The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Daniel 2:10-11 (ESV)
Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 (ESV)
Predictive prophecies and individual revelation. Surprisingly, I encounter these more than you might think. There are several people who often preface their decisions with the phrase, "The Lord told me..."
In the majority of these cases, they are drawing from a clear command from Scripture that establishes the pattern of what it is like to be a follower of Christ - ex: "The Lord told me that I need to quit looking at explicit junk on the web." At other times it is more hazy - not contrary to Scripture, but yet unclear.
There is a need to communicate the great danger of misrepresenting the Lord and to listen with eyes pouring over pages of Scripture. For some, it may be a way to ratchet up the drama and importance (as they see it) in their lives; they become a local Christian seer. But there are times where it does seem like the Lord spoke to them.
These verses were on the same M'Cheyne day. They are helpful because they communicate that (1) there are things that people don't know and God does - Daniel communicates this more clearly later on - and (2) we should test and evaluate, but not despise.
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