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

A Profile of the Ancient Hebrew Prophet

ral, exaggerated item in a vision can prove the most significant factor. An example is the sheaves of wheat, representing Joseph's family, bowing down to Joseph's sheaf of wheat (Genesis 37:5-7)-an unlikely scenario, to say the least. Later, of course, when famine overwhelmed that part of the world, Jacob's sons came to buy grain from Egypt and bowed before the prime minister (Genesis 42:6), who turned out to be their very own brother. These visual impressions can come while a person is conscious or uncon scious, dreaming or in a state of trance. God used a dream to warn the wise men not to return to King Herod (Matthew 2:12). Christians of diverse backgrounds testify of the impact of a spiritual dream; and whereas the recitation of it may seem insignificant to a listener, for the dreamer it is a life-changing experience. Examples given in Scripture indicate that the prophet communicates his visionary message in several ways. In some instances he describes the vision as he sees it (1 Kings 22:17-23). Or, after seeing it, the prophet tells it publicly or records it and has it read (Habakkuk 2:2-3). The presenta tion can be a simple, descriptive narrative (Daniel 2:19-45), or a highly impassioned description and plea accompanied by exhortation and other prophetic emphases (Ezekiel 2:1-7), or a spontaneous burst of prophetic unction (2 Kings 5:25-27). These varied kinds of activity, I am persuaded, were meant to be part of New Testament Christianity as well as Hebrew religion (Acts 27:21-26). When I was a young Christian I prayed fervently for a vision of Jesus, or an angel, or just any vision. Nothing happened for many years, but I learned to trust the Bible and stopped being so concerned about visions. Years later, while attending a prophetic meeting, sharp mental pictures suddenly started coming to my mind concerning various people. As the years have gone by, this form of vision has proven for me to be from God. While praying over a Christian young man I did not know, for instance, I saw him in a vision sloshing through jungle water and underbrush. Years later as a returned missionary he saw me and said, "It actually came to pass just as you said!" This kind of prophecy is unpremeditated. Like water gushing from a bro ken water main, so prophetic words burst forth from the prophet. What is happening is more than waxing eloquent; it is a welling up and rushing forth of "unctionized" words. They can come as a strong, calm current or more dramatically, but it is immediately obvious that God is doing it. Unction is an archaic term, but I like it and use it in the same sense that Charles H. Spurgeon did. He called it "a dew from the Lord, a divine pres- ■ 80 An Immediate Unction