Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Women Prophets

Read Exodus 15:20, Judges 4:4, 2 Kings 22:14, and Nehemiah 6:14. What do these texts also teach about the prophetic role?

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There is abundant evidence in Scripture that God called women to be prophets. (See the use of the Hebrew word nevi'ah [Exod. 15:20] and the Greek word prophētis [Luke 2:36].) In Micah 6:4, Miriam is listed with Moses and Aaron as those sent to the people. Miriam is presented as a prophetess who sang a song of victory when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea (Exod. 15:20-21). Yet, this prophetess, like her male counterparts, was not without fault, as her shameful attitude toward Moses and his Ethiopian wife reveal, actions for which the prophetess had been duly punished (see Num. 12:1-10).

We can see the work of another prophet in the story of Deborah, who served as a judge in Israel (Judg. 4:1-4).

In fact, there is clear evidence that Deborah (Judg. 4:4) received revelation from God (Judg. 4:4-9, 14-22). Her song of victory (Judg. 5:2-31) is an acknowledgment of God's intervention and had deep theological significance for the nation at that time in history.

Read 2 Kings 22:11-14. Why did King Josiah's men go to Huldah? What should this tell us about her important role in the nation?

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Huldah "the prophetess," was consulted by the top men of King Josiah's council (2 Kings 22:14, 2 Chron. 34:22) after they read the words of the "Book of the Law" (2 Kings 22:8, NKJV) (believed to be Deuteronomy) to the king, who, in response, "tore his clothes" (2 Kings 22:11, NKJV). This was obviously a very serious matter, and the king took it that way, which is why his men went right to Huldah. She had received a message from God regarding the impending judgment of Judah. Josiah's reforms resulted from Huldah's prophetic messages and averted God's judgment on His people.

Men prophets and women prophets though called of God, were also sinners in need of grace. What hope can you take from their stories?

Functions of Prophets

Read 1 Samuel 8:4-22 and Leviticus 8:10-13. How did prophets function in relation to kings and priests?

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Prophets interacted with kings in both pleasant and unpleasant situations. When Israel demanded a king (1 Sam. 8:4-22), they said we want "a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:5). What a sad but powerful example of the danger that God's people have faced in every age: the desire to be like those around them. In this case, they had no idea what this request would bring, even though they were forewarned (1 Sam. 8:11-18) by God through His prophet. Based on their desires, and despite his warning to them, Samuel soon anointed Israel's first king, known in biblical history as King Saul.

The Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles record the kind and quality of rulership exhibited by the kings of Israel and Judah. Sacred history shows that the kings who did evil far outnumbered those who did good in the sight of God. One of the core functions of the prophets was to help lead unfaithful kings back to obedience to God's law. As a result, these prophets faced threats, with some even harmed and killed by kings who led God's people away from Him (1 Kings 18:4-19, 2 Chron. 24:20-22).

Prophets also interacted with priests. Moses, a prophet of God, anointed Aaron and his sons as the first Israelite priests (Lev. 8:10-13). There were times priests received words of rebuke from God through the prophets (Hos. 6:9, Mal. 2:1-3). One striking example of this is the entire household of Eli, who were confronted for their corrupt practices (1 Sam. 2:27-36). These were some very strong rebukes against rampant corruption among people given special privileges.

Prophets were teachers of the people (2 Chronicles 34). They presented messages from God to the priests, kings, and the nation (Jer. 5:31, Ezek. 22:26). Prophets also spoke to surrounding nations outlining God's plan for them, a theme repeated several times in the messages of the Old Testament prophets (Isa. 60:1-3; Isa. 62:1-2). Prophets were expected not only to pass on faithfully the messages God gave them but were sometimes instructed to write them down and preserve them (2 Chron. 13:22). Again, no matter how human the prophets were (and all the attending frailties that go with that), they were men and women of prayer, the Word, and service to God and His people (Jer. 42:4; 2 Kings 22:15-17).

Identifying True Prophets

In the early history of Israel there is evidence of false prophets (Deut. 18:20). God, therefore, did not leave His people without guidance on who His true prophets were.

As recipients of God's revelation and inspiration, true prophets faithfully, accurately, and honestly transmitted God's messages, even if, at times, this made them unpopular with the people in power.

Read 1 Kings 22:1-14. What does it tell us about how faithful prophets operate?

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To have a king say of a prophet that " 'I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil' " (1 Kings 22:8, NKJV) says a lot about the king, but more about the prophet. He was, obviously, a man not afraid to speak the truth, even to the king himself—not a way to win royal favor, to say the least.

Micaiah stood alone against 400 false prophets as he presented the truth revealed to him. In the face of coercion to alter negative messages from the Lord to placate evil King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel (1 Kings 22:13-14), Micaiah presented God's truth, regardless of how it might be received.

Read 1 Samuel 9:3-14. What do these verses tell us about how others viewed faithful prophets of God?

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There are numerous examples of the quality of life lived by prophets in the Bible. In this case, Saul was sent by his father, Kish, to look for his lost donkeys. The servant traveling with Saul suggested that he not abandon the search, because there was " 'in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man' " (1 Sam. 9:6, NKJV). The description given here of Samuel the prophet depicts the qualities expected of God's prophets. True prophets in Scripture are identified as "men of God," chosen in part to exemplify His character. At the same time, just because some among the "men of God" may be prophets, this doesn't make them flawless human beings.

Who, even among the most esteemed "men of God," have you known to be flawless?

The Humanity of Prophets

As we saw last week, the Lord used Elijah the prophet to do a tremendous work in Israel, despite fervent opposition. What the Lord had accomplished through him was incredible. And yet . . . what?

Reflect on how James presents Elijah the prophet, in James 5:17-18. What might he mean by saying that Elijah had "a nature like ours" (NKJV)?

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Elijah had a stunning success on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18); God had worked in a mighty way through him, and one of the most astonishing miracles depicted in Old Testament history occurred: at the sound of Elijah's own words, fire literally came down from heaven (1 Kings 18:38)! You would have thought that this man of God would have been exceedingly happy after something like that.

Read 1 Kings 19:1-16. What does this tell us about the emotional state of God's prophet?

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" 'It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!' " (1 Kings 19:4, NKJV). This sounds like a man suffering from some form of depression. Why? What happened on Mount Carmel would not be an easy act to follow, for sure; but, still, something else is going on here.

Perhaps the key could be found in his words, " 'I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life' " (1 Kings 19:10, NKJV). This sounds as if he's lamenting what he believes to be his failures in ministry. Apostasy remains, despite his best efforts, as if he alone could have stemmed the tide. Whatever ultimately is going on here, we can see the humanity and fragility of this man of God. In other words, Elijah was a man who had "a nature like ours."

Why might it be easy at times to have a sense of "failure" in your own life or endeavors? What Bible promises can you claim to help you work through discouragement?

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: James 5:17-18; 1 Kings 19:1-16; 1 Kings 22:1-14; Exod. 15:20; 2 Kings 22:11-14; Jer. 14:1-15

Memory Text: "Jehoshaphat stood and said, 'Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper'" (2 Chronicles 20:20, NKJV).

The Global Positioning System (GPS) helps travelers know where they are, where they are going, and even provides warnings against hazards. Spiritual travelers journeying to heaven also need guidance now and in the future from a heavenly "positioning system." One way that God did this in times past was through the ministry of Old Testament prophets. In their narratives, counsels, prophecies, poetry, and songs, we discover a lot about the dozens of prophets who presented God's messages to the people.

This week's lesson explores Old Testament descriptions of prophets, descriptions that help us understand the gift of prophecy as it had been manifested by some of these servants of God.

As we will see, these were people like us, in that they were frail human beings subject to fear, anger, and discouragement. Life for them was not easy, but filled with challenges and hardships, as it is for all of us.

What, then, can we learn from looking at a few of these specially called servants of God?

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 17.

Called to Prophetic Ministry

God calls prophets at specific times for special purposes. They were there with the messages needed for that time. In this context, Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen G. White was one such person who demonstrated a modern manifestation of the prophetic gift, functioning much like a non-canonical prophet (more on this in the lessons to come). Ellen Harmon (White) received her first call in December 1844, a few weeks after Millerite Adventists had expected Jesus to return based on Daniel 8:14: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

Although William Miller never set an exact date, his followers eventually looked to October 22, 1844, based on the biblical time reckoning for the Day of Atonement as the date Christ would return to the earth. This belief brought tremendous anticipation to thousands upon thousands in North America and other regions of the world. Soon they would be united with their Savior in heaven. Miller, too, became filled with excitement and enthusiasm as the expected Advent approached.

But Christ did not appear, and the Millerite believers experienced one of the most devastating historical events, the Great Disappointment.

This is the setting in which God gave Ellen Harmon (White) her first vision. Its primary message was to encourage both her and the disappointed believers that God was still with them in spite of their mistaken interpretation. The vision pointed to a path heading from this earth to the heavenly Jerusalem. On this path were Advent believers traveling to the Holy City. And "if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe."—Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 31.

This vision was good news. God was beginning to create a new movement out of the confusion of the disappointment. Jesus was still with them. He was still returning. He was still leading them on the path of salvation. They just had to keep their eyes "fixed on" Him. They had great reasons not to give up hope, even amid so much turmoil and disappointment.

Thus, Ellen G. Harmon (White), a 17-year-old teenager, was called to her prophetic ministry. Hers was not an easy path, especially in the beginning.

Although this gift was gradually accepted as genuine, Ellen G. White was fearful to be God's messenger. Being a prophet of God had never been easy or prestigious. So, how would Ellen White submit to God's call?

Next week we will take a closer look at the special work and challenges faced by Old Testament prophets, some of which are also echoed in the life and ministry of Ellen G. White, as we will learn next Friday.

To discover more, visit https://whiteestate.org/absg/2.

John the Baptist, Preparing a People

Read Mark 1:2-5. What was the purpose of John the Baptist's ministry?

The Gospel of Mark informs us that the arrival of John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (Isa. 40:3). John's development from childhood to manhood was marked by faithfulness to God. Satan feared losing his dominion over humanity after hearing John's voice in the wilderness (see Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 224). The wickedness of John's listeners was unmasked in a manner that caused Satan to quake. Satan's grip over Israel was being threatened. He repeatedly tried and failed to dissuade John the Baptist from his faithful lifestyle and trust in the Messiah.

Read Matthew 11:1-6. How did Jesus reaffirm John's faith while the preacher was in prison?

Satan was unable to tempt Jesus into sin, and his defeat in the wilderness enraged him. He then changed tactics by having John, Jesus' cousin, thrown into prison. John's imprisonment hurt Jesus, even though Satan could not entice Him to sin. This was Satan's way of breaking John, while emotionally burdening the heart of the Savior. But John received a word of encouragement from Jesus. And despite his terrible conditions, and certainly not understanding why he remained in prison when Jesus was so powerful, John nevertheless stayed faithful, even unto death.

Like the prophets of old, we too are called to proclaim a message of repentance and faith and the totality of Christ's righteousness (Rev. 14:6-12). As he did with John the Baptist, Satan may use uncertainty to make us doubt God's mission for our lives. We need not become despondent if we remember God's leading in our lives, especially when things don't go well for us, as happened with John, who was imprisoned and then killed by the actions of an evil woman and a weak-willed man. Whatever humans may do to us, we can reach out to God in faith, and He will answer us. He has promised us power to do His will (Acts 1:8). In the post-Christian and non-Christian world, it is imperative that we be faithful witnesses for Christ, whatever our circumstances.

Have you ever been in a position, as John was in jail, where you just could not understand why such bad things were happening to you? How did you still maintain your faith and trust in God?

Daniel, the Faithful Seer

Most Christians know the story of Daniel 1, in which he stood for the health principles that he had learned as a child. Daniel was a model of faithfulness (Dan. 1:8). When presented with royal delicacies, he insisted on eating a plant-based diet and drinking only water instead of partaking of the diet offered him from the king's table (Dan. 1:12-16). This was a small test in contrast to what would come later, such as in Daniel 6, when his faithfulness could have easily meant death for him.

Read Daniel 2:46-48; Daniel 4:18; Daniel 5:13-14; and Daniel 6:25-27. What do these verses tell us about the kind of witness Daniel was to the pagans around him?

Look at the testimony from these pagans to the power of Daniel's God. However unique these stories, they all reveal a crucial principle: by our lives, by our faithfulness, and by the power of God working in and through us, others can and should learn about the God of heaven, and that He is "a God of gods, and a Lord of kings."

Also, because the recurring theme of Daniel's prophecies is judgment, culminating in Christ's second coming (God's ultimate victory), the meaning of Daniel's name, "God is my judge," is quite appropriate. His writings deserve careful study and attention as they are relevant today. Daniel's prophecies serve as a reminder always to remain vigilant and keep God's commandments, even in the "little" things of life.

Also, as a prophet, Daniel foretold the rise and fall of nations and the consequences of their disobedience to God. Through his prophetic visions, Daniel revealed God's plan and the ultimate victory of God's kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14).

Think, for example, about Daniel 2, written half a millennium before Christ. Daniel so accurately depicted the rise and fall of these four great world empires, even coming up to our time (that of the feet and the toes of the statue), clearly referring to nations of modern Europe, which, as the prophecy so clearly teaches, "shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay" (Dan. 2:43). What an amazing prediction about Europe, even to this day, in which, despite intermarriage and all attempts at unity, the continent would remain as separate nations with separate laws, customs, and traditions. When even a few years before the fall of the Soviet Union, no intelligence agency saw that fall coming, Daniel's prediction gives us powerful reasons to trust God's prophets.

All the kingdoms in Daniel 2 came and went as predicted. What should this tell us about trusting the prophecy, which talks about God's eternal kingdom coming next (Dan. 2:44)?

Isaiah, the Gospel Prophet

Isaiah, a major prophet of the Old Testament, received His call to prophetic ministry directly from God (see Isa. 6:1-8). Overwhelmed by God's holiness and majesty, Isaiah realized his unworthiness. In that moment, a seraph flew to Isaiah with a live coal from the heavenly altar and "purged" his sins. God then asked, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah's response should be ours: "Here am I; send me" (Isa. 6:8).

Isaiah's call came at a pivotal point in Israel's history. Despite his own failings, the task of warning Israel and its leaders of their sins was very important. Isaiah's prophecies are key Scripture passages, providing profound insight on God's nature, the nature of humanity, and the unfolding plan of salvation. In fact, what is unquestionably the most powerful prophecy depicting not only the death of Jesus but what His death did for the world is found in Isaiah, the famous chapter 53.

Read Isaiah 53. How did this amazing prophecy, written more than half a millennium before the cross, so powerfully reveal Christ's death for us? What should this prophecy teach us about the prophetic gift?

Isaiah's prophecies foretold the Messiah's purpose and mission (Isa. 53:3-5). They explained why Christ was "led like a lamb to the slaughter" (Isa. 53:7, NIV) and how His atoning sacrifice saved His people from their sins. The substitutionary aspect of Christ's death is so explicitly depicted there, showing the foundation of the atonement made on behalf of all humanity.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). The universal nature of sin is depicted here; the universal nature of the Cross, the solution to sin, is depicted here as well. This chapter, perhaps more than any other in both the Old and New Testaments, shows the plan of salvation in such clear and unambiguous terms.

Yet Isaiah's prophetic calling was not easy. People found his dire predictions of their destruction preposterous, as many do today when warned about the consequences of sin (Rom. 6:23). Isaiah's prophetic voice for his time and ours is clear (see Isa. 2:4, Isa. 5:20). It was the refusal of the nation to practice justice and reform that led to Jerusalem's destruction. The same sin will mark the destruction of earth's wicked inhabitants when Christ returns.

Go back through Isaiah 53 and write down everything that Jesus does for us, as depicted in those verses. What great hope can you take for yourself from what the prophet has revealed about what Christ's death has done for us?

The Elijah Message

Read 1 Kings 18:19-39. What can we see from this story about how the prophetic office can work?

Elijah's calling and manner of speech reflected his role as God's messenger. To stop Israel's apostasy, God sent Elijah to King Ahab in order to announce a multiyear drought. God used this affliction to turn His people away from idolatry and back to obedience. King and country blamed the prophet Elijah for their woe and sought his death.

On Mount Carmel, Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal and Asherah. God's messenger made a Spirit-filled appeal to idolatrous Israel to denounce their false gods and return to the Lord. The people knew that their choices had led them into national apostasy. They were now ready to embrace the God of Elijah again, who had proved to be superior to their false gods, which, in reality, didn't even exist.

Just prior to Christ's second coming, God commands His church to proclaim the Elijah message again, and for people to turn away from their "idols" and be ready to stand in the great day of the Lord. God still communicates with His people through channels that He has selected. His Word and the gift of prophecy provide admonition, warning, counsel, and encouragement.

"A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it."—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 121.

Read Malachi 4:5-6. How does the Elijah message impact the homes of those who follow God?

True revival starts in the heart and the home. The family is the cornerstone of the church and an indispensable building block of community. Revival in the home spreads a heavenly love to the church, the community, and the nation. This is God's purpose for the Christian home. Revival also motivates God's people for mission.

What kinds of idols, if any, exist in our homes, hearts, and churches today?