Ellen G. White

The Gift of Prophecy in Full View

Spirit of Prophecy Series Sabbath, April 20, 2013Sabbath Afternoon, April 20, 2013Wednesday, April 24, 2013

New Haven SDA Church

Spilling the SecretPrepared by: Nathalee McKnight2

Would you like to be a prophet?3Spilling the Secret

Would you like to have a neighbor as a prophet?4Spilling the Secret

JeremiahThe weeping Prophet 40 years of ministry

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John the BaptistHe wore camel hair and munched on locust

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JonahThe Runaway Prophet

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Isaiah The prophet God demanded to walk stark naked through Jerusalem to make a theological point

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DebraDebra the Prophetess But shes a mere woman9

Noah The man that lived with the zoo

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JesusA great prophet, He kept bad company, hung out with prostitutes and riff-raffs, fishermen, invalids

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The word prophet is found over 300 times in the Old Testament and over 100 times in the New Testament. It comes from two Greek words pro meaning before, or in place of and fayme meaning to speak.Secret Spillers12

Secret SpillersSurely the Lord does nothing, unless He reveals His secrets to his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7 Prophets are confidants or Secret-spillers13

Stands in SecretA prophet is far more than a messenger from God. The prophet is one who stands in the presence of GodJer 15:19 and Jer 23:18 - one who stands in the council)Council in Hebrew means secret14

Brings HopeThe prophet is in participation in the council of God, not merely a bearer of dispatches whose function is limited to errandsThe prophet is a counsellor as well as a messenger (The Prophets Volume 1 p.23)15

Who Appoints Prophets?4Now Yahwehs word came to me, saying, 5Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.16Jeremiah 1: 4 -10

17Who Appoints Prophets?Prophets are not self-appointed. They never brag or show-off about the calling. None want to fill the post. No one can learn to be a prophet. God appoints prophets to do his divine work.

6Then I said, Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I dont know how to speak; for I am a child.7But Yahweh said to me, Dont say, I am a child; for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. 18Jeremiah 1: 4 -10 How Do Prophets React to the Appointment?

8 Dont be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you, says Yahweh.9Then Yahweh stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 19Jeremiah 1: 4 -10

10Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.20Jeremiah 1: 4 -10

21How Do the Prophets React to the AppointmentProphets submit or protestAbraham felt unworthyMoses reaction send any body, just not meIsaiah said Woe is me, for I am undone. I live among people with unclean lips

Hosea 9:7 NIVThe days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand, Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac.22

Gerhard von Rad The picture we see is of a man appointed to hear the word of God. As a result of this divine call he surrenders much of his freedom-occasionally he is completely overwhelmed by an external compulsion:23

But paradoxically, just because he has received this call he is able to enjoy an entirely new kind of freedom. Drawn into ever more and more close converse with God, he is privy to the divine purposes and is thereby given the authority to enter into a unique kind of converse with men. Old Testament Theology, Volume II, p.7624Gerhard von Rad

25Abraham J. HeschelThe prophet bears scorn and reproach (Jer 15:15). He is stigmatized as a madman by his contemporaries, and, by some modern scholars, as abnormal. The Prophets, Volume 1, p.17-18

WarningProphets usually come with urgent warnings but we are also warned how to treat prophets1 Chron.16:22 NASV"Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm."26

Matthew 23:31-34 (KJV)31Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

27Jesus the Prophet Warned

Matthew 23:31-34 (KJV)

34Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

28Jesus the Prophet Warned

Matthew 23:37 (NASB)

37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

29Jesus the Prophet Warned

Amos 7: 1-3 (KJV)

1Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.Prophets Can Change the Mind of God30

2And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.Prophets Can Change the Mind of God31

As read in Amos 7:2 - When the lives of others are at stake, the prophet does not say, Thy will be done! But rather, Thy will be changed.Prophets Can Change the Mind of God32

3The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.Prophets Can Change the Mind of God33

A prophet is close to God, He can change the mind of God. When the secret is revealed, it is one of woe as in Amos 3:7, Amos does not hesitate to challenge the intention of the Lord.

Prophets Can Change the Mind of God34

Same thing with the prophet Abraham. When God cast judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham asked, if you find 50, 45, 40, 30 20, 10.Prophets Can Change the Mind of God35

It was God himself who invited Abraham to the negotiating table. The Lord was looking on the extreme wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and was getting ready to judge these two cities. But before he did, he said; "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing"? (Genesis 18:17)36

Prophets Can Change the Mind of God

37Numbers 12: 6-8 6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.How Did the Prophets Receive Messages?

38How Did the Prophets Receive Messages?7My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

Numbers 12: 6-8

39How Did the Prophets Receive Messages?The divine messages were delivered by visions, by dreams or by divine voice.

Adventists believe that some prophecy, such as Jonah's prophecy regarding Nineveh was conditional. (Jonah 3:1-5, 4)

Other Conditional Prophecies

(Jeremiah 18:7-10, 2 Kings 20:1-6, Jeremiah 26:17-19).40Conditional Prophecy

41Jeremiah 36: 1-6How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?1And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

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423It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. 4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.Jeremiah 36: 1-6

435And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord: 6Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.Jeremiah 36: 1-6

44Jeremiah 36: 1-65And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord: 6Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.

4523And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.Jeremiah 36: 23

46Jeremiah 36: 27-2827Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,28Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.

4732Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.Jeremiah 36: 32

Jeremiah tells us that when he re-wrote his message for king Jehoiakim he "added besides unto them many like words", he was not confined to the use of only his original words in expressing his message.48How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

49The process of inspiration is divine but it is also human. As Jeremiah wrote again he remembered some of the things God had said, those he didnt include first and he added thoseHow Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

50Divine revelation inspired a prophets thoughts. Which he then shaped into words that either he or an assistant then transcribed into the written Word of GodHow Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

51The bible prophets who wrote, were not Gods pen; they were rather Gods penman. God limits himself to the humans ability to communicate.How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

52Thus it is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but rather the writers of the bible.How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

532 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

54The inspiration for the prophets of God are different from us being inspired today. How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

Enoch and Elijah was taken to heaven without seeing deathJohn the Baptist the greatest prophet to come from a womans wombNathan, Noah, Abraham.None of their writings made it in the book but no one can question their divine authority55Do All Prophets Have Their Writings Recorded in the Bible?

The Bible reveals that God's messengers exhibited a degree of freedom in deciding what to write and how best to present it. Many prophets delivered messages orally, and thus no written account was preserved at all. In addition, God did not see fit even to preserve the messages of some prophets who had written out their messages 1 Chron. 29:29

56How Did the Prophetic Gift Work?

57Vindication for ProphetsThe prophets mission and message are eventually divinely vindicated, though by then the prophet is either martyred or has disappeared into obscurity.

Matthew 5:12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. All the prophets have either died or been martyred.58Vindication for Prophets

The relationship manifested through the gift of prophecy was utterly essential and strategic in the divine gift of salvation.Two gifts the creator gave the human race because he could no longer enjoy face to face communication with man

Two Gifts59

1. The gift of prayer 24 hours a day and2. The gift of prophecyTwo Gifts60

Two Gifts God cannot talk to us face to face, He cannot dwell with us. Darkness and light cannot co-habit. We have sins in our lives, so Gods holiness would kill us.61

Prophecy connects humans with God God is doing everything possible to save us and to keep connected to us. Two Gifts62

Purpose of the Gift of ProphecyThe gift of prophet is a gift given by the Christ for the laying of the foundation of the church. Prophets were foundational to the church (Eph. 2:20). The prophet proclaims a message from the Lord to the early believers. The early Christians did not have the complete Bible.63

Some early Christians did not have access to any of the books of the New Testament. The New Testament prophets filled the gap by proclaiming Gods message to the people who would not have access to it otherwise. The last book of the New Testament (Revelation) was not completed until late in the first century. So, the Lord sent prophets to proclaim Gods Word to His people.

64Purpose of the Gift of Prophecy

Can God give someone a message to deliver to someone else? Absolutely! Does God reveal truth to someone in a supernatural way and enable that person to deliver that message to others? Absolutely! But is this the biblical gift of prophecy? No.

65Purpose of the Gift of Prophecy

Before every major chapter of judgement, God spills the secret to His prophets so that you and I will have an opportunity to be saved.Before every major chapter of salvation history, God reveals His his secrets to the servants the prophets

Salvation History66

2 Peter 1:19-2019We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

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2 Peter 1:19-2020Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

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Before every major chapter of salvation history, God raised up a prophet to announce the divine secret of impending salvation event. Here are just seven chapters of Salvation HistorySalvation History69

Genesis 6:5-14 and 225And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.Chapter 1 - The Flood 70

Genesis 6:5-14 and 22

6And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

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7And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 6:5-14 and 2272

22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Genesis 6:5-14 and 22 (KJV)73

When we get to heaven we have so many questions to ask Noah? How did you feel proclaiming a message that could not be proven? And how did you feel proclaiming the same message for 120 years? And why did you drink and get drunk after the flood?NOAH74

God doesnt look for perfect people, but willing people. People who will proclaim the thus saith the Lord, despite their shortcomings.NOAH75

God raised up a people, a terrible set of stiff-necked people. A people who would be responsible for the gospel, and spreading the light to the world. Chapter 2 - The Choosen76

Abraham77Gal 3:6-9 MKJV Even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. (v.7) Therefore know that those of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. (v.8) And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations through faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all nations be blessed." (v.9) So then those of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Chapter 3 - The ExodusExodus 3: 9-109 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

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Moses7910 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.Exodus 3: 10

Chapter 4 - The Exile8016 Restrain your voice from weeping. Your eyes from shedding tears; For there is reward for your labor Declares the Lord They shall return from the enemy's landJer. 31:16-17

Jeremiah et al81And there is hope for your future declares the Lord, The children shall return to their country. Jer. 31:16-17

Et alFor 3 centuries God sends prophet after prophet, begging, beseeching His choosen people to come back they were copying pagan neighbors, worshipping false gods82

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But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always 84Hosea 12:6, NIV).

Matthew 24:15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)Chapter 5- The Return85

Daniel et AlDaniel connects the Old and New Testaments. Through Daniel, God revealed the exact date month and year of Messiah death (Christ) and events leading to His return. 86

Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel and Jeremiah all three being in Jerusalem when Daniel and his friend were taken captive to Babylon. In 605 B.C. Daniel, was a young man probably about 14 to 15 years of age. Jeremiah was was about 36 years of age. Ezekiel was 22-years old in 605 B.C.87Daniel et Al

Chapter 6 - The Coming of the Messiah 188Luke 1:17 (KJV)

17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

John the Baptist89As a prophet, John the Baptist was a novelty in Israel at this time. For nearly 400 years God had not spoken through the prophets (see Isaiah 29:10). Suddenly, from the Judean wilderness a voice began to cry out, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near (Matt. 3:2). Some listened, confessed sins, repented and got baptized.

Chapter 7 - The Coming Part 2Revelation 1:1-3 (KJV)1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:90

Revelation 1:1-3 (KJV)John the Revelator912Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.3Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Females - ProphetessesSome argue that God doesnt choose females to lead but the bible identifies a number of female leaders and prophetesses:

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Three were married - Deborah - Judges 4:4 Huldah - 2 Kings 22:14-20 Isaiah's wife - Isaiah 8:3One was a widow - Anna - Luke 2:36

Females - Prophetesses93

Four were virgins at the time - Philip's daughters Acts 21:8-9Marital status not mentioned - Miriam - Exodus 15:20-21 Noadiah - Nehemiah 6:14 NLT

Females - Prophetesses94

Gods prophetic office/gift is not limited by gender, its trans-gender95Females - Prophetesses

Here is another female God called to Spill the Secret

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We have learnt, that it is consistent that before every major event, God would raise up a prophet.

Why was Ellen G. White raised up?What secret must she spill?97

Join me later for more What About the Critics?

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God bless you!

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