Article appeared Friday, December 13th, 2019 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (600) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

Does God speak to human beings? For those who have discovered the reality of God
and believe in Him, this is a question that such people may ask. This question would be
important for those who look for reassurance or for confirmation of their faith in Him. But
wait, before looking for an answer, we need to ask another question, is communication
between God, our Creator, and humans, being His creation, straight forward or easy?

This is like asking whether a manufacturer can communicate with his/her product?
Equally, one could ask whether Mona Lisa can intelligently communicate with Leonardo?
Also, before communication can meaningfully take place, would the purpose and the
methodology have to be established? For example, in the case of the painting Mona
Lisa, what would Leonardo want to say to the picture? Would he want to introduce
himself? How? How would he want Mona Lisa to respond and do? Obviously, one of the
major systems to be put in place would be knowledge processing. Words and meanings
would have to be created and taught to the painting. System of inputting words, linking
with meaning, and responding appropriately would have to be created. Has God had to
make similar arrangements in case of humans?

So, what could the purpose of God speaking directly to human beings be? Which human
would He arrange to speak to? In the Bible, as quoted in the article How did God speak
to Moses? by Pastor Ricky Kurth {1}, God defines how He spoke to Prophet Moses
(pbuh).
“If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make Myself known unto him
in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not
so… With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark
speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold” (Num. 12:6-8). {1}

Here God mentions four ways in which He communicates with prophets, i.e., through
visions, dreams, directly mouth-to-mouth and dark speeches. Here dark speeches could
mean words spoken in dreams that have hidden meanings. The Qur’an similarly carries
the story of how Moses met God and spoke directly to Him.

27.7 “Behold! Moses said to his family, "I perceive a fire; soon will I bring
you from there some information or I will bring you a burning brand to light
our fuel that you may warm yourselves."”
As Moses was travelling with his family in the desert, he perceived a “fire”. Moses may
have been given a vision of a glowing light in the mountain that he interpreted to be a
fire. So, he asked his family to wait while he visited the mountain to bring back a stick of
fire. When he reached the glowing light, how would God make the arrangement to speak
to Moses and introduce Himself?

27.8 “But when he came to the (Fire) a voice was heard, "Blessed are those
in the Fire and those around: and Glory to God, the Lord of the Worlds!”
As human eyes do not have the capacity to “see” God [6.103 – 6.105], He made a
special arrangement so that His words may be spoken directly, in a manner that Moses
could directly hear and respond – an arrangement made by God. The entire event is
blessed for providing a sign of God to humanity. Only God, the Lord of the Worlds could
make such an arrangement. Which “Worlds” is God talking about? The following Verse
from the Qur’an clarifies.
 “Praise be to God to Whom belong all things in the heavens and the earth: to
Him be Praise in the Hereafter:…” [34.1]

Two worlds are therefore being implied – the current World, comprising everything in the
Heavens in the Earth and, the World in the Hereafter, i.e., the World after death. God
then continues to introduce Himself…

27.9 “O Moses! Verily I am God, the Exalted in Might, the Wise!”

Everything created in the Heavens and the Earth [67.3 – 67.4] demonstrates God’s
Power and His Wisdom. There is His Wisdom and a Purpose behind each and
everything made by Him. The purpose of this meeting was also to train Moses to use the
miracles given by Him in the presence of Pharaoh and his ministers as informed in the
following Verses.

27.10 “Now do throw your rod!" But when he saw it moving (of its own
accord) as if it had been a snake he turned back in retreat and retraced not
his steps, "O Moses" (it was said), "fear not: truly in My presence those
called as apostles have no fear”
God calls Moses His servant in the Bible {1} and apostle as stated in Verse 27.10. The
first miracle was making his stick/rod physically become a moving snake.

27.11 “But if any have done wrong and have thereafter substituted good to
take the place of evil truly I am Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.”
All apostles were humans and therefore also committed mistakes. However, God being
Often Forgiving and Most Merciful replaces evil by good for His servants.

27.12 “Now put your hand into your bosom and it will come out white
without stain (or harm): (these are) among the nine Signs for Pharaoh and
his people: for they are a people rebellious in transgression.”
In addition to the two signs above, Moses was later given seven more signs in order to
get Pharaoh and his people to believe. As Pharaoh and his people refused to believe
[7.131 – 7.132] the additional signs are years of famine [7.130], deficiency in fruits
[7.130] and those mentioned in the following Verse:
“So We sent (plagues) on them wholesale death, Locusts, Lice, Frogs and
Blood: signs openly Self-explained; but they were steeped in arrogance a people
given to sin.” [7.133]

27.13 “But when our Signs came to them that should have opened their
eyes they said, "This is sorcery manifest!"”
Their arrogance did not allow them to bear witness to the truth. To justify their disbelief,
they called the “Signs” sorcery.

27.14 “And they rejected those Signs in iniquity and arrogance though their
souls were convinced thereof: so see what was the end of those who acted
corruptly!”
Are there any signs apparent today? Which of the signs would make us believe in the
reality of God and turn to Him?
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{Notes}:
{1} https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/how-did-god-speak-to-moses/