The Prophetic Voice

I’m A major portion of the Bible is prophetic in nature. Before the New Testament came into being, the people of God called the Bible the Tanakh. The word Tanakh is derived from the three major divisions of the book, namely:

T - Torah - The Law
N - Nevi’im - The Prophets
K - Ketuvim - The Writings

To ignore the prophetic writings recorded in the Bible is to do like the failed kings and leaders did in the last days of Judah before they were conquered by a foreign nation.

“And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.” [1]

The Lord warns us against deception and corrects our missteps because He has compassion on us and would rather deal with the pain of confrontation with us than see us experience the pain that comes to people who incur the consequences of bad choices.

I’m asking the Lord to help me and all His people to learn from the prophets.

When Jesus walked the earth in the flesh, the consensus of those who heard Him speak was that He was a prophet.

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” [2]

And, indeed, Jesus did speak a lot about sin and judgment as the prophets did before Him.

His disciples knew Jesus was the Son of God, and so do all who receive Him and believe in Him. Praise the Lord!

In fact, those who reject the Gospel of Christ face a worse judgment than did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

“And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” [3]

As the writer of Hebrews said, “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” [4]

[1] 2 Chronicles 36:15-16
[2] Matthew 16:13-14
[3] Mark 6:11
[4] Hebrews 2:1, 3