How to be a prophet of God: Some introductory thoughts

 

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.” (Joel 2:25 ESV)

 

Through my perusing of the Biblical text I have come across a number of narratives that have compelled me to put together a study on how to become a prophet of God. I don’t mean by publishing (in an informal sense) this study that I have anything new or interesting to say on the topic but rather I hope to compel conversation and thought not only on what it is we do with our time here on earth, but also what it means to be a prophet of God. And, in so doing, hopefully find a means for me to redeem the time I have left.

Part of the compulsion for attempting to understand what it means to be a prophet of God is in part because I often hear why does the Old Testament matter?  And while the current study will not be limited to the Old Testament, the simple response is that the Old Testament is full of stories, poems, proverbs, God ranting and raving—life being displayed in such a raw and real means that no reader can walk away with simple textbook answers to who God is and what it means to be a human. The human tendency to find formulistic ritualistic responses—even in a text that is full of ritual—at every turn is confounded: God will be who he is and therefore with each page we turn we meet God anew.  

Another reason for the study is the pure fun associated with such a study. Consider the number of complaints Ezekiel must have made to the human resources office after being asked to lay bound on his side for 390 days. Or Daniel and his three friends not being provided with the vegetarian option at their office canteen. Is Daniel, Daniel of the lion’s den, the precursor to the modern vegan? Boy! How times have changed. Or think of Joshua trying to explain to the accounting department why he thought it prudent to spend 7 days marching around the town of Jericho. Trying to think about what life was for a prophet can, at times, provide a fresh vision for the life we participate in and open up a discussion on how God communicates with us and we with God.  

The third reason is that life can be hard. And even when we have through years of practice finally mastered the time-saving technique of putting our pants on before our shoes we are still often time left doing nothing more with our lives than attempting to survive. How do we break that cycle and make, create something more with our lives. How do we live the unique, crazy, often times boring but never simple life of the prophets?

This study is not going to be a simple word for word analysis of a text or book study and while it will attempt to provide basic background and introduce the various prophets studied and remain textually rooted, the goal is to provide a larger vision of what prophetic life was, can be or even is. Therefore, the study will be more comparative and use these comparisons to think about what God was asking of his prophets and how that defines who God is, what a prophet is and help inform how to live the prophetic life.

I should also note that I will not be using the term prophet in a technical sense but in a more general sense of someone who spoke for God not necessarily having to do with foretelling the future.

Some of these comparisons will be fun discussions such as dietary considerations, perks of being a prophet, how to pillage a village, or anoint a king, but in the midst of these discussions there are at least three themes of a serious value that I keep running into and I want to dig into as the study develops.

The first is that to accomplish great things for God one must also ask great things from God.

The second theme is the awe inspiring powerful voice of God.

The third theme is the transition from God writing his laws on stone to God communicating directly into the heart of the human.

But the overarching goal of the study is to come to a better understanding of how God communicates with me, how I can communicate with him and how I can communicate for or of him. For being a prophet is more than just a fancy diet of honey and locusts or interpreting dreams. Being a prophet is about an opportunity to speak face to face with God.

Spandex Waves & Bacon Bap Newsreels

 

5:45am. The older women heading to the beach for their morning surf, walk and then tea. Their days not numbered by the facile character of adventure and place but rooted, alive, growing, blooming. Someone else’s everyday for them an adventure worth holding onto. While their husbands’ stomachs grumble hoping they will be back in time to make their bacon baps and tea. They, the husbands, have a busy day planned of retelling the past, reading newspapers and solving the world’s problems. So, they will need all the energy they can get. Secretly, they will get scones, espresso w/brandy and cigar later. Now, what they really need is one more moment with her. Mainly because they can no longer sleep without her next and are tired having already had to solve the world’s problems yesterday.

Ten reminders that life should be fun

 10. The universe spends all night mooning the earth. Sometimes life is best spent chasing dreams and               not wearing any pants:).

9. storytellers who tell a story with a twinkle in their eye and a state of play that bubbles to the surface like little pockets of joy even when the story is sad or scary or depressing or my favorite boring.

8. smooth stones made for skipping 

7.  kitty cats that purr and puppy dogs that teach us how to chase smiles

6.  words that mean more than one thing and that sometimes even speak to us

5. fresh baked cookies and milk

4.  eternity in our hearts, knowing this moment was meant for something more.

3.  a child learning how to play the violin

2. ice cream

1. friendship

A moment to find

 

In the ever defining moment

vanity hangs on the hero of my ears

hoping     to hear myself

find myself     finally here

but I will settle for who

I want to be 

still not even there

meaning        to be    

in the present moment 

gifted to be

Lessons worth waiting for

The lesson comes from my niece who at the time of the story was four years old.

I had been, as she explained, her guest for the day but I had gotten called away to help fix a car. While I was away her mother (my sister) had requested that she take a nap. So, when I returned, I asked her if she had. 

Her reply: "No James. Naps take a long time." 

I laughed. 

Then, after a lecture that included some foot stomping and angry language about how she had worked hard to prepare to entertain her guest for the day (me) and he then left willy nilly--four year olds give the best lectures--we went back to the game of running around the house screaming at the top of our lungs.

 I wonder what her neighbors think.

Ten reasons to sing a song

10. The car next to you in traffic is bumping some loud music and you need to teach them how to be cool. 

9. The masked bad guys told you not to scream but didn't mention anything about singing, laughing, telling stories, smoking or for that matter checking your sour dough starter heck you can probably even eat some ice cream even though that might lead to screaming so be careful. 

8. You can't find words to express your heart. Maybe your heart is not too talkative. I think it wants to sing.

7. Quit letting lists have all the fun. Create your own state of play.

6. You don't know the words.

5. Everyone around you is wearing headphones of some sort or another: Give them a reason!

4. No one else knows the words to your song and I think you need to teach them :) "Have you ever written a song about singing a song and you wonder where the words come from?" Me too.

3. You are naked but no longer in the shower. Whoops! Damn attention span. Singing might hold the white coats off for another day or two.  At least you put your shoes on today. Good job! I know it is hard but you are getting better.

2. The sun is out. Forgot to close the gate again didn't you. Well, at least you have a nice excuse to go for a walk and maybe then you can watch the sun set but please come get me if the sun rolls over and begs for a treat that would be something to sing about. And, in time, you might even get a rise out of the sun.

1. The sound effects person in your life fell asleep and you need something to help stay in rhythm.

Ten Reasons to Dance in the Rain

 

10. It is like laughing with your body while in the midst of a good cry.

9. You are planning to open an art gallery called the Peanut Gallery. Where each installation is guaranteed to have an obstructed view and free rotting vegetables to throw at the artist. Also, the thought of elephants lined up on opening night makes your whole body laugh.

8. Jazzercise, yoga, zumba, crossfit, thighmaster, just aren’t cutting it and this way you only have to exercise when it rains.

7. The other day during a conversation with a neighbor you got distracted by a squirrel. Now, the squirrel is distracted by you. Wait. What?

6. You are trying to teach your body and mind to care about every moment in life.

5. With so much talk about old souls I think it’s time we reminded the world of young souls.

4. Kids no longer grow up learning how to play. Sure there are sandcastles and curated activities of note but sometimes a person has to learn how to find joy when the sky is falling and imagination is needed.

3. You get to go splash! in the mud puddles. Yay! Sometimes it is probably ok if you go splish or splot or… just fall over as long as you get you and at least one other person wet.

2. Your neighbor has their sprinklers on and you want to run through them. Your neighbor is also getting to be a pretty good shot. Your moving into the neighborhood has provided plenty of practice.

1. In case those around you can’t see the rainbow. You can be the reminder that there is hope.