Prophetic Utterance

Deuteronomy 18:15       Complete Jewish Bible 

ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him.”

I have been looking at this verse for some time now. What do you think of it? One of my reactions to it goes back to yesterday’s verse. People are so easily offended these days that it makes the job of a pastor a challenge. How do you say what people need to hear if they so easily take offense?

I have also noticed a general sense of bringing everyone down to a uniform level. We don’t honor experts any longer. People with advanced degrees are not called by their honorific title. We act as though we know more than our doctors, lawyers and yes, even our prophets. That increases the difficulty for clergy to offer an “expert” opinion.

First, it is important that we take responsibility for our own lives as it relates to our health and our spiritual health. We should not rely on our medical doctors or our pastors solely. It is not because they are not competent. It’s just that we have the ultimate responsibility for our lives, including our health and spiritual growth. With that caveat out of the way, there is one other point one might make about this verse. We are in a different dispensation than those to whom Deuteronomy was first directed. None the less, this verse in in our Bible for a reason. God didn’t take it out when He made the Christian Bible. He didn’t relegate it to the Jews. Therefore, it must still have some meaning for us.

In this new dispensation, we are allowed and welcome to go into the Father’s presence for ourselves. You do not need me, or any other intermediary, in order for you to have a jolly good time in the presence of the Lord. You can walk with Him, talk with Him and spend your entire day with Him. I have heard it said that anyone with a computer and a search engine can become a Bible expert. I think that comment speaks directly to this issue of what makes a spiritual leader. “Professional” clergy are probably feeling frustrated and perhaps not very appreciated. They see uncredentialed people teaching and there is some push back. My question is, how has that changed? Sure, technology is a major asset, but couldn’t you say of the old days, “Anyone with a Bible can be an expert.”

So, who should you listen to? Perhaps no one other than yourself? Afterall, you have admittance to the throne room. “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him,” (1 John 2: 27). John recognizes the Spirit within you and your own access to God’s wisdom. However, look at this comment from Hebrews 5: 12, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” You are not babies, but truth be told, we all have need of learning and guidance.

Well, I have done the typical lawyer thing to you. I have argued both sides of the issue. Now, I would like to give you my thoughts on the matter. I think there is only one credential which makes someone worthy to be your teacher. It is the beginning of today’s verse, “ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet.” Only God makes a person qualified as a teacher. I don’t think having a seminary degree or an advanced degree in theology qualifies a person to be a spiritual leader, teacher or advisor and I most certainly do not think anyone should call themselves a prophet unless Yahweh, Himself, has appointed and anointed them to that role.

My greater concern is this, it’s that we wouldn’t recognize a prophet if one fell on us and further, we wouldn’t know what to do with them. I do believe God is still giving us spiritual leaders and that we are well advised to follow them, even if we don’t always agree with them, perhaps especially when we don’t agree. My concern is that we get wrapped up in the world around us and do not listen to the teachers and prophets God is sending us. Even preachers are fools, to my way of thinking, if they don’t receive teaching from other anointed preachers. I have seen ministers who only take their own counsel and, unfortunately, some of them don’t last when that happens. It can be very tragic. I don’t want that for you.

Has God dropped some prophets into your society? How about into your life? I bet He has. Sure, use your discernment regarding whose counsel you receive, but don’t be your own preacher. Go to God in your own time, definitely. Get wise counsel from Him directly. You are entitled to that and He wants the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. But, don’t discount that God is raising up prophets in this day and time and we are supposed to pay attention to them.

My Buddy

John 14: 16 – 17

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

I started to send you scriptures today which show the Holy Spirit as the promise of God, there are quite a few, but perhaps you have already come to that conclusion. This scripture from Haggai spells it out simply enough, “As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!” (Haggai 2: 5). This scripture is great assurance that God fulfilled the promise He made. The bigger question, therefore, may be, why is this so important? What does the fulfillment of this promise mean to me? That is the question I would like to attempt to answer today.

Jesus was the first to teach about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was referred to by many prophets and writers, but Jesus told us about the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives. We find key language in today’s verse. Jesus called the Holy Spirit our “Helper.” If you check this word in your Strong’s Concordance or even in the footnotes, you find the word here which is translated into English as helper also means comforter, intercessor and most interesting of all, one who is called to go alongside. This is the idea I would like you take away from today’s Word of the Day. The Holy Spirit was sent to us by God as a fulfillment of His promise so that we would have a constant companion, someone who will go along beside us regardless of the circumstance.

It is remarkable that God, at the request of Jesus, would send His Own Spirit to be our companion. Even more remarkable, though, is that this cohort, this third person of the Trinity, is called to walk along beside us. This should give even greater insight to the idea of partnership with the Holy Spirit. God didn’t send us a boss. There is absolutely nothing tyrannical in our relationship with the Spirit. At the deepest level of truth, Father God sent us a friend, a buddy. That is the key revelation of the Holy Spirit. That is the revelation that could, and dare I say, should, change your life forever.

There is so much more that he does for us but it all flows from this relationship, or friendship. He is our teacher, an intercessor, he assists us in prayer. He is the Spirit of Truth and leads us in all truth. He is our guide and our confidante. The big revelation, though, is that he is your friend. He is with you every moment of your life. He is the breath in your lungs. There is a scripture which says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother,” (Proverb 18: 24). This is the Spirit, the living water which quenches our thirst. This is our friend.

The Promise

Numbers 11: 16 – 17

The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, who you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you , and will put Him upon them.

This “Spirit” spoken of is the Holy Spirit of God. God reveals to us in this passage that His spirit was “on” Moses. That is a powerful revelation for anyone who has ears to hear. 

Moses did gather the seventy elders and God did put His Holy Spirit on them too so that they could help shoulder the burden of caring for the Israelites. When God put His Spirit on them, the Bible tells us that they began to prophesy (v. 25). That is the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the same spirit which was spoken of in Acts 2. God promised in Joel 2: 28 that He would pour out His Spirit on all mankind. This outpouring was a monumental occurrence, the fulfillment of a long awaited promise. In fact, if you study all the verses which speak about the Holy Spirit you will see numerous references to the promise of his coming. Then in Acts 2 we get to witness the outpouring of the Spirit. 

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came “upon” people as was the case with Moses and the seventy elders. This resting of the Holy Spirit upon people gave them tremendous ability and power. Jesus told the disciples that when he left he was going to send the Holy Spirit (John 16: 7). He also told them that the Holy Spirit was coming to live IN them (John 14: 17). 

This is a new dispensation, if you will. We are talking about the same Holy Spirit which brooded over the waters in Genesis 1: 2. However, a new thing was happening. Jesus was sending the Holy Spirit into the world to stay. Not only that, but importantly, the Holy Spirit was sent to us individually rather than collectively. That is an important distinction. The Holy Spirit was with the nation of Israel as they sojourned to Canaan but He did not live “in” them. Jesus has now sent the Holy Spirit to each of us, to live in us and to be our constant companion. He said the Holy Spirit would be to each of us a go along, a teacher, a guide and a helper (John 16: 7, 13, John 14: 26).

Certainly there is an aspect of our own responsibility. We must each receive the Holy Spirit personally. He is not going to set up house within you without your permission. However, when you invite Him in, the power, authority and ability that was with Moses comes and takes up abode IN you. You become the vessel, the carrier of the power of God. This power and authority does not just rest on you and then remove Himself, He is with you and in you all the time. That is a much better arrangement than the Old Testament saints had.

I invite you to meditate on today’s verse and ponder the role of the Holy Spirit in today’s world but most importantly, in your own life. I pray that the Spirit who was upon Moses will come rest in you and with you today.