His hair was unkempt, he wore camel skin clothes, his eyes looked like flames that could penetrate into the very heart of a man, and his words were harsh... "Repent of perish!" Of course it's the picture of the Old Testament prophet. Maybe this is what Jonah looked like as he spoke the word of God to Nineveh. Or maybe Jeremiah looked like this while he was weeping over the sins of his nation, calling them to repentance. I can see these Old Testament prophets as a scary bunch of guys! They represented the judgmental fire of Almighty God! God's voice boomed through these guys... "Repent or perish!"
My email Inbox has been filled to capacity this weekend with a multitude of forwards of an email from a famous New York City preacher. Pretty much the message stated was, "Prepare for a great calamity to befall the cities of America. (by the way, he's been saying this for years!) There will be 1000's of fires burning in New York City alone. The answer to this situation is for American Christians to store up a 30 day supply of food and water." Several Old Testament proof texts were used, and the feeling that remained in my spirit after reading this "word from the Lord" was a sick sensation emanating from the pit of my stomach!
Of course, being the big mouth that I am, I've been knee deep into this issue, typing email back and forth on the subject. Some agree with me, other's don't! One man wrote on my Facebook wall, "I see that you understand the New Testament!"
OK... here's my question: Where in the New Testament do we find the Old Testament model of the prophet?
Today, we have all of these "OT Types" running around, bringing their predictions. We see it every December..."Here's the word of the Lord for the New Year!" People flock to these "words," attend the meetings and prophetic conferences that these people hold, and fail miserably at judging the words that are given! I encourage folks to check out some of these words, like... Did the word given last year come to pass? If you take a look at this, you might be very greatly surprised. For instance, I'm still waiting for the "Big E" to be discovered. This "word" was given several years ago by a noted "prophet" who stated, "Thus says the Lord..." that the "Big E" would solve the world's energy crisis, make thousands of Christians wealthy from their investment in this, and more importantly that it would be discovered a few short months after the "word" was given! Yep... that's been years ago now folks. I don't think I saw the "Big E" anyplace last summer when I was filling up the gas tank of "Pilgrim 1" at over $4.00 per gallon!
Again, where in the NT do we see the model of the OT prophet?
The Bible tells us in the New Testament that prophecy is for, "edification, exhortation and comfort." I Cor. 14:3
In regards to judgment befalling America, I have noted that the Bible also states in I Peter 4: 17, "For the time has come for judgment, and IT MUST BEGIN WITH GOD'S HOUSEHOLD." (NLT) After that, it can spread to the nation.
I fear something is happening right now, that's taking our eyes off the great move of God that is about to be released. That "something" is FEAR! Yep, the prophets of doom and gloom are getting us concentrating again on storing up food and water. Remember Y2K??? I'm still waiting for some national ministries to own up to that one! Remember, they were even selling the food and water! Hold it... what about Corinne and I? We live in a motor home! Our freezer isn't large enough to store more than a couple trays of ice cubes! Where are we going to store 30 days worth of water? OK, how about all of the thousands of American Believers who have lost their jobs lately? They can't hardly purchase a week's groceries, let alone a month's worth! What are they going to do?
Friends... I see Jesus who took our sins and forgave us of all of them! I see our Heavenly Father who's heart is filled with love beyond measure! I see a great revival that is about to be released to the Church! I see the Saints of God advancing the Kingdom of God! (They who know their God will be strong and do exploits!) I see miracles, signs and wonders abounding, increasing to the place where a true revival will break out in Kmarts or Walmarts all over the nation! I see a harvest of lost souls coming into the Church by the droves! I see, "The Greatest Awakening Ever!" about to be released.
I'm sorry Friends, all of the judgment hype of this weekend's forwarded email just doesn't ring true in my spirit!
Like all of my blog posts, I give you full right to disagree with me. However, this time I'm going to put a condition on any disagreements that you may have with me on this subject. Here is the condition: Before you send me a email or post a disagreeing comment on this blog (see "comments" button below) you have to answer my question! If you don't answer my question I may delete your email or delete your comment. I might! Who knows!!! I might not too, just depends on what type of a mood I'm in when I hear from you! How's that? Fair enough? Answer my question, "Where in the New Testament do we find the model of the Old Testament prophet?" Answer my question and I might even publish a new blog with you as the author! What thinkest thou?
Kingdom blessings!
Larry the Revivalist!
My website: www.larrysilverman.com
