Does Asking for Signs Evidence a Lack of Faith?

What is your motive when you ask God for a sign?

For some people, they're facing the decision of possibly having to do something that they really do not want to do.

• Sometimes, this can result in a person asking God for an enormous sign they really don't believe has any chance of happening, because that way they can trick themselves into thinking that God really didn't want them to do it.  But God can perform even the most impossible signs if He wants to, so I believe that in these cases, He doesn't provide the sign because He knows that person is in rebellion against Him, not truly seeking His will.
• But other times, people facing a decision they emphatically do not want to do ask for a sign because they are seeking God's will deep down, but there is a massive struggle inside of them because of how much they don't want to do it.  They feel God directing them toward a decision, and already know what His answer will be in the sign, but they need that extra push to force them over the edge into saying "Yes" to God.  In a way, their asking for a sign is a great act of faith and sacrifice, because they are asking for something their minds cannot write off as coincidence or misunderstanding - they are asking for a definitive command.

In other cases, asking for a sign is the responsible thing to do!  If we feel that God is pushing us towards a decision, but there is a lot at stake, it can definitely be responsible to ask for a sign so we don't make a mistake by our own emotions and inclinations getting in the way of us truly hearing the Holy Spirit's leading in our souls.  What's at stake may be human lives, a very large amount of money, or a life path (career, marriage, etc.) - and since these "assets" all belong to God, asking for a sign can be just making sure we're not mishandling His possessions!

• Look at Gideon in Judges 6-7.  He asked for a sign more than once about the same decision because he had 32,000 lives depending on him making the correct choice!  Of course he wanted to make absolutely, positively sure that He was hearing God right!
• I think the same situation might be what's going on in Isaiah 7 .  Isaiah instructs King Ahaz to ask for a sign so he will know he can trust the important prophecy about war he has just heard - but Ahaz refuses (under the guise of having faith), and is rebuked and cursed for it.  A prophet ordained by God told him to ask for a sign because the prophecy was a really big deal, and it seems to me that the idolatrous king's refusal to ask for one shows that he didn't take God's plan for the war seriously.

Do you have thoughts you'd like to share about any of the circumstances described above, or can you think of another important type of situation involving asking for a sign?  Leave a comment below. :-)

Does God Still Speak to Us Today?

Christians have many different views on how God speaks to His followers today.  Let's look at four ways God has spoken to His people, and I'll share my opinions on whether each of those still happens today.  I encourage you to pipe in via the comments section - there are certainly many additional ways God speaks to us, and plenty of relevant verses for those and the ones listed here.  Stories of personal experience are also welcome. :-)

His Word (the Bible)

Obviously, all of us here agree that God speaks to His followers through the Bible - His direct revelation to mankind - so we don't need to substantiate this one.

In addition to hearing what He has to say by reading each passage quite literally, sometimes while reading Scripture, a verse or passage will jump out as applying to our own situation, even if it's a different context - that's the Holy Spirit drawing our attention to a lesson He has for us.  So, the Bible can do double-duty.

When "hearing" from God in any other capacity (prophecy, dreams, etc.), the Bible should always be the standard by which we judge the accuracy of what we hear.  All other means besides the Bible have the possibility of external/subjective faults, but the Bible stands.  If something does not line up with Scripture, no matter how much you think it's from God, reject it.  See Romans 16:17.

Prophecy

Some Christians believe that the Church no longer includes prophets, and that the gift of prophecy was only for the Early Church since they did not yet have an actual Bible through which to hear from God.  I respectfully disagree.

First off, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelation are accepted as the last New Testament books written.  1 John 4:1 refers to false prophets, and Revelation's letter to Thyatira, which was written literally to a then-contemporary church, also references a specific false prophetess.  Note that neither of these portray listening to prophets as wrong, but rather listening to prophets without testing them to make sure they're really from God.  In other words, it is 100% reasonable to interpret it that there were, indeed, genuine prophets when these letters were written.  Add to this that, since those books were written last (and significantly later than the others, at that), that means the Christians had access to all the rest of what we call the New Testament!  So, in my mind, prophets serving only as a temporary replacement for yet-nonexistent Scripture doesn't fly.

Second, Joel 2:28-29 foretells: "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.  Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."  In Acts 2:14-18, Peter signals that the initial fulfillment of that prophecy had just occurred.  Because of this and some references by Jesus, many Bible teachers classify the "End Times" as starting with Jesus's first coming to Earth - meaning, no matter how far away the actual end of the world is, we are living in the End Times (which the above prophecy also refers to) right now.  So, since the Old Testament prophecy guaranteeing prophets was initially fulfilled in the early church and we're still under that same criteria, I say there are still true prophets in the Church.

However, tread carefully - the Bible has much to say about the dangers of false prophets, and how careful we need to be in testing false prophets!

Dreams

Does God still speak to us in dreams?  Well, since the Joel prophecy above also mentions dreams, yes. :-)

However, in both the Old and New Testaments, dreams were not common by any means.  There are plenty of recorded instances, yes, but God spoke that way to a few individuals, not everyone by any means.  It also wasn't like He spoke to those individuals that way frequently.  So even though God could still speak through dreams today, that doesn't mean it will happen often, or to all believers.

Some people, pulling from the story of (the Old Testament) Joseph where both he and Pharaoh have seemingly random dreams and it turns out it's God speaking to them, think that all dreams come from God.  I disagree.  In the other Scriptural instances where God speaks to someone in a dream, it is extremely apparent that it is a vision from God, not just some random dream for them to read into.  With that context, I believe the dreams in the Joseph story had very apparent spiritual causes to the people involved, but were more symbolic in nature than some of the cut-and-dry dreams, like those of the New Testament Joseph.

So, my personal opinion is that if God's speaking to you in a dream, you'll know it; you shouldn't take every dream you have and try to read some spiritual meaning into it.

Speaking "Verbally," in our Hearts

Some Christians, myself included, believe that since the Holy Spirit lives inside us, giving us a far greater connection to God than the people in the Old Testament, we can sometimes "hear" God's voice speaking to our hearts by praying and then just waiting in His presence for Him to speak to us.  What is "heard" can be a non-worded sense of the correct course of action, or sometimes even words such as Scriptures the Holy Spirit brings to mind.

The above is (in my opinion) totally in line with Scriptural principle, and it is further supported if you take literally John 10:27-28, "My sheep [us] hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand."

However, some take this to an extreme I don't agree with - every person in a church having a "word" from God to share with the congregation each week.  It's one thing to set apart a time in a church service for people to share what God has taught them each week (that's wonderful!); it's another to cross the line into thinking every person is a prophet.  Approach such situations with wariness to be sure it hasn't crossed that line.

What about you?  What stories can you share of God speaking to you through these - or other - ways?  What views do you have, and relevant Scriptures can you think of, that relate to the topics above?  What other means can you think of through which God speaks to us?

Wisdom and Knowledge - Part 6 of Spiritual Gifts

Today’s base verse is 1 Corinthians 12:8, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same spirit.”

The words wisdom and knowledge have a wide variety of meanings in our English language, so from a cursory glance, it can be difficult to determine precisely what they mean in the spiritual realm.  Let’s find out. :-)

Wisdom – Basic Definition

The Greek word used here for wisdom is sophia, meaning both skill and wisdom.  This is contrasted against the only other word used for wise/wisdom in the New Testament, phronimos, which means a practical, shrewd, applicable-in-the-world wisdom.  Sophia is sometimes (but not always) used in a spiritual sense:

And coming to His home town He began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers?”  (Matthew 13:54)

(Regarding Christians being put on trial for the gospel’s sake) … for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

(Luke 21:15)

But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of the task.

(Acts 6:3)

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will [different word used for knowledge than is used in the context of spiritual gifts] in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…

(Colossians 1:9)

So, from all of this, we can see that the spiritual gift of wisdom is a different kind of wisdom that comes directly from God and is applicable in spiritual matters…but that’s still not abundantly clear.  Let’s go deeper.

Wisdom – More Specific Definition

God actually provides us a case study in wisdom in the person of King Solomon.  Now, assuming that everything in the Old Testament and New Testament is identical is a dangerous assumption, especially considering that they were written in two different languages and thus inconsistent translation is totally unavoidable…however, in this case, we know that they are the same thing.

“The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom (sophia) of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

(Matthew 12:42; almost identical in Luke 11:31)

So, Solomon’s wisdom is indeed sophia.  Now consider 1 Kings 4:29, “Now God gave Solomon wisdom (sophia in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore.”  Therefore, we have pinned down that Solomon’s wisdom is the spiritual gift mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8.

Now, in order to obtain a definition, what did Solomon ask God for when he asked for wisdom?

7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 

8 Your servant is in the midst of Your people which you have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 
9 So give your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil.  For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 
10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice,
12 behold, I have done according to your words.  Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you…”
(1 Kings 3:7-12)

Wisdom, related to the gift of discernment/distinguishing of spirits, means having a supernatural ability to know the right, godly course of action in given situations and communicate this effectively to others.

Knowledge

The Greek word for knowledge in our base verse is gnosis, meaning a knowing or knowledge.  Compare this to the other words used for knowledge in the New Testament:

Sunoida – to share the knowledge of
Oida – to have seen or perceived, hence to know
Epignosis – recognition, knowledge
Do you notice a pattern here?  All the other words translated as knowledge involve in their very definitions learning the knowledge or arriving at it through observation – yet gnosis seems like you just…know.

This is affirmed in 1 Corinthians 13:2, “And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

In this verse, knowledge is a very supernatural thing, lumped in with others supernatural elements.

I believe that the gift of knowledge can be manifested in two ways:

Firstly, we see that it means simply understanding deep spiritual issues that are confusing to a lot of people (1 Corinthians 13:2, 1 Corinthians 8:7, Colossians 2:2-3)

Secondly, based solely on personal experience, I’ve known believers who know things about people and situations that they simply had no way of knowing – and I believe it falls into this category, as well.  (In Scriptural examples of this, it usually occurs simultaneously with prophecy … as I mentioned before, that’s one of the sort of catch-all gifts that we’ll discuss at a later time).

A Final Thought

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

(Romans 11:33)

Join the Discussion!

Do you or anyone you know have the gift of wisdom or knowledge?  Can you think of more examples of these in Scripture?