"Unto Him Ye Shall Hearken"

by Toms, A. F. | Category: General | Sept 1978

"Art thou the prophet?" asked the priests and Levites sent by the Jews to question John the Baptist. They had not forgotten the great promise of Deuteronomy 18 and obviously they realized that it had not yet been fulfilled. They were still waiting for the Prophet to come.

"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him" (verse 18).

There are two elements in the prophetic function, one passive and the other active. The prophet receives from God and then passes on what he receives. He cannot speak until God has spoken to him, and when God has spoken he cannot remain silent. The principle is seen in the case of

Jeremiah. "I have appointed thee a prophet ... whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak... Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth" (Jer. 1:5,7,9).

In one sense that dual principle removed any difficulty, for the prophets were but God's mouthpieces. It was not their responsibility to frame the message; they had simply to speak the words which God put into their mouths. But in another sense it presented a difficulty, for very often the speaking of God's word brought them into disfavour with those to whom they were sent. "Take brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord" (James 5:10).

Micaiah stands on the page of Scripture as an outstanding example of this. When called to bring God's message to Jehoshaphat and Ahab he said, "as the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak" (1 Kin. 22:14). Faithful man! That is the mark of a true prophet. He sought not favour of kings, nor ease for himself. The reward for his faithfulness was bread and water of affliction, but of course his eternal reward was with the Lord.

And so it was with the Prophet, for when "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" the great promise was at last fulfilled. Repeatedly He emphasized the fact that "the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me" (John 14:24). "I spake not from Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He hath given Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49).

He came from the Father. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God" or "towards God", for the preposition is pros, facing or towards. In the days of His flesh the same relationship continued. Isaiah presents to us that striking word-picture of Jehovah's Servant having His ear opened morning by morning. Each morning He received to speak, words that would not only sustain the weary that day but that would abide for eternity. "God having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets... hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son" (Heb. 1:1,2). They were the Father's words coming to us through His Son, and eventually from the Son through the apostles, and in each case carrying with them the authority of the throne of heaven. Therefore, they are as binding upon us today as they were upon those to whom they were first spoken.

The people were terrified when God spoke from Sinai. "Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God" they said. And God respected their request and the promise of Deuteronomy 18 was part of His gracious response. When the promise was fulfilled and the Prophet stood before them, from among their brethren indeed, and in a body of flesh like theirs, He began at Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and they "wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth" (Luke 4:22). The same God speaking but not now from a mountain which burned with fire, and from blackness, and darkness and tempest, but through His Son, speaking words of grace and truth. And as He taught them in the temple, the people all hung upon Him listening. Wonderful experience!

"I have given them Thy word" the Lord Jesus said, before He returned to heaven. He could have given us nothing more precious. But is there not the danger with those of us who love our Bibles, that we might become so familiar with His words that we no longer tremble at them? We do well to take to heart Peter's warning which he spoke in Solomon's porch the day the lame man was healed, for he carried forward the solemn word of Deuteronomy 18, "to Him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever He shall speak unto you" (Acts 2:22). We notice it is "in all things", agreeing with the Master's own word, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you". We cannot escape it. All things are binding upon us.

"See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh" (Heb. 12:25).

Toms, A. F. | Sept 1978
General