Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 213 Treasures From The Prophets - 11 To subscribe just send a blank email to: eternity-dbs-subscribe@strategicnetwork.org [NB: Training In Cybermissions - 12 week course in Internet Evangelism and Cybermissions, starts October 6th - http://www.cybermissions.org/training/ ] A LION HAS ROARED Amos 3:3-8 LITV Will two walk together except they are agreed? (4) Will a lion roar in the forest when there is no prey for him? Will a young lion cry out of his den except he has caught something? (5) Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground, and there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground, and nothing at all be caught? (6) If a ram's horn is blowing in a city, will the people not also tremble? If there is a calamity in a city, has Jehovah not even done it? (7) For the Lord Jehovah will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. (8) A lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah has spoken, who will not prophesy? The prophets are those who hear God's words. They are those God has chosen to share His plans with. And the words of God are powerful inside the prophet and need to be expressed : "The Lord Jehovah has spoken, who will not prophesy?" At one point Jeremiah became so discouraged that he decided not to prophesy but found could not restrain himself: Jeremiah 20:7-9 LITV O Jehovah, You have deceived me; yea, I was deceived. You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed. I am in derision all the day; everyone laughs at me. (8) For whenever I speak, I cry out, I proclaim violence and ruin; for the Word of Jehovah has been to me a reproach and derision all the day. (9) And I said, I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary of holding in, and I was not able. God is love, and love shares its plans. So God shares His plans with those who are close to Him. We find this with Noah and the Flood and with Abraham and God's visit to him just before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 18:17-20 LITV And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing? (18) And Abraham shall become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? (19) For I have known him, so that whatever he may command his sons and his house after him, even they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the intent that Jehovah may bring on Abraham that which He has spoken of him. (20) And Jehovah said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is exceedingly heavy....... God is training us to be co-regents with His Son. His plan is for us to "reign with Him" and even to share the throne: "Revelation 3:21 LITV The one overcoming, I will give to him to sit with Me in My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father in His throne." As part of this training God brings us into intimacy with Himself so we can share His heart and mind and purposes. For some people that involves hearing from God about His plans and what He intends to do on the earth. The first few verses quoted above are a series of rhetorical questions: "Will two walk together except they are agreed? (4) Will a lion roar in the forest when there is no prey for him? Will a young lion cry out of his den except he has caught something? (5) Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground, and there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground, and nothing at all be caught? (6) If a ram's horn is blowing in a city, will the people not also tremble? If there is a calamity in a city, has Jehovah not even done it?" Things happen for a purpose. The lion only roars when he has prey. Thus the prophets are not making a noise for nothing, this prophesying is not just religious "chatter" or static. The lion roaring is God speaking with serious intent. How can we apply this today? First of all we should realize that God wants to speak to us abut what He is doing and that certain spiritually sensitive people will sense God's agenda way ahead of the rest of us and that we should listen to them. Does this mean that we should listen to everyone who CLAIMS to be a prophet? Not at all! Rather we should be discerning and wise and biblical like the Bereans who daily checked in the Bible to "see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11). We should neither totally discount nor totally accept someone who claims to be a prophet but rather test them against Scripture and the clearly revealed will of God. We should also check their lifestyle. The troubles with modern-day prophesy (and there are some) do not counteract the fact that there are people who can clearly sense God's will in a certain area, people of unusual sensitivity, discernment and gifting. God still speaks, the lion still roars, and there are serious issues today that require a prophetic calling and approach. PROBLEMS WITH THE PRACTICE OF PROPHECY While I believe in prophecy I have some deep questions about the way prophecy is practiced in churches today. Firstly much prophecy is trivial and self-centered. When the lion roars I doubt it will be about personal finances or "new things' or having a future and a hope. God has already spoken about our personal anxieties in Scripture and we should simply believe what He has written in his word. When the lion roars it will be about poverty, and massive injustices and financial systems and globalization and unjust wars and slave-trading and materialism and selfishness and racism and colonialism and droughts and famines. And the prophecies will not just be about the USA or Israel. The lion will also roar about the persecution in Sudan or the corruption in the Philippines or the massive rate of abortion in Russia. Secondly why prophesy in Church? Very few prophecies were given to general religious folk in the Bible. Rather God speaks in a clear and targeted fashion to kings and those in authority. In the Bible the prophets go and prophesy to those who have the power to correct the injustice - not to the thin air or to the powerless. Yet much "prophecy" that takes place in many churches is nowhere near a decision-maker and is little more than religious entertainment. For instance I doubt if God would speak to me about judgment on the USA. Who would I tell it to here in Manila ? Rather if God was to reveal judgment on the USA He would be much more likely to speak to a Christian in the White House - who could then speak directly to the President. Thirdly much prophecy is baseless and thin, little more than a heated emotion or wild notion. Yet modern day prophecy of true worth should proceed from Christ and to Christ, be thoroughly biblical and be deeply Trinitarian. Prophesy is grounded in what God has done before and proceeds to what God is about to do next. Amos' preaching was grounded in Moses and the Old Covenant. John's Revelation was based on Christ and the gospel. And any true word now will be grounded in the gospel and the New Covenant and perceptively pierce the world of today to call it to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and to reveal what God has planned for cities and nations. CONCLUSION Having said that there are problems I still believe that the lion still roars and that God has people whom He raises up to speak His words to this generation. God has not gone silent or given up. Neither has he left us to figure things out from first principles or to live by generalities. God still speaks clearly and specifically to situations in His churches, nations and in the cities of the world. When we want prophecy to be centered around us we will be sadly disappointed and simply hear noise, nonsense and false prophets; but if we tune in to what the Lord is doing on His planet Earth and desire prophecy that proceeds from His mouth then we will start to hear whispers about the salvation of the nations, and the plans and purposes of God. We will hear Him groaning over sin and injustice and longing for the redemption of the sons of God. The lion still roars - but who is listening ? Blessings, John Edmiston Were you blessed by Eternity Daily Bible Study? To subscribe just send a blank email to: eternity-dbs-subscribe@strategicnetwork.org Visit the Eternity Daily Bible Study Archives - http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/ Study at the Asian Internet Bible Institute- Free online non-formal, in-service, bible and ministry training: http://www.aibi.ph