Page 170 - Foundations

Job 33:14-16
Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, when
sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals
their instruction...

If you will accept that God speaks through visions, dreams, and words of prophecy, then you should
accept that God will communicate profound and specific things through the heavens as well. Speaking
of the hour in which we now live, Yahweh declared the following through the prophet Joel:

Joel 2:28-31
“And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And even
on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will display wonders
in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes.”

Cast away dreams, cast away visions, cast away prophecy, cast away God’s messages through the
heavens: The result will be that you will render yourself deaf and blind to the Spirit of God.

Isaiah 42:18-20
“Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but My servant, or so deaf as
My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, or so blind as the servant
of Yahweh? You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none
hears.”

As I have been studying this subject of God speaking through the heavenly bodies, I have purposely
chosen to read what people are saying who oppose this form of divine speech. It is wise to hear all
sides of a matter. Oftentimes those who are cheerleaders of some truth manifest too much exuberance.
There is a temptation to go beyond the revelation that has been given to them, or too speak with
confidence where caution is due. As a Bible teacher I am aware of the danger of transgressing in this
matter. I have erred at times, and had to later retract some statement that was imprudently uttered.
James spoke of the need to guard our speech.

James 3:1-2
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter
judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a
perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

I am not yet a “perfect man,” but I am desirous of making consistent progress toward conformity to
the image of Christ. I have found that patient consideration of alternative, or antagonistic views on
a matter, is one way in which I can discern pitfalls and errors in a subject and avoid an excess of
enthusiasm that has led some to stray into error. The Bible recommends the practice of hearing all
sides of an issue before forming a judgment.