In the OT, the words translated REVEAL are used several hundred times, some of them for when God reveals Himself or what He plans to do. He did this in several ways, including through dreams. When the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream, Joseph was called to interpret it. In Genesis 41:25, Joseph said, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.”
Most of His revelations helped God’s people understand His will: Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
1 Samuel 9:15–16. Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”
The most important revelation in both OT and NT is that God revealed Himself and His salvation plan to humanity. The psalmist speaks as if it had already been done:
Psalm 98:2–3. The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
The prophet declared about preparations made — a highway in the desert — for the coming of Jesus, speaking about a future revelation of God to the world:
Isaiah 40:5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” and Isaiah 56:1. Thus says the Lord: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed.”
Daniel 2:22;28. Also says, “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him” and “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries . . . .”
In the NT, Jesus is God’s ultimate revelation of Himself. All that He did and said reveals God as Hebrews 1:1–3 says:
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Jesus understood that the power of God to reveal truth was vital in His salvation plan. He said in Matthew 11:25, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” and in Luke 10:22, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Even His disciple were clueless without revelation from God. John 21:1 says, “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way . . . .” and this is verified again by 1 Corinthians 2:10: “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” This passage later adds, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
This is why Paul says God “was pleased to reveal his Son to me” and encourages us that if we were not mature and need to think differently, “God will reveal that also to you.”
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. All revelation comes from God. He can use thoughts, dreams, or other people, but verification is through His Word. For that reason, I gaze at its pages and ask Him every morning to reveal His glory that I otherwise would never be able to see.
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