“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1 ESV).
As mentioned in the passage quoted above, God used a variety of methods to communicate His message to humanity throughout the Old Testament period. For example…
- God interacted with Moses on a personal level, speaking to him “…face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).
- Some Biblical personalities received revelations from angels (Genesis 19:1-29).
- God spoke to others through dreams on various occasions (Genesis 37:1-11, Daniel 7:1, Numbers 12:6).
- Another communication method involved miraculous events (Exodus 3, Judges 6:34-40).
- Israel’s High Priest had access to a means of discerning God’s will called the Urim and Thummim. While the mechanics of this method are poorly understood, it represented a valid means of obtaining God’s direction (see Exodus 28:30, Numbers 27:18-21, Ezra 2:63).
- The prophet Daniel received direction from God through his study of the works of the prophet Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1-2).
- God spoke to the prophet Isaiah through visions (Isaiah 6).
- God also communicated with others through the natural world (Psalm 8, Psalm 19:1-6).
- There was at least one person who received God’s direction through the accumulation of a lifetime’s worth of experience (Solomon in the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes).
- Another legitimate but poorly understood method of receiving God’s direction involved casting lots (see Leviticus 16:8-10 and Proverbs 16:33).
These communication techniques help bring important context to Hebrews 1:1…
“By putting these words first the author fixes our attention upon the variations and imperfection of the Old Testament revelation… That revelation came bit by bit, as men were ready and able to receive it. God used visions, dreams, events, and direct communication to reveal His message by the prophets. This fragmentary and varied method demonstrates God’s graciousness and versatility in matching His message to the capability of man to understand it…” (1)
While it is important to recognize that God used these methods to communicate with human beings in the past, it is equally important to recognize that God no longer utilizes them as His primary means of communication today. While God may still employ some of these methods (especially in those areas of the world where access to His written Word is limited), the following verse will alert us to the principal means by which He speaks to us today. This new means of communication is so complete, thorough, and all-encompassing, that it renders every other method obsolete.
(1) Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (pp. 2533–2534). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.