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

A Profile of the Ancient Hebrew Prophet

a donkey!), there are of necessity quite an assortment and degrees of man ifestations, for God puts His word in many different kinds of people, allowing the divine message to be clothed with the human characteristics and weaknesses of the prophet, so that he or she will be identifiable and compatible with the audience. The main feature of the prophet's vocation and work was oral com munication.Gene Tucker states it well: "Whatever else it entails, 'to proph esy' means to speak.Furthermore, even if there were ...only prophetic words themselves, it would be clear from the form, style, and content of those words that the prophets were fundamentally speakers." 1 Numer ous passages support this fact.For instance: • "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me" (2 Samuel 23:2). • "The LORD spoke through His servants the prophets ..." (2 Kings 21:10). • "The mouth of the LORD [through Isaiah's words] has spoken" (Isa iah 1:20). • "All that I command you, you shall speak" (Jeremiah 1:7). • "Include every word" (Jeremiah 26:2, NLT). • "The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:8). • "...The words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets ..." (Zechariah 7:12). Many passages show that the primary ministry of the prophet was to prophesy-and that means to speak the message God has given. Leon Wood adds this extra dimension: "A prophet was one who should speak for God with strong emotional involvement....They were not merely to give recitations; they were to bring vital messages that would change lives. This called for speaking fervently.Thus ...'to prophesy' in its fullest sig nificance meant 'to speak fervently for God."' 2 The prophets and apostles were less cerebral and more emotional, I believe, than we give them credit for.Their primary calling was to deliver with expediency the word of the living God.This necessitated using their minds, of course, but they were primarily "Spirit people," energetic mes sengers-not only recipients and bearers of a message, but Spirit-endowed messengers with God-enablement and God-consciousness.It was this spir itual dimension that made their errands possible and successful. The Lord touched the mouths of three of His servants: Isaiah (6:7), Jeremiah (1:9) and Daniel (10:16).This dramatic action emphasizes the importance of the spoken word and shows God's great concern that words reflect exactly what He wishes.It also explains the fervency and enthusi- ■ 98