Standing In The Gap

A true prophet is often a church’s chief intercessor and in this grappling with issues and praying for an individual, church, group, organization, state, or nation they will grasp God’s hand while holding onto the situation. In intercession their goal is to pull the two together and this can be difficult work when the gap is large. They stand in the gap and intercede until there is not a gap and refuse to let go of either. This gap-bridging is ripping, strenuous, and difficult work and will mean tears, cries of agony and moans for they don’t just feel the pain in theory. And if they get a word, that word may never be delivered because He may have changed their hearts and the circumstances. So, the question we need to address before we declare these modern day prophets like Kim Clement, Julie Green, Amanda Grace, Timothy Dixon, Troy Black, Hank Kunneman, Dutch Sheets, Robin Bullock, and others true ones, is how does the prophetic work? What are the Biblical roles they fill? As we’ll see, the Word of God isn’t silent on this.

Noting The Breaks In The Wall

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. (Ezekiel 13:3-5, NIV)

Prophets can see the breaches in the wall and work to repair it, so the church’s defenses are shored up. They are the watchmen on the wall who blow a trumpet to warn of an advancing enemy as noted in Ezekiel 33:1-11.

A Prophet Is Often Out Of Synch

They are like an iceberg that only 10% of what they are is seen while the 90% is unseen. Because of the unseen work, a prophet will be seen weeping as those around them are laughing. When people are enjoying their sins, these servants are crying over it. And when they are repenting and crying, the prophet is overjoyed and laughing because a prodigal has come home. To those who don’t understand the prophetic it may look strange and even out of place because the prophet is laughing when they should be crying along with the people who are bringing their lives to the altar. When the whole picture is seen it makes total sense.

A Call To Holiness

One of the main calls of the prophet is to call others and even nations back to God, a reconciliation ministry that is sorely needed today. When the calls are not made in the Body of Christ, sin is hidden and goes deeper and deeper into the roots of its life, corrupting more and more unless it is addressed. One Pentecostal pioneer, Melvin Hodges is quoted as saying, “The New Testament Church gradually lost the purity and power that characterized her apostolic beginnings, and became adulterated by worldliness, greed and paganism as she increased in numbers and influence.” He pondered whether the Pentecostal church would suffer the same fate and be corrupted by the world. It is the role of the prophet to halt the downward spiral.

Not Just For The Church

The prophetic call must also provide a moral conscience to society. The prophet and the prophetic rebukes sin and offer the hope only found in Jesus. We can only wonder if the decline of the prophetic voice is because the church has failed to make her prophetic voice strong and clear. We do know that whenever the church failed to keep her prophetic voice strong, moral decline occurred in society. Here is how the authors in their book, Keys to the Apostolic and Prophetic: Embracing the Authentic-Avoiding the Bizarre describe such work by prophets:

The prophetic is designed to carry out clean up detail. It seeks to tidy things up, scrub out the corners, wash down, prop up, put things in order, and disinfect, leaving everything sparkling clean and smelling with sweet fragrance. The prophetic desires for this work of holiness to make the Church spotless, pure, and unencumbered in service to the King. God uses His prophetic warnings and corrections to create clean hearts.

Edification Is Not Always Positive

Some refer to 1 Corinthians 14:3 which says that the prophet should say things that are for edification, exhortation, and consolation to say that nothing negative should be used to bring correction. However, edification is not always “positive.” Being reproved can bring improvement and strong words can be seen as harsh to some, but to the one who needs to be woken up to sin it leads to positive changes. Here is how the author of the book of Hebrews describes it:

And have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, “My son, don’t be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don’t be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong. 6 For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you. When he whips you, it proves you are really his child.” 7 Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected? 8 If God doesn’t punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you aren’t really God’s son at all—that you don’t really belong in his family. 9 Since we respect our fathers here on earth, though they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God’s training so that we can begin really to live? 10 Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they knew how, but God’s correction is always right and for our best good, that we may share his holiness. 11 Being punished isn’t enjoyable while it is happening—it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character. (Hebrews 12:5-11, TLB)

It is reassuring to know that if we need it, God will use the prophetic to correct us.

The Prophetic Roles

I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them. (Hosea 12:10, NIV)

God is highly creative in how He uses prophecy and prophets, and prophets can be used in remarkably diverse ways. It can be rightly said that no two prophets move the same way and much of this is because of the tasks they are given. And sometimes prophetic roles are combined again because of the things God needs to be addressed. While there are many combinations of these roles, I will only mention a few now.

The Prophetic Roles: The Communicator

One of the most prevalent roles is the role of the communicator. The Hebrew word of nabi is delivering a word in speech and writing. Prophets who work in this role are gifted communicators and they take pride in the meanings of words and take great measures to use the right terms and aren’t careless about what they verbalize or write. They have developed skills in oratory and are able to compose well-crafted presentations that flow nicely. They are exceptionally good at persuasion, logical organization and designing a memorable introduction and a moving conclusion. A prophet can work in oratory as well as the written word and they often flow in secondary roles of a pastor or teacher and are seen as popular conference speakers as God positions them where they can sow into the prophetic flow of ministry to the church.

God Gives Authors A Prophetic Leading

Many who write lessons, sermons or books often move in prophecy as they are provided with depth and insight into principles they never saw before. The Bible opens up in unexpected ways when this occurs and they are given just the right word or phrase or illustration to bring greater impact and changes to the reader or hearer. I know one author who, as he was writing a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, felt it was prophetic for the time we live in now. And this can be evidenced in places like blogs, magazine articles and journals or something as simple as a note, letter, email or text. And having something tangible like a written word that someone can refer back to can make the impact last longer since they don’t have to rely on their memory to remember it.

Prophetic Roles: The Storyteller

It is estimated that some 50-65% of the Bible is done in a narrative form and some even think that the percentage is even higher. This is especially good for today’s world since people feel that a story is more readily accepted than a sermon. In a story there is no finger-pointing, and a person can relate to a story even if it is about when they can relate to the characters. Often a story will hook the listener or reader with the account and then allow them to face the truth without sounding “preachy.” It draws them in and makes for a teachable moment. There are too many examples of this prophetic style, but I’ll give you one in the Old Testament and one from the New Testament that will show us how great the effect is.

Nathan And King David

In 2 Samuel 12 we see a King who has fallen into the sin of adultery and then murder of an innocent husband. Nathan the prophet is sent by God in love to confront King David so that he can repent of those sins. While he could have just told the King what he had done, the prophet told the story of a prosperous man who had many sheep and took a poor man’s only sheep to make a meal to feed his guest. This was a story that David could relate to since he was a shepherd himself. He was furious at the rich man and told Nathan he should die for doing such an outlandish thing. Then Nathan looked at his king and said calmly, “You are the man!” You see, the story engages our emotions and our thinking.

The Use Of Parables

In the New Testament we only need to use one story Jesus told to show us how much God loves us. In Luke 15:11-31 we read of the Prodigal Son, a story so rich in meaning on so many levels, when Jesus could have just said that His father loves us so much that He will welcome us back no matter how deep our sin is or how far we’ve run from Him. He could have added that He loves us so much that He was willing to die on the cross for us. Instead, he weaves a story about a son who disowns his own family, squanders his inheritance on sinful activities and is then welcomed back with open arms by his father. Of the two approaches, which was most effective? A story is heard, applied and has lasting effects on us. Think of how many lessons have been drawn from the story of the Prodigal Son and you can see how multifaceted it continues to be even today.

The Prophetic Roles: The Dramatist

This is a role I can certainly relate to since I have been involved in writing and performing many dramas. And we can see so many examples of God using prophets to get a message across by acting sometimes in unusual ways to prove a point. Hosea was told to marry a prostitute, Gomer to illustrate God’s relationship with Israel at the time and make a call for their repentance. Jeremiah was told to put a yoke on to illustrate the coming bondage from King Nebuchadnezzar. Isaiah is told in Isaiah 20:2-3 to walk around naked for three years to illustrate a point (still want to be a prophet now?) and Ezekiel is told to pack his bags and publicly leave town to make a point (see Ezekiel 12:1-3). In Ezekiel’s case it was only after he obeyed that the prophet got the point he was to make.

The Prophetic Roles: The Seer

“When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. (Num 12:6, NIV)

There is no more classic role of the prophetic than the seer. The word for “seer” is chozeh which is where we get the word for vision. Used in this context, the seer is one who sees what God wants to communicate. They do so in visions or dreams and especially in the Old Testament, it was a common occurrence. Many of the prophets started their writings by stating they saw visions (see Isaiah 1:1 and Ezekiel 1:1). Wise leaders made sure they had such seers with them for counsel, especially when facing a battle or difficult decision. Today we have seen a rise in people seeing visions and dreams, although we are told to test these against the written word.

The Prophetic Roles: Administrator And Shifter

This prophetic role can be missed since these people often function by leading an organization and bringing about change. They are visionaries who can see what direction a church or even a secular company should pursue and can also do the same for individuals. They also can be seen as advocating and leading out for change in movements and causes. They also help redirect things, sometimes by only a quarter of a turn which seems small but still changes their direction in the long run. On a more personal level, these prophetic people can guide a person to change careers, go into ministry or even come to a saving knowledge of Christ. They see the potential future and help those involved to get there.

Don’t Limit Your View

We live in a day and age when information or perceptions of prophets are so limited and often cliché. I hope your views have been challenged now to see this precious gift to the Body of Christ and perhaps see that you are flowing in this gift and never realized it. We need to give these people room to move and grow in how God uses them. And pray before we say anything about them and ask God to lead and guide our public comments about them. Are they above correction? Not at all (see 1 Corinthians 14:29; also 1 John 4:1), but give them the respect the office needs to be effective, too. You never know, you might move in prophecy as well.