| There is nothing more intriguing in the history of the
people of God from Genesis to Revelation than the prophetic utterances
that often came forth through man in time of desperate need. Whether it
was an Isaiah who walked through the land naked and barefoot or an Ezekiel
who laid on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 more,
the utterances of God through the prophets would always arouse the
curiosity of the people. Although the warnings of the prophets were often
scorned or ignored, they nevertheless dynamically challenged the attitude
and behavior of the people.
Prophets from the Old Testament throughout the New Testament had no
specific qualifications other than being moved upon by God as a vessel, a
medium, whereby a specific word could be given. They came forth to speak
their, "Thus, says the Lord . . .," from many walks of life.
They were shepherds, farmers, priests, and princes. Women and children
were sometimes used of God to speak his words. As God so moved upon His
chosen vessel, the prophet so spoke.
Although it was known that Jeremiah and John the Baptist would be used
of God to speak His word before they were born, to be a prophet was not to
be a profession but rather a participant in the work of God for a specific
time and a specific place. Since the prophet was a participant in the
working of God, often the personality and character of the prophet was
evident as God spoke through the vessel to the people. The compassion and
love of Hosea, the lamentation and sorrow of Jeremiah, the articulation
and ingenuity of Isaiah, and the persistence and flare for the dynamic of
Ezekiel, reveal the many facies of God’s prophetic words.
The prophets were often called the shepherds of the people, the
servants of God, watchmen, and the messengers of the Lord. They were
people who spoke for God, communicating God’s message to man. So moved
upon by God, they often spoke their message without fear and concern for
their preservation. Teaching, reproving, correcting, and training they
continually put forth the message of God to the people of God. Faithfully
proclaiming God’s word and not their own, the prophet of God always
spoke with the authority of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ, as in all things, reveals the standard of the prophetic
utterances. He stated, "For I have not spoken of myself; but the
Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and
what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting:
whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I
speak" (John 12:49-50).
It is, in fact, the New Testament that gives the true meaning and the
true challenge of those who are moved upon by God to speak His words.
There is no greater moment of joy than to experience the coming of the
Holy Spirit upon and into the body of human flesh. The union formed out of
the flesh of man and the Spirit of God is the life that God intended for
all men to experience. Pure, unadulterated love (the life of God) floods
the soul of man and reaches out to touch every aspect of his senses. It is
joy unspeakable and full of glory.
The joyful experiencing of God is the story of the event that
transpired on the first Jewish feast day of Pentecost after the death and
resurrection of Jesus. The early followers of Jesus had been told by Him
not to depart from Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the
Father. It was a promise that Jesus Himself had given to them. For He had
told them that something would occur in their lives that would forever
change their lives. They would become filled with His Holy Spirit.
When the intercourse of the Holy Spirit comes into the flesh of man,
there is nothing else that can occur but the flesh of man experiencing the
full sensation of his being. Those early believers heard the wind. They
saw the fire. They spoke with a new tongue. It was an experience like no
other experience. It would forever change their lives.
Miraculously, those early followers of Jesus were speaking in a
language that was totally foreign to them. They would soon recognize that
not only did they speak at that moment in a new tongue, their speech would
forever be changed. They would have a new way of expressing themselves.
Their entire thinking process was being changed. They were being moved to
a different way of life. They were becoming people of the kingdom of God.
They were experiencing exactly what the prophet Joel had predicted.
Many years prior to this particular feast of Pentecost, Joel had
prophesied that God was going to do a special work upon His people. He
would bestow His Spirit upon man to become the essence of man’s life.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the people would not speak from
their own understanding but from divine inspiration. They would prophesy.
The words that would come forth from their mouth would be the words of God
Himself speaking through the inspired speech of the Holy Spirit. Speaking
with a new tongue, a different language, a different way of saying things,
would come forth from their mouth. God could and would speak His message
to man through the vessel, the medium, the prophet of God.
To introduce this class on the Minor Prophets, let us look at those
prophetic words of Peter as recorded by Luke in Acts, Chapter 2.
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