Prophets

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OK, so this morning, I think for now, we've finished that thought of Revelation, and then last week we had some thoughts about the
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Law of God, and so this morning we're going to look at something different, and that is the
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Prophets, and just try to talk about how we understand the
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Prophets and how they were raised up by God to do various things.
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And like I said, I wrote the Scriptures that I will refer to this morning on the board, you can go back and look at them if you will, and I think
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I wrote them in order so as we go through it, you can think about it. So, let's just think about this.
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How would you define a prophet? What is the function of a prophet?
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Let me ask that. What would be the function of a prophet? OK, OK, yeah, well, certainly one of the characteristics of a prophet would be to speak for God to what?
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To us. Is there a distinction between a prophet and a priest? Yes, no, maybe so, could be, might be.
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Well here's the thing, a prophet basically speaks for God to us.
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A priest pretty much speaks for what? To God on our behalf.
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So in one sentence, the prophet speaks for God to man, the priest speaks to God for us.
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And that's the main distinction between the two, is that one speaks on behalf of God and the other one speaks on behalf of man.
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In that way, they're both what, mediators between two. And if you think about it, those three great officers of Christ is what?
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He's the prophet, he's the priest, and the king. And so certainly, when we see
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Christ, and we're going to look at some of the verses that deal with this, but if we had to make a major distinction between the prophet and the priest, it would be that, that one speaks for God to man, the other one speaks to God for man.
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As we think about the prophet, there are two ways in which the prophet spoke, and brother you mentioned one, that he spoke to man concerning the situation that was at hand, right, whether it was a historical setting or what it was, but is there another function that a prophet held, that a prophet would use?
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So he would tell not only the things that were taking place at that moment, but is there anything else a prophet would have done?
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He would have told us what? The future. The future, sure. So there's a double edge, if you will, that the prophet spoke not only for God to man, but he also spoke of things that would take place at a later date, right, and also things that took place at that present moment.
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And so when you think about that and we consider that, that's the way the prophets, if you remember how the prophets spoke, they said, thus saith the
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Lord, the Lord says, right, it was always the word that they received from God and they were to present that word to man, and that could be in either case, whether it was concerning the future or actually the present situation that was at hand, and like I said, historically, we see prophets either foretelling the future or sometimes foretelling the future and dealing with the present state.
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And there's all kinds of ways to divide this, but they were called, if you will, let's think about it, they were called for a specific reason, whether or not, they were called for a specific reason at a specific time to relay a specific message, and that they were raised up by God to fulfill what
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God had planned and purposed, again, in a historical setting or as we begin to think about it, as they talked about things that were to come to pass in the future.
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So can you think of a prophet who spoke both concerning the situation that history had as well as speaking of things that would come forward?
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Think of a... Isaiah. Isaiah, certainly, right. Jeremiah. Jeremiah. Ezekiel. Yeah, I mean, if you begin to think about it, most of them had that, if you will, that two -pronged outworking that they spoke of both what was happening at that present time and also of what would take place in the future.
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And so the prophets are divided up between major prophets and minor prophets.
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Who would be a major prophet? Jeremiah. Isaiah. Ezekiel.
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And why are they called major prophets? Because there's major prophets and there's what?
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Minor. Minor prophets. And what would be the distinction? Let me ask.
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Is the major prophet more important than the minor prophet? What makes men consider one to be major and the other one minor?
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The length of the prophecy. I mean, the content. How many chapters they have in the book. Yeah. What did you say, brother?
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The content of their... Of their... The content and the volume, right, that they presented.
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And so when we think of the major prophets, as you said, we can think about Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, some would say
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Daniel, for sure. And minor prophets would be like... Malachi. Malachi.
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Malachi. That was the Italian... That's the Italian rendering of Malachi, by the way. Malachi. Malachi, yeah.
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Malachi. But like Hosea and Amos and Joel and Habakkuk and Zephaniah and Haggai.
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And again... Hey, Kelly. They are considered as minor prophets, not because they are any less important, but because, if you will, it's the sheer volume of what they presented to us.
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And if you think about it, what's the distinction as far as the requirement to be a prophet versus requirement to be a priest?
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Is there a distinction between what is required to be a prophet sent by God or a priest ordained by God?
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Is there a difference? Okay, I'm just going to sit here until somebody says something.
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Well, did not the priest have to be of a certain lineage?
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Did he not have to be from a descendant, if it was either
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Aaron as far as the high priest and Levi as far as the Levitical priest, right?
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So is that the same requirement for prophets? Did the prophet have to be of a certain lineage?
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Did he have to be of a certain background? Did he have to be of a certain ancestry?
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No. I mean, if you think about it, there were all kinds of prophets.
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There were prophets that were shepherds, right?
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There were prophets that were raised up by God as basically come out of nowhere, if you think about it, right?
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You think about Eliezer and you think about Elijah's, I mean, there really isn't anything given to us that says that this was the requirement for them.
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So let's look at a couple of verses. The first one I wrote is Jeremiah. So let's just turn to this one because I want to start to look at some scriptures to support what we're saying.
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So the reality is that a prophet was raised up by God because God was pleased to raise up that prophet.
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And again, they could be of the herdsmen, they could have been shepherds.
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Would you agree that David was a prophet? Was not David a prophet?
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Sure. And what does it say? He was a, before God called him, he was what?
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A keeper of the sheep, right? But look at this in Jeremiah chapter 1, and I'm just going to read it from verse 1.
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The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, or the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the
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Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
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And it came to pass in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
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Look what it says in verse 4. Then the word of the Lord came to me. This is
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Jeremiah. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
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Before you were born, I sanctified you and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
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So even in this, we're being told that before anything took place, even before Jeremiah was born,
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God had already prepared and set him aside to be a prophet, to be a spokesman, if you will, for God to the people in a very historical setting, right?
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Especially as they were about to be carried away captive, as well as him and what he would say would happen in the future.
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And certainly we read of great things, especially Jeremiah, as well as Isaiah and Ezekiel, of what was to come to pass when, in the latter days.
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So they not only spoke, again, of the situation at hand, but in some ways they spoke of things that were going to take place hundreds of years later.
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And so the prophet had a great place and there was no real requirement that was placed as it was on the priesthood that they had to be a descendant of so -and -so.
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It didn't happen like that with the prophets. Okay, let's just look at a scripture in Malachi.
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If you find Matthew, go back one and you'll find Malachi. Malachi is the last book in the
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Old Testament. And again, all I'm trying to do is set some scripture out to help support, because there's a great deal of misunderstanding, if you will, concerning prophets and prophesying both back then in the
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Old Testament and in the New. And so we can have a lengthy discussion about that.
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Here's a thought as you turn to Malachi. Are there still prophets today? How many say yes?
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How many say no? How many haven't raised their hand at all? Are there still prophets today?
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In a different sense. Oh, so we've got to define further down what the function of a prophet is and see if that does happen now as it did then.
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I will say this and then we'll read this scripture. That I do believe that there can be prophets today, but in a very different way as far as I think that's in part what preaching is and the ability to open
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God's word up. Because, well, let me say this.
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I do not believe that we have prophets today that can say, thus sayeth the Lord, in the future this is going to happen.
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That's where I would make the distinction between a prophet that was in the Old Testament, if you will, and a prophet even in the
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New Testament, until when? When would that cut off take place if we're talking about a prophet speaking about something yet to come?
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And not in the sense of just preaching or teaching and edifying the body of Christ.
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Yeah, I understand that. And we'll look at that.
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What would have been the end of it? What causes that to cease as far as telling the future?
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Ah, absolutely, right? So, if you remember what it says in Revelation, and I believe that's when the canon was closed.
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That God said, if anyone, what, adds to the words of this book?
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Or if anyone takes away from the words of the book? So I don't believe someone can stand up and say,
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I'm a prophet, thus says the Lord, this is going to happen in the future.
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Now, there are still people who proclaim that that takes place, but I don't believe it does.
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But I do believe that you can have a prophet as long as you understand, as you said, sister, that we define what we're talking about.
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And that it's not just someone, it is someone who just merely opens up, not merely, but opens up the word to us.
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Look in Malachi, look what it says, and I'll just start at verse 1. But behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, and the day which is coming shall be burnt up, says the
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Lord of Hosts. And they will leave them neither root nor branch, but to you who fear my name, the
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Son of Righteousness will arise, certainly it's Christ, with healing in his wings, and you shall go out and grow fat like stall -fed calves.
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You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this, says the
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Lord. And remember the Lord Moses, my servant, who I commanded in Horeb for all
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Israel with the statutes and judgments, and behold, I send you
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Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
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Lord. Now, was there not a prophet in the Old Testament named
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Elijah? Is this saying that God is going to send Elijah again?
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Thank you, brother. Not in the literal sense, it wasn't as if Elijah was going to, although who appeared on the
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Mount of Transfiguration? Elijah and Moses. But what he's alluding to here is that God was going to raise someone in the same way that he raised
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Elijah up, and who is that? John the Baptist. So you see how we can kind of go through the
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Bible. If you wanted to, you could walk through the Bible. Who would you say would be the first prophet?
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Who would have been the first prophet? Moses. Huh? Yeah, I mean, if you think about it,
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Abraham, was Abraham a prophet? Yes, no, maybe so.
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Moses a prophet? Was Samuel?
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Moses said that God will raise up one like him. So that was prophesying about the future of Christ.
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Yeah, I mean, and if you think about it, and I didn't put that one up on the board, but let's look at that one.
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So let's go to Deuteronomy 18. Because this is, to me, this is a prophet speaking about another prophet that's about to come.
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Or not about to come, but it would have been long in the future that God would do this.
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But certainly Moses was a prophet. He spoke for God to who?
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Certainly he did when he went to where? To Egypt, to Pharaoh, when God sent him to Pharaoh.
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And what did Moses say before Pharaoh? Thus says the
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Lord, let my people go. And he was also a prophet to Israel, because he spoke to them in ways both that they could understand for their present situation.
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Did he give them instructions? And his instructions were, thus says the Lord, put the blood where?
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On the doorpost, right? So when the angel of death passes over, you are not destroyed.
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So there's many ways to consider this. So, Deuteronomy 18, verse 15.
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The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me. Again, there's no discrepancy.
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Moses says he was a prophet and God was going to raise a prophet like him up from your midst, from your brethren and him shall you hear according to all you desire of the
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Lord God. And Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, let me not hear again the voice of the
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Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore. And the Lord said to me, what you have spoken is good.
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And I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command and it shall be that whoever will not hear my words which he speaks in my name
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I will require of him. But then he draws a distinction. He says, but the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which
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I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of another God that prophet shall die.
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So, here's another point that we can add into if you will our thoughts.
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Not only were there prophets sent by God but there were many, what?
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False prophets. Just because well, if you think about it you can be a prophet of God or you can be a prophet of evil.
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You can be a prophet of good you can be a prophet of evil. There was false prophets. Who was an example of a false prophet?
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Well, there's many of them, right? Do you think of any? Was huh?
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Was Babylon a prophet? Sure he was. Was he a false prophet?
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Yeah, he was. There are many prophets that have been used by God to accomplish his purposes.
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You can read through, especially as you read through the Kings and the Chronicles and what not, you'll find it that prophets were raised up whether they're not prophets and if you think about it in the days of Daniel that said certain things and it didn't come to pass and wasn't that one of the criteria for a true prophet?
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That he had to speak what? He had to speak God's word and guess what? It had to come to pass and that's one of the ways in which you were to distinguish between a prophet and someone who wasn't, but I want to take a few minutes and draw one or two from the
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New Testament so we, and then we'll circle back, but I want you to go to Acts for a minute and go to the opening chapter chapter 2 in Acts and let's consider this as Pentecost begins to unfold and in verse 14 of chapter 2, it says
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Peter standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words for they are not drunk remember they thought they were drunk with wine and Peter says, you know, it's like nine o 'clock in the morning and you think these guys are juiced already that's not a good translation of that but I think it's a fair paraphrase anyway verse 15, these are not drunk as you suppose since it's only the third hour of the day but this is what was spoken by the prophet
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Joel now when Joel prophesies this and Peter draws from it it shall come to pass in the last days this is what
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Joel said it will come to pass in the last days, says God I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams and on my men servants and on my maid servants
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I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy now to me that's an indication that we cannot just eliminate from any
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New Testament understanding that there weren't going to be prophets but I do think we have to understand it in its context because otherwise we're going to get into a whole lot of discussion and some will hold that there are no more prophets certainly
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Joel was a prophet there's no doubt about it because he says that, the prophet Joel what
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I was saying before is you can almost go through the Bible and find so many who spoke on behalf of God, two men
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Abraham, Moses Samuel David and on and on and on and then we get into those like I said the major prophets
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Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and all the minor ones but do you not begin to see what what is working in the
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New Testament is that there is still the ability for a prophet to speak for God to men until and this is my understanding until the revelation is closed once the revelation is closed we don't need anyone in the sense of telling the future right?
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because if it's not in the Bible I don't want it and guess what if it's already in the
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Bible I don't need it so when people say that they are prophets of God we have to use that to measure and see if not only first of all they could legitimately be a prophet of God and second of all if again if it's not in the
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Bible we don't want it and if it's already in the
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Bible what do we need someone to tell the future for if God's revelation is closed unless again we understand prophesying or prophecy in the realm of teaching have you have you met someone have you ever met someone that said that they were a prophet of God laughter more than you like to remember brother and what was it that they did they claim to be the prophet who could if you will explain the present situation or was it truly from a futuristic standpoint most of the time it was a foretelling type very rare you get the foretelling mostly foretelling and that's and again if we don't have a good basis of understanding because even if the prophet spoke on behalf of God in the
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Old Testament and even if the prophecy came true what if it was in contradiction to the word of God would that person still be a prophet he makes a prediction it comes true is that the only litmus test for a prophet in the
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Old Testament yeah right because there were certain things that came true he would have to be in accord with God's word wouldn't he because again the
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Bible is not open to private interpretation and so if someone prophesies something that's that contradicts the word of God we would say he's not a true prophet one more in the
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New Testament just for now in Acts chapter 13 it's already in Acts just look there in Acts chapter 13 and this is interesting so in Acts chapter 13 it says
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I'm just going to pick it up this is where Paul is in Antioch and he's speaking and he says in verse 17 the
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God of his people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and when an uplifted arm he brought them out now for a time of about 40 years he put up with their ways in the wilderness when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan he distributed their land to them by allotment and after he after that he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the prophet so it has another no discrepancy
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Samuel was a prophet of God and again you can go through and look in the
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Old Testament so just because someone didn't write a book if you will like Isaiah or Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel or any of those that doesn't mean that they weren't prophets because God could raise up a prophet as he did he said to Jeremiah before you were even born
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I had set you apart to be to be a prophet to me so here's what
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I want to do I want to make sure I have time to get this in I want to go back now and go back to Jeremiah if you want if you will and I want to look at something in Jeremiah and we've read this interestingly enough last week in the public reading go to Jeremiah chapter 23 and this is where we get some serious instruction concerning false prophets prophets that God sent and how to deal with them and how to perceive what they're saying so let me pick it up if you will
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Jeremiah says this in Jeremiah chapter 23 in verse 9 he says my heart is broken because of the prophets and all my bones shake and I'm like a drunken man like a man when he has overcome when he has overcome because of the
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Lord and because of his holy words for the land is full of adulterers for because of a curse the land mourns and the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up and their cost of life is evil and their might is not right now look what he says for both prophet and priest are profane yes in my house
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I have found their wickedness sayeth the Lord therefore their ways shall be unto them like slippery ways in the darkness they shall be driven on and fall in them and I will bring disaster on them the year of their punishment says the
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Lord for I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria they prophesy by who?
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by Baal and cause my people to err and I have a
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I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem and they commit adultery and walk in lines here's another requirement of the prophet of God not only did he have to speak according to the truth thus sayeth the
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Lord and not only had it be in subjection to all the word of God but their character of life had to reflect that also and I wonder and we probably could talk about that many people who claim to be prophets they live some of the most ungodly lives right and so you begin to see there is
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God can raise up anyone to be a prophet and he did but there were requirements that were involved in that and that it couldn't just be somebody just walking up it's like somebody just it's like the lady who came to a prayer meeting a couple weeks ago and she almost acted as if she was a prophet she actually was when she left she basically as I locked the door she cast a spell on the building she threw
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I'm serious now as I locked the door I looked out the window she threw some invisible boogies on the church and then our electricity went out you're right but that was not a prophet that was dead squirrel at the bottom of the telephone pole that blew the transformer but again the prophet had to have certain things in order and one of them was he had to say thus saith the
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Lord it had to come true but not only that it had to comply with the rest of God's truth and it had to be part of the manner of his life and not just again and so we begin to see there is a litmus test for someone who says they are a prophet now that doesn't mean that everyone if we're going to use the term prophet in some sense as far as preaching and teaching does that mean that if someone stands up to preach do they have to be infallible?
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No because if that were the case no one would ever preach if you think about it because no one has all the truth and even the prophet just because the prophet
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I'm trying to think how to say this Isaiah spoke but Isaiah didn't always speak thus saith the
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Lord did he? We have recorded and actually there are other people who spoke but God hasn't been pleased to include that in his revelation so we don't want to get to that point where we think that just because someone says thus saith the
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Lord that's the only litmus test so as I was saying in verse 14
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I've seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem they commit adultery and they walk in lies and they strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns back from his wickedness and all of them are like Sodom to me and are inhabitants like Gomorrah and therefore thus saith the
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Lord of hosts concerning the prophets I will feed them with wormwood make them drink the water of Gaul for from the prophet to Jerusalem profaneness has gone out into the land thus saith the
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Lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you they make you worthless they speak a vision of their own heart and not from the mouth of the
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Lord and they continually say to me to those who despise me the Lord has said you shall have peace and to everyone who walks according to the imagination of his heart no evil shall come upon them for who has stood in the counsel of the
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Lord and perceived and heard his words and you can go on and on and on and read this and again this is a very clear section if you will of how a prophet was to be judged how a prophet was to be trusted how a prophet was to be not only judged by the people but judged by God the other section
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I really wanted to show you is in Ezekiel and it's in Ezekiel 13 so let's just look there because it's a very it's a parallel passage if you will concerning false prophets versus the prophets that God sent in Ezekiel 13 it says this the word of the
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Lord came to me saying son of man prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy and say to them who prophesy out of their own heart hear the word of the
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Lord so here we have a prophet of God Ezekiel and God sends him to do what to speak to those who say they're speaking on behalf of God and guess what the word is more of a word of judgment because he says hear the word of the
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Lord thus saith the Lord God woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing in all
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Israel your prophets are like foxes in a desert you have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the
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Lord they have envisioned futility and false divination saying thus saith the
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Lord but the Lord has not sent them yet they hope that the word may be confirmed have you not seen a futile vision and have you not spoken false divination you say the
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Lord says but I have not spoken therefore thus saith the Lord because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies therefore
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I am indeed against you says the Lord God my hand will be against the prophets who envision futility who divine lies and they shall not be in the assembly of my people nor be written in the record of the house of Israel nor shall they enter into the land of Israel and they shall know that I am the
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Lord because indeed they have seduced my people saying peace when there is no peace as one builds a boundary wall and they plaster it with untempered water so again here's another section that clearly tells us that just because someone says they're a prophet doesn't mean that they're a prophet in 1st
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John it says we shouldn't what believe every spirit but what are we supposed to do test the spirits to see whether they be and again what's the litmus test well we've named a couple things one it has to be they're saying thus saith the
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Lord not only can they say that or should they say that but they should also be in conformity to the other words that are spoken by God and not only that their manner of life has to be in accordance with the word of God so again when you start putting it together that's why there's a whole lot of problems when people raise up and say that they're prophets
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I remember this is going back but I remember somebody we were at another church in New York and they were actually calling themselves apostles and they came to us in the church and they wanted to prophesy to us and they wanted to anoint our church with oil and their function was to go out and anoint houses
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I'm not just talking about spiritually they wanted to physically put oil on houses you've experienced that?
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sure to actually physically to do that now
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I'm not discounting the fact that like it says in James if someone's sick they call for the elders of the church and there was a use of oil that's not what people are doing who call themselves prophets and many times if you look at their lives their lives are really not in accord with God's word
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I'll make sure we've got just a minute or two so when you think about what we've been saying we need to understand that I'm saying we can still have prophets today as long as we define what we mean by prophet but that's true of every term just like there's people that call themselves apostles today no no
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I don't have time for this but do we still have apostles today? in a sense we're all apostles oh in a sense right?
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depending on how you define the term right? if you think about it and I will say this there were specific if you will
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Apostles and they had a criteria what were one or two things that made someone a true apostle of Christ?
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seeing Jesus resurrected sir? seeing Jesus resurrected yeah there were eyewitnesses and that's what it says there were eyewitnesses of those things and even
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Paul says he was an apostle of what? born out of time but he had seen the risen lord and be taught by him what you're talking about is people who say they're apostles but they don't have that criteria and in a sense we're all apostles because what is that what is the definition of an apostle?
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he's a messenger yeah he's a someone who's been sent as a servant of God and in that sense we're all servants aren't we?
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and in that way it's just you know you ever go by a church and it'll say apostle
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Joe Joey Gogutz is the apostle of a certain church you know probably
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Joey Gogutz is not a good southern name but it might fly up north a little bit so again
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I just wanted to lay out what and this is basically what Sproul's saying in his book and we'll close with one more scripture and it's in 1
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Corinthians chapter 14 and then now next week we're going to start to deal with the attributes of God and to me
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I'm excited about that we're going to deal with the fact that God is incomprehensible that God is omnipotent that God is omniscient that God knows everything and just the character of God because to me that's one of the greatest ways to grow in grace but 1
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Corinthians chapter 14 and I'll close with this because it gives us understanding look what
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Paul says verse 1 pursue love and desire spiritual gifts but especially that you may what?
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prophesy for he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God no one understands however in the spirit he speaks mystery but he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men and so let me just read verse 4 he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but he who prophesies edifies the church so I would say if you want to say to these prophets today that they have to accomplish at least those three things verse 3 he who prophesies he speaks edification exhortation and comfort and again it still has to be in accordance with God's word right so I hope this helps us to try to work through the issues where people will say that they are prophets and that we have an ability if you will to understand how certain terms were used in the
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Old Testament and how certain terms were used in the New Testament and that there are distinctions to be made just like we will at some point talk about the law regarding the distinctions that were under the
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Old Covenant versus the New Covenant alright let's just pray father again thank you for who you are thank you lord that you have sent your son the lord