How does prophecy "work"?

sermonindex Feb 25, 2007

This is a spin-off from the "all the prophets" thread, which is getting a bit long!

I think prophecy is an odd thing - a sort of blend of the mind of God expressed through the mind and personality of a mere human. You can see different "styles" of writing in different Biblical prophets. This fascinates me. Isaiah is a poet in much of his style - his prophecies flow - totally different to Jeremiah. Hosea learned the heart of God through his own unhappy marriage, Amos was a straight-talking shepherd who hated the injustices, oppression of the poor and idolatry of God's people.

And so on.

Genuine present day prophecy (in the sense of exhortation, application of the Scriptures to present needs etc) is often like that too. For example, the shortest prophecy I ever heard of was two words, "DO IT". Obviously the speaker was a man of few words! Apparently someone in the meeting was hesitating about an important decision.

But another individual could have given the exact same true prophetic message in a much more long-winded way.

He might have even had a vision perhaps of someone sitting on a gate, with an interpretation such as: "Thus sayeth the Lord. You are hesitating, but you have to take action. Get up and go, for the Lord is with you. What are you waiting for? Get on and do it."

A true word of exhortation can also be geared to the person its meant for. In a church I attended, the pastor once had a message for me which spoke more powerfully to my heart(I'm a Biologist!) than anything else he ever said in almost 20 years in that church. It wasn't the sort of thing he would usually say:

I had been feeling very discouraged and the prophecy was about the baby turtles making their way to the sea, with many enemies waiting to eat them. "...Not many make it, but you are one of the ones who will make it..." A sort of parable, and just what i needed at the time.

Of course, most prophetic utterances should be Scripture based, but neither of the above illustrations were opposed to the Word in any way.

Jeannette

I

IRONMAN Feb 26, 2007

sis Jeannette
i see you're digging deeper into it all!

I think prophecy is an odd thing - a sort of blend of the mind of God expressed through the mind and personality of a mere human. You can see different "styles" of writing in different Biblical prophets. This fascinates me. Isaiah is a poet in much of his style - his prophecies flow - totally different to Jeremiah. Hosea learned the heart of God through his own unhappy marriage, Amos was a straight-talking shepherd who hated the injustices, oppression of the poor and idolatry of God's people.

prophecy is simply God expressing His heart toward His people. the prophet is the vessel of His use in this endevour. now as you have said above, each prophet is unique in character, we expect this since God made us all so unique. Each one was specifically fashioned as he was in every regard for God's use in speaking to His people, the prophet's every experience was orchestrated by God to this end. indeed God revealed Himself not only in word but in some of the things which He had the prophets do as you pointed out. the differing writing styles are more a function of God expressing His heart than anything else...well at the end of the day it is all Him since each prophet's circumstances were so painstakingly engineered by Him to produce the prophet as desired by the master.

Of course, most prophetic utterances should be Scripture based, but neither of the above illustrations were opposed to the Word in any way.

one may not find say a message which is written in the word but if it is of God, the same Spirit is behind it.

God bless

E

enid Feb 26, 2007

Deut 18v21-22, 'And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?, when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, the prophet has spoken it presumptously, you shall not be afraid of him.

Can I tell you of a prophecy that, sadly, came to pass last year.

I say sadly, because it ended somewhat tragically.

There were two women, who had backslid from God for several years, who got a prophecy.

The prophecy was that one would die, the other would return to the Lord.

I don't know if they took it seriously or not, but what was prophecied happened.

One got a blood clot in the brain and lapsed into a coma, from which she never came out.

The other one, not long after, started to go back to church. She hasn't got saved yet, but it is a step in the right direction.

I went to school with these women, we knew each other before any of us were saved.

I supposed what I have just said was not what you were talking about originally. But the scripture I used above tells us, paraphrased, to not be afraid of false prophets.

This prophecy was strikingly accurate, fearfully so.

And you're right, the 'to all the prophets' thread is long!

God bless.

sermonindex Feb 26, 2007

Enid, that is so sad, but obviously a true prediction. I didn't mention predictive prophecy, partly because of not having come across many present day ones that have come true (some might yet come true, not all can be false). The lady, of those two you spoke of, who did not die must have had a real wake-up call!

Jeannette