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Commentary on "The Prophetic Gift"

COLLEEN TINKER

 

Day 4: Tuesday, January 6, 2009

In Tuesday’s lesson the point is to show that there were prophets in Israel from the time of Moses to the time of John the Baptist. They “came from all walks of life”; from the priestly line, from the royal tribe of Judah; they were government officers like Daniel and farmers and shepherds like Elisha and Amos.

The last paragraph makes the point that the “Bible itself is the work of these prophets, delivering the messages that God gave them…No matter the flaws in their characters (with the radical exception of Jesus), these human beings, flesh and blood like us, were used by the Lord to proclaim His messages, messages that still are being proclaimed today…”

Finally, the lesson ends with thought questions: “Which prophet can you relate to the most? Which prophet speaks the clearest to you, and why? What have you taken from that prophet’s life and message? How are you able to apply what you’ve learned to your life in a way that changes you for the better?”

 

Problems:

While this lesson is fairly straightforward, still the underlying intent is to normalize Ellen White by leading the reader to see biblical prophets as normal, diverse humans among whom Ellen White is just one in a long line.

Even the “thought questions” focus on the humanity of the prophets, eliciting personal responses to the personal experiences of the prophets—even asking for personal responses to the prophets’ messages.

The subtle deceptive twist in this lesson is drawing the reader’s attention toward the person of the prophets, not to their role as bearers of God’s eternal word. It was never the prophets who were “special”; it was always their messages. God delivered His own thoughts and revealed His own will through them.

The Bible never asks us to evaluate the authenticity of a prophet by his or her social status or personal life. Rather, we are asked to evaluate prophets on the basis of their messages.

The Bible gives clear guidelines for evaluating the messages of prophets to determine whether or not they are from God. Deuteronomy 18:20-22, for example, states, “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?'--when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord , if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”

If prophets claim to speak in God’s name but deliver messages that do not come true, they are false prophets. In the time of Israel, such a prophet was to be killed.

Through Ezekiel God said, “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God” (Ezekiel 13:9, ESV).

Again in Ezekiel 22:38 God says, “And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God ,' when the Lord has not spoken.”

In Matthew Jesus is quoted: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15, ESV).

“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24:11, ESV).

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24, ESV).

Peter wrote, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1, ESV).

John said, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Paul further identifies the false teachings that a false prophet would promulgate: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:1-5, ESV).

He warns further, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:18-19, ESV).

In Galatians Paul’s warning is especially strong. Twice he delivers a curse for anyone teaching a “gospel” other than the clear gospel he taught and learned from the risen Christ: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9, ESV).

Never does the Bible ask us to accept a prophet or evaluate our response to a prophet based on the prophet’s personality or weaknesses. Rather, our instructions are clear: a prophet is to be evaluated based on his or her message.

If they claim to speak in God’s name, then their prophecies must come true, and their messages must match what has already been taught in the Bible. Any message different from the clear gospel presented in the Bible is a false message, and the prophet or teacher delivering such a message must be rejected.

 

Summary

  1. The lesson asks us to notice that Israel had prophets from the time of Moses to the appearance of John the Baptist. They were from all walks of life and from a variety of temperaments and backgrounds.
  2. The evaluation of a prophet based on his or her personal qualifications or limitations is not a biblical test of a prophet. We are never asked to evaluate a prophet based on their person or environment.
  3. We are asked to evaluate the prophet’s message based on the clear teaching of Scripture. If they teach anything other than the gospel clearly taught, they are accursed, and we are to reject their messages.

 

Copyright 2008 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 6, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

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