December 5: PROPHETS
Out of the four types of official leaders, this is the last one that shows up. God saves this one for a little while, but it’s important all the same.
A prophet is someone like Moses, someone who passes on messages from God to the people. Deuteronomy 18:18 says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him.”
The fundamental job description of a prophet is that he’s someone to whom God has given words to speak. God puts words in his mouth.
Later in the Bible, one of these prophets, Jeremiah, takes that image and puts it even more vividly; God tells him in Jeremiah 5:14, “I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.”
A prophet doesn’t give vague impressions like a horoscope. He doesn’t look at tea leaves and take his best guess at what God
might think. No, a prophet speaks the very words of God.
And that’s why God urges the people so strongly to listen to the prophets. Deuteronomy 18:19 – “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”
When you listen to a prophet, you’re listening to God. If you ignore the prophet, you ignore God. And God takes that seriously.
Jesus was a prophet, and more than a prophet. He spoke God’s Word because He IS God’s Word – foretold, made flesh, made to dwell with, and live and become a part of the lives of people.
A prophet is someone like Moses, someone who passes on messages from God to the people. Deuteronomy 18:18 says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him.”
The fundamental job description of a prophet is that he’s someone to whom God has given words to speak. God puts words in his mouth.
Later in the Bible, one of these prophets, Jeremiah, takes that image and puts it even more vividly; God tells him in Jeremiah 5:14, “I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.”
A prophet doesn’t give vague impressions like a horoscope. He doesn’t look at tea leaves and take his best guess at what God
might think. No, a prophet speaks the very words of God.
And that’s why God urges the people so strongly to listen to the prophets. Deuteronomy 18:19 – “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”
When you listen to a prophet, you’re listening to God. If you ignore the prophet, you ignore God. And God takes that seriously.
Jesus was a prophet, and more than a prophet. He spoke God’s Word because He IS God’s Word – foretold, made flesh, made to dwell with, and live and become a part of the lives of people.
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