If you think God is speaking directly today, here is what that means… By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. My comments in bold.
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Logic-challenged Elizabeth Prata takes a stab at explaining why God is silent. In these two articles, she will not quote a single Scripture. Not one.
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A follow-up to this essay is here, One more thought on direct revelation (Included below.)

Women have for at least two generations now, grown up in the faith with famous or celebrity women Bible teachers claiming to have had personal revelations and interactions with Jesus. They say “God told me” or “God laid it on my heart to tell you” or “I want to share some of the messages I have received” or “I heard Him specifically say…” Their persistent claims of direct revelation outside of the Bible has normalized it when it was never even normal in Bible times! Worse, it has accomplished two things:

• de facto declared the insufficiency of the Bible
• made a generation of women illiterate, because why do the hard work of studying the Bible when it can just plop down from the sky? (Two astonishing claims. Let's see if she can actually back them up.)

God is not speaking today to people outside of His word. (A third claim. Will she also document this?)

Whenever I or any of my friends say this, we receive tremendous push back. We are charged with proving it. We are told we’re wrong/bad/ignorant of scripture or history. Or, demands are made for scriptures that say so. But when provided, those very scriptures are dismissed. (That is, Ms. Prata expect people to shut up and accept her take on these unmentioned Scriptures as if she has the last word on their meaning.)

We are given the excuse that we must not “put God in a box” because, after all, He has the ability to do anything He wants, including speak to us in any way or at any time He wants.

It’s true that in the past He spoke in many different ways. He spoke directly to man (Adam, Noah, Moses et al), through rituals, ceremonies, from the sky, from the mountain, a donkey, angels, prophets, and a burning bush.

I want to come at this from a different tack today. I was listening to Steven J. Lawson preach Hebrews 1:1-4. This is the classic text that declares that God has ceased speaking because, though He spoke in many ways in prior ages, He has spoken finally in this age, through His Son. (This is another astonishing claim. How can God be speaking through His Son but His Son is not speaking? Let's quote the passage. He. 1:1-3: 

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Jesus is speaking all time, holding the universe together by the power of His voice. But we are expected to believe that this somehow means He is silent? The book of Hebrews was written in about A.D. 65, when the Bible didn't yet exist. Would the readers of Hebrews conclude this?)

Worse, as we read further in Hebrews, we come to this passage: He. 2:3-4: 

...how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

In A.D. 65, the Hebrews were right in the thick of the manifestations of the Spirit. It is preposterous to conclude that these things would be understood by those readers as referring to the cessation of the supernatural!)

What came to my mind as Lawson preached was this: Jesus is the Supreme Being of the Universe. He is the unrivaled supreme one.

And that is why God is not speaking to you. (A bald-faced contradiction of the passage. ....in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son... "Spoken" is in the present tense in the Greek ...one who utters words with the living voice, when writers speak of themselves or are spoken of by others as λαλοῦντες, they are conceived of as present and addressing their readers with the living voice...)

The previous ways God spoke to man described above are indicative of His progressive revelation. (Unwarranted assumption. The passage is specifically about the superior nature of Jesus, and how revelation changed from prophets to Jesus Himself. It can only be "progressive revelation" if one assumes that revelation is cumulative. But Jesus is not presented here as providing the icing on the cake, He is the One who always had given revelation, but now He does it directly; He's the superseding mode of revelation. It's not progressive at all.)

God was building revelatory knowledge of His redemptive plan thread by thread, weaving a picture in His tapestry of redemption through the ages. The pinnacle, the capstone, the zenith of that picture, is Christ. Jesus is God’s exact imprint. (Hebrews 1:3). He is the ultimate. He is the highest. He is all-authority. He said and did everything the Father wanted, perfectly. God’s words, His concepts, and His principles are supreme overall, and represent His final word through Christ. (Yes, indeed. this is all exactly true. So why does Ms. Prata insert these observations into her paradigm and thus rob them of their truths?)

People who insist that God or Jesus speaks to them, do you really think that after having set Jesus up as His apex, declaring Himself pleased, that God will then will go lower and speak through you? (The author attempts to prejudice us by suggesting that God is going lower by speaking to us. But apparently ...in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son... means that God is not speaking to us through His Son.)

When He has Jesus He’s spoken through, He will speak through you instead? (The author digs herself deeper. He has spoken to whom, Ms. Prata? To us!)

Will God choose to speak through sinful flesh, when He has His own exact imprint of glory and perfection through which He has already spoken? (Yes, He will, because He already has. He spoke to the OT "sinful flesh" prophets, the NT "sinful flesh" apostles and others, and to the "sinful flesh" first century Christians. So why wouldn't he speak to "sinful flesh" in our day?)

What a ghastly thought! May it never be!

If you believe Jesus is speaking through you, or your favorite Bible ‘teacher’ or author, you do not hold Jesus as supreme. It is as simple as that. (Did Paul not hold Jesus as supreme? He advocated for the gift of prophecy. What about Peter when he quoted Joel? Did Agabus not hold Jesus as supreme? What about the numerous NT people identified as prophets?)

No, the superiority of Christ drowns out every other voice!

~Steve Lawson sermon on Hebrews 1:1-4 The Unrivaled Supremacy of Christ

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20).

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One more thought on direct revelation

Elizabeth Prata

Yesterday I wrote an essay describing the preeminence of Jesus and how God in Hebrews 1:1-2 said He has spoken through His Son. What this means, for claimants of direct revelation, is that once God said He has spoken through His perfect, holy, supreme being of His son, God then chose to speak to and through Joe Blow in Peoria and Jane Q. Public in Waco? No. Jesus’ preeminence means God has the perfect vessel through which to speak, He has spoken, and He is no longer speaking through prophets, bushes, donkeys, mountains, or men. (Let's review the passage. He. 1:1-3: 

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

The word "spoken" is λαλέω, which means, I speak, say.  Thayer is quoted in this link as saying, one who utters words with the living voice. This means that Jesus is speaking even now, not that He has ceased speaking. 

When did Jesus get proclaimed as the ultimate of God's revelation? Read the verse:  ...in these last days... Jesus dispensed with intermediation of the OT prophets at the commencement of the last days. Now, the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh [Ac. 2:17]. Notice that Peter quoted the prophet Joel, who said, in the last days... The same phrase used by the writer of Hebrews. 

He. 1:1-3 has nothing at all to do with anything ceasing. Instead, using very particular language, the writer of Hebrews is making the same claim that both Joel and Peter claimed: What was formerly spoken to a very rare group of people is now spoken to all flesh.)

I’d made the bold claim that if a person says they have heard directly from God or Jesus, they do not believe Jesus is preeminent.

This post is a PS to that thought regarding direct revelation. It involves the content of these supposed revelations.

One thing you notice about these revelations, visions, dreams and intuitions, is that the content of them is small. (An appeal to contemporary expressions, which does not come to bear on the biblical case.)

They usually involve advice on jobs, careers, or other personal mundanities. If they involve biblical content, the revelations do not usually align with the Bible. Sarah Young, author of Jesus Calling, comes to mind, where the totality of her revelations are strikingly similar to one another and to what a middle aged white woman in America would say or think, not God’s grand redemptive plan. For example,

Softly I announce my Presence. Shimmering hues of radiance tap gently at your consciousness, seeking entrance. Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you…

Like He was with Saul/Paul? Thrown to the ground and blinded? (Which of course must mean the the Holy Spirit always deals violently with people, hmm?)

My face is shining upon you, beaming out Peace that transcends understanding. You are surrounded by a sea of problems, but you are face to face with Me, your Peace… ~Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

‘Beaming out peace’ to even one of His believers?

In the past, when God spoke to people or through intermediaries, did He dispense personal advice? Suggest jobs or where to buy a house? Promise career success? Give tips on how to resolve that prickly relationship with the mother-in-law? (Again, contemporary expressions are not relevant to the biblical case.)

No, He only spoke of His redemptive plan or addressed immediate circumstances if it affected His redemptive plan, not the minutiae of personal life. See these excerpted thoughts from the Titus Institute. (Other than this one article I am not familiar with the Titus Institute, though it seems to be a good resource on first glance).

How Has God Spoken To His People Throughout the OT and NT?

After the fall, what we see throughout the Scriptures is God communicating with specific individuals at specific times for specific purposes that always involve his redemptive plan. He only addressed personal sin or other personal issues when it involved his redemptive plan.

God spoke to our forefathers (OT believers) through the prophets and has spoken to us (NT believers) in his Son.

God spoke to the people of Israel through intermediaries, the prophets. When he spoke to the prophets, it always had to do with his redemptive plan, not personal issues in their lives unless it involved his redemptive plan.

The pattern in both the OT and NT is God speaking to his people through intermediaries and those intermediaries receiving revelation only regarding matters involving God’s redemptive plan. Those intermediaries were then to speak to God’s people about righteousness. This involved preaching about what is good and right before God and about what is sin and evil before God which we as God’s people are to apply in our lives.

Those intermediaries then wrote that revelation down which became the OT and NT.
Even when God spoke to these intermediaries, we see infrequent communication rather than frequent regular communication.

He spoke to Noah 5 times over 950 yrs, Abraham 8 times over 175 yrs, Isaac 2 times and 1 time to Rebekah over 180 yrs, Jacob 7 times and 1 time to Laban over Jacob’s lifetime. These are just some examples.

We also see that God does not address personal issues, only issues that involve his redemptive plan. (This might be a surprise to David, who made dozens of appeals in the Psalms to God for help with the evil men who surrounded him.)

In the New Testament,

Two major things we notice, the revelation from God was infrequent and it was purposeful, always concerning Peter and Paul’s ministry, not personal matters.
Most of the time, Peter and Paul were ministering for the Lord without receiving direct revelation from the Lord.

Even at important times of decision the Lord did not always speak to them. In Acts 1:21-26, Peter used the casting of lots to determine the Lord’s will. In Acts 6:1-7, there is no record of revelation regarding the selection of men for the widow’s ministry. In Acts 15, there is no record of revelation in the first doctrinal crisis of the early church regarding what is necessary to be saved.

We see that man forfeited at the fall, direct communication with God on a personal basis. He then only received direct revelation through intermediaries. God communicated infrequently and only as He deemed necessary to fulfill His redemptive plan.

When we get to heaven we will have direct communication with God again. That is part of the blessing of redemption.

(Almost all of this is an Appeal to Silence. That is, what the Bible didn't say is somehow evidence. But the Bible doesn't record every instance of every prophetic word or supernatural event. To suggest that because something is described as happening 7 times in Scripture means that it didn't happen 8 times or 20 times is puerile.)

 Now Ladies, if you would, please think of how often we hear and see today’s ‘Bible teachers’ claim they heard personally from God. Then please compare with God’s actual activity recorded in the Bible. Think about how infrequently He spoke and about what kinds of things He said.

Beware of ‘teachers’ who claim to have had revelations apart from the Bible. If you think you have had a revelation yourself, please re-think that and refer again to the scripture in Hebrews 1:1-2. God spoke through His Son, who appeared in the flesh on earth to seek and save the lost, to die in our place for our sin, and who rose again to take His place next to the father. He is THE Word. His life and teachings are recorded in the Bible, which would take years and lifetimes to learn, understand.

The Bible is enough. More than enough, it’s a gift beyond measure. When we are glorified we’ll have an eternity of direct communication with our Savior. For now, rest on His written word, and do not seek vain communiques from a disembodied voice.