A DIVINE VISION? Not every spiritual vision is from God.
- People sometimes get overly impressed by spiritual visions. People sometimes uncritically accept any claim of a spiritual vision without considering whether it’s true or not.
- We want to discuss spiritual vision in this message and consider whether we should believe them.
- Having started with a caution that not every spiritual vision is from God, allow me to emphasize the other side of that coin. And that is: God still speaks today.
- God is not a silent watchmaker who started the universe and then remains removed from the proceedings. We know most clearly through the life of Jesus that God is involved in this world.
- So we do not dismiss out of hand all spiritual visions. No, we believe God still works today.
TWO STARTING QUESTIONS TO DISCERN:
- Some additional thoughts:
a. Do not rely on how sincere the speaker sounds.
b. Do no rely on how good the speaker is.
c. Do not rely on how interesting the vision is.
d. Do not rely on others’ reactions.
1. DOES THIS VISION CONTRADICT SCRIPTURE?
- This is the most important question and generally the easiest to answer.
- We know that the Bible is God’s established and authoritative Word. We know that it is trustworthy. Therefore we know that God is not going to tell someone something that will contradict what He has already said in His Word.
- What might some examples of this be?
a. “God spoke to me and said I didn’t need to forgive her.”
b. “God spoke to me and told me that we should accept homosexuality because love is love.”
2. DOES THIS VISION LET ME DO WHAT I ALREADY WANTED TO DO?
- When a “vision from God” just happens to line up exactly with what I wanted to do, there is room to be concerned that I am hearing from my own desires and not from God. Certainly this is not always true, but it is a dire enough concern that you should go back and double-check before proceeding.
- A fair number of “visions from God” are just of our own construction. We have to make sure we are hearing from God and not ourselves.
- What might examples of this be?
a. “I had a dream that I was supposed to ask her to marry me” (even though there are obvious red flags in the relationship).
b. “As the pastor, God told me that everyone needs to follow my leading” (without the appropriate discussion that marks a healthy church leadership).
SOME GREY AREAS:
1. MISAPPLIED VISIONS.
- Job 4:12-21.
- In Job 4, Eliphaz shares a spiritual vision that he had. The vision itself is not immediately one that you would reject. It’s possible that it’s a vision of his own creation, but it’s also possible it’s from God. What we can be certain of, though, is that if it is a vision from God, Eliphaz misapplies it.
- How do we know that? Well, he uses it to condemn Job. In fact, the majority of the book of Job is made up of Job’s friends showing up to comfort him and then telling him in a myriad of ways that if he is suffering then he must be guilty of sinning. When God finally shows up and speaks, though, He tells Eliphaz that He is angry with the three of them because they have not represented God accurately (Job 42:7).
- What we are left with is Eliphaz likely having a genuine vision from God but misapplying it to Job’s life in condemning him.
- Let’s just look at v. 17. Eliphaz asks if a human can be more righteous than God. The obvious answer: no. Eliphaz extrapolates from that to presume that Job is lying when he insists that he doesn’t not know of major sins he’s committed that would have merited such horrible outcomes. Eliphaz misapplies the (potentially true) vision in a way that isn’t merited.
- One contemporary example of this is Pastor John Hagee. He has written numerous prophecy books that always seem to find a way to take whatever is going on in Israel or in the world at that moment and argue that is a sign that the end is nigh. Of course, then things just keep rolling on. But then he writes another book a couple years later and people again buy it hook, line, and sinker.
- After he’s been wrong numerous times, isn’t it time to ask if he’s misapplying Scriptural visions?
2. FALSE VISIONS.
- Deuteronomy 18:14-22; 1 Samuel 28:1-24; 1 John 4:1-6.
- Sometimes the visions are simply false. They are not from God.
- This could be a number of things:
a. Someone intentionally makes up a vision they know is not from God.
b. Someone is given a vision from a demonic source but believes it’s from God.
c. Someone thinks they have a vision but it’s not.
- Three passages worth discussing.
a. Deuteronomy 18:14-22.
- This passage makes it clear that true visions from God always come to fruition.
- Story of Tracy’s mom.
b. 1 Samuel 28:1-24.
- This is an odd story, but it appears to be a genuine supernatural experience. It comes about, though, through an evil source.
c. 1 John 4:1-6.
- We are called to “test the spirits.”
- This means we are not to just presume that anything vaguely spiritual is from God.
- One example of this that’s going on right now in the midst of this Coronavirus situation is a video of a preacher claiming that everything is going to collapse later this year. If he’s wrong, will he get called out on it?
3. READING-TOO-MUCH-INTO-IT VISIONS.
- Before we close, I want to address one last category: reading-too-much-into-it visions. I know that’s not a graceful name, but it is descriptive.
- I think it’s worth mentioning because I have seen this happen too many times down through the years.
- This can happen to people who are otherwise well-intentioned. It can also happen with people who have an agenda.
- This happens when people (often wanting or hoping for a sign) try to make something into a vision from God when it’s probably just an everyday occurrence.
- What are some examples of this?
a. Someone wants their preschool child to grow up to be a preacher. They go to the altar and pray that at the close of a sermon on Christian service. After service, while talking to friends, they notice their child has wandered up on stage and is play-singing into a mic that the soloist used. The parent, seeing them on stage speaking into a mic, takes this a sign God is giving them a vision of their child preaching on stage into a mic someday.
b. Someone prays for God to let them have a relationship with a certain other student. In class later that day, they overhear this other student talk about something that happened at their church last Sunday. The one who prays takes this as a sign that God approves of this match.
c. Someone is struggling with their parent dying. They ask God for a sign. Their parent’s favorite color was blue and when they walk out the door that morning, they see a bird with blue coloring across the street. They take that as a sign from God that their parent is ok in eternity.
- In all these cases, there is a likelihood (although not a certainty) that the person is reaching a lot farther than the actual facts merit. Nothing miraculous seems to have gone on – they are just trying to read something visionary or miraculous or divine into a common occurrence.
- I readily admit that it is possible that God might move in such a way. God can do what He wants. My point is that I have often felt as though people were reaching for something that wasn’t really there.
- Sometimes this is relatively harmless – for example, a little comfort in a moment of grief. Sometimes, though, it is putting wrong words in God’s mouth. Sometimes it is setting people up for disappointment in God when “His vision” (that really wasn’t) doesn’t come to pass.
