“On July 31 of my 30th year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.”

This happened during the 50th year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. The LORD gave this message to Ezekiel, son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the LORD take hold of him. Ezekiel 1:1-3

How do we know what we know? “Epistemology” is the fancy word for this inquiry. It literally means the “study of knowledge.” This becomes an infinite loop: How can I know that I know what I know? And so on. Epistemology, by itself, has no ultimate answers or outcome. At some point it leaves one disillusioned with the pursuit. The study of study is abandoned, and one gets back to living.

At least in a closed system. Ezekiel discovered the universe we live in is not closed.

We know things by perception: discovery. The rock is hard. The sun is hot. We know things by figuring them out: analysis. If x then y. If I leave the rock in the sun, it gets hot. And then we continue the iteration of discovery and analysis to figure out why things are the way they are, whether events are repeatable, how to change outcomes, and so forth.

If we actually lived in a closed system, these would be our only resources. But this would still leave us wondering, is the rock really hard, or that just the function of my nerve endings, and are they returning accurate information? Perception mechanisms are limited, and sometimes erroneous. Pilots risk vertigo. When there is injury, disease or congenital defect, those perception mechanisms can go awry. We make mistakes in analysis of what we do perceive. For most of human history, everyone was certain the earth was flat.

We look for validation from others. But that even that collective human effort depends on accurately perceiving words and other information, processing and understanding the information without error, and the correctness of the information received in the first place.

The Matrix and Inception are two movies that play on the limits of epistemology in a closed system. Magicians, or more accurately, illusionists, exploit the vulnerability of our perceptions to manipulation and deceit.

The closed system fails. It cannot answer its own questions.

But we do not live in a closed system. God reveals Himself.

[Jacob] built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel [God-house of God], because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. Genesis 35:7.

And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. 1 Samuel 3:21.

But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me [Isaiah] … . Isaiah 22:14.

For example, and by as no means an exhaustive list:

God Reveals Himself in Nature.

O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens, and from the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength, because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8:1-4

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made … . Romans 1:20.

God Reveals Himself In Our Hearts.

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. …” Jeremiah 31:33.

Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. Romans 1:19.

God Reveals Himself in Scripture (lit. “Writings”) that He Inspired.

Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Exodus 24:4.

When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God. Exodus 31:18.

“Now go, write it on a tablet before them and inscribe it on a scroll, that it may serve in the time to come as a witness forever.” Isaiah 30:9.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. Jeremiah 30:1.

All Scripture is inspired by God … . 2 Tim 3:16.

We have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 1 Peter 1:19-20.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” Revelation 1:10-11.

“…write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.” Revelation 1:19.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: …”

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: …”

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: …”

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: …”

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: …”

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: …”

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: …”

Revelation 2:18, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14.

God Reveals Himself in Jesus.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many diverse means and manners, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:1-2.

God’s revelation –

• Is all His initiative.
• Is clear. His sheep know His voice. Nowhere in scripture can I think of anyone misunderstanding God’s word. There is never any ambiguity;   never any nuance or equivocation.
• Is life-giving. God’s word to Ezekiel was to warn, to call to repentance. It was not to Ezekiel alone, but to a people. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;so that the man and woman of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16.

If God’s revelation was only personal, subjective and spiritual, every individual would be his or her own authority, beyond challenge or correction, and an autonomous source of doctrine. Conversely, if God’s revelation was only corporate, objective and tangible, it would be wooden, legalistic, lifeless, and a tool for oppression, condemnation and judgment.

But thankfully God’s revelation is a two-edged sword. It is both personal and corporate, subjective and objective, spiritual and tangible. It is of course supernatural in its source and nature, as well as comprehensible and confirmable in our natural world and human understanding. I hear and understand God’s revelation personally, and I am accountable to others for what God speaks.

God’s word is living and active, and not mere lifeless propositions, rules or facts. Therefore it is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of my mind and heart, and thus purify and guide me. God’s word is able to divide between my soul (my mind) and my spirit (the place of God’s quickening in me), between joints (the intersection of hard bones) and marrow (that soft life tissue that makes the hard bones).

God’s revelation is initiated by Him, transmitted by Him, and safeguarded by Him. It is not subject to our private interpretation, but interpretation and application by God Himself.

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, rather holy people of God spoke [and wrote] as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1:19-21.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 15:26.

As God is the One who initiates His revelation in the first place, He is the One who safeguards the interpretation of what He speaks, and ensures His revelation accomplishes the purpose for which He reveals it:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11.

How do I know what I know? By God sovereignly making Himself known, that’s how. For knowledge to originate with and from God is no less miraculous, and no less sovereign, than conception of life and birth, or salvation, that God would love me first, before I ever thought of or loved Him.

I perceive, investigate, discover, analyze, and learn, as well I should. This is possible at all only because the universe is an orderly, organized place and intelligently designed.   The universe and all there is to learn and discover about it is so unfathomably marvelous and vast that my temptation is to stop there, and spend all of my attention on the process of discovery and analysis. My human instinct is to depend and act solely on my own understanding.

But wait, there’s more. There is more than I can discover or understand on my own.

For Ezekiel “the heavens were opened.” He “saw visions of God.” The “LORD gave this message to Ezekiel.” Ezekiel “felt the hand of the LORD take hold of him.”

God promises that when I lack wisdom (which is all the time), I am to ask Him, the source of all wisdom, who gives to all generously and without finding fault, and He will give it.

God’s thoughts are not my thoughts, and my ways are certainly not His ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than my ways, and His thoughts higher than my thoughts.

The fruit of merely human wisdom, wisdom that is not that which comes down from above, is jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, impartial, sincere and without hypocrisy.

And so I trust the God who reveals Himself to reveal Himself to me. I gratefully accept His invitation to ask Him for wisdom. I wait eagerly for His word.

LORD, thank You for revealing yourself in so many ways, including and most especially in the person of Jesus. May I hear and understand all You would say. May I be not a hearer only, but a doer, as well. I pray Your Holy Spirit would lead and guide, and that by Your power and Spirit I would follow.

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