Special revelation is complex, coming to us in a number of forms. Most of these forms rely on the spoken or written word, but all of them involve God communicating with people in ways that transcend the normal workings of creation. In some cases, God appears visibly and speaks audibly to groups or individuals. In other cases, he is heard but not seen. At other times, he communicates through a mediator such as an angel who appears to his people. God also commonly instructs those who have received his special revelation to write down what has been revealed, and this written record is counted as Scripture.

Those that come more directly from God, are the most “special.” Moses spoke with God directly and personally. As we read in Exodus 33:11:

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

Those that come through the more distant mediation are the least “special.” We may even think about them as bordering on general revelation, like dreams. The significance of special revelation in dreams lies not in the fact that the person dreams, but in the fact that God uses this natural phenomenon to communicate truth to an individual.

For instance, in Genesis 41 we find the account of Pharaoh’s dream of the seven lean cows that ate the seven fat cows. But how did Pharaoh know his dream was supernatural? God did not directly address Pharaoh in the dream, or even send an angel to speak to him as he later did for Joseph in Matthew 1. The only thing special about Pharaoh’s dream was that God used it to communicate to Pharaoh.

In short, some special revelation is fantastic and obviously supernatural, such as God’s manifest presence with people like Moses. Other special revelation, however, closely resembles normal, natural human life.

Even Scripture itself has parts that are very special and other parts that are a bit more common. For example, according to Exodus 31:18, God directly wrote the Ten Commandments, which were contained on “tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.”

Other texts, however, were originally written by pagans, who interpreted general revelation. For example, in Acts 17:28, Paul spoke these words to his Greek audience:

As some of your own poets have said, “We are [God’s] offspring.”

After Paul quoted the pagan poets Aratus and Cleanthes, he went on to draw an application from their words that is binding on all mankind. Despite the pagan origins of the words, “We are his offspring,” Paul’s use of them as God’s authoritative apostle turned this quote into God’s special revelation to mankind, and made them a binding standard, obliging all people everywhere to repent.

When God reveals truth through his authoritative representatives such as the biblical prophets and apostles, this special revelation is absolutely binding. Now, in our day, we no longer have living, authoritative apostles and prophets. But we do have the Bible, which is binding on all people at all times.