Bible Question:
What is the meaning of specific revelation?
Bible Answer:
What is revelation? The biblical meaning of the term “revelation” refers to God’s act of communicating unknown truths and facts about Himself that He wants man to know. Otherwise, the human race would never be able to know God in this life. God reveals Himself in two ways to us: through general revelation and specific revelation. A previous question “How has God revealed Himself? – General and Specific Revelation” will provide further information about both general and specific revelation. Here we are concerned about specific revelation in the Bible.
Revelation — Verbal, Dreams, & Visions
Specific revelation refers to the fact that God has given specific information about Himself through the Bible. He has accomplished this in two ways. First, He has directly communicated to men in times past verbally, through dreams and visions, and in written form. For example, when God spoke to Moses, He gave Moses specific information. The following is a great example of verbal inspiration that is specific revelation.
“Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”” Exodus 33:18-20 (NASB)
God also spoke in the past to men in dreams and visions (Isaiah 1:1; Jeremiah 23:28; Ezekiel 11:24; Daniel 7:1).
“And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me.” Ezekiel 11:24 (NASB)
God has also given us specific information in written form.
“When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.” Exodus 31:18 (NASB)
Revelation — God Wrote The Bible
God has also revealed Himself through men by influencing them to write scripture. What they wrote was divinely inspired truth. 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that God moved men to write and Acts 28:25-27 is just one example of God and men both writing scripture together. For a detailed explanation of how God wrote scripture using men please visit the study “What Is The Bible?” It is important to understand that God stopped giving specific revelation when the book of Revelation was completed.
Conclusion:
God has revealed Himself to us in through specific and general revelation. Today we have His completed specific revelation of Himself in the Bible. It provides all that we need to know (2 Timothy 3:15-17). We want to encourage you to visit the links below and explore. May the Lord bless you.
Suggested Links:
God’s Plan For The Future — What does the Bible say about the future?How has God revealed Himself? – General and Specific Revelation
What Is The Bible?
What books belong in the Bible? – Canon of Scripture
Why doesn’t God unmistakably show Himself?
What does it mean that the Bible is inspired? – Inspiration of Scripture