Genesis 40 - Special Revelation

Genesis 40:8
Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

Message: Special Revelation

Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.

What the Lord is Saying:

As I think more about this doctrine of scripture and what it teaches me and all of us. I've been pondering revelation and looking at natural and now special. Natural is what we see through the created order. Words are spoken, not actual words, but the creation testifies of who God is. It reminds us that there is in fact a God. We see God through the order of our human bodies and the intricacy of how we are made. We see God through the creation, the sky above (the heavens) and the land beside and the sea. These things are evident to man. They are not often enough to save man, but they show man that there is God. And then man can look inward and see the frailty of his own human condition.

Our world thinks if it can explain away this creation then it defends it's notion that there isn't any created order but instead small, gradual changes over time.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states that natural revelation is insufficient "to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation." I am reminded of the message last Sunday and the idea that John came to prepare the way of the Lord and to help people see the wilderness that we live in. So there was special revelation needed to help man see his condition.

The idea here of special revelation is God speaks and God speaks to man. Our reading of scriptures testifies that God spoke to man for the words of the Bible have been identified as the texts that speak forth this special revelation. But how did it come about? Special revelation is necessary so that God can reveal the way of salvation and what it means to truly live in a manner that pleases Him.

Genesis 40 is about Joseph interpreting dreams. In response to a dream, Joseph responds that interpretations belong to God and Joseph has been given the means to interpret dreams. Dreams do speak to us. I had a dream speak to me in my life about Pamela. I'm confident in that. But, I haven't been able to interpret anyone else's dreams and yet many others have dreams and so sometimes it seems that dream interpretation is left to the person having the dream.

I think this idea of special revelation is hard because different men like Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and others have claimed receiving this special revelation. And through those revelations other belief systems have sprouted up. The problem was that the revelation given to the Bible writers is thought to be incomplete or not sufficient. The traditional Christian view is that this special revelation ceased by the end of the first century. Although dreams can still speak to us today, they are personal revelations rather than revelations for all mankind. The death of the apostles ceased this special revelation.

Promise: We have all the revelation from God that we need. We must study the Old and New Testaments to know His will.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for speaking through men of the past and thank you that I can trust Your revelation and that it is complete for all time. You are great God and your ways are great. Thank you for the order of your creation and how it speaks of You and thank you for sending a man, your son, Jesus, to earth, because man needed to see God and hear from him more directly. This occurred and we praise You God for helping us see this special revelation of You. Lord, I want to trust in You and trust in this revelation all of my days.

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.