In the last several weeks, I have been reading through the prophet books of the Old Testament. I have been reading about the men that God used to share hard truths with the people, and as I read through these, there were some common threads that I came away with that I want to share with you.
- The Prophet’s words will away come to pass.
The Bible says that one of the ways that you know someone has the gift of prophecies is by what they say coming to pass. In the Old Testament, the word that the Lord was giving through the prophet was not easy, but it was hard and, in some cases, very hard, and yet each time, the word came to pass just as it was given. In our world, where we can cut on our computer and hear hundreds of messages daily, it is easy to get caught up in those who call themselves a prophet. But a true prophet is known by the fruit they bear and if what they say comes to pass, because a true prophet is sharing truth, not opinion.
2. With prophecy comes humility.
In each case, you see a spirit of humility that accompanies the gift that they are being used. In many cases, we find where the prophet continued to tell God they were not worthy to have this calling and never used the calling of God to promote themselves. As a matter of fact, you never read where the prophet referred to themselves as a prophet. That was a title others gave them. In this self-promoting world where everyone wants everyone else to know what they are doing at all times, we have lost the ability to be humble. The gifting of God is not so you can think of yourself as more holy than someone else or so you can use the giftings of God to promote you. The gifting of God is to bring Him glory and help others come to know Him. Gifting of God should come with humility and cause us to feel in awe of God, who bestows those gifts onto us. The greater God uses us, the greater our humility should be in God.
3. Most will not listen, yet the prophet preaches anyway.
In almost every case in the Old Testament, the prophet’s message was not received by the people. In many cases, they were persecuted for the message that they gave to the people. Most of them spent their life preaching a message that the people did not want to hear, and yet God tells them to keep preaching. They sacrificed for the gift that God had given them. Jeremiah was not allowed to marry; Ezekiel was told not to mourn the death of his wife in public, all so the message could be carried out. Prophecy, often, is not words of encouragement, but it is words of correction and judgment if a turn is not made. Be cautious of those that only prophecy good things and never call for people to repent and turn back to God. And if God is using you in this gift and people will not listen, preach anyway. Share what God has given you even when it is not popular and even when it does not move the masses because the truth rather does.
These are just three of the lessons that I have learned from the prophets. If you would like to read more, then go to my personal blog at http://www.pastorjayrhodes.com.
4. A prophet must listen better than they talk.
In every case, we find men that learned to listen to God. Ezekiel became so good at listening to God that he lived out illustrations before the people to demonstrate to them what God was calling them to live out. The prophet must have an ear to hear what God is saying and be ready to proclaim only the words he/she has heard. Hearing God and knowing what you are hearing is from God is something that must be learned. Remember Samuel as a young man, heard the voice of the Lord and thought it was Eli, the high Priest. Eli had not heard the voice of God in so long that he did not even realize what was happening the first couple of times. In a world with so much noise, we must learn to listen to the voice of God, and if we are going to be used in the giftings of God, then we must know what we hear is really from God. Sharing or talking is not the problem that most people have but knowing that what we are saying is from God is truly the issue that most have. If we are going to be used in any of the giftings that God has for us, then we must learn to listen to the voice of God.
5. A prophet’s life is not his/her own.
In every case of the prophet, we see where their life was in the service of God. As I stated before, Jeremiah was not allowed to marry because God wanted to demonstrate to Israel how they had walked away from their covenant with Him. Ezekiel was not allowed to mourn the death of his wife, so it would show Israel how God would not mourn the judgment they were about to go through. The higher the calling that God has for us then the more we forfeit our life to the work of the Kingdom. Too many people today want all the benefits and the power of the calling but we are unwilling to sacrifice our lives in the service of the Kingdom. We have brought in celebrated preachers that seemingly have it all. The truth is that charisma and gifting are too different things. Anyone can be anointed, but God’s glory only comes to those that are willing to go deeper into presence and lose themselves. The prophet is the one that is willing to lose themselves in order to fulfill the calling that God has for their life. They are willing to sacrifice their life so that others can hear the Word of the Lord. Without sacrifice, a person will never be used in the gift of prophecy.
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