“What is general revelation and special revelation?”……General revelation and special revelation are the two ways God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity. General revelation refers to the general truths that can be known about God through nature. Special revelation refers to the more specific truths that can be known about God through the supernatural.……General revelation…Psalm 19:1-4…The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.(Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard ) Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

According to this passage, God's existence and power can be clearly seen through observing the universe. The order, intricacy, and wonder of creation speak to the existence of a powerful and glorious Creator.…Romans 1:20

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Like Psalm 19, Romans 1:20 teaches that God's eternal power and divine nature are "clearly seen" and "understood" from what has been made, and that there is no excuse for denying these facts. With these Scriptures in mind, perhaps a working definition of general revelation would be "the revelation of God to all people, at all times, and in all places that proves that God exists and that He is intelligent, powerful, and transcendent."…

Special revelation

This is how God has chosen to reveal Himself through miraculous means.

Special revelation includes physical appearances of God, dreams, visions, the written Word of God, and most importantly-Jesus Christ.

The Bible records God appearing in

Physical form

Genesis 3:8 …When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man (Or Adam) and his wife heard the Lord God

Genesis 18:1

The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.

Exodus 3:1-4…One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, (Moses' father-in-law went by two names, Jethro and Reuel) the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, (Hebrew Horeb,another name for Sinai.) the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. "This is amazing," Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it." When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" – "Here I am!" Moses replied.

Exodus 34:5-7…Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh.(Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH that is sometimes rendered) The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, "Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.(Hebrew for thousands) I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected- even children in the third and fourth generations."

Through dreams

Genesis 28:12

As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

Genesis 37:5

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.…1 Kings 3:5…That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!"

Daniel 2…Nebuchadnezzar's Dream and Daniel Interprets the Dream

Visions

Genesis 15:1

Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."

Ezekiel 8:3-4

He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the Lord very jealous. Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.…Daniel 7…Daniel's Vision of Four Beasts and The Vision Is Explained…2 Corinthians 12:1-7. …This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord.I(Greek I know a man in Christ who.) was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don't know-only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up(Greek But I know such a man,4 that he was caught up) to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won't do it, because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.…Of primary importance in the revealing of God is …His Word, the Bible

The Bible is also a form of special revelation.

God miraculously guided the authors of Scripture to correctly record His message to mankind, while still using their own styles and personalities.

The Word of God is living and active…Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.…The Word of God is inspired, profitable, and sufficient…2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

God determined to have the truth regarding Him recorded in written form because He knew the inaccuracy and unreliability of oral tradition. He also understood that the dreams and visions of man can be misinterpreted. God decided to reveal everything that humanity needs to know about Him, what He expects, and what He has done for us in the Bible.…The ultimate form of special revelation is

The Person of Jesus Christ. God became a human being…John 1:1, 14

In the beginning the Word already existed.The Word was with God, and the Word was God…….So the Word became human (Greek became flesh) and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. (Or grace and truth; also in 1:17) And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

Hebrews 1:1-3 summarizes it best,…Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.…God became a human being, in the Person of Jesus Christ, to identify with us, to set an example for us, to teach us, to reveal Himself to us, and, most importantly, to provide salvation for us by humbling Himself in death on the cross

Philippians 2:6-8

Though he was God,( Or Being in the form of God.) he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges (Greek he emptied Himself) he took the humble position of a slave (Or the form of a slave.) and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, (Some English translations put this phrase in verse 8) he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate "special revelation" from God.…