Those famous words of song are from the musical, Fiddler on the Roof. It is sung as parents who look over their lives to wonder where all the time went as the children have quickly grown up. Years pass by when it seems as a blink of the eyes. Likewise, what we read in scripture that what appears as a blink of the eye, actually takes place over years.
As I alluded to in my last post, no prophets when they started out their day
did not start out with the intent of prophesying. I do not think Elijah was
thinking, “I think I will go share the Word of the Lord with King Ahab,
kill a bunch of his prophets, get his wife mad at me, and run for my life and
hide out in a cave.”
Let us rewind. God called Elijah to prophesy a drought:
- 1 Kings 17:1 NASB – 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
Next, after an unspecified time the brook dried up. So we know it had to be from several weeks to several months before God spoke to him again:
- 1 Kings 17:7-9 NASB – 7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Then after these things we read Elijah fed the woman and her family for quite a while:
- 1 Kings 17:15 NASB – 15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for [many] days.
Then again there was another passage of time:
- 1 Kings 17:17 NASB – 17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
Then we read at last after prophesying the drought:
- 1 Kings 18:1 NASB – 1 Now it happened [after] many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of
the earth.”
When we accurately read scripture, God spoke to Elijah 5 times over a three-year period. Yet howmany prophets today insist that God speaks to them daily for prophesy? The unspoken theology is that to be known as a prophet one must have divine revelation daily. The pattern laid out by the Holy Spirit in scripture repeatedly over and over is that prophesy occurs over gaps of years.
We ignore such verses as James:
- James 1:19 NASB – 19 [This] you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak [and] slow to anger;
I think this is one of the primary reasons that modern day prophets have made a fool over themselves with recent events here in the United States. Like, Peter, the me-too prophets are too quick to offer their opinion and guidance when it has not been asked for by God. They are more interested in keeping their name and reputation out there on YouTube and TV Land to make money as they build up their own ministries instead of entering into the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are called to pray for those in authority. Not that we may do great things for God, but to lead a tranquil and quiet life. Too many me-too prophets want to prophesy against those in authority.
- 1 Timothy 2:1-3 NASB – 1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties [and] prayers, petitions [and] thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
Our impressions are that to live for God we have to have a life of miracles daily. Yet God has something far different in mind for our lives. I like what John Wimber once said: “I am tired of hearing about great men of God instead of hearing about the great God of men.”
Jesus reminded us that:
- Luke 22:26 NASB – 26 “But [it is] not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.
And:
- Luke 9:23 NASB – 23 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.
While God may move us to prophesy only a handful of times over several years, the opportunity to serve one another and sacrifice our own interests arises daily. But we miss out on so much of the Kingdom of God because we are too busy trying to make a name for ourselves instead of making a name for the Kingdom of God. And if we are not careful, we will one day look back at our lives like a blink of an eye, and wonder where all the time went, missing out on living a daily life worthy of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
As always, love much my friends . . .
Unspoken Theology 