Understanding the Lord's Intent
 
The approach of this study
is to organize the topic of
the Prophets according to
categories of prophetic
experience in the history
of mankind.

Accordingly the topics
are structured as follows:

  Pre-Israel and Israel Prophecy
  Early Church Prophecy
  Canonization of Prophetic Writings
  Admonitions of the Apostle Paul
  Conclusion

Pre-Israel and Israel Prophecy
The Bible gives us an insight into many aspects of God's direct communication with men, and sometimes also details the specific mechanics of the method of revelation.

Regarding the time of Noah and his "understanding" from God about an imminent judgment of the world, the Bible explains what Noah was "told". I have often wondered about the internal deliberations of Noah since the construction of the ark took decades to complete. Hollywood has even made a stupid movie (inexplicably ignoring the actual Biblical narrative) called Noah starring Russell Crowe and it is extremely disappointing since the story could have been told accurately while still employing all of the theatrics. Yet in that inaccurate Hollywood version of the story, I am struck by the screenplay's depiction of Noah's internal debate and prophetic visions. Genesis 6:13 ("Then God said to Noah...") tells us that God told Noah of His plan and that Noah acted according to God's instruction. The Bible does not tell us the specific mechanics of God's revelation to Noah (direct voice from heaven, one-on-one in-person meeting, dream, or some other method of communication), rather the Bible only tells us that the details of the ark and the purpose of the vehicle were understood by Noah and he acted upon the revelation of God.

Another interesting aspect of the Hollywood screenplay of the story of Noah is how it showed the men of Noah's day knowing about "the Creator". This is a point of interest when considering the story of Melchizedek and Abraham as well. Genesis 14 tells us of a man named Melchizedek who was a priest of Yahweh. We know nearly nothing about this priest of the Lord, yet he is mentioned in Hebrews 5-7 where we are told that Jesus is a high priest "in the order of Melchizedek". What does this mean? Melchizedek was a priest of God (outside the primary story line of scripture) blessing Abraham and Jesus was a prophet (outside the primary organization of the Jewish religion of His day) blessing the children of Abraham. Both were "chosen by God" as His spokesman to man. The mystery of Melchizedek, without father or mother, and timeless thus "resembling the Son of God", is the foretelling of a greater Priest, the Messiah who is "forever" a Priest of Yahweh, called of God outside the lineage of Aaron. Of this mysteriously affirmed priest of Yahweh, I have often wondered how he was called and how he "heard" the Lord? And in consideration of the man Melchizedek, I am also reminded of the curious words of Jesus in John 10:16 where he says "I have other sheep not of this fold and I must bring them in. They hear my voice." For Melchizedek was called of God outside the lineage of Abraham, outside the formality of the Judeo-Christian development, yet he spoke for God as a priest of Yahweh and is honored with a reference to the Savior's royal priesthood who directly speaks with God and us.

We also have the story of Abraham wherein there are multiple encounters, face-to-face, with God (concerning the foretold destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the prophecy of barren Sarah's delivery of a child). With Abraham we also have God's revelation to him in Genesis 22 that he is to sacrifice Isaac wherein this revelation is not like the others in that it was not face-to-face but was instead a "spoken" event (either as a voice from heaven, a dream, or an urging within his spirit). In this latter matter, Abraham acts without hesitation, having confidence in his understanding of his communication with God. This is most intriguing, for in this one he receives a word from the Lord and acts in faith without doubt, and this incident is extensively discussed in Romans 4 by the Apostle Paul as the evidence of Abraham being the father of those who follow the footsteps of faith.

The story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt is another pre-Israel prophetic moment that has been memorialized in various Hollywood productions, the latest (and least accurate version) being Exodus: Gods and Kings. While this last production is extremely inaccurate, there is something that I found interesting in it, that being the internal deliberations of Moses and also the manner in which the plagues were theatrically presented, namely, the logical progression of a river of blood which kills the fish followed by frogs fleeing the putrid river followed by flies/gnats (which spread disease) booming in the wake of the death of fish and frogs and subsequently followed by widespread death of livestock and the appearance of boils on the flesh of the people of Egypt. These progressions are entirely logical as a sequence of increasing devastation that began with putrification of the Nile river. Of course, one of the many failures of the movie is its failure to present each as an announced affliction by Yahweh against Egypt. Yet again, the internal conflict of Moses and his feelings of inadequacy in the face of Yahweh's Power are of significance to me.

Subsequent to the Exodus, God directly speaks to Moses and gives the revelation of the Law to Moses and thus establishes the basis of an Israeli theocracy. In the law, much is discussed about prophets, as well as perversions of revelation via mediums and sorcery (yet even a psychic may be allowed an insight by God as we see in the story of King Saul in 1 Samuel 28). This law gives us a clear indication of the distinction between "inquiring of the Lord" versus the use of psychic and/or witchcraft arts for divination.

Urim and Thummin

The analysis continues on the next page (click here to continue)

Pre-Israel and Israel Prophecy | Early Church Prophecy | Canonization of Prophetic Writings | Admonitions of the Apostle Paul | Conclusion