God is not hiding around the corner.

"For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?"
Amos 3:7-8

Revelation serves as a confirmation of the Lord's sovereign rule over His people. God had chosen a unique relationship with his prophets whereby He would speak His actions to them. His people would be well prepared with full knowledge of their fate. God was not going to spring judgment on them in surprise.

What this passage is making clear is that God is not hiding behind corners waiting to do a sneak attack of judgment. His methods are not hidden. They are straightforward and clear. God would not make any move among His people withour first speaking it through His prophets. He is the clear communicator of His purposes. And Israel was told to expect to keep hearing from the prophets because God was moving in such a way that no one could say that they did not know what was coming. He was roaring like a lion, and nobody could deny the sound of His voice or the clarity of His message.

The one thing I know about revelation as I deal with it is its clarity. I deal with biblical revelation of immense diversity. The Bible is the book of my life. By that I mean I am devoting my life to understanding its message, to what it reveals aobut God and how I need to respond to His truth. And for all the difficulties of interpretation that may occassionally arise, there is a towering, undeniable record of clarity that I personally cannot deny. I have plenty to keep me busy, even if I never spend another minute working through the meaning of a "problem passage".

God's track record is pretty clear for me. I should not confuse it with the efforts of His people or the church, which are spotty at best. But I have never found His truth, His demands, His principles, or His revealed character to be anything other than magnificent. In a way, observations and applications of what I have seen in His Word are absolute undeniable evidence of God's existence and commitment to a personal impact on my life. I think of my journals as irrefutable personal evidence of God. And it is only possible because God has said so much. The Bible is information dense! Really, I have more information about God than I can process in my lifetime.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13