Prophecy- outsiders within

Prophecy: Speaking for God/Truth

“An oral, divine message mediated through an individual that is directed at a person or people group and intended to elicit a specific response.”

1.Fortelling

2.Warning, Admonishing, Rebuking, Exhorting, Comforting (tidings of salvation)

designed to elicit: Repentance (Hos 6:1–3; Joel 1:13–20),

Trust ((Isa 40)

or specific action (go or don’t go)

Moses is archetypal in mediating the divine message.

Abraham lived a prophetic example

David reached past human knowledge through worship

Prophet is in all three gift lists

Super priority. God wants us to fixate on his truths and he wants us to prioritize hearing from him.

People willing to say things people may not want to hear is a necessary function for the religious community.

If there isn’t room for the prophet we can only become self affirming and full of confirmation

God wants us individually and corporately to make space to be confronted and challenged and examine ourselves.

1 Cor 14:5 shows the outward facing nature of the gift.

Motivation of Prophecy:

In this list of gifts, the way to understand the motivation is that it is the answer for the question of Why- why am i here, why are the things that i think are important are important to me, why do i engage with the world the way i do, what is my domain, where will i be fullfilled, why do i see the things I do and think the things i think.

Truth is the primary motivation

all of these gifts as a part of the composite that makes up the λογοσ the whole man, they are all good. Everyone should prioritize truth, but for the prophet motivated, what they see of it transcends all other motivations. I don’t care who you are or what you are or how you feel about it this IS.

can be truth rather than THE TRUTH- environmentalism, political freedom, community, a doctrine.

Peter is the token character of a prophet motivation-

King James Version Chapter 12

9 Let love be iwithout dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good

Strengths and Weaknesses of the prophetic motivation

Strengths

truth orientation

not prone to fear of man

good at judging and assessing consistency (just balance)

God given sense of the danger of compromise

quick and sensitive to sin/error

advocates for action

usually willing to pay price for conviction- alter course when shown error

cant be quiet- outspoken

confident

very low tolerance for hypocrisy

good at evaluating motives

not swayed by emotions

Weaknesses:

not an excuse to be a jerk

don’t neglect all but your pet truth(s)

make room in your life for someone to speak truth to you (david and nathan)

2 Pet 2 Consensus is important- feedback and input keep the gift on track

can be negatively hyper focused

Main passages 1 Cor 13, Letter to church at Ephesus

cant be quiet- brash or insensitive

proud/intolerant

blind to self- outward focused

not considerate of emotions

prone to dwell on negatives