“The Prophetic Voice”
Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
When I was assigned to a Combat Engineer battalion, I walked over to the Headquarters Company one afternoon and knocked on the door of the Company Commander. I was there to tell him (tactfully) that his leadership style was lacking. He was pushing his soldiers to the point where, if we went to war, he would likely be the first casualty. Low morale was beginning to have a negative affect on our mission. We had a saying, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” Unfortunately some Commanders and First Sergeants are convinced that coercion and intimidation will result in mission accomplishment (I suspect this attitude isn’t exclusive to the Army). My job was to be “prophetic” at times, telling people things they didn’t want to hear. One of my Commanders admitted that my function in the unit was to keep everyone “honest and ethical”.
We’re going to spend several Sundays looking at the lives of some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived—the Old Testament prophets. When you consider divine revelation, everything in the Bible is prophetic. The history of Israel was, in itself, a revelation of God. We think of prophets as tellers of the future, but many prophets in the Bible do no foretelling. They were called by God to speak to His people an authoritative word. They were significant in what they said and what they were.
Through the prophets God spoke to us--
Ø Through the prophets we learn much about the
purpose and plan of God. For instance, from Isaiah God provides a significant reason why He spoke through these select individuals: “That they may know…that there is none besides Me” (45:6).
Ø Through the prophets God warned against the superstitious beliefs of idol worshippers. -Through the prophets God revealed that He is the Lord of history.
Ø Through the prophets the Jewish nation understood their role in history as a “chosen people”; an important function of the prophetic message was to communicate to Israel what it meant to be Israel. What does it mean to be God’s people? The prophets provide the answer.
Ø Through the prophets the invisible God becomes audible.
Prophets were chosen spokespersons, who delivered God’s word in His behalf. The term “prophet” has several meanings: to “proclaim”, even to “bubble forth” or “pour forth words”. The clear understanding is that prophets did not speak for themselves; they were “called” to proclaim God’s truth. Occasionally a prophet is called a “seer” (literally, a “beholder”). This word refers to how they received the divine message. When they served as messengers, they were conveying the divine word they received—not their own opinions.. Scripture identifies 55 prophets, but there were hundreds more. There were both men and women prophets, and we read of at least one Gentile (non-Jewish), Baalam (Numbers 22). Only a comparatively few prophets wrote books of the Bible.
The prophets of Israel had 3 important functions:
1. They were divinely appointed moral and ethical preachers and teachers.
2. They conveyed predictions of future events concerning the nation of Israel and the coming of the Messiah.
3. They warned Israel against the dangers of religious apostasy.
We could summarize the role of the prophets as foretelling and forthtelling.
Prophets could, with authority, begin their messages by saying, “Hear the message the Lord has spoken to me.” “Thus saith the Lord!” How did they hear God’s voice? How did they know they were God’s spokespersons? Sometimes through dreams or visions, other times by directly hearing the voice of the Lord. The book of Hebrews opens by saying “In the past God spoke to our forefathers at many times and in various ways” (Heb 1:1). Peter explains that “men moved (lit. “carried along”) by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (II Pet 1:21). The prophetic message was “inspired”, a word that means “God-breathed”. God spoke through the prophets. The prophet was God’s mouthpiece.
Prophets were not philosophers or men of genius, able to—on their own—come up with answers to life’s dilemmas. They waited on God for insight and inspiration. In fact, it is possible that the prophets often didn’t fully understand their messages—especially when what they spoke was intended for future generations.
We often think of prophets as stern preachers; we stereotype them as harsh preachers of gloom and doom. We have a twisted picture of prophets as raving mad men. Sometimes the prophets spoke through object lessons (similar to children’s sermons); sometimes they sang their messages, accompanied on musical instruments (II Kings 3). Often they taught—we read of the schools of the prophets in the Old Testament. People who wanted to serve God and know His will followed the prophets. They weren’t training to become prophets—the prophets taught the Law of God, not “how to” prophesy. The prophetic office came from God, irrespective of previous training. In having to say ‘No’ to society, by challenging the nation and in condemning sin, they always held out hope for forgiveness and restoration, to reconcile the nation with God. Every prediction of disaster is a caring exhortation to repentance.
The call to prophesy was often conveyed with a miraculous sign or vision from God. As with the call to pastoral ministry, there was an inner conviction and outward evidence which verified the divine call.
Moses explains in Deuteronomy that genuine prophets must speak in the Name of God, and the things they foretell must come to pass (18:9-22). Their predictions must agree with previous revelation, and their words may be accompanied by signs and wonders (13-1-5). There were, and still are today, false prophets. We have psychics and astrologers and cult leaders who claim to have the truth but are merely pawns of the devil to lead people astray. We need to be discerning when people claim to speak the word of God; we need to carefully appraise what we hear.
In the pages of Scripture we often see prophets in the presence of kings. Prophets were seen as guardians of the theocracy, ones who sought to influence the spiritual welfare of the nation of Israel. They were not politicians, however. Their role was to provide guidance for the leaders, just as some religious leaders today are in a position to provide guidance to those who govern.
Someone once said to me, “You’d need a pretty thick skin to want to be a prophet.” Prophets weren’t known to win friends. Theirs was a lonely profession. Many prophets were persecuted and killed. To confront people with the Truth, regardless of the cost, takes courage. But the prophets’ worst occupational hazard was seeing an unconcerned nation reject God’s word then witnessing the awful consequences. We see this clearly in the book of Lamentations, a kind of postscript to the prophecy of Lamentations. The greatest casualty among prophets was a broken heart.
Every now and then you’ll hear of religious debates, often between atheists and theologians. Prophets had no time for theological argument. Their role was not to defend or prove God’s word but to present it. The divine word is “quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). We may not think the piercing word of God is sharp until it penetrates our lives. What we find in the prophetic word is a witness to what God has said and done, and what He expects of us.
Sometimes we think being prophetic gives us an excuse to be mean-spirited, harsh, argumentative, and downright nasty. There are certain people on talk radio who are prophetic, yet even when I agree with them I find myself turned off by their condescending, put-down style. Confrontation doesn’t mean “telling someone off”. The Bible is clear that we’re to “speak the truth in love.” With the exception of Jonah, all the prophets had compassion for the people to whom they were called to deliver bad news. Like the prophets, we’re called to love even the unlovable.
God’s word anticipates a response. God wants to be the ruling force in our lives, so we need every aspect of our lives under His supervision. We live, not for ourselves, but for God, in obedience to His will and under His care. The prophets called people to repent—to change their direction. They urged people to turn from sin and turn to God.
In a general sense, any believer who talks about God is a prophet. We share our faith because we’re driven by the urgency of the message and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We tell others about Christ because we see this as our calling, our mission, and we speak with confidence that God will guide, equip and use us for the task at hand.
Prayer: Lord, speak to us, and cause us to respond to Your word. Teach us, and help us to uphold Your statutes; make us understand the way of Your precepts. Your word is truth—it is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. We treasure it in our hearts. In Your revealed purpose we find our strength. Open our eyes so that we can know and do Your will…for Your glory, in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—Amen.
