{"id":91495,"date":"2024-09-03T15:11:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91495"},"modified":"2024-09-03T16:05:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:05:41","slug":"how-will-god-speak-to-me-part-3-of-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91495","title":{"rendered":"How will God speak to me?\u00a0(Part 3 of 5)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span> thepreacherdiary.com<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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  1. \u00a0Prophets<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    This is the channel we are most familiar with: prophets, who stand as connections between God and mortals; persons anointed to be able to see into the spiritual realms, as most others cannot.\u00a0 When people are not sure about the will of God, they usually seek to a prophet of God.\u00a0 For example, it took a prophet to tell David that he was not supposed to build the temple of God (2 Samuel 7:4-13).\u00a0 When the people of Israel wanted to know the mind of God in the closing days of the Kingdom of Judah, they went to Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 42:1-4).<\/div>\n
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    In this broad category of \u201cprophet,\u201d we would put all inspired agents of divine utterance, whether they be pastors or teachers or prayer partners; anyone who becomes the third-party instrument for a message from God.\u00a0 In other words, in this general respect, \u201cprophet\u201d would refer not only to those who stand in that specific office or go by the title but also everyone through whom God speaks to someone else, or to whom one seeks for the voice of God on a matter; in some sense, a \u2019seer,\u2019 or \u2018inspired knower.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    To the extent that the \u2018prophet\u2019 in this context is any human intermediary between God and humans, anyone through whom the voice of God comes to others, we shall consider two important scriptures, one from the Old and the other from the New Testament: 1 Samuel 28:6 and Matthew 23:34.\u00a0 Both passages describe the channels or\u00a0persons<\/b>\u00a0whom God uses to reach others, and the\u00a0means<\/b>\u00a0by which they convey their message.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    The Messengers and their Means<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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    And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets<\/i>\u00a0(1 Samuel 28:6).<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
    While this verse tells us that God did not answer King Saul, and states the channels by which God did not answer him, it also reveals the ways by which God could have answered him, and ultimately the ways or channels by which God speaks to people:<\/div>\n
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    1. dreams,<\/li>\n
    2. the Urim,<\/li>\n
    3. prophets.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      Dreams<\/b>\u00a0are personal revelations from God; they are visions that come directly to the person concerned.\u00a0 Even when it comes to a person for another person, there would usually be a connection. Dreams would then technically not belong in our \u2018prophetic\u2019 class as it is direct personal communication rather than through a third party, as with No. 2 and No. 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      The\u00a0urim and thummin,<\/b>\u00a0described as \u201clights and perfections\u201d or \u201clight and truth,\u201d were objects of divination in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:30; Num 27:21; 8:8).\u00a0\u00a0 What they are or how they are used remains unclear, but they seemed to have been objects that the priest consulted on the behalf of the people to get a Yes or No on matters, like going to war or not, etc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      By extension, we can align those to be the voice of God through the channel of the priest, the shepherd, the preacher, the pastor, in congregational context.\u00a0 By further extension, sermons and third-party counsels by which God grants direction to people could be brought under this class.\u00a0 Like the priest who consults those divine objects to determine the mind of God, the pastor consults the Bible to divine the mind of God, receiving a\u00a0rhema<\/i>\u00a0unplanned for someone. \u00a0Like the\u00a0prophet<\/b>, he is an external witness; God\u2019s messenger on a matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      In Matthew 23:34, Jesus lists\u00a0three kinds of messengers<\/b>\u00a0that God sends to the world, but they are mentioned in terms of the\u00a0modes<\/b>\u00a0of their function:<\/div>\n
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      1. \u00a0prophets,<\/li>\n
      2. wise men,<\/li>\n
      3. scribes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        They are all third-party messengers.\u00a0 They differ only in how they convey their message: prophets generally speak out, from inspiration; wise men speak from inspired experience, giving counsel; scribes write.\u00a0 Any of those can be a source of guidance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

        Could it be the voice of God if an \u2018epistle,\u2019 like this, or a book, spoke so timely to me about a matter?\u00a0 Paul spoke much through that channel to the churches.\u00a0 Also, if elders should advise someone on what to do or not to do, could God be using them when they do not have the title of a prophet or pastor?\u00a0 According to Hebrews 5:14, can age and experience be trusted to guide? Is the written wisdom of Solomon less authentic as the word of God than the prophecies of Isaiah?<\/div>\n
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        And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he\u00a0<\/i>counselled<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in those days, was as if a man had enquired at\u00a0<\/i>the oracle of God<\/i><\/b>: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom<\/i>\u00a0(2 Samuel 16:23, KJV).<\/div>\n
        Absalom followed Ahithophel\u2019s\u00a0<\/i>advice<\/i><\/b>, just as David had done. For every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God\u00a0<\/i>(2 Samuel 16:23, New Living Translation).<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \u25cf From The Preacher\u2019s diary, <\/i><\/b>August 13, 2024.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        By thepreacherdiary.com \u00a0Prophets This is the channel we are most familiar with: prophets, who stand as connections between God and mortals; persons anointed to be able to see into the spiritual realms, as most others cannot.\u00a0 When people are not sure about the will of God, they usually seek to a prophet of God.\u00a0 For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772],"tags":[201,2310,6743],"class_list":["post-91495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","tag-god","tag-prophet","tag-speak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}