The Lord is helping me to understand the prophetic ministry. The first time that I read the words of the prophet Jeremiah was when I just was a teenager. I felt a special connection with him even though I was so unlike him.
Like Moses, and other prophets, the Lord gave Jeremiah messages for those in authority and for the whosevers… the whosoever had ears to hear. The chief function of a prophet is to be steered by God, and then, to call others to give God the steering wheel as well.
The prophetic ministry begins with God. God does the steering. He steers us by His words as we pray and listen to Him. Talking and listening to God is so vital to every human being. The Lord calls us who know Him to pray for men, kings and all who are in authority. He tells us why we should pray for them…
“Therefore, I exhort first that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” [1]
An exhortation is a prompting from the Holy Spirit to do something. In the context of navigation one might say, “turn left, turn right or go straight.” The Holy Spirit directs us to pray for people and for authorities. The answer to prayer that we seek from the Lord is for all people to be saved by coming to the knowledge of the truth about God, and because of that salvation, live quietly and peaceably in all godliness and reverence. We don’t want yelling, quarreling, and cruelty! We want God to guide us. God’s preachers, apostles, and teachers call people to give Jesus Christ the steering wheel.
So, the primary function of God’s servant is to be directed by God’s Word and to call others to give God the steering wheel as well.
How does one connect with people and give God’s directions to them? The Bible is full of such examples.
God called some to speak to kings. God gave directions to kings who did not want to be steered by God via the prophet Jeremiah. One of the kings that Jeremiah spoke with threw his directions in the fire. That king, Jehoiakim, ended up being imprisoned in a foreign land. [2] God offered directions to pagan kings through his prophets. For example, Moses to Pharoah King of Egypt, Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; and Esther and Mordecai to King Artaxerxes of Persia. Throughout the Book of Acts, the proclamation of Christ resulted in proclaimers being brought before political and religious authorities. This was their opportunity to give God’s directions to them. [3]
Christ gives us words to say to authorities: “When they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
The Lord’s calling to Jeremiah went like this, “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ Then said I: ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.’ But the Lord said to me: ‘Do not say, I am a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’ Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” [5]
The Lord had a direction for Jeremiah before he was born. He did not have to earn it or initiate it. He had to believe it. He had to look beyond himself to the Lord. He needed to see God as being bigger and greater than the kings and nations to whom he would give directions. He was a voice. God had the words. God’s Word works regardless of people’s reaction to it. It roots out, pulls down, destroys, throws down, builds, and plants. The Lord steers the future as He has the past. Everything He predicts in the Bible happens.
The Lord gave Jeremiah a vision of a blossoming almond tree to say that just as surely as the almond tree blossoms during a particular season of the year His prophetic words are fulfilled in due season. [6] This is the confidence we have! God fulfils His promises in due season! Therefore, our ministry of offering direction from God to people is vital to their temporal and eternal well-being.
[1] 1 Timothy 2:1-7
[2] Jeremiah 36:1-26; Daniel 1:2
[3] Acts 3-28
[4] Matthew 10:19-20
[5] Jeremiah 1:5-10
[6] Jeremiah 1:11-12
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