Clear Revelation

There are many scriptures in which we see the Lord speaking very clearly to His servants.  For example, the Book of Mormon opens with the story of Nephi being led by the Spirit to find Laban and he has a complete conversation with the Spirit: “And the Spirit said unto me again: Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands….  And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands” (1 Nephi 4:11-12).  He heard the voice of the Spirit so clearly that he could put it down in writing word for word decades later.  His brother would later describe his people this way: “Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea” (Jacob 4:6).  They had so many revelations such that they could command even the elements.  He showed that this was the case when he personally confronted Sherem.  He wrote, “The Lord God poured in his Spirit into my soul, insomuch that I did confound him in all his words” (Jacob 7:8).  He was so sure of his revelation from the Lord that he was able to call down a sign upon Sherem such that the unbeliever “fell to the earth” at Jacob’s word.  Jacob and Nephi both knew and understood clearly the voice of the Lord speaking to them. 

               Other passages of scripture record similar, distinct revelations from the Lord.  Alma had a specific need to know how to direct the Nephite armies and inquired of the Lord to get this information: “Behold, the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti. And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites” (Alma 16:6).  That was a very precise, clear revelation about what was going to happen.  Nephi, the son of Helaman, had a similar experience when he learned from the Lord through the Spirit what to tell the crowd about the death of the chief judge: “Behold I say unto you: Go to the house of Seantum, who is the brother of Seezoram….”  He described exactly what would happen when Seantum was interrogated, and “it came to pass that they went and did, even according as Nephi had said unto them” (Helaman 9:26-37).  Nephi clearly had received direct revelation through the Spirit—in fact, Mormon would describe his gift of revelation this way: he had “many revelations daily” (Helaman 11:23).  In the book of Acts, Ananias had a very specific revelation from the Lord about Saul: “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11).  He received exact instructions about Saul and conversed with the Lord like we would one with another.  Many others, such as Moses and Peter and the brother of Jared, similarly received direct and clear communication from the Lord that taught them what they were supposed to do.  These and many other passages of scripture give us confidence that the Lord can also speak to us clearly and specifically about the things happening in our own lives.