His Servants The Prophets

HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS

For the Lord does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7

Christians often underestimate the vision and interpretive power of the Word of God. We have no problem with the doctrine of revelation: the inspiration, infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible. We believe the Word of God is inspired, that it is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). We accept that it is infallible, that by its very divine origin it cannot possibly err. And for the most part, we hold to the inerrancy of God’s Word, that it has, in fact, not erred in its original autographs. What we struggle with today is not its revelation but rather its relevance. Does the Word of God adequately address the issues of our time?

Amos makes a startling statement in Chapter 3, verse 7, of his prophecy: “For the Lord does nothing without revealing his secret to the prophets.” Alex Motyer explains this wonderful sentence to us. He writes,

To such an extent did Amos hold that prediction belonged to the essence of the prophetic office that he was ready to commit himself to the general principle that surely the Lord does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets ( 3:7). But there is also an aspect of this saying, which leads into our discussion of the inspiration of the prophet. The future which was the subject of his prediction was not merely ‘coming events,’ an exercise in crystal gazing or fortune telling; it was ‘God’s future,’ the coming acts of God as arising out of the nature of God and His reaction to the affairs on earth.⁹

When we look at verses 7 and 8 together, Motyer points out several things to us. First, God does have a divine policy for governing His world, announcing His intentions and driving forward His program: The Kingdom of God. Second, these prophets were only let in on God’s secret plans due to their fellowship with God. The word “revealing his secrets” reads more literally in Hebrew, “opening His fellowship.” Because God graciously brought them into His circle of grace and favor they were able to hear from God about life and eternity. Thirdly, the responsibility of this intimacy with God was to speak forth God’s message to all men: “Thus says the Lord”––whether people liked the message or rejected the revealed secrets.

I would suggest that in our reformed and evangelical doctrine of Scripture, we struggle with the idea of relevance because we doubt the Spirit’s illumination. Does God still have a masterplan for the Kingdom of God, even in a postmodern World? Is His Word still living, active and incisive with regard to the human experience (Heb. 4:12)? Does God love His people, the Church, and desire to share His heart and mind with us? The answer to all these questions is “Yes!” Moses clearly says so: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).

Here are the issues we struggle with: faith, intimacy and obedience. If we do not hear God’s voice in the Word it may well be that we don’t expect to do so. We doubt that God still speaks. If we feel that God is silent it may well be that we do not groom the art of intimacy with God the way Amos and his peer-prophets did. If we “can’t get anything out of the Word” it may well be that what we do get we don’t apply. We fail to obey the revelation we already know.

God is still building His Kingdom and still reacting to the affairs on earth. This indicates to me that God is very active in speaking to us. But a mind of unbelief, a distant soul and a heart of disobedience will stop the ears every time. Hear what the greatest of all the prophets had to say:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:9)

“But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:16-17)

PRAYING FOR THE PCA

CEP: Pray for our training conferences, such as Equip, Mercy Ministry, WIC Leadership, Christian and Home Schooling, and our six regional Children’s and Youth Conferences.

CC: Please pray for the implementation of a strategic plan that will strengthen the col-lege’s ability to equip our students and community to live out extraordinary callings in ordinary places for the glory of Christ.

MNA: Please pray that God will raise up more African American pastors through the leadership of Wy Plummer––pastors who will plant churches, pastor existing churches, serve as associate pastors, and start RUF ministries.

PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s grant recipients, that the funds they receive from us will result in material needs being met, souls saved and hearts encouraged.

RH: Pray for the Lord to provide at least 600 campers for summer camp. Pray that God’s Spirit will move in the life of each camper for coming to faith, growing in grace, and making a life-commitment to be His disciple.