Living as a Prophet

Abraham Heschel wrote two amazing books entitled “The Prophets I & II.” In them, he examined the biographies and writings of several Old Testament prophets to ascertain a description of their “consciousness” as they reported the thoughts of God, which resulted in Holy Scripture. His introduction states, “My aim, therefore, is to attain an understanding of the prophet through an analysis and description of his consciousness, to relate what came to pass in his life – facing man, being faced by God – as reflected and affirmed in his mind. By consciousness, in other words, I mean here not only the perception of particular moments of inspiration but also the totality of impressions, thoughts, and feelings which make up the prophet’s being.” The uniqueness of each Scripture writer’s experience and mindset provides the rich canvas through which God delivers His truth and character to those who gaze on the Scriptures.

In 2 Peter 1:20-21, But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. These verses teach that the human writers of the Scriptures did not receive their words by some dictation method. What they wrote was thus inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). "Borne along" or "carried along" may be a better translation. Luke used this word in referring to a sailing vessel carried along by the wind (Acts 27:15,17). Still, the truths they spoke of were ingested into their lives organically, and the result was that each one provided a distinct perspective on the truths they reported. For evidence of this, we need only to look at the differences in reporting of and emphasis for the same or similar events of the four gospels. 

Point of View

The prophet’s task is to convey a divine view, yet as a person, he is a point of view. He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation. We must seek to understand not only the views he expounded but also the attitudes he embodied: his own position, feeling, response – not only what he said but also what he lived; the private, the intimate dimension of the word, the subjective side of the message.        The Prophets, Introduction, Abraham Heschel

Examining the mindset observable in the writings of the prophets of the Old Testament can provide valuable insight into the men of God throughout history who have learned to walk and commune with their God. Do they not represent the same character and commitment required of those who truly walk in step with Jesus Christ in the Age of Grace we now occupy? They were chosen because they could look beyond the humanity of life and into the very heart of God. They developed an ability to hear His voice and a willingness to venture outside their comfort zones in service to God.

The prophet is a person, not a microphone. He is endowed with a mission, with the power of a word not his own that accounts for his greatness – but also temperament, concern, character, and individuality. As there is no resisting the vortex of his own temperament. The word of God reverberated in the voice of man.          The Prophets, Introduction, Abraham Heschel

Living in Opposition 

The world in which man occupies is controlled by “the prince of the power of the air," who has his own agenda and manages his own system (cosmos) apart from the will and purposes of God. Therefore, the environment in which the believer operates opposes the world, just as the Spirit opposes the flesh (Galatians 5:17). The believer has a mighty warrior on his side to be a defender. He is the One who rights all that is wrong. The world presents all kinds of trials and tests that the Lord uses to try men's hearts for His purposes and to "deliver the soul of the needy” (Jeremiah 20:13). It represents the integration of God’s life within man to expose wickedness wherever it is found. 

To a person endowed with prophetic sight, everyone else appears blind; to a person whose ear perceives God’s voice, everyone else appears deaf. No one is just; no knowing is strong enough, no trust complete enough. The prophet hates the approximate; he shuns the middle of the road. Man must live on the summit to avoid the abyss. There is nothing to hold except God. Carried away by the challenge, the demand to straighten out man’s ways, the prophet is strange, one-sided, an unbearable extremist.

Others may suffer from the terror of cosmic aloneness; the prophet is overwhelmed by the grandeur of divine presence. He is incapable of isolating the world. There is an interaction between man and God which to disregard is an act of insolence. Isolation is a fairy tale.

Where an idea is the father of faith, faith must conform to the idea of the given system. In the Bible, the realness of God came first, and the task was to live in a way compatible with His presence. Man’s co-existence with God determines the course of history.

The prophet disdains those for whom God’s presence is comfort and security; to him, it is a challenge, an incessant demand. God is compassion, not compromise; justice, though not inclemency. The prophet’s predictions can always be proved wrong by a change in man’s conduct, but never the certainty that God is full of compassion.

The prophet’s word is a scream in the night. While the world is at ease and asleep, the prophet feels the blast from heaven.      The Prophets, Chapter 1, Abraham Heschel

Theantric Action

The last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets was John the Baptist. His public ministry as the forerunner of the Messiah was short-lived but manifested to the Jews of Jesus’s day the integration of God’s life into a man’s life in a profound way. According to Matthew 3:4, he wore “a garment of camel hairs and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locust and honey.” He lived a wilderness life, apart from society, and was used mightily to bring many to repentance of sin through baptism in the Jordan River. I know some believers with this same spirit and commitment to a higher purpose. They have consciously forsaken the simplest worldly benefits for the divine cause. They have embraced the higher life without regret and are experiencing theantric action. Pastor Carl Stevens, who coined the phrase, defined theantric action as “the fulness to overflowing of God’s divine nature in the human vessel which is surrendered to the plan of God.” In 2 Peter 1:4, For by these, He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 

According to Barnes Notes, partakers of the divine nature can be described as: 

(1) That it is directly contrary to all the notions of "Pantheism" - or the belief that all things are NOW God or a part of God—for it is said that the object of the promise is that we "may become partakers of the divine nature," not that we are now.

(2) It cannot be taken in so literal a sense as to mean that we can ever partake of the divine "essence" or that we shall be "absorbed" into the divine nature to lose our individuality. This idea is held by the Buddhists, and the perfection of being is supposed by them to consist in such absorption or in losing their own individuality, and their ideas of happiness are graduated by the approximation which may be made to that state. But this cannot be the meaning here because:

(a) It is, in the nature of the case," impossible. There must be forever an essential difference between a created and an uncreated mind.

(b) This would argue that the Divine Mind is not perfect. If this absorption was necessary to the completeness of the character and happiness of the Divine Being, then he was imperfect before; if before perfect, he would NOT be after the absorption of an infinite number of finite and imperfect minds.

(c) In all the representations of heaven in the Bible, the idea of "individuality" is one that is prominent. "Individuals" are represented everywhere as worshippers there, and there is no intimation that the separate existence of the redeemed is to be absorbed and lost in the essence of the Deity. Whatever is to be the condition of man hereafter, he is to have a separate and individual existence, and the NUMBER of intelligent beings is never to be diminished either by annihilation or by their being united to any other spirit so that they shall become ONE.

The Divine Nature

In reality, this divine nature speaks to the very characteristics of who God is: He is perfectly righteous, holy, just, merciful, and compassionate, and He does not change according to the situation or circumstance. The essence of who He is far exceeds man’s nature and ability, yet God has granted us the opportunity to partner with Him in these realities without perfection. In John 12:36, Jesus said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” It is a man's faith in the light, a willingness to trust completely in that light that connects him to the divine nature. In 1 Corinthians 6:17, But the one who joins himself to [present passive participle of kollao – unites to] the Lord is one spirit [heart] with Him. The essence of this unity is agreement (Amos 3:3). 

Barnes Notes again makes comment: 

We shall have an "eternity" before us to grow in knowledge, and in holiness, and in conformity to God. Here, we attempt to climb the hill of knowledge, and having gone a few steps while the top is still lost in the clouds—we lie down and die. We look at a few things, become acquainted with a few elementary principles, make a little progress in virtue, and then all our studies and efforts are suspended, and "we fly away." In the future world, we shall have an "eternity" before us to make progress in knowledge, virtue, and holiness uninterrupted, and who can tell in what exalted sense it may yet be true that we shall be "partakers of the divine nature," or what attainments we may yet make?

The Greek word koinoenos has the sense of a partner or companion and speaks of one who is the companion with whom he partakes in something. It is also used in Hebrews 3:14, For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, and is attached to a condition, “if.” This condition relates to how the believer carries on his daily life in conjunction with holding steadfast, katechoe bebaios, to hold on with intensity in a spiritual sense, to the convictions that properly define his relationship to Christ. Paul states it another way in Ephesians 5:18, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit in opposition to worldly influences.

Subjectivity vs. Objectivity

By insisting on the absolutely objective and supernatural nature of prophecy, dogmatic theology has disregarded the prophet’s part in the prophetic act. Stressing revelation, it has ignored the response; isolating inspiration, it has lost sight of the human situation. In contrast with what may be called “pan-theology,” psychologists have sought to deduce prophecy entirely from the inner life of the prophets. Reducing it to a subjective personal phenomenon, they have disregarded the prophet’s awareness of his confrontation with facts not derived from his own mind.  The Prophets, Introduction, Abraham Heschel

Like the prophet of old, the new covenant believer recognizes the anchor provided by the Word of God, the canon of Scripture, that proves objectivity in living under submission to what God has said, and not subjectively, where he can be deceived. Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.