CAN ORDINARY PEOPLE RECEIVE REVELATION?
Last night I had a dream.
It wasn’t dramatic. I wasn’t given a long message.
I simply saw pages.
And somehow I knew what they were:
The Book of Joel.
That caught my attention because I had not been studying Joel. I had not been thinking about Joel.
So this morning I began asking a very simple question:
Why Joel?
I am not going to tell anyone that I know exactly what the dream meant. I have learned to be careful about making claims like that.
But I do know what the dream caused me to do.
It caused me to open the scriptures.
And what I found there touched me deeply.
Something Had Happened the Day Before
Recently, more people have begun finding the things I have been sharing.
More readers.
More viewers.
More subscribers.
And yesterday I caught myself looking at those numbers.
For a moment I could feel something happening inside me that I didn’t like.
Pride.
So I prayed.
In essence, my prayer was:
Lord, I don’t want the glory. I don’t want to become somebody. I am not doing this for money. I only want to be an instrument in Thy hands.
Then that night I dreamed of:
Joel.
When I opened Joel the next morning, I found this:
“I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh…”
Then Joel says that sons and daughters will prophesy, old men will dream dreams, and young men will see visions.
— Joel 2:28–29
Suddenly my question changed.
Maybe the important question wasn’t:
Why did I have a dream?
Maybe it was:
Could you?
“I Will Pour Out My Spirit Upon All Flesh”
That phrase stopped me.
All flesh.
Joel doesn’t say the Spirit will only be poured upon prophets.
He doesn’t say only apostles.
He doesn’t say only church presidents.
He doesn’t say only the highly educated or spiritually accomplished.
He names:
sons,
daughters,
old men,
young men,
servants,
and handmaids.
Ordinary people.
That does not mean every dream comes from God.
It does not mean every impression should automatically be called revelation.
But it does mean something very important:
We should not assume that personal revelation belongs only to somebody else.
Joseph Smith Was Pointed Directly to Joel
There is an important Restoration connection.
When Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823, Joseph recorded that Moroni quoted Joel 2:28–32 and said that the prophecy was not yet fulfilled, but soon would be.
— Joseph Smith—History 1:41
Think about that.
Near the very beginning of the Restoration, Joseph was pointed toward a future time involving:
the Spirit,
prophecy,
dreams,
visions,
and deliverance.
And the Restoration itself began with a young man who had a question.
Joseph read:
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…”
— James 1:5
So he asked.
There is something beautifully simple in that.
A person can ask God.
Personal Revelation Does Not Mean Governing Everyone Else
I think we need to make an important distinction here.
Joseph Smith taught and lived in a world where people sought personal revelation.
That does not mean that every person’s revelation governs everybody else.
Personal revelation may guide me:
to repent,
to forgive,
to study,
to serve,
to change direction,
to seek Christ,
or to listen more carefully.
That is very different from saying:
“God told me what you must do.”
Personal revelation should bring us closer to Christ, not make us spiritually superior to other people.
What About Worthiness?
This question is important to me.
Many of us have grown up feeling that we must become extremely worthy, pure, or spiritually advanced before we can really approach the Lord.
But then I read Moroni’s invitation:
“Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him…”
— Moroni 10:32
Notice the order.
It does not say:
Become perfect, and then come unto Christ.
It says:
Come unto Christ — and be perfected in Him.
How could Christ perfect us if we had to become perfect before approaching Him?
That doesn’t mean how we live is unimportant.
Repentance matters.
Humility matters.
Obedience matters.
Purity of heart matters.
Love matters.
But perhaps these are not trophies we must already possess before Christ will listen to us.
Perhaps they are part of what happens while we walk with Him.
We come because we need Him.
Then I Opened the Nemenhah Sacred Records
This is where the study became remarkable.
I searched the Ayahtkuhyaht Nemenhah — Complete Text, Second Edition.
And I found language strikingly similar to Joel.
But before we go any farther, we need to understand who is speaking.
Tsi Muhayl Is Samuel the Lamanite
The Nemenhah tradition identifies Tsi Muhayl with Samuel the Lamanite—the same Samuel Latter-day Saint readers know from the Book of Mormon. Another Nemenhah-related text explicitly identifies him as “Tsi Muhayl (Samuel the Lamanite).”
And in the main Nemenhah record, Tsi Muhayl describes himself as a Lahmahnhah (Lamanite) prophet who had been called to preach repentance among the Nayfihah (Nephites).
That changes these passages for me.
Most of us picture Samuel standing upon the wall in Zarahemla, protected by the Lord while arrows and stones were thrown at him.
But the Nemenhah record allows us to hear what it presents as the voice of an older Samuel, looking back upon a lifetime of walking with the Lord.
The man on the wall kept walking.
And listen to what he says.
Samuel Speaks About the Latter Days
Ayahtkuhyaht Nemenhah
The Second Book of Tsi Muhayl
Chapter 12:37–45
Samuel says that a future day will come when people will again seek the Haymehnay—a Nemenhah term associated with the Holy Spirit, divine mind, and spiritual communion—and seek the face of their Sahnhehmpeht, meaning the Peacemaker or Savior, Jesus Christ.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:37
Then he says pride will begin to disappear and people will care for one another rather than continually seeking the things of the world.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:38
Then:
“in that day shall the gifts of the Haymehnay be had by many…”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:39
Notice that word:
Many.
Then children prophesy.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:41
And then Samuel says:
“Yea, your young men shall see visions again and your young women shall dream dreams.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:42
That is difficult to read without thinking immediately of Joel.
Joel 2:28
Sons and daughters — prophecy
Young men — visions
Old men — dreams
Second Tsi Muhayl 12:39–42
Gifts of the Spirit — many
Children — prophecy
Young men — visions
Young women — dreams
Two records.
A remarkably similar promise.
Then Samuel Warns About Pride
This part hit close to home for me.
Immediately after speaking about dreams and visions, Samuel asks whether his descendants will recognize the signs of their times or whether they will become:
“caught up in the pride of their hearts.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:44
Then he expresses hope that some will see through the obscurity and into the light.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 12:45
I cannot tell you whether my prayer about pride and my dream about Joel were connected.
But I can certainly learn from the coincidence.
A spiritual experience should make us smaller in our own eyes, not bigger.
If revelation turns me into the center of the story, something has gone wrong.
Christ must remain the center.
Samuel Tells Us How to Walk
Then comes the next chapter.
The Second Book of Tsi Muhayl
Chapter 13:7–11
Samuel gives a simple pattern.
Pray always.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 13:7
Keep His commandments. Hold to His ways.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 13:8
Learn the truth of His ways through communion with the Haymehnay—spiritual communion with God.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 13:9
Then:
“Walk upon the Way receiving revelation upon revelation.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 13:10
And finally:
“Seek the face of Ayahtsuhway. Yea, and if you do, you shall surely find Him.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 13:11
Here Ayahtsuhway is the Nemenhah name used for the Savior, Jesus Christ.
That sounds like a journey.
Not:
Become perfect, and then begin.
But:
Begin walking.
Pray.
Listen.
Learn.
Repent.
Receive.
Keep walking.
Samuel Himself Had Walked the Way for Years
There is another passage I find deeply moving.
Near the end of his life, Samuel says that he had walked with his departed forefathers “upon the Way since the days of my youth.”
He says that when he died, walking with them continually would not be much different from the way he had already visited with them during mortality.
Think about that.
According to the Nemenhah record, Samuel did not merely believe in an unseen world.
He says he had learned to commune with it.
And he did this during mortality.
What Is “The Way”?
This raises a question I am still studying.
When the Nemenhah records speak of walking upon the Way, what exactly is happening?
Does a person’s spirit somehow leave the physical body?
Is it more like a vision?
Is the body temporarily changed or quickened?
I do not think the record gives us enough information to dogmatically choose one explanation.
The Nemenhah introduction says that physical people may experience a kind of “emergence” that enables them to walk upon the Way and receive revelation and instruction from heavenly beings, the spirits of righteous men and women, and even the Peacemaker—Jesus Christ.
That sounds like mortal perception opening into something ordinarily unseen.
Joseph Smith’s scriptural tradition also gives us ideas such as quickening and transfiguration—where a mortal person is enabled by the Spirit to endure or perceive divine glory.
So perhaps we should not picture the Way only as a physical location.
It may be better understood as a state or realm of communion with God and the unseen world.
I am still studying this.
And I think that is okay.
We do not have to understand every mechanism before we begin seeking Christ.
Many Dreamed Dreams Before Christ Came
Now listen to another part of Samuel’s record.
The Second Book of Tsi Muhayl
Chapter 6:1–4
At the time of the darkness surrounding the death of Christ, the people were frightened.
But Samuel records:
“the Haymehnay did whisper peace to our minds and to our souls…”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 6:2
Then:
“many dreamed dreams and saw visions.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 6:3
Some even received instruction about what should be done when the Peacemaker—Jesus Christ—came among them.
Samuel then says that Christ eventually did come, in accordance with visions Samuel himself had received as a young man.
— Second Tsi Muhayl 6:4
Again:
Many dreamed dreams.
Not only Samuel.
They Acted Upon Revelations Received During the Darkness
Later Samuel says that the people acted according to:
“the visions and revelations that many had received during the days of darkness.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 6:12
That phrase fascinates me:
DURING THE DARKNESS
We sometimes automatically associate darkness with evil.
But here, physical darkness surrounded the people—and within that darkness, the Haymehnay brought peace, people dreamed dreams, people saw visions, and revelation prepared them for the coming of Christ.
The darkness itself was not their teacher.
Christ was.
But the darkness did not prevent Him from reaching them.
That may matter to somebody reading this.
Perhaps you are going through your own darkness.
Confusion.
Failure.
Fear.
Loss.
Uncertainty.
You may feel spiritually unworthy.
But perhaps darkness does not mean Christ has abandoned you.
Sometimes it may be precisely where we finally begin listening.
Then Jesus Christ Explains Why He Appeared
According to the Nemenhah record, Jesus tells the people something extraordinary.
The Second Book of Tsi Muhayl
Chapter 7:3–4
Ayahtsuhway—Jesus Christ—says:
“ye have listened to my voice and ye have sought my face.”
And therefore:
“I have manifested myself unto you at many times…”
Then He says:
“Continue faithful and I will visit you often to teach you also.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 7:3–4
Notice again:
They listened.
They sought.
He taught.
“If Anyone Seeketh Me…”
Then the invitation becomes even broader.
Second Tsi Muhayl 7:12–13
Christ encourages the people to seek for themselves, with singleness of heart.
Then He says:
“I shall manifest myself unto them upon the Way.”
And then:
“For I am the Way, the Truth and the Light. If anyone seeketh me in this spirit, they shall find me.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 7:12–13
That word is difficult to ignore.
Anyone.
That sounds very much like:
“all flesh.”
But There Is a Safeguard
This message about personal revelation needs balance.
The Nemenhah record provides it.
Second Tsi Muhayl 7:16–17
Those seeking to serve Christ are told to be diligent in:
study,
fasting,
prayer,
and listening to the Haymehnay.
Then comes this warning:
“pray always that thou be not deceived and carried away in pride.”
— Second Tsi Muhayl 7:17
There it is again.
Revelation and humility belong together.
Seek.
But do not make yourself important.
Listen.
But do not assume every thought is from God.
Pray.
Study.
Look at the fruit.
Does it lead toward Christ?
Does it create humility?
Love?
Repentance?
Service?
Truth?
Peace?
Those questions matter.
The Man at My Door Who Wanted Spiritual Food
This study brought back a memory from my mission in Korea more than fifty years ago.
One day a man came to our door.
I thought he was a beggar.
So I went to get him some food.
When I returned, he essentially told me:
That is not the food I want.
He wanted:
spiritual food.
That man accepted the gospel very quickly.
At one point his job conflicted with what he believed God was asking him to do.
He left the job.
He found another.
And eventually his conversion influenced about 35 members of his family to come into the Church.
One person.
That is what I remember.
One spiritually hungry person standing at the door.
I Am Not Looking for Thousands
Recently more people have been finding my writings and videos.
That is encouraging.
But I do not want that to become the purpose.
I do not want fame.
I do not want money from this.
I do not want people following me.
I am just an old guy pointing toward some wonderful truths I have found.
Maybe somewhere there is one person who is hungry.
That is enough.
Because one person touched by the Spirit can touch another person.
And another.
And another.
I watched that happen in Korea.
Maybe This Dream Wasn’t About Me
This may be the greatest thing Joel taught me.
Maybe the story is not:
I had a dream.
Maybe the message is:
YOU CAN SEEK HIM TOO.
You do not need my dreams.
You do not need my revelation.
You do not need to follow me.
Seek Jesus Christ yourself.
Ask.
Study.
Pray.
Listen.
Repent.
Keep walking.
And do not wait until you think you have finally become worthy enough or perfect enough to begin.
Remember Moroni:
“Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.”
— Moroni 10:32
The perfecting happens in Him.
STUDY THESE SCRIPTURES YOURSELF
Please do not take my word for any of this.
Read them yourself.
Bible
Joel 1:1–20 — awake and recognize the condition of the people
Joel 2:12–13 — return to the Lord with all your heart
Joel 2:28–32 — Spirit, prophecy, dreams and visions
Joel 3:16–21 — Zion, deliverance and the Lord dwelling with His people
James 1:5–6 — ask God for wisdom
Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 31:20–21 — press forward in Christ
2 Nephi 32:3–5 — the Holy Ghost shows what we should do
3 Nephi 11:1–10 — people learn to recognize and hear the voice
Moroni 10:4–5 — truth manifested by the Holy Ghost
Moroni 10:8–18 — spiritual gifts
Moroni 10:32–33 — come unto Christ and be perfected in Him
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith—History 1:11–20 — a young man asks God
Joseph Smith—History 1:30–41 — Moroni appears
Joseph Smith—History 1:41 — Moroni quotes Joel 2:28–32
Nemenhah Sacred Records
Ayahtkuhyaht Nemenhah — Complete Text, Second Edition
The Second Book of Tsi Muhayl 6:1–4
Samuel the Lamanite describes darkness, the Haymehnay bringing peace, many people dreaming dreams and seeing visions, and preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Second Tsi Muhayl 6:12
Many had received visions and revelations during the days of darkness.
Second Tsi Muhayl 7:3–4
Jesus Christ tells the people that they had listened to His voice and sought His face, and therefore He had manifested Himself to them.
Second Tsi Muhayl 7:12–13
Christ says those who seek His face with singleness of heart may receive His manifestation upon the Way: “If anyone seeketh me in this spirit, they shall find me.”
Second Tsi Muhayl 7:16–17
Study, fasting, prayer, spiritual discernment—and a warning against deception and pride.
Second Tsi Muhayl 12:37–39
People again seek the Haymehnay and the Savior; spiritual gifts are experienced by many.
Second Tsi Muhayl 12:41–42
Children prophesy, young men see visions, and young women dream dreams.
Second Tsi Muhayl 12:44–45
Samuel warns that pride may prevent people from recognizing the signs of their times.
Second Tsi Muhayl 13:7–11
Pray always, keep His ways, commune with the Haymehnay, walk the Way receiving “revelation upon revelation,” and seek the face of Jesus Christ.
PERSONAL REFLECTION
I still do not know everything my dream meant.
Perhaps someday I will understand more.
But it already accomplished something good.
It got me to open Joel.
And when I opened Joel, I found Samuel.
And when I found Samuel, I found an old Lamanite prophet telling his descendants that young men would see visions, young women would dream dreams, children would prophesy, and the gifts of God would again be experienced by many.
And then Samuel warned us:
Do not let pride blind you.
Maybe that is enough for me today.
Perhaps the question is not:
“Why would God speak to me?”
Maybe it is:
“Why have I assumed that He wouldn’t?”
Joel says:
all flesh.
Samuel says:
many.
Jesus says:
anyone who seeks Me.
Moroni says:
Come unto Christ.
So perhaps that is the invitation.
You do not have to become famous.
You do not have to hold an important church position.
You do not have to wait until you believe you have finally become perfect.
Turn toward Him.
Ask.
Listen.
Walk.
And let Christ do the perfecting.
Maybe you are the one standing at the door today asking for spiritual food.
If so:
Come and See
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