Biblical Teaching about Visions and Their Perpetuation in the Church
By George Ide Butler
WE are well aware of the skepticism prevailing in these latter times concerning visions and everything of that nature. “Visionary” is the term in common parlance covering all such experiences, and expressing incredulity concerning their reality. But that wonderful book, the Bible, speaks very differently concerning visions. The wise man says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Prov. 29:12. Visions from the Lord and the keeping of the law of God are associated. Through visions the great God instructs his people. It was considered one of the greatest calamities when God’s people had no visions among them. When the prophet Jeremiah sorrowfully lamented over the terrible judgments which had been inflicted upon his people, he said mournfully concerning the daughter of Zion, “Her gates are7sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord.” Lam. 2:9. In summing up these terrible calamities, he mentions as the greatest of all the judgments, the fact that God has ceased to speak to his people through visions. How differently do his professed people now regard visions! They want no visions from the Lord. Let us consider now how God speaks to his people. The first verse of the prophecy of Isaiah reads as follows: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” Then follow the sixty-six chapters of Isaiah, that prince of prophets, largely given through vision. The first verse of the prophecy of Ezekiel reads: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” Then follow the forty-eight chapters of his prophecy, which was given through vision. Then comes the wonderful book of Daniel, the great statesman and prime minister of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, and of Darius and Cyrus, the first kings of Medo-Persia. It is said of him, “Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” The revelations through visions to him are among the most important in all the Bible. The messages of several of the lesser prophets were given through vision. Others of the prophets say, “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying.” If the reader will turn to Second Samuel, chapter 7, reading verses 1-17, he will find that the terms “the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,” and “having a vision” mean the same. We have been seeking to find out how the prophets were inspired to write their wonderful prophecies. No other books in the world afford such light. The good, devout people of all ages consider these revelations as God-given. They could come from no other source, for none but God knows the future. Some of the prophecies of Daniel, for example, foretell events more than two thousand years in advance of their occurrence. It was through visions that God gave his revelations. “But this was in Old Testament times,” the objector may say. “Do we have any evidence that the New Testament was thus written?” Paul was a prominent writer of the New Testament. Let him speak for himself: “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such a one caught up to the third heaven. . . . How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful [“possible,” margin] for a man to utter. Of such a one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. . . . And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” 2 Cor. 12:1-7. From these statements we may draw the following conclusions:— 1. Paul is speaking of his own experience. This is evident from the statement itself. His modesty is revealed in the language he uses. 2. He is talking about “visions and revelations of the Lord” to him. 3. In a vision he was “caught up to the third heaven,” or to paradise, and the event was so remarkably real to him that he could not tell whether he was actually and bodily taken up there, or whether his mind was so impressed by the vision that it seemed he was actually so taken up; in other words, during the time occupied by this vision he was utterly unconscious of anything taking place about him. From this experience we may conclude that in any vision which God gives, the mind of the one in vision is utterly unconscious of the occurrence of anything else. From Paul’s language another conclusion is evident, that he did not share in the view that visions from God are trivial matters, as is commonly thought by most people now. He considered that such experiences are of the greatest possible glory and importance. Having visions from God is the highest honor God confers upon mortals. By them heavenly light and instruction come direct from the throne of the Eternal. Paul recognized that such experiences might lead to self-exaltation, and he says God sent him a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. Paul’s wonderful writings contain the instruction he received in heavenly visions. In this way he was inspired to write instruction for the Christians of all ages. The beloved John was made a channel of communication from God to man in the wonderful book of Revelation. “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.” Rev. 1:1. The book of Revelation was all given through vision. The book of Daniel in the Old Testament was largely given in the same manner. These two books contain the most definite, clear, and full revelation of God’s purposes and plans ever given to mankind. They are virtually history in advance. They stand among the most remarkable evidences that the God of the Bible is the God that rules the universe. None but he could tell the great events of history before their actual occurrence. With our own eyes we are seeing events which were clearly foretold more than twenty centuries ago. No book except the Bible has ever done this, and these events were revealed through heavenly visions. Satan himself has been blinding the minds of men to the value and importance of heavenly visions. The great mass of professors of religion have no conception of the importance of this subject. To reject visions is to reject the Bible, for a large portion of that blessed Book was given through visions. Whether the Bible teaches that true visions will be seen in the last days will be a very interesting subject for consideration. There has certainly been a long interregnum since the close of the first century of the Christian dispensation, when John had his visions. Why has this been so? and will visions be seen again in the last days? Our next article will take up this question.