… and prophets.
Summary: Prophetic voices are the mouthpieces of God when he wants to communicate with humans. When God speaks, the voices he uses have no choice but to obey.
Let’s talk about prophets! 🙂
Prophets are people who, either by their own claim or by the acclaim of others, are perceived as speaking for God. One of the well-known names of the Old Testament is Balaam son of Beor. He is an oddity because he wasn’t a very nice man, and he wasn’t an Israelite, but he was able to speak with God and for God.
When Balaam is asked to curse the Israelites for the king of Moab, he consults with God and is told, “No.” Telling a king “No” is not an easy thing, but to his credit, Balaam obeyed God. His response was clear and unequivocal:
“But Balaam answered them, ‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.’” (Numbers 22:18)
Many centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah explained what it was like to be a prophet of God:
“But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9)
So a prophet of God has to obey God. God’s Word cannot be held in, nor can the prophet go against the command of God. This is what it is like to be a true prophet of God. Inside the prophet, the word of God burns like “fire shut up in my bones,” as Jeremiah says. But what about the people who are not prophets? How do we tell if they are a real prophet or someone just making up stories?
Discerning the true prophet of God requires knowing something about God. We have to ask ourselves the question, “Is this prophetic message something God might really say?” In the early days of the Christian church, before the New Testament had been assembled under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit, people had to rely on the Torah, what we call the Old Testament, and the Holy Spirit.
Today, we have both testaments as reference points. We also have the Holy Spirit, as promised to us by Jesus. (John 14:26) We have enough resources to be able to “test the spirits,” as John advises us in 1 John 4:1. We also have the example of the Bereans who “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
The best way to know if someone is speaking the truth is to know the truth. It is critical that Bible-believing Christians know the Bible. It is also critically important to honor God’s Holy Spirit. If we do these two things, we will not go far wrong.
Application: Read the Bible. Listen to God’s Spirit.
Food for Thought: How are prophets different than apostles?
If our life could be compared to a street, prophets would be the yield signs and apostles would be the construction signs.
Yeilding means both stopping to pay attention and defering to God, and producing fruit.
Contruction means both building new and repairing the old.
Both the prophets and the apostles get wisdom from the Lord, both are servants. Both ultimately come to the same place.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Chris,
Thank you for your analogy this morning! Having worked as a civil engineer for a municipality, your answer made me smile! 🙂
I think that Prophets and Apostles have more in common than they have differences. Both are foundational. They both are called by God directly to give us His word. For example, they were the ones who gave us Scripture. A prophet was one who is “raised up” while an apostle was one who was “sent out.” Both represent God.
There were no Apostles in the OT. Why is that might be a good question? I think that is the case because Apostles were those who saw the resurrected Jesus (Acts 1: 21 – 26).
Either way, they were led by the Holy Spirit to give us God’s word as a foundation for God’s people. Ephesians 2: 19 – 20.
Rich
You make an interesting point. Abraham was the father of a nation of people. The Old Covenant was a bond of blood. The New Covenant is a spiritual bond. There may be a corollary in the application of prophets and apostles.
05-11-2023, How are prophets different than apostles?
In the Old Testament we see God at work through His prophets, they delivered messages, by word and actions as instructed by God.
Today the Lord continues to speak through prophets as He sends prophets to Protect the vision of the church, give warning about what is coming, correct, fine tune and revive the vision, thru renewal and revival.
Today, In the New Testament we also see apostles/teachers, chosen by God to spread His Good News of Jesus Christ as they teach the message given in the Bible. The apostles/teachers establish and maintain churches, as they teach and build the faith of believers through increased knowledge of God’s truths.
Thank you Ron!
Good examples of how the Spirit operates in the church body.
Jeff Are Ghosts real! 👻 They must be otherwise there could be no Ghost Writers!
Ha Ha Ha!! 🙂
Good one! 🙂
⭐ ⭐ ⭐