Revelation not from Man

“And the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the street which is called Straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,” (Acts 9:11)

The Lord was talking to Ananias of Damascus in a vision. There are a couple of things here in this one verse which we will explore. This verse is also part of the next one, but we’ll concentrate on this one. Ananias has a vision. God speaks to Ananias through the vision. And Saul of Tarsus is praying.

In this modern age, we don’t see visions. As children of God, praying children, children devoted to the heavenly Father and Almighty God and who worship Him, one would think that since we are so privileged to have entrance to the holy Throne, we would have visions. There is a reason for this. In the Old Testament, those who were devoted to God and who prayed were usually the holy men and women who devoted their lives to seeking God. They had visions and God spoke to them. There was Simeon who was at the temple when Baby Jesus was taken as a baby and an offering was made in a sacrifice according to the Law. The Lord had reassured Simeon that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. And the Lord specifically instructed him to go to the temple at a specific day and time. “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. And it happened to him, being instructed by the Holy Spirit, he was not to see death before he would see the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And as the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do according to the custom of the Law concerning Him, even he received Him in his arms and blessed God, and said, Lord, now You will let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your Salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel. And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken by him.” (Luke 2:25-33) And there was a also a woman, a prophetess, by the name of Anna who also recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It goes to show that women in the Jewish culture were not prohibited from the anointing of the Holy Spirit and ministering to the Lord as some misogyny dominated cultures were and still are today. (Luke 2:36-38) These are only two examples, but there are several in the Old Testament where the Spirit of God came upon a man or a woman or spoke to someone in order do something extraordinary or to prophesy just as the Spirit of God came upon Simeon and Anna.

Why is it that that we don’t have visions today? Do you know that we have a better situation than they had. As I mentioned earlier, the visions and God’s extraordinary manifestations were reserved for those who were devout, kings, priests and prophets. But today, we have God the Holy Spirit living in us. We have access to God at all times. And this access is available to all who have given their lives to Jesus. We don’t have to be a king, a prophet or a priest. As a matter of Scriptural accuracy, we are kings and priests of the Lord if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1Peter 2:9). And in the book of Revelation, the redeemed sing and worship God. “And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10) So we may see visions, but the Lord God speaks to us continually, leading us, instructing us and speaking wisdom to us through the Holy Spirit. In the natural someone in your household wouldn’t pick up the phone to talk to you when he is there in front of you. Likewise the Holy Spirit is with us and in us. He speaks directly to our spirits and lets us know what God wants. This is not to say God won’t show us something in a vision if necessary.

In this Scripture God shows Ananias through a vision that Saul is praying. This is significant because for God to say Saul is praying and God shows it to Ananias means that Saul is praying correctly. To Ananias this is noteworthy because even if Saul is a Pharisee, he wouldn’t be praying correctly. To Ananias, correctly meant in the Name of Jesus. Saul was an enemy of Christians. He had come to Damascus to find the Christians, take them to Rome and put them to death. So the Lord was telling Ananias in a roundabout way that Saul had given his life to Jesus.

So, we understand why God had to show Ananias in an extraordinary way to go find Saul and to pray for him. And I thank God that Ananias was obedient because Saul went from being a zealot for the Law to being a zealot for Jesus. In reality he is an apostle of Jesus who came later. And although he didn’t walk with Jesus, Jesus spoke and showed Himself to him in a remarkable and unique way. “And, brothers, I make known to you the Gospel, which was preached by me, that it is not according to man. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it except by a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12) And to the Corinthians, he reveals that he’s had visions and revelations. “Indeed, it is not profitable for me to boast. For I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.” (2Corinthians 12:1)

In summary, we gather that God used visions in the Old Testament because Jesus had not redeemed man yet and man didn’t have the Holy Spirit. Today we have the Holy Spirit and He speaks to us continually to our spirits. He may send us a vision, but it’s unnecessary when He can speak to us directly.

Let us pray:

Father God, thank You for the Holy Spirit. Thank You that You speak to us directly through Your Spirit Who indwells. Open my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. Open my ears to Your wisdom and direction in all things. Help me to not ignore the warnings that come from Your Spirit to keep me from sin and from disobedience. Make me alert to that small still voice. Teach me Lord to listen for it. I thank You Lord that I have access to You, that I can go directly to Your holy Throne to find help, mercy and grace in time of need. Thank You Lord that the only intermediary I need is Jesus, Who suffered, died and resurrected for me. I thank you for the Blood that was shed for me and that because of the Blood of the Lamb, I can come before You. I love You my God for Your wisdom, for Your mercy and grace. I thank You for Your undeserved love and favor. In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.