Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Hearing His Voice
Is it possible to hear, in your physical ear, the audible voice of God? In this session, Jeremy reveals the answer.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:But this type of revelation is verbal revelation. I'm talking about him speaking like he did at Mount Sinai, so it's verbal meaning. Okay, god, when God speaks in this way, we're not talking about you had a feeling. Okay, we're not talking about you had a feeling. We're not talking about you contemplated your navel and had a mystical experience. We're not talking about that. We're talking about propositional speech, like I'm speaking to you. I mean like God's saying thou shalt not murder, in the Hebrew language, which people heard. So, first of all, revelation is verbal. In that sense it's words. Secondly, revelation is personal. If you're going to know a person, you have to have personal revelation from the person. So the law reveals who God is, especially, of course, that he's holy, but also that he's good, that he's loving, that he's also just just and so forth. So God, in the Mount Sinai event, is revealing his part to the nation Israel. So it's personal, it's very, very personal. It's not just a law code like don't go over 55 miles an hour. No, it's a personal address.
Speaker 2:The third is revelation is intermittent. This one's one of the most interesting ones. The third point Intermittent, that means it doesn't happen all the time. In other words, god in history. If you study the Bible, you'll see that God speaks for a while and then he goes silent. And then he speaks some more and he goes silent. And he speaks some more and he goes silent, and then he speaks some more and he goes silent, and he speaks some more and he goes silent. This is the normal pattern.
Speaker 2:For example, in the book of genesis here's here's a period of time when god was silent at the end of the book of genesis. At the end of the book of genesis, you have jacob, you have joseph. He's down in egypt and the family comes and they go to Egypt, right? The next thing you read about after that is about 400 years later, in the time when Moses is about to be born. It's about how many years later, about 400 years later, what did God say in there? Nothing, nothing. The first time when God speaks is when he meets Moses in the burning bush. It's the first time when god speaks is when he meets moses in the burning bush. It's the first time god said anything into history in over 400 years. So the idea that god doesn't speak for long periods of time is not a new thing in scripture or a new idea. This is the common way. Then, of course, you've got moses, joshua've got the judges, you've got the period of the kings, northern and southern kingdoms. It takes you down to the exile.
Speaker 2:And the last prophet of the Old Testament is a guy named Malachi. You all got it wrong. He's the Italian prophet. You know Malachi, right? And Malachi is about 430 or so BC. Okay, and then does God speak anymore? No, it's silent.
Speaker 2:They call it the intertestamental times, or another period of God's silence, until you have an angel disclosing the birth of John the Baptist, right? So another 400 years of silence, and then he speaks. And we have all this New Testament revelation through the Lord Jesus Christ, through Peter, through Paul, through Mark, through John, through Matthew, right, and we have all these books that were collected at that time because they're apostolic and they're added to the canon of Scripture, the third thing we'll look at. And then there's silence. Are we supposed to be surprised? I mean, the charismatics say we're supposed to be surprised. I mean god's always speaking, right? I mean that's the way they want it, okay, but it's normal for god to speak and then go silent, to speak and then go silent. I think right now we're in a period of silence and the next thing god's going to say go silent. I think right now we're in a period of silence and the next thing God's going to say to the human race is through the two witnesses in the book of Revelation. So revelation is intermittent. He's not speaking all the time. Okay, now what are we supposed to be doing when he's not speaking? Speaking, remembering what he said and what he did, and trying to understand it.
Speaker 2:I don't know why people want new revelation today when they can't even understand what's already there. There is so much already here that you don't understand. Why is it exactly that you need to get additional revelation? That's like trying to take a test where you can't get better than a 20, and the teacher says well, let me give you some more problems that are more difficult on top of that. That's not going to help you improve your score. What you need to do is study those problems so you can ace the test.
Speaker 2:That's what we're working on now. We're trying to understand the Gospels. We're trying to understand the transitional book of Acts. We're trying to understand the epistles, 13 of which were written by Paul, and Peter said Paul wrote some things that are very hard to understand. Now, if Peter was having a hard time. I can almost guarantee you are having a much harder time. In fact, I'm quite confident of that because I teach Acts and Paul's epistles at the seminary. In fact, I'm quite confident of that because I teach Acts and Paul's epistles at the seminary and it's not easy. It's a lot of stuff, so, at any rate, intermittent.
Speaker 2:The next thing is revelation is comprehensive. What do I mean by that? I mean he speaks to every area of life and with equal authority in every area. So what I mean is this If you look at the law of Moses, you'll find sanitation laws. You mean God is concerned about health and cleanliness. Yes, you mean that might actually have some implications for COVID. You mean, like the book of Leviticus might actually touch on quarantine type ideas. Yes, and it speaks to those things with authority. It gives us some direction on how to treat it and what to do about it, and especially things like you know, like wash your hands.
Speaker 2:Remember that, remember, uh, simul vice, the scientist, the guy who went around the wards on the hospital and he was the one I was. What year was simulvice? 1780s, 1800s, somewhere in there and he says you know, I go and there's these dead bodies and we touch these dead bodies and then we go over to these ladies who are having babies or help us, and then these ladies get sick and they die. And he said you know, I think the problem is that what we need to do in between touching patients is we need to wash our hands. And people are like no way, are you crazy? We don't have time to do that. And so that guy, simulvice, ended up in an insane asylum because he could not convince people they needed to wash their hands before going to the next patient.
Speaker 2:This is only like two or three hundred years ago, folks. This is only like two or three hundred years ago, folks. And yet if people had just used wisdom and look at the law of moses, they find that it's a very good idea to wash your hands in running water. They may not have understood why they needed to do that, but the God who gave these laws did so.
Speaker 2:He's speaking to every area of life. There's laws about war and how warfare ought to be conducted outside the land versus inside the land. There's all sorts of laws that pertain. There's one that refers to parapets. I don't mean a pet like an animal, but a parapet is like if you had a porch on your roof. You need to build a fence around it so you're not negligent, and people fall off and die, like kids who are playing with their Legos or something or their race car runs over the edge and they fall over. The law is therefore about architecture that have implications for that and for negligence, and the importance so God speaks to every area of life. That's what we mean by it's comprehensive.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. Can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.