As Christ is the Prophet Raised by God, so we are Prophets Speaking the Word of God

Just as Christ is the Prophet raised by God, so we today as His brothers and sons of God are prophets speaking the Word of God.

In Deut. 18:15 Moses prophesied that God will raise up a Prophet from among the people of Israel, and he will be like him, speaking the Word of God as God commanded Him; they all shall listen to Him.

The context here is that the children of Israel were afraid of God and His speaking when they saw the thunders and lightnings and clouds and smoke surrounding Mount Horeb, so they told Moses to go up on the mountain for them.

God’s desire was, is, and will forever be that His people would be prophets, those who know God, know His word, and know His heart’s desire and burden, and speak for God, speak forth God, and speak God into others.

However, in the case of the children of Israel, they were afraid to be in God’s presence and they told Moses to go up on the mountain on their behalf.

This is the same kind of teaching that was perpetuated in the Roman Catholic church, in Protestantism, and also in many evangelical denominations: not everyone can come to God and know His word to speak for God, so they need someone special to do this for them.

This is wrong and not according to God’s word or His desire. God created us in His image and according to His likeness so that we may be infused with Him and filled with His word in our fellowship with Him, and the result is that we speak for God and speak forth God as God’s spokesmen, the prophets of God.

If we look at the Old Testament, Abraham didn’t do a lot of predicting, but he was a prophet of God; he spent time with God, he was in God’s presence, he had God’s speaking, and then he spoke the word of God.

Similarly, Moses spent much time with God and in His word, and he was very much infused with God; therefore, he was a prophet, one who spoke for God and spoke forth God into people.

In the New Testament Christ came to be the Prophet prophesied by God through Moses in Deut. 18:15; He came as God and man, man and God, God mingled with man, and man mingled with God, and He spoke the word of God as being taught and led by God.

Then after Him many followed, for the believers in Christ, the disciples of Christ, have received the divine life after His resurrection, and they spoke the word of God to those around them.

Hallelujah, it is God’s desire that all His believers – all those in His people – would be prophets, that they would have the Spirit of God and speak for God even as God gives them to speak!

God Raised up a Prophet through the Incarnation of Christ to Speak the Word of God

In Deut. 18:15-19 we see that Moses was one with God to utter a prophetic word concerning Christ, saying that God will raise up a prophet from the midst of the people, one like Moses, who will speak as God commands Him, and all people should listen to Him.

As the children of Israel were entering the good land, they knew Moses will not be with them; so he comforted them saying that even though he won’t be there with them, God will raise up from among the brothers One like himself, and the children of Israel should listen to Him.

In verses 15 through 19 Moses spoke concerning Jehovah God’s raising up a Prophet (who is the coming Christ) like Moses for the children of Israel.

This prophetic word points to the coming Christ, who is the real Prophet; Christ is the real Prophet raised up by God from among the brothers, the One who will lead His people and who will speak for God to His people.

In Acts 3:22 Peter applies the word in Deut. 18:15-19 to Christ, who is God incarnated to be a man; he indicates that Christ is the Prophet promised by God to His people, the children of Israel.

The fact that the Prophet was to be from among their brothers indicates that Christ as the coming Prophet would be human as well as divine (John 1:1, 14).

Christ was raised up from among His brothers, but He was both human and divine, for He was God incarnated to be a man.

As God, Christ couldn’t be from among the Jews as a brother, but as the incarnated One, the One who has put on human nature and who was a Jew, Christ was from among His brothers.

This Prophet whom God would raise through the incarnation of Christ will speak the Word of God (John 1:14; 3:34; 7:16-17; Heb. 1:2).

Christ came and spoke the Word of God; what He spoke was not of Himself – He didn’t do His own work, neither did He speak His own words or utter His own opinion, but He spoke the Word of God.

As Christ heard from the Father, so He spoke to the people; He was in constant contact and communication with the Father, and as He was listening to the Father’s word and heart’s desire, He spoke to those around Him.

To speak the word of God is actually to dispense God and speak God forth to others.

The reason the others were drawn to the Lord and the reason the disciples still remained with Him even after many left Him was that He had the words of life, for He spoke not of Himself but what He heard from God.

The fulfillment of the prophecy in Deut. 18:15 was Christ, the Prophet that God raised up from the midst of men, the One who spoke the Word of God.

Christ spoke many things and all of them were from God; He prophesied many things concerning God’s economy, especially concerning the accomplishment of God’s economy.

As He heard from God the Father, so He spoke; He was the real Prophet, the God who became a man to be a God-man and speak the word of God to infuse God into man.

Even now, after many centuries, the words of this Prophet inspires us, affects our life, and changes us from within for the better, so that we may live a life for God’s purpose on earth by means of the divine life conveyed in His word.

Hallelujah for Christ the prophet raised by God to speak the word of God and dispense God into man through His speaking!

Praise You, Lord Jesus, for coming as God becoming man to speak the word of God and infuse God into us. Hallelujah, Christ is the prophet raised by God from among men, the One who did not speak from Himself but spoke whatever He heard from the Father, whatever the Father told Him to speak. Now we come to You in Your word to be infused with God and receive the life of God. Amen, Lord, we enjoy You in Your word, and by Your word we know many things concerning God’s economy. Hallelujah for our Christ as the Prophet raised by God!

As Christ is the Prophet Raised by God, so we are Prophets Speaking the Word of God

Christ is the Firstborn Son of God – He as the Word of God became flesh (John 1:1, 14) to dispense God into man. Now we, the many brothers of Christ and the many sons of God, are one with the Lord and even members of the Word of God to speak the word of God.

Just as Christ as the Firstborn Son of God is the oracle of God for the speaking and dispensing of God to carry out His economy, so we as the many sons of God are members of the Word of God to be God’s oracle today, those speaking and dispensing God for the spreading of God and the increase of Christ! Hallelujah!

We need to realize that, just as Christ is the Prophet raised by God, so we are prophets speaking the word of God by first listening to Him in His word as we fellowship with Him, and then speaking the word of God to those around us.

We praise the Lord for His recovery, for in the church life in the Lord’s recovery He is recovering the prophesying of all the saints.

There used to be a time in the Lord’s recovery when we practiced just like the other Christian groups did, coming on the Lord’s Day morning and having a co-worker or an elder speak, while the saints listen, and at the end they testify.

But praise the Lord, He is bringing us into coming together on the Lord’s Day and exercising our organic function to speak the word of God!

As we get into the Word of God, read the life-studies, enjoy the Holy Word for Morning Revival, we are nourished and supplied, and we are equipped with something to speak.

As believers in Christ we need to not just read the Bible according to a schedule but spend time with the Lord in His word so that we may receive spiritual nourishment and supply; when we do this in a daily way, we will enjoy and experience Christ in our daily life, and at the end of the week we will have something of the Christ that we enjoyed and experienced to also share with others.

We should not take for granted the prophesying meeting on the Lord’s day; our attendance to this meeting shouldn’t be optional or formal, but we should look forward to be one with Christ as the Prophet raised by God to speak the word of God for the building up of the church.

We need to realize, however, that even though we have made such a great turn from “one man speaking and the rest listening” to “many men speaking”, many times in our prophesying meeting we have almost the same saints speaking week after week.

So what we have is not one man speaking but the same group speaking Lord’s day after Lord’s day.

We are still not up to the point where all of God’s people are prophets, where we all can prophesy one by one.

Also, sometimes our prophesying is not up to the standard revealed in the Bible; simply opening our mouth and telling the saints that God is so good to us, that He gave us sunshine and we feel much better, this is not a real prophesying.

We need to see how crucial the matter of prophesying is, and we need to receive the Lord’s burden that we may help one another to learn to speak, for prophesying requires learning!

May the Lord inspire us, motivate us, and take us on with Him to the point that we are looking forward to the Lord’s Day to enjoy the Lord with the saints at the Lord’s Table Meeting, and to also practice to speak the word of God being one with Christ as the Prophet raised by God.

Thank You God for Christ as the Prophet raised up by God to speak the Word of God. Hallelujah, Christ is God’s oracle for the speaking and dispensing of God to carry out His eternal economy! Thank You Lord for making us the same as Christ in life and nature so that we may also be prophets, members of the Word of God to be God’s oracle, to speak God and dispense God for the spreading of God and the increase of Christ! Amen, Lord, we want to exercise our organic function to speak the Word of God for the building up of the church! We want to daily enjoy You in Your word, experience You in our daily living, and prepare something to share of our enjoyment and experience of Christ for the building up of the church!

This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Așa cum Cristos este Profetul ridicat de Dumnezeu, la fel și noi suntem profeți care vorbesc Cuvântul lui Dumnezeu.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 1, lsn. 3 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 9, Moses Desiring That All Jehovah’s People Would Be Prophets.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Thou art the Prophet raised by God, / With pow’r for God to speak; / Like Moses, Thou God’s plan hast shown, / That we God’s will may seek. (Hymns #193)
  # Great Prophet of my God, / My tongue would bless Thy name; / By Thee the joyful news / Of our salvation came; / The joyful news of sins forgiv’n, / Of death annulled, and Thy life giv’n. (Hymns #80)
  # Lord, You revealed Yourself to me, / You showed me Your purpose, / To have the church as Your body / So You can mingle all that You are. / Lord keep me growing and functioning. / Don’t ever let me out of Your sight. / Grant me a spirit of boldness. / Open my mouth, Lord, to prophesy. (Song on, Lord, You revealed Yourself to me)