Ravens and the Prophet

Elijah is unusual because we know nothing of him until the moment God sends him to Ahab to warn the king of the impending drought. He is still more exceptional in that every time the Lord commanded him to do something, he seems to have done it straightaway!

The testimony of Jesus is still the spirit of prophesy.(3) The Lord not only invites but instructs His people to be eager to prophesy. (4)

Our nation has long nurtured a relative abundance of Bible teachers, but the people of God are far more effective wherever there is also a prophetic dimension (5) to interpret things, whether about the condition of our hearts or wider matters. (6) If the Church in Antioch included prophets as well as teachers, in the ministry team, then why shouldn’t ours? (7)

The ministry of the prophet in the local church is normally to bring the Lord’s word to individual people, or to help the church itself to grow in the beauty and knowledge of God. In some cases, however, prophets bring insights for the whole Church, or which concern specific issues, and even nations.

In His great task of restoring His bride, and bringing in His Kingdom, Jesus is raising up a people to make Himself known in our land: a New Testament equivalent of a prophetic nation. (8) But let us not be narrow in our interpretation of what the prophetic ministry should consist of. I believe in watchmen who are concerned for their professions as well as for their Churches or their geographical regions. For example, the work of the Musicians Network has a prophetic edge and Ephiphany Music as they sound the praise of God in ways that people can relate to in their everyday lives.

How can we tell when someone is being raised up for the prophetic ministry? Character and personality are important: God gave them to us, and He wants to express something of His own heart through them. A prophetic person will nearly always have an above average ability to feel issues deeply – and then to turn ‘sight into insight’ and feelings into prayer. In other words, much of a prophet’s work is done in secret, going to God on behalf of men, before going to people on behalf of God.

Then, as John and Paula Sandford make so clear in their outstanding book The Elijah Task, we do well to be aware that prophets are almost always trained and tested by means of unusual twists and turns in their life, together with extended periods in the wilderness – what Graham Cook calls PITS – prophets in training! Such challenges are necessary to develop sufficient maturity to enable them to exercise their ministry safely. Corporate discernment is needed to determine whether people’s testing experiences really are a sign of God’s calling or simply the consequences of living in a complicated world.

Why, then, do so many make such elaborate attempts to predict the exact sequence of the end-time prophecies? We are simply not meant to know all the details in advance. Much still waits to be shaped by our prayers and repentance. Trying to work out ahead of time exactly how matters will develop is usually self-defeating – just as the even the exact sequence of events concerning the Nativity or Calvary could not have been foreseen from the hints given in Old Testament prophecies.

We should never assume that we know how or when God will bring what He has promised to pass. Hearing from Him is the all-important starting point, but then we must continue to seek Him for the unfolding of the details. Jesus taught so much on the need for perseverance, precisely because what God asks of us nearly always appears impossible at first sight. Giving birth to a vision requires great stamina!

Prophecies of blessing need to be prayed through to fulfilment, just as warnings need to be taken seriously in order to be averted. Most prophecies are best considered as being conditional on our response, rather than deterministic. (9) Jonah’s doomsday words against Nineveh, for instance, appeared to present the city with an inescapable ultimatum but disaster was averted when the people repented. (10)

Previous chapter – The Prophetic Ministry. Part One – May our hearts be free from idols
Next Chapter – The Prophetic Ministry. Part Three – Prophets and Pastors

References

(1) Moses in Exodus 3, Amos in Amos 7, Isaiah in Isaiah 6, Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 and Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2-3.
(2) At times of crisis, it was the word of the Lord through the prophets which, again and again, saved the nation from its enemies. Eg 2 Kings 3:9-27; 1 Kings 22:7-28; 2 Samuel 2:18-25; 2 Chronicles 20; Hosea 12:10,13; Jeremiah 23:28-29; Amos 3:7
(3) 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3-5, 19, Revelation 19:10 Nowhere is it assumed in Scripture that prophecy was purely for the old dispensation, or for the early days of the Church only. The Scriptures were never intended to dispense with the need to seek the will of God over specific issues.
(4) John 16:13-15 ‘When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you.’
(5) Cf Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Corinthians 12:28
(6) When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, He intended to raise up a nation which would be a demonstration to the world of what a righteous society could be like, when it lived under the rule of God. In this plan, the prophets had a vital role.
(7) Acts 13:1
(8) Cf Exodus 29:5-6
(9) That is, automatically bound to happen.
(10) Jonah 3:4-10 cf 1 Kings 20:29

Chapter Index