Speaking Prophetically

2 Kings 8:1–15 NASB95

Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.” Then Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ” So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ” Then Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept. Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.” Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.” On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

INTRO: How many of you have taken a Spiritual Gifts Test? How many of you got your results and saw “prophecy” and were like, “huh?”

Over the past few months, we’ve been looking at the lives of two great prophets- Elijah and Elisha. These men were chosen by God to be spokesmen on His behalf. They performed a number of miracles and delivered messages from God. We’ve looked at these miracles as affirmations of the prophet’s status so that the people would listen and heed the words of the prophet.

The prophets in the OT times were given direct revelation from God- He would speak to them instructions and would show them things that were to come. With this understanding of a prophet, it’s no wonder that you folks whose spiritual gifts test results showed “prophesy” might be a bit reluctant to explore this gift.

Well, I have good news for you: The gift of prophecy in the church today works a bit different from the gift of the OT prophets. The times of direct new revelation from God have come to an end. In fact, Paul tells the Thessalonian church that

1 Thessalonians 5:20–21 NASB95

do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

IOW, the words of a prophet in the church must be tested against the clear revelation of Scripture. So, what does it mean to have the gift of prophecy? It means that you are gifted by God to speak the word of God. This is not the same as preaching. You see, prophesy carries the idea of timing. So, to have the gift of prophesy is to be gifted by God to speak the word of God into the situations and scenarios of the day.

This particular spiritual gift is a blessing upon the church body and is a gift we should all desire. Listen to the apostle’s words in

1 Corinthians 14:1 NASB95

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

Indeed, speaking prophetically in the church takes the form of exhortation, correction, disclosure of secret sin, encouragement, etc. This builds the church up. But, there’s yet another dimension of this gift that I want to bring to light. When we use our spiritual gifts, they are to reflect the nature and glory of God, the gift-giver.

This is evident in our passage today. In this section of Scripture, we will look at Elisha’s employment of his gift as a spokesman for God in both domestic and foreign settings. No matter where he was, his gifts reflected the God whom he represented. Today, we will look at 3 examples of speaking prophetically and connect them to the spiritual gift of prophecy today.

Whether you have this gift or not, pay close attention. After all, this gift is one that reveals the Word of God and His will. I’ve titled the message, “Speaking Prophetically”. I invite you to use the sermon guide in your bulletin as we study together.

Let us begin by observing that speaking prophetically means:

Warning of Judgment (1-6)

Let me read verses 1-2 again (READ)

Several weeks ago, we learned of this Shunammite woman. Here, she re-emerges and we see that before the famine hit the land- (Do you remember? ) -the famine that was the setting for the poisonous stew in chapter 4 - Elisha warned her so that she could avoid the judgment.

Evidently, her faithfulness and relationship with the man of God afforded her the opportunity to avoid the famine. She would have to sacrifice- leave her home and everything behind to do so, but she was warned.

Why did Elisha warn her? I believe that this act of speaking for God through warning was reflective of God’s compassion. This is further demonstrated in that the land she had, although apparently absorbed by the king in her absence, was restored to her (6). She heeded the words of Elisha - God’s warning - and was spared judgment and granted grace.

Those with the gift of prophecy today MUST warn of God’s judgment that has been revealed through His Word. Why? Because it would be unloving not to do so. Let me point you to what has been promised in

Revelation 20:11–15 NASB95

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Folks, there are too many people who want to just talk about the blessings of heaven like they are promised for every person. Scripture says

Luke 13:24 NASB95

“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

If we are not faithfully and compassionately warning others of the judgment that will come upon the earth- all those who have not been born again - then we are being disobedient. Let me read to you God’s Word through Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 33:7–9 NASB95

“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. “But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.

Speaking prophetically means warning others of judgment. This is an act of godly compassion. As we continue through our passage, we see that Speaking Prophetically also means:

Testifying of Truth (7-10)

Elisha has come to Aram where the king was sick. Now, a quick reminder here: God commanded Elijah to anoint Hazael to be king of Aram (1 Kings 19:15). So, in verse 13 when Elisha says that God has shown him that Hazael will be king, this is consistent with what we’ve already studied.

But, let’s read verses 9-10 again (READ)

When Elisha was asked about the king, he answered according to the Word God had given him. He did not stammer about nor did he avoid the question. The king would recover from the illness, but would die of unrelated causes.

Nothing is hidden from God and Elisha demonstrated this here. He spoke the truth even though it was hard- even though it was probably a bit awkward.

That’s the thing about speaking for God. You see, God cannot lie and so neither can we profess to speak on His behalf if we do not speak the truth- that means the whole truth. This reflects God’s Integrity.

Hazael got an answer to a question he didn’t actually ask. But it was an answer that revealed that God knew his heart- his motives and his sin. So too it might seem like we are answering a question nobody is asking, but the integrity of the Lord demands we speak the whole truth; that we testify of the whole counsel of God’s Word.

People might ask, “Is God a God of love?” and we might be tempted to just say “YES!” But we better not stop there.

I am heartbroken over how so many who claim to speak on behalf of God have abandoned the truth and instead have opted to cherry-pick verses and attributes and twist them into a cheap imitation of Christianity.

We absolutely should speak of the great love of God, but we MUST speak of it in context of the covenant God has made through His Son! God is holy and that demands that all who would come to Him be made holy.

Jesus Himself proclaimed:

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Further, he proclaimed

Luke 9:23 NASB95

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Speaking prophetically means that, from compassion we warn of judgment and in integrity we testify of truth. Finally, Speaking Prophetically means:

Weeping Over Evil (11-15)

Look with me at verses 11-12 (READ)

Elisha stared at Hazael and saw the evil in his heart. This prompted a response of weeping.

Now, there are all sorts of reasons one might weep- sorrow, loss - after all Elisha pointed out that Hazael would kill many people and destroy cities. But I think that the tears of the prophet were not merely over what would be the results of this evil, but rooted in concern over Hazael’s rejection of God and embrace of evil.

Elisha could see that Hazael was motivated by his own lust for power. Friends, you cannot serve both God and your sin.

“What fellowship has light with darkness?” ( 2 Cor. 6:14b)

As I was studying this, I thought of the other reactions Elisha could have had:

He could have been angry over Hazael’s heart.

He could have chosen to self-righteously punish Hazael

He could have thrown a pity-party because he felt rejected

But he wept, reflecting God’s heart “…not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance..” (2 Pet.. 3:9)

Or as one commentator said, “When judgment comes, there is an element of divine sadness in it. Tears fall with the fire and brimstone.”

This too must be true of those who speak on behalf of God today. The message we have from God is one which we must not minimize nor distort. It would be so easy to clamor about in our own self-righteousness and anger, saying things like “they are getting what they deserve” or “I told you so.”

But the real test of our calling is whether or not we share in God’s concern for the lost.

It is a serious thing to speak for God, and we must do so with the heart of God- the heart demonstrated through Elisha here; We must have the heart of Jesus who came to “Seek and save the lost”.

It is the concern of God for mankind that He raised up prophets to speak, for the people were like “sheep without a shepherd”. It’s the heart of concern that prompted Jesus to lament how he longed to gather Israel to him like a mother hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings. As Tony Merida stated:

Those whom God has gifted and called to speak on His behalf MUST do so in reflection of God’s character for His glory.

We are a Great Commission Church, let us be about His work and proclaim His Word - warning of judgment, testifying of truth, and weeping over evil.

Perhaps you are here this morning and for the first time you have heard a clear warning of God’s judgment. Maybe the truth of God’s holiness has begun to bring conviction in your life… I want you to hear me: I’m begging you to turn from your sins and follow Jesus.

You can take the next step by filling out one of those welcome cards or coming forward as we sing. Don’t wait, you come.

[PRAY]

Discuss: What characteristics of God are demonstrated in prophecy?

Discuss: How is prophecy today different from the days of Elisha?

Discuss: Paul said we should desire the gift of prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:1) Why?