 | "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel... By which also ye are saved... unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) |
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Is God communicating through Dreams and Visions today?
What most do not consider, is that Peter was quoting the prophet Joel, and they will never look to Joel to see the context what he was talking about. Joel chapter 2 is speaking of the Day of the Lord, and then the text shifts into the blessings Israel shall have when they are restored back to God:
“… And my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the LORD your God, and none else: And my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:26-29)
Reading through Joel we see the context is speaking about “ye children of Zion”, “my people”, “Judah and Jerusalem”, “in mount Zion and Jerusalem”, “the children of Israel”, etc. etc. Now Joel says “afterward”, after what?, after God judges Israel in that terrible time of "Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:4-7), that will never be the like again (Joel 2:1-2, Daniel 12:1-2, Matthew 24:21-22).
On Pentecost, God never poured out His Spirit on all flesh, no, just the 12 apostles. There was no one having visions and dreams at that time. And in Acts 2, it says they spoke with other tongues, and Joel says nothing about that. It says, “And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come” (Acts 2:19-20). This clearly did not happen on the Day of Pentecost.
Peter did not say that this was “fulfilled” like Acts 1:16, he was reasoning to the mockers, who said they were drunk, by way of analogy, that what happened in Acts 2 was similar to what Joel had said. None of Joel 2 was fulfilled in Acts 2. The Kingdom was NOT started. The Holy Spirit was not fulfilling Joel 2 but was doing something similar.
Joel says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”. Acts says that about 3000 souls were saved that day, but most of Israel remained in unbelief and were subsequently destroyed as a nation and scattered throughout the world. And was there any “blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke”? No! Was the sun darkened and the moon turned into blood in Acts 2? No! Peter does not say this was fulfilled on Pentecost, No! All this will take place as Peter says, “in the last Days” (Acts 2:17). Joel's prophecy here is an analogy NOT a fulfillment.
How then is God communicating today?
“GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3) ??????
God in times past spoke in different ways by the prophets, but today, He has (past tense) spoken to us by His Son, who is the Word of God (John 1:1-3, 1 John 1:1-2, 5:7, Rev. 19:13), and has given us His Word (John 17:14), the inspired, infallible, 27 books of the NT Bible (including the 39 of the OT).
During the tribulation after our departure, Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14). The 144,000 are “sealed” likely for this ministry (Revelation 7), but then, if any are missed, an angel flies “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6).
Again, no dreams and visions, but through preaching. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (1 Cor 1:21) Jesus said, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour” (Titus 1:2-3).
I do not believe God is sending dreams and visions to anyone today, but He has sent His Holy Spirit into the world to convince them of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-11), to prepare them for the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when one is convicted by the Holy Spirit, and responds to the Light he has, God will make a way to give more Light, the Light of the glorious gospel of Christ, either by direct reading of His Word, or faithful preachers.
Rather than looking for some new revelation or prophecy, it would do us all well to attend to the "more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19). Rather than looking for something spectacular, like a dream or vision or some sort of miraculous, like the raising of the dead, we need to get back to the basics of studying the Bible and proclaiming it. Jesus said, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31).
