Here is her rhema:

In a dream or vision, I looked and saw myself reaching for something on a high shelf. (over my head)

I heard the Lord: "Can you see them?"

Many times I have gone to the Lord in frustration about not understanding the things I see and hear, or the reason that I hear or see them.  Later that same day, Sandy sent out an email where she answered a question from someone asking whether it was ever inappropriate to share a word of prophecy. Sandy answered that sometimes when she doesn't have the interpretation of a revelation so she puts it on a shelf until God unravels it for her. I received it as interpretation for what I had seen! 

"My child, yes, you have received many things from me that you have not understood. They have been over your head. Do not fret or be discouraged about this. For now, simply place them on a shelf in store for a later time, and Holy Spirit, who is in you, will reveal the meaning in the right season, as well as what to do.

 

John 16:12 – I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes he will guide you into all truth.

 

Matt 13:52 – He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."

WHAT DON'T YOU KNOW?

EXAMPLE TWO:  CONNECTING 2 PIECES

One time I was working a jigsaw puzzle and the scene I was working on had 2 large portions already built and I was trying to find some scattered, smaller pieces to fit to them. I wasnt getting anywhere very fast.  Suddenly I saw where the sky part was already filled on both sides, and if I moved it down, it connected with the earth part that was already built. I moved the sky down about 5” and it connected!!  I KNEW the sky part and the earth parts but I did not know that the missing pieces for each section were in the other section, already in place.  When it “dawned” on my understanding that they connected, it was an “Ah ha!” moment and the Lord quickened to me that this parable of connecting was how revelation is to our minds and hearts when His Spirit shines His light.

Often when the Lord speaks His Words, He might be helping us build parts and pieces in different sections of the same Word without our knowing it.  Then one day, through a simple connection, He opens our eyes to see they are all a part of the bigger picture.  The joining of such brings a huge promotion to what He is saying.

So do you think you know what this puzzle piece is?

If you add another piece, does the face or understanding of it become manifest and you KNOW what it is?

THAT'S REVELATION.  When the Lord takes the blinders off our spiritual understanding with connecting pieces of information, suddenly the light is manifest and we KNOW what was hidden is now suddenly in plain view.  Ah hah!  That makes horse sense!

WHAT DON'T YOU KNOW?
 

example THREE:  A PARABLE OF SEEING THE “FACE” OF REVELATION

One time I heard, “I want to see your face.”  And then I had a vision of a man who I thought was Jesus in disguise, but I wasnt sure. He had a beard, and His eyes were closed. He wore fishing clothes along with a fishing hat pulled way down over His hair as though He was partially disguised on a secret mission. The last time Jesus visited me at my bedside, He was praying for me and also had His eyes closed.  I pondered that if this was Jesus in disguise like I thought, then why were His eyes closed in both visions?  What was He saying to me?

Later I turned in the little book, "Children, Can You Hear Me?" (by Brad Jersak).

"Your heart can see my face.

What does it look like to you?

What expression do you see?

When you look at my face,

You will see how much I love you.

You will see that I care about how you are doing.

You will see that I enjoy your company.

Sometimes I look happy. Ask me why!!

One reason is because I think you’re terrific,

and I’m glad to be your friend.

Sometimes I look sad. Ask me why.

Maybe I’m sad because I know you are sad.

But we can cheer each other up!

Show me your face, let me hear your voice. Because your voice is sweet and your face is full of love. (SS 2:14)

CONFIRMATION; On the other side of the page is a picture of Jesus sitting on a school bench with a little girl. They both have tears and His are streaming down His face and she is drying them. This children’s picture of Jesus was the EXACT face of the man I saw that other night in the fishing gear. My perception was accurate, I had seen Jesus in disguise.

REVELATION:  The 2 pieces I knew: first the perception that the man in my vision was Jesus in disguise, and then the confirmation through the book that it really was Jesus in disguise. 

What I did NOT know:  Why were His eyes closed?  It was then that He brought to my attention the words, “see” and look” in the poem.  The word “see” is recorded 5 times and the word “look” is recorded 4 times.  My vision of seeing Jesus with His eyes closed was a parable of revelation.  He was acting out the parable of asking us if we can see Him with our hearts.  Our spiritual eyes are closed until revelation comes, and then our eyes are opened to see that He has been there all along and we finally realize it. 

Eph 1:17-19 NKJV

...That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding  being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe...