This is a good question that might have more than one correct answer. When a friend of mine (who is leading a Bible Study that is addressing this topic) asked me this question recently, I thought of two different answers that I don’t think contradict each other:
1. WE HAVE MORE REVELATION THAN THEY HAD
This is one of the topics brought up at the beginning of the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 1:1-2a says: “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.”
One major idea in the book of Hebrews – especially in the opening section – is that God communicated one way (“by the prophets”) during one time period (“long ago”) but now he has given us a more final and more perfect revelation through Jesus Christ and what was revealed during His time on Earth.
Therefore, it could be that one reason that God speaks to us differently now is because He has already delivered the fullness of His message in Jesus Christ. Perhaps He doesn’t need to speak to us in the ways that He spoke to Abraham and David, because He has now revealed to the world what He wants us to know in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. I'M NOT SO SURE THAT GOD IS GIVING US MUCH MORE "SILENCE" COMPARED TO HOW HE COMMUNICATED IN THE BIBLE
The narratives we have in the Scripture do not give me the sense that God was constantly talking directly to people, even during Bible times.
The people who God spoke to directly (ie: Abraham, Moses, Paul, etc.) were in unusual situations, and that was not the way that God routinely communicated with humanity. Those were rare and special moments, even back then.
I do not get the impression that God did that with the thousands of named and unnamed people all over the Bible who lived ordinary lives. I guess what I’m saying is that if you say, “Why doesn’t God speak to me directly like he did with people during Bible times?” I would say: “I think God is treating you the same way he treated 99.99% of Bible people. Since the fall, direct communication is not the ordinary way God speaks to His people. It looks to me like that will change one day in eternity (see Revelation 21:3-4) but it remains the way God deals with humanity for now.
So, you aren’t getting the “silent treatment” in comparison to most of the people who have ever lived. God only showed up like he did in Genesis 15:1 and Acts 9:3-5 a limited number of times, and even then, He didn’t even do that with most people.
CONCLUSION
God is not short-changing you when it comes to His communication. He treats most of us like He has treated most people throughout history. However, one big exception would be the Bible. We have access to 1,000 pages of God’s word that generations of people did not have. So, in that sense, God has been even more gracious to us than He was to people during Bible times. He’s given us a lot of communication so that we may know and trust Him.
1. WE HAVE MORE REVELATION THAN THEY HAD
This is one of the topics brought up at the beginning of the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 1:1-2a says: “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.”
One major idea in the book of Hebrews – especially in the opening section – is that God communicated one way (“by the prophets”) during one time period (“long ago”) but now he has given us a more final and more perfect revelation through Jesus Christ and what was revealed during His time on Earth.
Therefore, it could be that one reason that God speaks to us differently now is because He has already delivered the fullness of His message in Jesus Christ. Perhaps He doesn’t need to speak to us in the ways that He spoke to Abraham and David, because He has now revealed to the world what He wants us to know in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. I'M NOT SO SURE THAT GOD IS GIVING US MUCH MORE "SILENCE" COMPARED TO HOW HE COMMUNICATED IN THE BIBLE
The narratives we have in the Scripture do not give me the sense that God was constantly talking directly to people, even during Bible times.
The people who God spoke to directly (ie: Abraham, Moses, Paul, etc.) were in unusual situations, and that was not the way that God routinely communicated with humanity. Those were rare and special moments, even back then.
I do not get the impression that God did that with the thousands of named and unnamed people all over the Bible who lived ordinary lives. I guess what I’m saying is that if you say, “Why doesn’t God speak to me directly like he did with people during Bible times?” I would say: “I think God is treating you the same way he treated 99.99% of Bible people. Since the fall, direct communication is not the ordinary way God speaks to His people. It looks to me like that will change one day in eternity (see Revelation 21:3-4) but it remains the way God deals with humanity for now.
So, you aren’t getting the “silent treatment” in comparison to most of the people who have ever lived. God only showed up like he did in Genesis 15:1 and Acts 9:3-5 a limited number of times, and even then, He didn’t even do that with most people.
CONCLUSION
God is not short-changing you when it comes to His communication. He treats most of us like He has treated most people throughout history. However, one big exception would be the Bible. We have access to 1,000 pages of God’s word that generations of people did not have. So, in that sense, God has been even more gracious to us than He was to people during Bible times. He’s given us a lot of communication so that we may know and trust Him.
