Prophets deal
with sin in the congregation and sin in the ministry.
Moses was with God where he was receiving the laws of God for the people, what is right in the sight of God.
Exodus 32:7-9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Moses was with God where he was receiving the laws of God for the people, what is right in the sight of God.
Exodus 32:7-9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
*****
God told Moses what the people were doing. God brought their sins to the attention of Moses.
Then when Moses saw it, he was furious over their sins.
Exodus 32:15-20 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
And he (Moses) said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
(These people are not worthy of receiving commandments of God. I've thought that often as I have seen what church people are doing.)
And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
*****
The prophet that is of God will become very angry over the sin in the congregation. And he may take severe action against the minister and the congregation when he sees such. And God will approve the prophet in his action.
It is judgment that appeases God and even keeps the wrath of God back from the congregation.
Consider Phinehas:
Numbers 25:6-13 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly.
So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned MY wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for MY sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in MY jealousy.
Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him MY covenant of peace:
And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood;
because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
*****
Through the shedding of blood, the wrath of God is appeased.
Jesus is the atonement for the NT church.
But consider the following:
Hebrews 10:25-31 ... But exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
*****
Therefore the prophets in the church today will warn the congregation concerning sin.
I Corinthians 6:9-11
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
John 8 ... Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery: "Go ... and sin no more."
No one can continue in the sins he was committing before he was born again. After you are born again, to continue in your previous sins will bring the wrath of God upon you. None of us who are born again should ever consider doing our previous sins.
Don't we want to serve God and to please God after God has given the magnificent gift of life to us through Jesus?
*****
After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, HE gave gifts to the church in the form of ministers to help the church to continue in the way of God.
Ephesians 4:11-12 And HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
God shows prophets sin in the ministry and sin in the congregation, just as God showed the prophet Moses sin the congregation was doing in building and worshipping the golden calf.
This is the role of prophets in the church.
Several years ago, I was having coffee with two Baptist women. One woman began talking about a woman at their church. Pastor was building a new church building. She said this woman was against what pastor was doing. She said, "What do you think might be wrong with this woman?"
Without any thought, I replied, "Maybe she's a prophet."
Because of their calling and the way God uses them, prophets often see things very differently from other people in the church. It can look wonderful to the more fleshly people. But the same thing to a prophet can be disastrous.
A woman in our church group was planning to marry.
Without any solid evidence that I can recall, I was troubled. Another prophet in our group was also troubled. We both warned this woman.
She postponed the wedding.
A few weeks after this, her fiancé told her his adult aged son was planning to marry a divorced woman.
She told him this would be adultery according to Bible.
Matthew 5:32 Jesus said: whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Her fiancé said he was a Christian.
But after she told him what the Bible said, he no longer wanted to marry her.
This warning from God from two prophets saved her much grief in the years to come.
Often prophets have no real evidence. They are just troubled. So they must report it when this is the case.
Seriousness of a prophet's work:
Ezekiel 3:18-19 (God says) When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Notice the apostle Paul speaking about being free from the blood of all because he delivered to them the messages of God.
Acts 20:26-27 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
We are accountable if God gives us a word and we fail to share that word and harm comes to another because we withheld that word.
God used all these scriptures to prepare me for the work I would be doing in the church today.
Ephesians 4:11-12 And HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
God shows prophets sin in the ministry and sin in the congregation, just as God showed the prophet Moses sin the congregation was doing in building and worshipping the golden calf.
This is the role of prophets in the church.
*****
Several years ago, I was having coffee with two Baptist women. One woman began talking about a woman at their church. Pastor was building a new church building. She said this woman was against what pastor was doing. She said, "What do you think might be wrong with this woman?"
Without any thought, I replied, "Maybe she's a prophet."
*****
Because of their calling and the way God uses them, prophets often see things very differently from other people in the church. It can look wonderful to the more fleshly people. But the same thing to a prophet can be disastrous.
A woman in our church group was planning to marry.
Without any solid evidence that I can recall, I was troubled. Another prophet in our group was also troubled. We both warned this woman.
She postponed the wedding.
A few weeks after this, her fiancé told her his adult aged son was planning to marry a divorced woman.
She told him this would be adultery according to Bible.
Matthew 5:32 Jesus said: whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Her fiancé said he was a Christian.
But after she told him what the Bible said, he no longer wanted to marry her.
This warning from God from two prophets saved her much grief in the years to come.
Often prophets have no real evidence. They are just troubled. So they must report it when this is the case.
*****
Seriousness of a prophet's work:
Ezekiel 3:18-19 (God says) When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Notice the apostle Paul speaking about being free from the blood of all because he delivered to them the messages of God.
Acts 20:26-27 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
We are accountable if God gives us a word and we fail to share that word and harm comes to another because we withheld that word.
God used all these scriptures to prepare me for the work I would be doing in the church today.
*****