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INTRODUCTION

The Approach

     These studies, are quite different from the usual “Bible Alive” sets of Studies. Each study is a study in itself, of a person or a situation, and to get some greater understanding of that person you will need to look up a number of references.

     Each study starts with a number of “Readings” instead of the usual “Find out”, and the “Recaps” will act as a Contents page for the studies you have just covered and they will not have an Introduction to the next part. The reason for this is that the studies (mainly) work their way through the Old Testament and do not cover particular topics.

 

Old Testament & New Testament Prophecy

  We need to observe some differences:

•  The Old Testament prophets spoke, very largely, to a chosen nation, Israel, that was in covenant with God. Today our nation is not in a similar position.

•  The Old Testament prophets often had to bring correction or warning of judgement to that nation or its leaders. Today our word to the non-Christian nation is simply repent and believe the Gospel. We may point out that the unbelieving nation is under God's judgement but that is simply part of the general message of salvation.

•  The Old Testament focused mainly on the Law, while the New focuses on Grace. The message that today's prophets bring, may include correction but the larger emphasis will be upon the blessing that Jesus earned for us and that God wants to bring. As Paul said to the Corinthian church, ultimately all New Testament prophesying is to bring “strengthening, encouragement and comfort”, even though that may first involve correction. New Testament prophecy brings the "now word" for the moment, applying the truths of Scripture and the heart of God into today's situations.

So Why Study the Old Testament Prophets?

     Because ALL Scripture… is useful for teaching (2 Tim 3:16), and we can learn much by looking at the activities of these many people who heard God and communicated His word to others. God still speaks and perhaps is about to enlarge the activities of His prophets today.

Study No.1 : Enoch

A. Readings

1. Gen 5:18-24

2. 1 Chron 1:1-3

3. Lk 3:37

4. Heb 11:5

5. Jude 14,15

 

B. Think:

1. What have you found out about Enoch from the Old Testament?

2. What extra have you found out in the New Testament?

C. Comment:

     We have found out that Enoch was 7th generation from Adam, that he knew God, was approved by God, walked with God for 300 years after he had become a father. We also note that he prophesied!

     Let's consider this more fully. The first and most important thing about Enoch was that he knew God. When it says he “walked with God” than indicates a close encounter of communion. The first calling of a prophet therefore is that he is someone who has a close walk with God. It is in that close walk that the prophet “hears” God and learns something of God's heart, and Enoch prophesied that.

     What was his message? It was that God would eventually come with his angels to judge and convict the ungodly. He surely did have the heart of God. Within another three generations the flood came and wicked men were judged and destroyed. Enoch's word came to a generation of mankind that was becoming more and more wicked. In the midst of this decline Enoch stood out as a righteous man who knew his God.

      Prophets never take on the spirit of their age but stand against it as they catch the heart of God which is always against sin. The prophet must remain pure while all else become more wicked.

 

D. Lessons:

1. Prophets need to walk closely with God.

2. When they do they will catch the heart of God.

3. They can then speak that message to their generation

4. Prophets need to stand out against the sins of their age.

Study No.2 : Abraham

A. Readings

1. Gen 12:1,7, 13:14, 15:1,4,7,9,13, 17:1,3,9,15,19, 18:1,10,13,17,20,26

2. Gen 20:1-17, esp. v.7

3. Acts 7:2,3

4. Heb 11:8,9,11,17

5. 2 Chron 20:7, Isa 41:8, Jas 2:23

   

B. Think:

1. What do all the first readings tell us about Abraham?

2. How does that explain Gen 20:7?

3. What do the last three verses indicate about him?

C. Comment:

     The thing that seems to come again and again in Abraham's story, and which we probably take for granted, is that the Lord spoke to Abraham - and he heard God! This must surely be THE key characteristic of a prophet: that God speaks to him and he hears God. That God speaks to many people is undoubted, but whether they hear Him is another question!

     The other key thing about Abraham was that he believed what he heard, responded to it and was obedient to it; in other words he expressed faith. God doesn't want people who hear but don't do (Jas 1:22).  We'll see later the story of Balaam, a man who heard but whose heart wasn't with what he heard. This is what picks Abraham out: he was a man who heard and whose heart rose to what he heard.

     A third thing to notice about Abraham was that he didn't appear to do much telling others what he had heard, so in this sense he doesn't appear to be a “traditional” prophet. However, he clearly stood out as a man of God to the people around him and had influence upon them, even to kings  [Pharaoh - 12:10-20;  Abimelech - 20:1-17;  four kings - 14:1-16;  Melchizedek - 14:18-20;  king of Sodom - 14:21-24]

     

D. Lessons:

1. God speaks, but do I hear?

2. God called Abraham a prophet and His friend. A prophet has a relationship

     with God. How real is mine with Him?

Study No.3 : Aaron

A. Readings

1. Exo 7:1-7

2. Exo 4:14-16

   

B. Think:

1. What was Moses' role?

2. What was Aaron's role?

C. Comment:

     We need to understand the order of events. First of all those that brought about the strategy being laid down. Moses has been called by God to deliver Israel out of Egypt. The only trouble is that Moses feels inadequate for the job, but he does have a brother, Aaron, who apparently had been sent by God to meet Moses. So now we come to the strategy: Moses will hear from God and will pass on to Aaron what God has said and Aaron will pass it on to Pharaoh.

     As far as Pharaoh will be concerned, Moses will stand in the background while Aaron does the speaking. Moses will be the authority and Aaron will be the messenger. This, says the Lord, will be a picture: Moses will appear as God and Aaron as his prophet. The message “originates” with Moses and is communicated by Aaron.

     So what does this teach us? Remember this is only the second picture in the Bible of a prophet (Enoch wasn't shown as a prophet until the New Testament).  First it teaches us that the message DOESN'T originate with the prophet; it originates with God. The prophet doesn't “make up” a word; he hears it from God. This is quite crucial; it emphasises the lessons before, that prophets “hear” what is on God's heart and THEN simply convey what they have heard.

     To emphasise this, consider what might have happened to Aaron if he had lost contact with Moses: he would be totally at sea not knowing what was to happen next. Without Moses he would not know what to say and what to do next. Listening to Moses was critical for without him there was no direction.

     

D. Lessons:

1. “Messages” originate with God.

2. Prophets hear what God says and they pass that on

Study No.4 : Moses

A. Readings

1. Deut 18:15-22, Deut 5:4,5

2. Exo 33:11, Deut 34:10, Num 12:6-8

3. Acts 3:22, 7:37

4. Exo 4:10, 14:31, Num 12:7

    

B. Think:

1. What was Moses clear about himself?

2. Why was he somewhat unusual in this?

3. What did it enable him to do?

  

C. Comment:

     What we perhaps take for granted in Moses' story is the fact that he was constantly talking to God. It started at the burning bush (Exo 3,4) and it continued on through the time of deliverance from Pharaoh in Egypt. There was further major Divine encounter at Mount Sinai (Exo 19-) and then on their travels whenever the tent of meeting was put up outside the camp, Moses would meet with and speak with the Lord. Most of Moses' story involves his encounters and conversations with the Lord. Take them out and there is relatively little left of “the Moses story”.

     No wonder therefore, that Moses refers to himself as a prophet, for in Moses we see the starkest of examples of what a prophet is. He is one who has divine encounters with the Lord, who converses with the Lord and who shares what he is told to share with others.

     Now the interesting thing is that, whereas Abraham was referred to as God's friend, Moses is only referred to as God's servant. It seems that Moses somewhat begrudgingly entered into the role designated for him by God and in that sense his relationship differed from that which Abraham had. Note therefore that prophets can have different levels of relationship with the Lord, depending not on their calling, but more on their heart.

  

D. Lessons:

1. Divine encounters are part of the prophet's life.

2. It is possible to have divine encounters and yet still miss something of

     intimate friendship with the Lord.

Study No.5 : Guidelines for Prophecy

A. Readings

1. Deut 13:1-5

2. Deut 18:20-22

3. Jer 29:8,9

 

B. Think:

1. What is the obvious sign that someone is a true prophet?

2. Why are signs & wonders performed NOT a clear guide?

3. What again, is the role of the prophet?

 

C. Comment:

     Moses first of all lays down guide lines to help the Israelites in the days to come not to be lead astray. Someone may appear to be a prophet or seer and they may even perform amazing signs and wonders but what they DO is not to be the measuring stick for their authenticity.

     If they speak ANYTHING which leads you away from the Lord, then that is wrong, so do not listen to them. The people of God are to follow the words of God that have already been given through authenticated leaders - for us these are the Scriptures. Anything that runs contrary to the revealed word of God is wrong!

     Next Moses deals with the verification of the prophet's message by its fulfilment. If the word is not fulfilled, it is not of the Lord. This requires wisdom and experience to understand. Some words take some time to be fulfilled while other words are fulfilled in ways other than we had anticipated. However, if a prophet prophesied, “It will rain on Saturday as a sign” and there is no rain, then it was clearly not from the Lord.

     Jeremiah also adds some insight. Much prophesy in the Old Testament spoke against sin and warned of judgement. If peace was spoken about then the coming of peace would be the sign that the word was correct. In the Old Testament, we should note, prophecy was often warning of judgement. In the New Testament, Jesus has taken individual judgement and the word is more likely to offer blessing.

 

D. Lessons:

1. Prophecy should always lead towards God.

2. Prophecy may warn against sin and also offer God's blessing.

Study No.6 : Balaam

A. Readings

1. Num 22:9-13, 18-20

2. Num 23:4-12, 16-26

3. Num 24:1-13, 14-19

4. Num 31:7,8,16, Rev 2:14

B. Think:

1. What did Balaam declare to Balak again and again?

2. How did the nature of the words from God develop?

3. How apparently did the means of him receiving them change?

C. Comment:

     Balaam was an unrighteous seer, a Midianite who appeared to be able to get messages from God. As such he was hired by Balak to put a curse upon Israel (22:7,8). The Lord told him not to go with Balak's servants but Balaam pressed God and was told by God he could go, yet he went in a wrong attitude (22:32).  It appears that his method of seeking God's message was more a form of divination (24:1) than anything else and in this he runs contrary to what we have learnt of prophets so far: he did not have a relationship with the Lord!

     Note however he is quite clear that he cannot bring anything more than God gives him. That is good. Note also that the extent of his words about Israel seem to develop and become more powerful as he goes on until eventually bringing a glorious prophecy of their future.

     Note the way he receives words. First of all the Lord does seem to be able to speak simply to him (e.g. 22:9,12,20) but then the words that come, simply come because “the Lord.... put a message in his mouth” (23:5,16). Later the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (24:2) and he prophesies. At first it is a specific word given to speak and then a spontaneous responsive utterance under the releasing of the Spirit. We see therefore that there are different levels or means of releasing a word from God. Balaam is seen first purely as a hired messenger boy and only later as one truly inspired by the Spirit.

 

D. Lessons:

1. It is possible to simply be a message seeker, just an office boy!

2. It is better to prophesy out of relationship with the Lord by the Spirit.

ADDITIONAL NOTE  Balaam

    The story of Balaam raises a number of issues that require an additional comment to those given in the study:

 

1. Balaam's Unrighteousness.

     Balaam was unrighteous in that he clearly was a seer who was hired for profit and who shouldn't have gone along with Balak at all. We are also told in Scripture that after he prophesied he also counselled Balak to overcome the Israelites by getting the Israelite women to consort with Midianite men and eventually worship their idols. He was clearly not for the people of God but for profit!”

 

2. God's Use of him

     The Lord never the less still spoke through him. Being used as a prophet is not a measure of sanctification, it is more a measure of the grace of God who will use imperfect humans. We should not be complacent about this, and should always remember we are called to be holy.

 

3. Different Levels of Receiving

     From these passages we can see that God is able to speak personally to people and that He is also able to give a message that seems to come distinct and separate from the personality of the prophet, almost as an objective message with little understanding. But then the Lord is also able to come upon a prophet by His Spirit so that there come almost a prophetic flow that gushes forth, entirely bypassing the prophet's intellect and coming without prior thought or consultation with God.

   We see therefore, a difference between “an objective word passed on” and a “spontaneous utterance of the spirit”. The former comes as a clear headed instruction, while the latter is generated out of the instantaneous power of the Spirit.

     There will therefore, be times when the Lord will communicate a sense of His will (His mind) to us that comes as a clear message to be conveyed, and at other times a clear release of the sense of His heart as we are caught up in the Spirit. One comes from waiting on Him for His will, the other comes out of being caught up in Him in intimacy, and pours out of the awareness of His heart, moved by the Spirit for the occasion.

   

Study No.7 : A Simple Prophetic Word

A. Readings

Judges 6:7-10

B. Think:

1. What was Israel's state?

2. Of what did the prophet remind them?

3. Then what did he tell them?

 

C. Comment:

     Here we have one of the first simple prophecies delivered by a unnamed prophet in the Bible. From time to time the Lord sent such unknown men with his word. Therefore we can focus simply on the word itself and not on the man.

     First observe the state of the nation: they were in a mess, oppressed by an enemy invader, but more than that they were now crying out to the Lord. We mustn't miss that: they acknowledged their need of God's help! This is a word of response to their cry.

 

     Second, see what the prophet said first: he reminded them of what God had said and done in the past. There is a sense where that is always the order of things, we have to take people back to what God has already said in his word and perhaps remind them of what He has already done for them. Ultimately everything is to be checked against the word of God, what He as already said.

     Third note what the prophet did with that: he applied it to their present situation. Let's look at the detail of all of that.

     He reminded them of their history in such a way as to confirm that they are in the right place because the power of God had brought them there. When He had done that He had warned them not to bow before the idols of the land, i.e. they were to remain a people holy to God. He reminded them of their calling, but then he simply faced them with the hard truth, they had gone away from that calling and were now in the state they were in because of it. This prophet was a simple bringer of the truth.

 

D. Lessons:

1. Prophets bring people back to the word of God.

2. Prophets apply that word and speak truth about situations.

RECAP No.1  : Up to the time of the Judges

Content:

Covered in these first 7 studies:

- Enoch             - an intimate walk with God

- Abraham        - a friend who talked with God

- Aaron             - a mouthpiece for Moses

- Moses             - the servant of God

                           - who set guidelines for prophecy

- Balaam           - a messenger boy for God

- Anonymous   - a simple word to the nation

 

Comment:

     Before the birth of the nation there were men who walked and talked with God.  As the nation was birthed, it was through a man who heard from God.  In the decline that followed occupation of the Land, the word of God continued to come. God was not silent.

 

Lessons:

- Prophets need to walk closely with God.

- When they do they will catch the heart of God.

- They can then speak that message to their generation.

- Prophets need to stand out against the sins of their age.

- A prophet has a relationship with God.

- Prophets hear what God says and then pass that on.

- Divine encounters are part of the prophet's life.

- Prophecy should always lead towards God.

- Prophecy may warn against sin and also offer God's blessing.

- It is possible to simply be a message seeker, just an office boy!

- It is better to prophesy by the Spirit out of relationship with the Lord.

 

Application & Prayer

     The overall message that comes through these studies is that prophecy should flow out of relationship with the Lord. Prophecy is hearing God speak and then passing it on as instructed.

     Ask the Lord to deepen your relationship with Him, that He may be able to share His heart with you.

     Ask Him to help you be sensitive to Him and to others around you, that you be able to be His source of blessing to them.