3-28-2020 THE PROPHETIC
What does
being prophetic really mean?
OT
(all
references Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
5012 (1) naba (nawbaw) prophesy,
speak or sing by inspiration (predict or in speaking)
5197 (1) netaiym
(netaweem) speak in
inspiration as falling droplets
5029 nebiy (nebee) a prophet
5030 nabiy (nawbee) prophet, inspired man
NT (all references Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
5578 (3) philologos (filologos) argue, as a philosopher
4396 prophetes (profaytace) inspired
speaker, poet, prophet
Dictionary
Prophet utter divine inspiration, gifted with more than ordinary
spiritual or moral insight, foretell future events, leading spokesperson for a
cause or event, spiritual seer (no visible facts or material evidence)
Jer. 1:1-19 Jeremiah
is called to proclaim God’s
judgement (and hope) upon Israel
Note V5 I knew you and have ordained you
V6-7 I will give you what to say
V17-19 Speak what I tell you, I will protect you
Amos 7:1-17 Amos
is given a word to carry to Israel
Note V12 O
seer, go prophecy elsewhere
V14-15 I was a shepherd when God called
me (qualilfications??)
Luke 2:36-38 Anna,
from tribe Aser, prophesies Jesus is
the redeemer
Note V37 Fasted and prayed in the temple night
and day
Acts 21:10-12 Agabus
prophecies Paul’s arrest in
Jerusalem
Understand,
that just being called a prophetic (or calling oneself a prophet) doesn’t make
someone a prophet.
God’s
prophets are called (by Him) and
anointed (by Him) to do His
work. Read through both the Old and New
Testaments and see that the prophet is given a specific task or a specific
word. As with Jonah, it could be a
single task for a single people or multiple people or ongoing tasks as with
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Daniel.
Examples from
the bible demonstrate Gods’ prophets, their characteristics and qualities.
The judges
preceded the kings and God would raise them up to save Israel from an
oppressor. God called them and gave them
a task. Some of the judges included Othniel
who delivered Israel from the Canaanites (Judges cptr 3), Deborah later
inspired Israel (again) against the Canaanites (Judges cptr 4), and Gideon who delivered
Israel form the Amalekites and the Midianites (chptrs 6-8) and of course Samson
who was used to deal with the Philistines (Judges chptrs 14-16). All called by God for a specific task.
After the
death of Joshua, Israel had no monarch guiding them, rather God raised up
judges. Israel clamored to be ‘just like everyone else’ so God gave them what
‘they’ wanted, a king, Saul (1 Sam. 9:1-2, 10:1). Then after Saul, God raised up David to be
king and gave the people His man (1
Sam. 16:1-13, 2 Sam. 2:3, 2Sam. 5:12). A
contrast in ruling style (check it out) – Saul and David - and then there were all
those kings who followed. In king Saul, God
gave the people what they wanted, in David, God gave them a true man of God or
what Father wanted.
I mention
the judges, not because they are considered ‘prophets’, they weren’t (not
exactly), but they did perform certain tasks before the people for which God anointed
them (you make the call).
Saul and David
were the first two kings of Israel and though Saul and David warred against
each other (before David became king), David wouldn’t do harm against Saul
because while Saul was king, he was God’s
anointed (1 Sam. 24:4-6).
Father puts
people in their positions whether anybody acknowledges it or not (Dan. 2:20-22). It is God who raises up and takes down (Psalm
75:7). And unlike Saul, David was not a
head taller than everybody else. In
fact, he may have been a bit shorter than most, the ‘average Joe’. David was a shepherd. He was humble and knew how to take care of his sheep. He killed a bear and a lion in defending those sheep (1 Sam.
17:34-46). He knew how to praise and worship God (1 Chron.
16:1-43). David sought direction from God and then did it (2 Sam. 5:19-25). And He knew how to pray (2 Sam. 12:12-24).
After all, he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22).
And there
were more prophets than Jeremiah and Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Micah
and Malachi. These are just some whom we
remember most.
So let’s
take a look at some of the qualities of the men and women of God.
As I said,
prophets are called of God.
Pharaoh,
feared the strength of the Israelites so he ordered all Hebrew male children to
be slain at birth. Yet, the midwives,
fearing the Lord, saved the babe Moses when he was born (Exod. 1:1-22). Yet only three months old, Moses was put in
an ark of bulrushes and set in the river where Pharaoh’s daughter found him and
took him for her own. Though raised in
Pharaoh’s court for forty years, Moses fled to Midian. Then he returned to Egypt, forty years later,
to bring God’s children out of bondage. Called for a specific task? While in Midian, Moses defended Jethro’s daughters and ended up tending their sheep (Exod. 2:15-21). When Moses encountered God in the burning
bush on the mount, he humbled himself,
acknowledging the sovereignty of God
(Exod. 3:1-6). Moses sought God’s direction (Exod. 3:13-15). Was
Moses in communication with the Almighty? Did signs
and wonders follow Moses? Read Exod. Cptrs 7-12 and count them, all ten
plagues. Through these examples and more
we see Moses constantly seeking God’s
direction.
Dare I
mention Samuel, whom God chose from even
before conception? Hannah prayed that
God would give her a son, and if He did, she would give him back to God. He did.
She did (1 Sam. 1:1-28).
Considered the last judge of Israel, Samuel judged all his life (1 Sam.
7:15). After anointing David to be king,
while Saul yet reigned (1 Sam. 25:1), Samuel died. As well as obeying God’s Word and anointing kings, Samuel brought God’s word to t the people giving them direction (1 Sam.
7:1-11).
Isaiah was a
learned man and was apparently able to relate across many cultural barriers but
preferred his own oppressed people (Israel) and lived in the 8th
century BC . His father, Amoz,
interfaced with kings and may have been a prophet himself (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaiah). God calls
Isaiah to be a prophet and though Isaiah considers himself an unclean man,
he accepts God’s cleansing and then the task set before him (Isa. 6:1-9). Some of Isaiah’s prophecies include the birth
of our Lord and who He is (Isa. 7:14, 9:6-7, 11:1-10, He also spoke of the evil
Babylon brings upon Israel and then the destruction of Babylon (Isa. 13:1-22).
Deborah,
apparently, judged Israel for forty years between 1107 and 1067 BC (Dictionary
of World Biography: The Ancient World), but, according to archeological
evidence, it may have been 1200 to1124 BC (Jewish History: Deborah the
Prophetess – Chabad). She prophesied the
death of Sisera, general of Canaan’s army and with his death ending the
Cananite oppression of Israel. Deborah gave
God’s direction to Israel’s army and prophesied that a woman would be Sisera’s
demise . Jael fulfilled this prophecy
and, with the death of Sisera, Israel gained victory over king Jabin and the
Canaanites (Judges 4:1-24).
The son of
Zacharias and Elisabeth was John (who was called the Baptist), the son of a
couple past child bearing age. An angel
of God appeared before Zacharias, as he was in prayer (in the temple) and
explained the birth and the name and calling of the would-be son (Luke 1:1-22),
God’s calling of John. The unborn John, leaped in his mother’s womb
when greeted by Mary (the soon to be mother of Jesus) who came to tend
Elisabeth in her final days before John’s birth (Luke 1:39-43). John would be called the prophet of the highest, bringing the knowledge of salvation and
remission of sins to the people (Luke 1:76-77, John’s task). God’s
hand was on John as He had already given him his calling. John preached baptism and repentance for the
remission of sins (Luke 3:1-3) and the coming of the Messiah (Luke 3:4-6). John was a simple man (Matt. 3:1-5). He
prophesied the coming of Jesus (Luke
3:16-19), and of course, it was he who baptized Jesus (Luke 3:16-17,
3:21-23). Now John, continued to preach
until his death at the command of Herod (Matt. 14:1-12). And remember that John told his disciples the
he must decrease as Jesus increased (John 2:26-36). Not only did John pave the way for our Lord
Jesus, he understood his role in the scheme of events.
Anna was an
elderly prophetess who declared (prophesied) Israel’s redemption through Jesus
(Luke 2:36-38). She was a widow who served God, not leaving the temple,
serving in fasting and praying. Hmmmm.
Wonder if she might be considered the first ‘nun’? A clue to her age – she had been a widow for
84 years. Think about it. She married 7 years from her virginity
(@10-13 years old) so she may have been 17 – 20 years of age when she married
her husband of 84 years. She was most
likely over 100 years old (add ‘em up @12 + 7 + 84!) AND she spent those last 84 years fasting and
praying in the temple. WOW! Is that
devotion?
Tradition
implies that Agabus may have been one of the seventy disciples Jesus sent out
(Luke 10:1-17). He may very well have
been one of the hundred and twenty in the upper room in Acts chapter two. We see Agabus twice in the book of Acts. Our first encounter was when he had come,
with other prophets, from Jerusalem to Antioch @ 40 AD. He prophesied a world-wide famine which came
to pass during the reign of Claudius Caesar, 41-54AD (Acts 11:27-29, http:// www.spiritandtruth.org
/teaching/Acts_by_Tony_Garland/36_Acts_11_27).
Scholars tell us that apparently there were four famines during
Claudius’ reign. The next prophesy was
when he indicated that if Paul went to Jerusalem, he would be bound (Acts
21:10-13). And Paul was (Acts 21:31-33).
There are more prophets and prophetesses
mentioned in the scripture. Take note
that they were men and women of devotion,
prayer, obedience and action.
They all
knew the Lord. They fasted and prayed. They sought God’s direction. They were all called to a specific task(s) and they were all obedient to the Word of God.
Many performed miracles in
the name of the Lord.
And, by the
way, we haven’t even mentioned Elijah who, in his duel with the prophets of
Baal, called fire from heaven and burned not only what was on the altar, but
dried up the ground around it (1 Kings 18:20-38). Miracles?
There was
the miracle of Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:16-23). A miracle?
How many men do you think could be in the same place as hungry lions and
survive? And if you remember, Daniel was
given the prophecy of our Lord Jesus and His ministry (Dan.21-27). He interpreted dreams before kings: The image
of gold, silver brass and iron and clay for Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:28); the
writing on the wall with king Belshazzar (Dan. 5:25-30; and the miracle of the lion’s den with king
Darius (Dan. 6:16-23). But Daniel knew
his place, or relationship with God and let the king know exactly from Whom the
interpretations came (Dan. 2:28).
The apostles
also displayed prophetic qualities.
Peter had the vision of
Cornelius (Acts 10:1-44). And, check it out, even Cornelius (a common man had a
vision). Peter reminds us that Jesus
said that in the last days “… God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh and
your sons and daughters shall prophecy, your young men shall see visions and
old men shall dream dreams. Upon my
servants and handmaids I will pour out My Spirit in those days and they shall
prophecy … (Acts 2:17-18, also see Joel 2:28). In case you’re wondering – that’s us!
Peter and
John healed a lame man in Jesus’
name (Acts 3:1-9). Paul cast out devils (Acts 16:16-18). Even after Jesus ascended, miracles followed
believers!
I now
mention the sons of Sceva lest we forget that we not only ‘do’ things in the
name of Jesus, but a prophet also has to walk in the power of the living God
(Acts 19:13-16). Jesus said He would
give us the Holy Ghost (John 14:16-19, Acts 1:8) and did it (Acts 2:1-18). Back to the sons of Sceva. They tried to cast out a demon in Jesus’ and
what did the demon say? “I know Jesus, I know Paul, but ‘who are you’ (paraphrased)?
When we know Jesus, the demons also know us and they know whether or not
we have the power of God in our lives.
Amen? The seven sons of Sceva did
not and got their butts kicked by one (though demon possessed) man.
Above all,
it is God who gives the prophet what to
speak and what to do. In prophecy,
the words of the prophet will ALWAYS be
in agreement with the Word of God. They have to be, God has given them!
So, not only
will a true prophet display God-given qualities and characteristics, the
prophet will also have power to do things in the name of Jesus (Col. 3:17). The prophet, in prophecy, will always speak
God’s Word, that is, whatever he says will be consistent with scripture.
A prophet’s
life includes fasting, prayer, obedience, devotion and hearing (learning) and
putting God’s Word into action. He is in
continual communication with God. He
knows how to stand up for what God his given.
He knows how to praise and glorify God.
The prophet is called and anointed by God (prepared) so he (she) can do
what Father has called them to do.
So, how do
we know a prophet? Get the idea?
Amen
