[This article was taken from our book Prophecy: Understanding and Utilizing the Manifestation of Prophecy.]

What is Revelation?

The word “revelation” comes from the word “reveal.” Revelation is “something that is revealed.” Biblically, the word “revelation” refers to something revealed by a spiritual source, which may be God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Devil, or demons. The “book of Revelation” is so called because its contents were revealed by God to Jesus, who revealed it to an angel, who revealed it to the Apostle John (Rev. 1:1). In its secular usage, “revelation” can refer to something that has a profound impact on a person or when someone learned something that helped him understand some aspect of life. For example, someone might say, “It was a revelation to me to learn that my headaches could be cured by getting more sleep.” However, that is not the way “revelation” is used in its biblical context.

A. Revelation is not:

1. What someone learns from reading the Bible. When the Bible was originally given, it was revelation to that individual who then wrote it down. When a person reads it, he learns, but that type of learning is not revelation. It is available, however, for God to give someone revelation about what the Bible says so he can understand it clearly.

2.What someone feels very strongly about. When a person feels very strongly about something, there is a danger that some of those strong opinions will “leak over” into what he says comes from God. This is as true for doctrine as it is for personal feelings and opinions.

3.What someone knows from his five senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching). What a person observes through his senses may be accurate, but something is not “revelation” unless it comes from a spiritual source.

B. Revelation is:

Information that is revealed to someone by a spiritual source. That source can be either good (God or Jesus), or it can be evil (the Devil or demons).

God’s “Categories” of Revelation

God places revelation into two categories. These categories are:

1. Message of Wisdom
2. Message of Knowledge

These categories of revelation can be found in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 12:8
To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,

All revelation will fall into one of these categories because revelation is either knowledge or wisdom. “Wisdom” has many aspects, and in today’s language can have several definitions. However, as it is used in a biblical context, “wisdom” is the proper application of knowledge. [1] The first definition of “wisdom” in the first edition of Webster’s Dictionary (published in 1828) captures its meaning when it comes to “a message of wisdom”: “the right use or exercise of knowledge.” [2]

The categories of revelation, i.e., a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom, are also the names of two manifestations of holy spirit. However, the revelation itself, the information, does not have to come via a manifestation, it could come via phenomenon.

We say that revelation is a “message” of knowledge or wisdom because the Greek word logos in 1 Corinthians 12:8 means “word,” not as a “vocabulary word,” but as an intelligent communication. The first definition of logos in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon is “a word, yet not in the grammatical sense (equivalent to vocabulum, the mere name of an object), but language…a word which, uttered by the living voice, embodies a conception or idea.” [3] The NIV uses “message,” and other versions, such as the RSV, NRSV, and NJB, use “utterance,” which would be fine as long as it is understood that it is the Lord who “utters” the message to the person and not that the person speaks a message of wisdom to someone else. God often gives revelation by sight, or a feeling, etc., and so for the new Christian, saying that revelation is a “word” might make it seem that revelation from God is supposed to be something that can be heard, which is not the case.

A brief definition of revelation is:

A Message of Knowledge is God or the Lord Jesus Christ providing to you information, insight, and understanding about something.

A Message of Wisdom is God or the Lord Jesus Christ providing to you direction, or how to apply the knowledge you have about something.

When God gives a revelation message to someone, that one message may contain both of the above categories. For example, when God gives a message of knowledge (i.e., gives a person information), He will often give with it a message of wisdom so the person knows what to do with the information he received. If there is no message of wisdom, it usually means what to do is clear from either the Word of God or from natural wisdom based on the physical universe, the five senses world. When a person receives a message for another by revelation (which is prophecy when spoken), and because revelation is either a message of knowledge or a message of wisdom, the prophecy will also be one or more of those—a message of knowledge or a message of wisdom.

How Revelation Comes to Individuals

Revelation, information from the spiritual world, is given to people in many different ways.

1. Direct communication. For example, God, Jesus, an angel, the Devil, or a demon, can appear to, or speak directly with, an individual.

2. Communication from God or Jesus via holy spirit. God or the Lord Jesus communicates with the person via holy spirit, which indwells and fills him (Num. 11:16, 17 and 25; Joel 2:28; Luke 1:67; Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 12:8).

3. Communication from a demon inhabiting the person. A demon inhabiting a person’s mind (which some people refer to as “possession”) gives him information. People hear voices, see images, or just “get ideas” (Num. 5:14-KJV; Jer. 2:8, 23:13; Hosea 4:12; Zech. 10:2).

4. Communication from others who have received revelation. Genuine prophets and indeed, in the Administration of Grace, any believer, can receive revelation and communicate it to others (Acts 9:10-16, 21:10 and 11). False prophets hear from the demonic side of the spiritual world and communicate that revelation to people. Mediums (those who directly consult the spirit world) and necromancers (people who “communicate with the dead”) are specific types of such false prophets (Deut. 18:11). [6]

5. Communication via something in the physical world. Things that occur in the physical realm can sometimes have a spiritual source and communicate a message. [7] If a physical event had a spiritual cause, that cause can be either godly or demonic. However, it is sometimes difficult or even impossible to tell from the five senses whether the event had a godly source, a demonic source, or happened due to simple natural laws and only by coincidence (“chance”) seemed to communicate something.

The difficulty of determining the source of something in the physical world can be seen in an example from history, as recorded in Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar cast lots with arrows, consulted idols, and looked at animal livers to try to discern what he should do (Ezek. 21:21). If the arrows fell and pointed toward Jerusalem, why? What was the cause or source? Was it God directing him to attack the disobedient Judeans, demons wanting to destroy God’s people, or simply coincidence due to the fact that the arrows had to point somewhere when they fell?

Sometimes much prayer, wisdom, and counsel is needed to understand the actual cause of something in the physical world. Below are some examples from Scripture of the three possible sources when something occurs in the physical world.

A godly cause: Balaam’s talking donkey (Num. 22:28-30); the dew on Gideon’s fleece (Judg. 6:36-40); the sound in the balsam trees (2 Sam. 5:24); fire from the sky (1 Kings 18:24); the writing on the wall of Balthazar’s palace (Dan. 5:5).

A demonic cause: The magician’s rods becoming serpents (Exod. 7:8-13); [8] Simon’s sorcery (Acts 8:9-12); and lying wonders (2 Thess. 2:9-KJV). “Divination” is getting information from a spiritual source via an object. Divination includes things such as reading tarot cards, crystal balls, palms, and tea leaves. Using a Ouija Board is divination, as is examining animal innards (Ezek. 21:21). All divination is an abomination to God because it is getting information from His archenemy, the Devil (Deut. 18:10-12). Astrology is another form of divination. God set the stars in place to tell us about Him and His plan, but astrology perverts that, turns it completely around, and says the stars tell us about ourselves. [9] Astrology is wrong in the eyes of God (Deut. 18:10 [10] ; Isa. 47:12-15).

A coincidence or “chance” occurrence. Although some Christians teach that there is no such thing as “chance,” both the Bible and life testify otherwise. However, we must understand what “chance” is. Not everything that happens is caused by a spiritual source. God designed the physical universe to run by physical laws, and most of the time those laws operate without the intervention of a spiritual source. Although godly or demonic spirits can influence our physical world, much of the time they do not. For example, if your family is playing Monopoly, it is likely that neither God nor demons are influencing the role of the dice; instead, the laws of physics are at work. If a neighborhood kid hits a baseball through your window, it is unlikely “the Devil did it.” More than likely simple physics was involved.

The complexities of the physical laws and situations that make up what happens in the world around us are usually unknown to us, and so we refer to things as happening by “chance.” Why did the ball hit the window instead of the wall of the house? Why did the dice come up a nine instead of a three? Why did the toast fall jelly side down on the floor and not jelly side up? These things happen as a result of physical laws, but who can ferret through all the laws and variables? We cannot, and so we say that things happen by “chance.”

“Chance” is an important part of life. Ecclesiastes notes that “time” and “chance” happen to everyone (Eccles. 9:11). Solomon told the king of Tyre that he was so blessed by God that his kingdom had rest. He did not have problems from either enemies or “misfortune” (i.e., evil chance. 1 Kings 5:4-NASB. It is the same word translated “chance” in Ecclesiastes). The Philistines had been struck by plagues after capturing the ark of God. As they prepared to send it home, they said to each other, “…If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance” (1 Sam. 6:9b).

How Revelation Is Given Via the Gift of Holy Spirit

When an unsaved person becomes saved, the Lord Jesus gives him the gift of holy spirit (Acts 2:33), which then becomes an integrated part of him. At the time of the New Birth (salvation), the man of body and soul becomes a three-part man of body, soul, and holy spirit (1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 4:12). The holy spirit created inside the person fills him completely, and is in touch with every fiber of his being, both physical and mental.

Once a person has holy spirit, God or the Lord Jesus Christ can speak to him via that holy spirit inside him. God communicates with that holy spirit, which then communicates with the person’s mind or body. Therefore, revelation comes through one’s mind like other thoughts, or through one’s body like other sensations and feelings. That is why it takes “constant use” (Heb. 5:14) to be able to accurately discern if a thought is coming into one’s mind because of natural circumstances, or whether it is coming from God via the holy spirit to the mind.

When revelation comes to one’s mind, it comes as a thought, emotion, or senses experience (i.e., a sight, sound, etc.). When revelation comes via holy spirit to one’s body, it comes as a feeling or sensation (pain, pressure, heat, cold, etc.). The principle of how revelation works might be charted as follows:

Revelation as a thought	Revelation as a feeling
God (or Jesus Christ) holy spirit in you your mind a thought or emotion	God (or Jesus Christ) holy spirit in you your body a feeling or sensation

Once we understand that revelation usually comes as a thought or feeling we can understand why practice is so essential if we are going to reliably discern revelation from the Lord from our own thoughts and feelings.

The Seven Distinct Ways Revelation Comes to an Individual

The two categories of revelation—a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom are given in seven distinctive ways. An individual gets information from the Lord the same way he gathers information from the world around him. The Lord will give him something he can (1) see, (2) hear, (3) smell, (4) taste, or (5) touch, or sometimes he (6) “just knows.” Also, the Lord may give him (7) an emotion.

When the Lord gives a person a vision, sound, smell, etc., via holy spirit, it may seem as real as if it were actually happening in the physical world, but it is happening only in his mind. Other people around him are not experiencing what he is. For example, when Stephen saw heaven open and the Lord Jesus standing at God’s right hand (Acts 7:55 and 56), he “saw” it as clearly as if it had physically occurred. It was as real to him as his natural sight. Nevertheless, it was a revelation vision via the gift of holy spirit, and the others who were with Stephen did not see it. The Lord gave the revelation to Stephen via the gift of holy spirit within him, and the message went from the Lord to the gift of holy spirit to the visual center of Stephen’s brain and thus Stephen “saw” heaven open. When the Lord gives revelation smell, the one receiving the revelation will smell something because the olfactory center of the brain is receiving communication from the Lord via holy spirit, but other people, even if nearby, will not smell anything.

Once we understand that revelation (i.e., a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom) comes to us by (1) seeing, (2) hearing, (3) smelling, (4) tasting, (5) touching, (6) “just knowing” and (7) emotion, we can expand the chart explaining how revelation works.

Receiving revelation works the same basic way in all seven of the ways God gives it. Because revelation information comes via the brain like the information of other thoughts and experiences, most revelation requires developing a sensitivity to it to recognize it consistently. Revelation given via holy spirit is usually a very quick experience. It usually does not “hang around” so the person can confirm it, study it, etc. It is for that reason we must become practiced in receiving revelation from the Lord. Revelation is usually a “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12-KJV, or as the NIV states, a “gentle whisper”). A person usually has to be quiet, peaceful, and focused to hear the voice of the Lord. Neither God nor Jesus are interested in competing with the static produced by our lack of desire and discipline. God tells us to seek Him first in our lives, and He means what He says. He will usually not “turn up the volume” to accommodate us if we do not obey His commands.

For revelation vision	For revelation sound
God (or Jesus Christ) holy spirit in you your mind (the visual center) you see a vision as if it were real [11]	God (or Jesus Christ) holy spirit in you your mind(the auditory center) you hear a sound or voice as if it were real

The Bible has many examples of revelation via seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, or knowing. We will give an example in each category:

Seeing: 2 Kings 6:17, “And Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” When God gave this revelation, which was a message of knowledge by way of a vision, the servant could see the army of angels just as if it were physically there, but no one else could see it.

Hearing: 1 Samuel 9:15 and 16a (KJV), “Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, ‘To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin….’” God gave this message of knowledge by speaking it into Samuel’s ear, and Samuel heard the voice as clearly as if someone had been there talking with him. It is evident from this record that most translators do not understand how revelation works, because in their versions they leave out the part about Samuel’s ear, despite it being an important part of the biblical record and clearly stated in the Hebrew text.

Smell: Mark 9:25 (KJV), “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul [or “unclean”] spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” Sometimes the Lord will reveal the presence of a demon by giving the revelation of a terrible stench. Only the one receiving the revelation will smell it. Although in this record the demon may be called “unclean” as a descriptive term, it is likely that Jesus smelled a bad odor and knew that God was showing him a demon. There must have been other revelation for Jesus to know exactly what kind of demon, and that he should cast it out.

Taste: 2 Kings 4:40, “The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, ‘O man of God, there is death in the pot!’ And they could not eat it.” That the men (who were prophets) spoke by revelation, and not from their five senses, is clear when the verse and its context are read and understood. The word “death” is a major key. One of the ingredients of the stew was an unknown gourd (v. 39), but when the prophet tasted the stew, he knew it was “death.” Even if it tasted terrible, one would not necessarily say it was deadly. Furthermore, there is nothing in the verse that indicates the food even tasted bad. Occasionally people eat poisonous mushrooms and get sick or die because deadly food does not always taste bad. The prophets put some stew in their mouths and knew it was “death.” That is a good example of how revelation by taste works. In this case, it was a message of knowledge by revelation taste. The prophets did not need a message of wisdom. Once God showed them the stew was “death,” their human wisdom could guide them.

Touch: Jeremiah 1:9, The LORD touched Jeremiah’s mouth. Jeremiah would have felt this revelation touch as clearly as if someone next to him had touched him. Many times when someone is ministering healing, for example, he “feels” the pain of the one he is ministering to.

Knowing: Matthew 9:4, “Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?’” Jesus “knew” their thoughts by revelation. This is a good example of “just knowing” what is going on. The knowledge is not specifically discernible by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or touching. The person receiving the revelation “just knows” because God (or Jesus) puts the thoughts in his mind.

Emotion: 1 Samuel 11:6, “When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger.” When the spirit came on Saul, the result was that he became very angry. Although not all emotion, even all godly emotion, is from the Lord, Christians should be aware that emotion can be the result of his working in them via the gift of holy spirit. Emotion is very important in the life of a godly Christian, and it can happen that God can give us an emotion via revelation, or augment an emotion we already have.

The Origin of Revelation

It is important to distinguish the “origin” of revelation from the “way,” or “means by which,” it comes to an individual. We have already seen that revelation comes to a person by (1) direct communication, (2) holy spirit (in a Christian), (3) demons inhabiting the person, (4) being spoken to by others in prophecy, or (5) things in the senses world such as Balaam’s talking donkey. However, the “origin” of the revelation is either God (1 Cor. 2:10; 2 Pet. 1:21), the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12; 2 Cor. 12:1; Acts 16:7 [12]), the Devil (Gen. 3:1-5; Matt. 4:1-11) or a demon (1 Sam. 28:8-19; 1 Kings 22:22 [13]). While the obedience and order in God’s spiritual kingdom demands that no angel would give revelation without the actual source being God or the Lord Jesus, the confusion, conflict, and power struggles in the Devil’s spiritual kingdom make it apparent that demons sometimes act without the Devil’s permission and thus are the original source of some demonic revelation. [14]

Because the origin of godly revelation is either God or the Lord Jesus Christ, prophetic messages can come from either of them. Sometimes the message clearly comes from God, sometimes clearly from Jesus, and sometimes it is unclear as to whether the source is God or Jesus. Scripture makes it clear that they work together. For example, they both send “grace and peace,” as the openings of the Church Epistles testify. Many verses speak of the grace of God, but Jesus also sends grace (Rom. 16:20); God gives mercy (Rom. 12:1), and so does Jesus (1 Cor. 7:25); God blesses (Eph. 1:3), and so does Jesus (Rom. 10:12); God sanctifies (Jude 1:1-KJV), and so does Jesus (Eph. 5:25 and 26-KJV). [15] We have fellowship with both the Father and Jesus (1 John 1:3), and the basis of fellowship is communication.

There are no verses dictating whether a person will hear from God, Jesus, or both, and no verses stating that we Christians should feel more comfortable talking to God, Jesus, or both. God and Jesus are both individuals, and each seeks fellowship with Christians. It is up to each of us to develop our own personal relationship with God and the Lord Jesus, just as it is up to us to develop friendships in the physical world.

Examples of A Message of Knowledge and A Message of Wisdom in Prophecy

We have seen that revelation falls into two categories: a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom, which we will label [MK] and [MW]. Because prophecy is the communication of a message received by revelation, it follows that all prophecy also falls into the categories of a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom. The following example is the prophecy of Samuel to Saul, and it is labeled to show that God does indeed speak in these categories. A study of the prophecies in the Bible will give you a much better understanding of the way God gives information via prophecy.

1 Samuel 10:1-8
(1) Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? [MK]. [16]
(2) When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”’ [MK]. [17]
(3) “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. [MW]. [18] Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine [MK].
(4) They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread [MK], which you will accept from them [MW].
(5) “After that you will go to Gibeah of God [MW], where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying [MK].
(6) The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power [MK], and you will prophesy with them [MW]; and you will be changed into a different person [MK].
(7) Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do [MW], for God is with you [MW].
(8) “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do” [MW].

Note that in this personal prophecy Samuel gave to Saul, there is an intermixing of a message of knowledge (information, insight, and understanding from God), with a message of wisdom (direction; what God wants you to do or how God wants you to apply knowledge). Another example that clearly shows the difference between a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom is in the prophecy of Isaiah to Hezekiah when Hezekiah was sick.

2 Kings 20:1-7
(1) In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order [MW], because you are going to die; you will not recover [MK].”
(2) Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
(3) “Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
(4) Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him:
(5) “Go back and tell Hezekiah [MW], the leader of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD [MK].
(6) I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David [MK].’”
(7) Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs [MW].” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

Remember, when God is only giving information, that is a message of knowledge, when God is giving someone direction by telling him what to do or how to apply the information he has, that is a message of wisdom.

All prophecy is communicating what the Lord has revealed or is revealing by revelation. Therefore it is very important to understand what revelation is, how it comes, and how a person becomes sensitive to receiving it clearly and consistently. This appendix has dealt with the basics of revelation so that the student of prophecy will better understand how the one giving a prophecy received the message from the Lord that was then delivered as a prophecy.

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