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

A Profile of the Ancient Hebrew Prophet

about 500 feet high, stood Jezreel. Protected from the fierce southern sun by the delicious shade of Gilboa, that rises up behind, it looked-as suited to a summer residence in the East-northwards, across the plain to the mountains of Galilee, to Tabor, and in the distance to snow-capped Her mon. The height descended into the valley of Jezreel, where a sweet spring rippled, and close by gathered into a pool. Eastwards, you would look down on Bethshan, and, across the deep depression of the Jordan valley, to the mountains on the other side, on which rested the blue and purple light. To the west you might sweep those fifteen miles to Mount Carmel, and per chance the westerly breeze might carry up the plain the fresh scent of the sea. Such was the Jezreel of Ahab and Jezebel-the nearest, the safest, the sweetest summer retreat from Samaria. 1 Since the royal summer palace was somewhat cramped, an adjoining piece of property seemed an ideal acquisition for conversion into a rest ful terraced garden.But there was a problem.Naboth, the righteous man who owned the desired piece of land, stubbornly refused every overture of the king, maintaining that he must not desecrate his family's inheri tance.Jezebel acted quickly, rescuing her brooding husband from his mis ery by having Naboth "legally" dispatched (a judicial murder).On hear ing the good news, Ahab arose joyfully to take possession of the coveted vineyard. On that ominous day the Lord God commissioned one of His mes senger boys to deliver a dispatch of terrifying news to the unsuspecting king. As Ahab surveyed his new acquisition with great satisfaction, an awesome figure rose suddenly before him.These two had met before once when the prophet had announced a three-year drought and, more recently, when fire fell from heaven on Mt. Carmel. Now, clothed in a rough cloak of black camel's hair and a leather girdle, Elijah stood with burning eyes before the weak-kneed king.Ahab asked, "Have you found me, 0 my enemy?" Elijah answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD" (1 Kings 21:20). Without hesitation or compromise the prophet delivered the message of doom to the king and his wife-a detailed prediction of how the evil two would meet their untimely deaths.The astounding prediction later came to pass in graphic detail, just as Elijah, the servant of God, said it would. Elijah acted simply as a spokesman, a mouthpiece for the Lord, his God.He was an ambassador for heaven's great Court.Given a message, he delivered it.That was the bottom line of his job description as a prophet: He was one who spoke on behalf of God.As Cecil M.Robeck Jr.points out: "The one who prophesies is not the inventor ...merely the conveyer

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