Rhemalight

Read Acts 2:

Having seen the first part of Joel’s prophecy, we come to the second. Visions are the second hallmark of Pentecost as predicted by Joel. He put visions on equal footing with prophecy. It seems that he says they can all see visions just as they can all prophesy. (1Cor.14:31). We could argue that what makes a people ‘Pentecostal’ is one, the prevalence of prophesying in their midst and two, the abundance of visions. Both streams are supposed to be flowing together. A vision by definition is a divinely granted appearance. Loosely speaking, we normally talk of a vision to win a city to God or a vision to achieve a certain milestone but that is not what is under discussion here. You can have this vision any time you want but these visions are only enabled by the Holy Spirit. The visions being studied here are definite supernatural encounters in space and time through which God communicates with man.

That they are divinely granted implies that it is God that orchestrates them; that they are appearances, means that they are visual in format. Whatever the Lord wishes to communicate is seen or viewed. It may be presented in a still form like still photos or in a motion picture form. Peter saw a canvass lowering out of heaven and going back three times - that was a motion picture type. Steven saw the glory of the Lord and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. It does not tell us whether Jesus was doing or saying anything. It was probably a still photo type of thing. Ezekiel saw an olive tree and leaves but there was no activity going on. It was also likely a still photo type.

Of course we can also note that what the viewer is viewing may be still but if the viewer himself is moving then it will appear like a motion picture. Ezekiel had a number of these for example one where he was transported to Israel and conducted around the temple.

Visions imply seeing, in this case, by supernatural aid. This can fall under two headings - discerning of spirits and non-spiritual visions.

The discerning of spirits first appears in the bible in 1 Cor. 12:10. To discern means to perceive by seeing or hearing. Discerning of spirits means supernatural insight into the realm of spirits. It is the ability to see spirits of all kinds - evil or good. Angels, the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus, the Father, Satan, and demons are all spirits and would naturally fall under this categorization. Unfortunately some people have taken this to mean discerning of evil spirits. It does not say that. People who are always seeing demons and nothing else are not operating in this. Others have taken this to mean discerning faults in other people. It is true that the Lord may reveal evil motives in people or spirits by which people are motivated but that has nothing to do with fault-finding. If one turned that on oneself one would quickly abandon this gift. Besides you don’t need the Holy Spirit to have that one. You can be a fault-finding person without the Holy Spirit.

By non-spiritual visions, the meaning intended is that though one sees by the Spirit what one sees is not a spirit or in the spirit realm per se. This would mean one either has a word of knowledge or else a word of wisdom or both. The word of knowledge is a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of certain facts in the mind of God. The word of wisdom is a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of the mind and purpose of God. Both of these relate to people, places or things. This information could come through visual or non-visual form. Word of wisdom or word of knowledge can come to you in form of a word or a perception but they can also come to you in a vision.

If you saw in a vision where a lost key was that would be something here in the material world - it would not be discerning of spirits. A vision of a lost person’s whereabouts would also not constitute discerning of spirits but rather a word of knowledge. One might see a vision of an accident taking place if he continued with the journey he is on. This would be word of wisdom and not discerning of spirits. In other words though discerning of spirits is in vision form, visions cover a wider compass than that. Actually discerning of spirits is on a lower level than the other visions because it is restricted to a single class of objects - spirits. Yet with the others anything past, present or future can be revealed that relates to people, places or things.

Another element of non-spiritual visions is that of symbolism. These revelations may also be dramatized rather than being actual or literal. For instance the vision Nebuchadnezzar saw of a huge statue of a man with a golden head, silver shoulders and chest, bronze thighs, legs of mixed iron and clay. This was symbolic - it was not an actual statue existing or going to exist somewhere in the world sometime. The valley of dry bones that Ezekiel saw was not really ‘there’. It was a dramatization of something in God’s mind just like Peter’s vision of a canvass lowered from heaven. This again tends to fall in the area of word of knowledge or word of wisdom or both.

The whole play field is open to us. We can expect all of it. All visions are by the Spirit but not all are spiritual in the sense we have showed above. I can note here that from Paul’s listing of the spiritual gifts in 1 Cor. 12, the discerning of spirits is listed nearly at the bottom just under prophecy. This seems to suggest that people are more likely to discern spirits than they are to prophesy. It would also follow that one who could easily discern spirits would be prone to have other kinds of visions. Little wonder why Joel put prophecy and visions together. Little wonder why Paul gave much to teaching on prophecy than all other gifts. If one takes care of that the rest will take care of itself.

A short while ago the Lord spoke to the author that He was taking him on to revelations and visions. Since then lots of insights on the subject have been coming. The discussion will turn there in the next article.