Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

Message: Various Ways of Prophetic Expression

edly the supreme function of their task was "the exposition of the char acter of God. His holiness and His love were the high themes of their investigation. Above all they had to insist on the practical application of these qualities to the life of the nation, and, later, to that of the individ ual. " 10 There was a continual effort to destroy idolatry and return to true worship of the true God, for this was the benchmark of the people's spir ituality. W. S. Towner identifies four themes woven throughout Old Tes tament prophecy: justice for the disenfranchised, indictment of corrup tion among leaders, purification of religious establishment and hope.11 Let's look at some of the varieties of expression of the prophetic message. Prayer. Scattered throughout the Old Testament we find prayers punc tuating the various themes presented. Habakkuk opens his oracle/burden with a sincere cry for help (1:2), then uses the entire third chapter for a prayer of intercession. Jeremiah interjects a one-verse prayer in 11:20 (as just one example), then uses the first four verses of chapter 12 for prayer. The various writers do not seem hesitant to insert pungent, sincere prayers into their narratives. This indicates to me that they would just as easily employ prayer in their public speeches and proclamations. Prayers were incorporated into the historical records (1 Samuel 23:10). Joel felt the burden of his message so much that he cried out to the Lord (1:19-20), and Amos saw a series of five visions that caused him to break forth in prayer (7:2, 5). Many other illustrations indicate the importance of prayer in the prophets' presentations. Songs or Odes and Poetry. Music has wonderful liberating power and was used by the prophets most effectively. Miriam the prophetess led the jubilant people in singing the prophetic ode of Exodus 15. Samuel told Saul he would meet a band of prophets playing musical instruments and prophesying (1 Samuel 10:5). David, before the Temple was completed, pitched a tent for the Ark of the Covenant on Mount Zion and instituted 24-hour worship every day. He had learned the tremendous power of praise and worship-the ideal environment for prophecy to function. Certain priests were ordained to prophesy with instruments (1 Chronicles 25:1-7). When the atmosphere was so full of unbelief that it was hard to prophesy, Elisha called for a minstrel, who undoubtedly sang some Davidic psalms (2 Kings 3:15). Sections of the major and minor prophets were originally meant to be sung, and possibly were sung by the prophet when giving it. The use of music by the prophets is suggested by Edersheim: "The effect of music is to detach from surrounding circumstances, to call forth strong feelings, and to make us yield ourselves implicitly to their influence." 1 2 Walter C. Kaiser Jr. feels that music "had the effect of quieting the dis turbed thoughts and attitudes of the prophets, and of setting theology in the context of doxology." 1 3 101