A Prophet’s work

A Prophet’s workBy Lars Widerberg (1998)A prophet is a man occupied with things foundational. He is a man pursuing absolutes, even the Absolute. His God is God, the Father, God, the Creator, God, the covenant-maker, God, the covenant-keeper. His basic message is anchored in the attributes of God. Light - no change. Holiness - no room for compromise. Righteousness - law and redemption. Love - ability to protect what belongs to Him. The prophet brings good news forceful enough to cause conviction and conversion.The prophet is a man of foundations, Eph 2:20. He brings words which are already tested and refined. His words invite the Refiners fire. A prophet’s words invite testing, demand testing for the sake of truth and for the sake of effective response. His words do not tickle an ear but produce inner growth. The listener needs to adjust and respond properly. Hearts of stone or hearts full of weed will not be able to blame the word for not producing fruit.

2.The prophet is a man of absolutes. Yet, he cannot demand response or adherence. All is well if listeners react to and act on the prophetic quality inherent in his words. Words that cause no reaction lack prophetic quality. Quality equals the presence of God, the testimony of Jesus. Quality is not based on the precision in predictions. Spiritists predict the future with great accuracy.The prophet cannot make himself a name because of a certain amount of exactitude in the predictions, nor based on prophetic quality. If he gathers to himself followers and admirers for the sake of self-gratification, the testimony or quality will immediately be gone. Elevating a prophet equals killing a prophet. A prophet elevating himself, perhaps just by stating that he is a prophet, proofs that there is no prophetic life in the first place.The New Testament does not redefine the office of a prophet. The men of the Old Testament were men pursuing the absolute. The prophetic office of the New Testament is as rugged and radical as the former. The ruggedness stems from crucifixion, death to self and death to the world. A prophet who is not properly related to the cross of Jesus Christ is a false prophet. Redefining the office of a prophet is misunderstanding the role of the prophet.

3.Anyone can become prophetic, anyone can move in the prophetic dimension, it’s a matter of obedience, but being obedient does not make you a prophet. When you obey, when you act on a word given to you from the Lord, you are moving in the prophetic realm. Obedience is a sign of a Christian, adherence is a sign of a prophetic people. Disobedience is confronted by prophets. When the Holy Spirit has come upon us, we have been made able to act as living testimonies of the very presence of God but nobody become a prophet on that foundation According to the intention and choice of the Holy Spirit, some of us are being used as tools for the operation of the gift of prophecy, but being used by the Spirit this way does not make us prophets. The gift is a gift of edification, literally building properly on a foundation already laid. Some try to build on words of edification, but fail because they are not solid and foundational enough. The gift is a gift of exhortation, corrective and confrontative words for the sake of the listener’s welfare, but such words are often and easily steered away from by asking for new words from ”gifted” people. The gift is a gift of consolation, bringing the listener on foot acting bravely with new hope and motivation, but too often such words echo nothing but shallow positivism. The real gift of prophecy is conducted by the Holy Spirit. The prophet is certainly used as a vessel for the good words of the gift, but his office contains other dimensions far more important.

4.A fundamental mistake is made in labelling anyone as being a prophet, who is used by the Holy Spirit as an instrument for the communication of the gifts of the Spirit. The prophetic office is not marked or sealed by the gift of prophecy. The prophetic office exists on its own with no need of confirmation through any prophetic gifting. Certainly, a prophet will display a rich gift mix, but his office is not dependent on it. Neither is his appearance and prophetic behaviour solely defined by the descriptive words providing a framework for the operation of the gifts of the Spirit.The prophetic office is constituted by calling rather than by gifting. The gift is not a calling. Being marked for prophetic office is intrinsically different from the gentle touch of the Spirit guiding you to speak edifying words to a friend. The office has a beginning but no end. The office is permanent and abiding. The gift is something the Holy Spirit exercises at his will. It is temporal, occasional, from our point of view and experience. You do not exercise the gift, you can only prepare yourself for being used.

Yes, Hanna, you pick up an important line here.There are words and concepts standing in radical opposition:Crooked vs. straight Twisted vs. plain.Mixed vs. simpleThe prophetic dimension deals with the absolute, but with a lowly approach.The prophetic dimension deals with the absolute, confessing the need of plain communication.The prophetic dimension deals with the absolute, renouncing double talks.Lars W.

5.Redefining the office according to 1 Cor. 14:3 is to force the prophets into flattery, to force God to choose positivism and benevolence as the overall attribute. Holiness made optional. Love turned into a guarantee for the sinner escaping repentance and judgment. The fear of God being lost as foundation for Christian virtue. Redefining the prophetic office is allowing vanity-prophets speaking in the name of the Lord, Jer. 23.The true prophetic office provokes by its sheer existence a manifestation of what lies at the heart of the matter. Prophets touch the motivational ground in men’s life. A prophet speaks to the heart rather than to an ear. His words does not tickle, they give life, they provoke to receiving life. Prophets know the final result and outcome by looking at beginnings. Prophets apply remedies at the roots. A prophet is a man of understanding rather than of prediction. If he predicts a future result, he always describes the reason for the outcome. He has answers for the ”why”-questions. His work is to point to foundations, and to reasons for judgment or prosperity. A prophet is indeed crucified. He is dead to self and to the world, that is why he is a provocation.END