Contributed the following article to the Apr-May '13 issue of VANAMUTHAM,
that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.
Our God has always been speaking to mankind, at times
through visions and dreams. Sometimes,
God’s message was intended for the person he spoke to, like in the case of
Jacob and Joseph. On certain occasions,
particularly when God spoke to those who were not familiar with him, it was in
order to fulfill his purpose for his people, as when he spoke to King Cyrus. At other times, as often with the prophets,
it was meant to be received and additionally communicated to a group of
people. Who is a Prophet? He is a spokesperson. God shares a portion of his burden with those
who get close to God’s heart. When God’s
burden becomes their heart beat, they begin to be his spokespersons. They begin to represent God to a generation
that is not directly in tune with God.
In Amos 3:7 we find that the Sovereign Lord reveals his
plans to his servants the prophets when he is about to do anything. Why does he ever do that? We see 3 reasons
across the Bible. Firstly, to warn the people of impending judgment so they
may repent and escape from judgment.
Bible is replete with history of people turning away from God, becoming
self-centered, bringing forth evil and trampling others under the feet for
selfish gain. The
second reason is for the Prophet to intercede for the people about to be
judged. Finally, God also foretold them
about his plan for mankind – redemption through the Messiah and a new covenant
that was to fulfill and replace the old.
PROPHECY IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
We read in Heb 1:1,2 that “In the past God spoke to our ancestors
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he
has spoken to us by his Son.”
God who had been revealing himself little by little incrementally had
finally completely revealed himself in the person of Jesus, when he walked on
earth as a man for 33-some years. The
God who had been a far-away being had come close that men could see him, touch
him and hear him, not in dreams and visions, but in the physical world. He was the radiance of God’s glory and the
exact representation of his being.
After the Pentecost, God has come even closer, into our
hearts, making our bodies his dwelling place.
More than a millenium before the New Testament time dawned, Moses had
wished that all the Lord’s people were his Prophets and that the Lord would put
his Spirit on them (Num 11:29). What
Moses wished has atlast come true. His
Holy Spirit now indwells us and leads us into truth (John 14:16; 16:
13,14). We live in an age where it is
blessed to walk by faith and not by sight (John 20:29, 2 Cor 5:7).
Today, a child of God does not
have to look up to someone else as a Prophet to know what God would have us do
in any situation. God has revealed his nature and his pleasure in Jesus and in the written word,
and his Holy Spirit who indwells us reminds us of what he has already revealed.
Can God still use visions and dreams? He can,
in his sovereignty. Are we to desire
visions and dreams? Not after what he has
already provided. Are visions and dreams, a measure of spiritual growth or
maturity? Absolutely NOT. The Bible never says that. Does God speak to every child of God? Absolutely,
if only you will listen to him as you read God’s word and commune with God in
prayer.
PROPHECY TODAY
Today the Lord gives gifts to the
church that will help them to bring in those who do not know God. ‘Word of Wisdom’ and ‘Word of Knowledge’ are
often understood to be gifts that help one to understand the secret things of
someone else’s life. People mistakenly
understand that God will reveal to a prophet what the future holds for a person
– whether they will have a child, will it be a boy or a girl, should they take
this job or that, should they marry this girl or that – and they go to someone
they think is a Prophet with a gift to foretell. To be blunt, they
think that a prophet is a ‘fortune teller’. God has clearly and strongly forbidden sorcery, divination and all other practices that the pagan world used, to
find what their future held for them (Due 18).
A Prophet as God’s spokesperson is to speak only when God
gives him something to tell the people. There
have been times when a Prophet did not have any word from the Lord for long
periods. There was also the
inter-testamental period called the hiatus, when God did not speak to the
people for about half-a-millennium. But
today people expect to hear a specific word from God every time they go to who
they think is God’s prophet. And this
so-called ‘Prophet’ of today always seems to have a word from God, never to
disappoint anyone who comes ‘seeking the mind of God’.
DECEPTION
The incident narrated in I Kings
13 is a severe indictment against those listening to false prophets or false prophecies
from people who had at some point been used as prophets. These are the
deceiving prophets. Then there are those
prophets who are given to deception.
Though they may think that they are indeed prophesying by the Lord, they
could actually be following ‘lying
spirits’. In I Kings 10 we see about 400 prophets lying to King Ahab
influenced by a lying spirit. Paul warns the Corinthians (2 Cor 11:13-15) that Satan
himself masquerades as an angel of light and his servants too masquerade as
servants of righteousness.
Why
does God allow such deception? Deuteronomy
13 tells us that the Lord is testing the people to find out whether they love him with all their
heart and with all their soul. Prophets
who lead people away from him are not God’s spokespersons. What they
foretell may take place but that is not a sign that they are God’s
spokespersons. Today’s
false prophets lead people to worship idols – not a creation made of wood or
stone – their wealth, health, family and sometimes other men who take the place
of God in their lives.
Finally, a dream could also be just plain natural with no
intervention from God. A dream
comes when there are many cares (Eccl 5:3).
We should be careful not to interpret them as God’s revelation. Often, we are greedy and itching for
something so much, that we want to believe that God is giving it to us. People who are given to their lusts, tell the
Seers to see no visions and the Prophets to give no vision of what is right.
They want to hear pleasant things, so they ask illusions to be prophesied (Isa
30:10)
BE ON GUARD
Peter writes in his second letter
(1:21) that the word of God in the scriptures is surer than any experience. We are to look at it as light in a dark place,
in our temporary dark periods of anxiety and doubt as well as in our journey
called life. The church at Berea even
while listening to Paul who gave us more than a third of the New Testament,
examined the scriptures every day to see if what he said was true (Act 17:11).
They have therefore been commended as of noble character.
Where there is no vision, people cast off restraint (Prov
29:18). What
we need is a vision in our mind’s eye to catch a glimpse of what God has in
store for us. Let
us pray like Paul that that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give us the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation, so that we may know him
better; that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that we may know
the hope to which he has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in
his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe
(Ephe 1:17-19).
