THE NATURE OF REVELATION Pt.2

WHEN HE SPEAKS FIGURATIVELY

My mentor told the story of a man of God who married many wives. He claimed God spoke to him that he should marry more wives. This surprised everyone that an evangelical preacher would subscribe to polygamy. He must have preached and taught against it but his sudden change shocked everyone. Eventually he died. At his funeral, the Spirit of God came upon someone in the congregation saying "Truly, I told my servant that I will give him more wives but what I meant was that I'll give my church more branches because the church is my bride"(paraphrase). Did God speak to him truly? Yes, He did. However, God spoke to him figuratively but he misunderstood and misinterpreted what God meant.

Sometimes, the nature of revelation is not always direct. God speaks figuratively, sometimes using types, shadows and illustrations to communicate to his children but misinterpretation is often the problem. In the body of Christ and among individual believers, there are several cases of misinterpretation of revelation. This has led many into untold error. Often, I tell people not to patronize dream interpreters and their books for obvious reasons. For example, God can show me egg in my dream as a symbol of something known to Him with the expectation that I'll ask Him what it meant. If I consult a dream interpretation book, I may get the wrong answer because God may mean differently at that point in time trying to communicate a peculiar message to me. That two persons see egg in their dream doesn't mean God is saying the same thing to both of them. God may use the egg as an illustrative symbol of the different messages He's trying to pass across.

Often, we are always quick to consult asking for meaning from humans without asking the Holy Spirit. Often, they may interpret that revelation on the basis of private meaning. That is, a meaning that was specific to their situation years before when God gave them a similar revelation. That may not be the general meaning at all times for all ages. That's where I have issues with dream interpretation books. Don't act on a revelation you don't understand fully. Learn to press deep into the mind of God for clarity after hearing or seeing into the plans and programs of God for your life so that you won't run the risk of wrong interpretation. If God can speak to you figuratively, He can interpret it for you. After Jesus spoke in parables, the disciples often asked Him for interpretation and He never failed to tell them. You are a son, ask your father for the true meaning of that revelation.