Today's Scripture Reading (July 18, 2025): 1 Chronicles 17
I received an email a while back from someone who purported to be
a prophet of God. He was an unknown to me, but attached to the message was a
chapter from his book. I enjoy reading, so I thought I would read a little of
what this prophet had written. I was a little amused that the attached chapter
of his book was written as if it were part of the Bible. The author had
inserted verse numbers throughout the document. It was something that the
original prophets had not done. The verse numbers in the Bible are a late
addition and not part of the original document. But I felt that this
contemporary prophet somehow believed that the addition of verse numbers gave
him some form of authority.
The chapter from my prophet was relatively standard stuff. It
was complete with typical warnings about the wrath of God if we did not change.
There were warnings about the worship styles of the church, framed in the same
way a Hebrew Prophet might have written them, which could be found in the
Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. He made accusations that the church has moved to
follow idols instead of the one true God. There was a plea for monetary support
so that the prophet could continue his ministry. (No, I did not give him any.)
There was a fundamental problem. I had no connection with this
prophet except in his writing, which appeared to be designed to get my trust
simply by resembling the prophecies of the biblical writers. There is
a reason why I often include personal details in my writing. If you read my
blog regularly, I would like you to get at least a sense of who I am. Why else
would you place any trust in me? (And I try not to make any grandiose
prophecies in my writing because you don't have any reason to trust what I
might say.)
Nathan hears the word of God, and then he goes and tells David the
entire revelation. But Nathan had an advantage; David
knew Nathan and had come to trust, and even depend, on him.
Nathan had never told David, "This is what God
says," when God had not spoken. So, when Nathan speaks, David has the
assurance that the words are coming from God.
Not all prophets had the same advantage. When
Elijah walks into the presence of King Ahab, Elijah is a
complete unknown. And, in some ways, it is no wonder that Ahab didn't believe
him when Elijah announced the approaching drought. He had no reason
to think that Elijah had told him what God had said. But by
the time of the encounter at Mount Carmel, Ahab should have known that it was
Israel's God who spoke through this itinerant prophet.
And it is this same problem that exists with the modern phenomenon
of the traveling or email prophet. We need more Nathans who are willing
to spend their entire ministries in one place. Or even a Paul, who was prepared to
go and spend enough time in one place that the
people could get to know them and trust that what he
said was really the word of God.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1
Chronicles 18
See also 2 Samuel 7:17
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