A Call for Prophets

October 13, 1991

Numbers 11:25-29

Introduction:

The Exodus is under way. Hundreds of thousands of people are camped out all over hundreds of acres of desert real estate. They need to eat. Every day. They are not bashful about telling their leader what they want on the menu.

A Daunting Prospect

Moses is challenged by the sheer scope of his task. He didn't ask for this job in the first place. He complains to God:

"Where am I going to get the resources to carry through on this Exodus Project? If we slaughtered all the cattle today to eat we would be back to a starvation diet by the middle of next week!"

Divine Direction

God answers Moses. He is not silent. But God does not simply respond to Moses' question or answer in kind. Instead God says:

"Is my arm suddenly too short to reach where you are? Do you remember how you got here in the first place?" God's question stops Moses dead in his tracks. But it is only the beginning of God's answer. Still, it is enough to get Moses started forward again in obedience.

The Principle of Anointed Vision Shared

In obedience to God, Moses calls the high-level leaders together. There are 70 of them. He tells them that God has heard their prayer. He repeats the cryptic message he has received from God: "Is MY arm too short?" Even as Moses speaks God shines just a little of the light of His glory into those gathered leaders. He puts His Spirit on all of those who were gathered together.

It was an optimistic meeting, to say the least! It was like a preview of Pentecost, only 1,500 years early. The burden AND the blessing Moses had been carrying was shared. It is always a great thing when God's people hear directly from God!

But the record says that TWO of the 70 leaders, Eldad and Medad, were especially moved upon by the Spirit. They began to act like prophets. A prophet has the ability to see and to declare that God's way is best!

Now Moses was the accepted prophet in the camp; everyone knew that Moses was the called leader. Still, in what seemed to be a genuine way, here were two other leaders prophesying. Joshua- good, loyal, soon-to-be leader of the entire Exodus Joshua- was concerned for his beloved leader, Moses. He was understandably worried about insurrection, or a division of authority. But Moses sensed that this was of God. [There had been cases where people not called had taken on themselves the holy orders, with disastrous results. This was different.] So Moses said:

"Are you jealous for MY sake? Don't be! I would that all God's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!" He knew that when God's Spirit is involved, and the blessing is genuine, then God's work will go forward.

I. AN OLD TESTAMENT DREAM IS TO BE A NEW TESTAMENT REALITY

  1. It is an abrupt transition from the Exodus and this Old Testament story to the modern church scene. But there are some cogent parallels. If Moses was overwhelmed with his DAUNTING PROSPECT, so are we! And if God's people ever needed DIVINE DIRECTION, it is now! But what of Moses' "dream:' WOULD THAT ALL GOD'S PEOPLE WERE PROPHETS, AND THAT THE LORD WOULD PUT HIS SPIRIT ON ALL OF THEM?
    1. LEAVE THE CONTEXT OF THE EXODUS FOR NOW:

      The Exodus has always been a paradigm for salvation; for leaving sin's bondage, and being saved in a Passover-Red Sea crisis. Another time I might want to come back and use the specifics of Moses' wish and prayer for examples in our own spiritual pilgrimage.

    2. FOCUS ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE DAY:

      Just now I lift out the challenge of the scope of our task as Christians. Like Moses, we look at the challenge of living by faith, and we say: "Lord, where will we get resources to see Your church go forward in a wicked day?"

    3. GOD'S ARM IS NOT TOO SHORT TO REACH US!:

      The answer has to be the same one that Moses got! "Is MY arm short? I AM THAT I AM!" And God must put His Spirit on US, too— so that WE can prophecy! Joel 2:28 says that after Messiah comes, God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh! WE ARE CALLED TO BE PROPHETS!

  2. WE NEED TO HEAR FROM GOD, AND KNOW HIS WORD FOR TODAY!
    1. Moses thought he needed food. And he did! But God said, "First of all you need ME! You need MY Spirit on you and your people!"
    2. We think we need power, or mobilization in this or that area. And we do. BUT GOD SAYS: "FIRST OF ALL YOU MUST BE MY WITNESSES!" The CHURCH must fill a role as Prophet.

      Jesus Christ, our Head, is Prophet, Priest, and King. The CHURCH must fulfill all three of His roles, as His will unfolds. We understand the Priest role a little bit. We understand the King role even less; but we are called to faithfulness in stewardship over the gifts and graces God has parceled to us now, with the understanding that God intends for all His children to reign with Him: "Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things ..." But we understand the role of Prophet least of all.

      When we think of prophets, we think of beards and sandals, and clothes made out of gunny sacks. We think of holding up signs saying "The End is Near!"]

  3. Not every individual is a prophet, although as Christians we may be called to be prophetic at times. But The CHURCH itself is to be a PROPHET!

II. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF PROPHET?

  1. A PROPHET MUST FORTH-TELL GOD'S TRUTH
    1. We think of FORE-telling as the basic role of the prophet. We look into the prophets all too often ONLY to see what is going to happen at the end of the world. In so doing we miss the primary role of the Prophet!
    2. Prophets "connected" with their day and their age. They did not usually agree with the status quo, but their message was not simply saying what was going to happen some time in the future. Their message was a declaration of what God was saying THEN! It was usually a call to get right with God!
  2. A PROPHET IS NEVER SELF-APPOINTED. HE/SHE IS ONE WHO IS SENT
    1. Every child of God is called to do the work of a prophet as the opportunity and challenge arise. We do not have to wait; if God's Spirit is within, we will feel the challenge to tell others.
    2. There are those who are specially called prophets: individuals with the gift of evangelism or challenging the church to righteousness. Billy Graham comes to mind.
    3. A host of just-as-effective men and women in their own places.
    4. But one thing we overlook, perhaps, is that God calls the whole Body, the Church to a Prophetic role; and I believe that He also expects individual churches to pursue the same roles within their communities.

III. GOD'S CHALLENGE IS TO HIS CHURCH: BE CHRIST'S BODY!

  1. The Prophetic Call is THROUGH/FOR THE CHURCH!
    1. Christ's body is one! Christ LOVES the Church! The prophetic role is sometimes seen as opposing the other roles of the religious community:
    2. In our own knowledge and wisdom we will fragment the roles, and pull the body apart. Traditionally prophets and priests did not see eye to eye; few men combined the two roles. David came close to being both King and Prophet— at times he certainly fulfilled the prophetic role; Isaiah was both a priest and a prophet.
    3. Jesus fills all three roles, and is the Reality of which all the others are shadow. When His Spirit fills the church all three roles will function to complement each the other. All three aspects will/should be manifest in every complete church!
  2. HOW should we carry out the role of PROPHET?
    1. BY A WILLINGNESS TO OBEY GOD! We have to be WILLING to do whatever we believe God calls us to do.

      I am NOT now suggesting the church be involved POLITICALLY! At least not in any partisan sense.

    2. BUT THE CHURCH, THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP CHRIST'S BODY CANNOT SIMPLY BE STAND ASIDE AND BE PASSIVE!

      There are some respects in which we can liken ourselves in the American community of faith to the Christian church in early Nazi Germany. We may well have to separate in our thinking the idea of a beloved nation and an intruding government that does not represent the ideals of the Old and New Testaments on which our nation was founded (along with some Transcendental stuff.)

      I am not calling for a conservative knee-jerk reaction to every crisis. But by the same token, I am not giving in to thinking that the answer for every challenge is a political solution from the left, either. It is all right to be a Christian and be politically conservative and Republican. It is all right to be Christian and be politically liberal and Democrat. BUT IT IS NOT ALL RIGHT TO BE CHRISTIAN AND LET OTHER PEOPLE INTERPRET WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT GOD'S WILL FOR US.

      It is NOT Christian to let the government eviscerate the Bible and tell the CHURCH what is and what is not moral and right.

    3. WE MUST SEEK TO BE AWARE! TO BE ANGRY!
      1. Immediately many will think about places in the world where injustice seems flagrant. But I cannot with good conscience speak about the issues in Northern Ireland or South Africa. I simply do not know the facts. I do not understand all the issues. But for us Christians here just NOW these world issues can be a smoke-screen for what is happening right here in day-by-day existence.
      2. Some facts of life:
        1. Federal appeals court ruled that Georgetown Univ. MUST financially support a group on campus that is in opposition to their doctrines.
        2. Recent episodes of prime-time so-called entertainment drama have featured unmarried, teen-age sex as 'responsible' and 'the norm.' [It is neither! Sex is God's GIFT— but it is still wrong any place outside of heterosexual marriage, according to the Bible I read and understand!]
        3. I'll stand with Cardinal Law in his right to speak for what he interprets as God's will! People want to have it both ways— be Catholic and be their own Bibles. It is the same for Christians everywhere: I am not a Romand Catholic, and not bound by what Cardinal Law says. But I AM a Christian, and under the authority of God's WORD! Every Church should have some areas for which they stand and will not back down!

      YOU CANNOT BE A CHRISTIAN AND INVENT YOUR OWN TEN COMMANDMENTS! PART OF BEING A CHRISTIAN IS ACCEPTING THE AUTHORITY OF GOD, AND THAT AUTHORITY IS EXPRESSED IN GOD'S WORD! IT IS BIGGER THAN THE INDIVIDUAL!

    4. We must learn anew to PRAY! We must have concerted prayer! Private prayer is the foundation of personal experience, and there is no substitute. But we must also pray together, and ask God for mercy on our land!
    5. Then- and only then- there will be God's clear direction on speaking out. Then, when the church has prayed, as in Acts 4, there can be deliberate action— always in the name of the Lord; always in accordance with the Word of God.

Conclusion:

  1. Our text was taken from a scene in the Exodus. Moses cried out with the wish that all God's people were prophets, that the Lord would give them all His Spirit. Moses felt the desperate need of God's help if the people were to move ahead. How does that intersect with our times?
  2. Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, saith the Lord, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams ..." In the days after Messiah comes, this cry of Moses was to become reality throughout the called people of God. In other words, THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO THE PROPHETIC ROLE.

    Moses, along with Jeremiah and Hosea and Amos and John the Baptist are dead. They died in various and sometimes unpleasant ways.

    And guess who has been called to walk with God, and call the world to hear the PROMISE and the WARNING and the LIGHT and the SEPARATION of the Gospel of God's SON?

    WE have! THE CHURCH MUST ANSWER GOD'S CALL IN THESE CRUCIAL DAYS!

  3. GOD IS CALLING SOME OF YOU TO A PROPHETIC MINISTRY IN A SPECIAL WAY!

    It used to be in the days when the Parson was the Person, and people looked up to the clergy, that the finest young men and women didn't have too much trouble answering God's call to ministry. Now, increasingly, the pastoral and evangelistic PREACHING MINISTRY is thought of with less secular, worldly respect. But God is still calling the finest and best young people into His prophetic tasks!

    Moses said, "Would God that ALL the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on ALL of them!" May WE be worthy vessels for God to fill with a fresh anointing of His Spirit, to do with us as HE will!

Prayer:

O God of the prophets! Help us to know Your Son, our Risen Lord! Help us to walk with Him! Help us not to run ahead, nor to lag behind.

Illuminate us in our hearts by the hope of Your great promise, and help us to shine like lanterns in a dark night where people need Your Light.

In Jesus' Name.

63 (EH) Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me

(ex) I think of you teens in your high schools as "prophets!" Not that I expect you to carry signs. But you need to be aware of the anti-God stance of our official school systems! You need to affirm that God IS; that God made the heavens and the earth! You need to get better and better acquainted with Jesus! That's what it means to be a prophet as a teen! HE will show you what to do!