Hello readers! It has been a very long time since I posted anything up on this blog. Today we will deal with an important part of The Bible where most of us hardly paid any attention, including me. Being a Christian, I clearly know who a prophet is and what it takes to be a prophet. I have always perceived that the prophetic ministry began with Moses since he mediated between man and God. Before deeply entering the topic today, I invite you all to study who a prophet is generally. Well, most part of The Bible gives us a clear picture of who a prophet is. A prophet is one who mediates between God and man. He reveals the message given by God to the people, in other words, he is a mouthpiece of God. We also see that a prophet represented a group of people to whom those messages are revealed. Prophets never speak of their own but always deliver the message of God. They also speak with the power given by God where as they prophesy, God imputes necessary feelings along with the message, let it be fear, hope, faith and so on. A prophet is also one who intercedes for the people whom he represents. He is found to be always praying on behalf of the people and pleading for their transgressions. A prophet also encourages the people to be faithful to God in all conditions knowing that that's the only way to escape wrath. Hence, though there are many more other characteristics, we are generally going to look at these characteristics:
a) One who delivers the message of God to the people whom he represents.
b) One who intercedes for the people to God.
c) One who encourages the people to be faithful to God always.
A month ago, in some random discussions with my house mates, we discussed about how can Abraham be a prophet. Now Abraham was called prophet by God in Genesis 20:7, where Abimelek had a dream in which God mentioned so. Looking at the verse at a glance, I pondered how Abraham was called a prophet, which made him the first prophet of all time mentioned in The Bible. Abraham was the father of Israel and so he could not have represented any other nations to deliver the message of God. I prayed about it and God revealed to me the answer I was seeking for. Prophetic ministry differs from prophetic role. What Abraham did was prophetic role, which means he was not a full time prophet who was called to prophesy to people and nations but he carried the prophetic role in his life. How is that possible? Simple. Abraham was the father of nations and to him a promise was given that through him a nation will be born. This was the message of God to Abraham. Now Abraham represented a group of people, his family. Analyse the characteristics mentioned above and according to that Abraham was a prophet to his family where he delivered the message of God to his family. He told Sarah what God had promised and encouraged her to be faithful to that promise above all inabilities and disbelief that may root from adversarial conditions.
Abraham also interceded for the family. If we look at Genesis 19, we can see Abraham interceding for his brother's family in the Sodom and Gomorrah destruction. We can also see that when Sarah lacked motivation to keep believing the promise because of her ageing nature, Abraham encouraged her to continue in faith. His relationship with God was so close that God Himself called him friend. Abraham fulfilled the criteria of being a prophet but to his family and that is why we see God calls him prophet. Similarly, every parents now or parents to be, we carry a very big responsible as prophets over the family. We might not serve in the prophetic ministry but we carry the prophetic roles in the family. What we say and proclaim over the family carry so much values.
Sadly I would say that parents nowadays lack this knowledge and in some communities they even speak negative words against their children. James tells us in his book that tongue being a small member of the body is capable of setting the whole body in fire. How we use the tongue matters a lot. I have seen and heard parents scolding their children with offensive and destructive words. Scientifically the first few years of any child is very important. What we sow in their lives at the period carries so much significance. The soil is fresh and children tend to believe what they see and hear. If they spend their childhood listening and seeing destructive elements, chances are very high that their entire life might be at risk of being led negatively. As parents, we must speak positive words over the family. That does not mean we do not correct them but we correct them constructively and not destructively. As prophets over the family, we must proclaim the promises of God over the family everytime. Praying together as a family and bible discussions are essential in shaping up a solid childhood. As a parent and prophet, we must always intercede and pray for the family, like Job for instance. Spiritually, our prayer and our words over the family carries heavy significance in their lives. Researches have also admitted the fact that most of the youngsters who involve in criminal activities today are affected by dark childhood days.
We must not be reluctant that being a prophet is a different thing and nothing to do with us. We might not serve as a prophet but we are prophets over the family. We represent them before God. We are accountable for them. If we do not step out and take responsibility, no one is going to. Speak good words over the family and build them in faith. In tough situations, practice to pray as a family and discuss the issues out as a family. Individuality will weaken the family constitution. We may have parents who failed us but let's not repeat the mistakes they did because we need to break the chain and begin writing a legacy. The smallest details that we pay attention to now in our families will result in massive fruits in future.
- All of us are called to be prophets. Some over the people but everyone over the family.
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