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CHAPTER THREE

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

On Communication more generally, see for example,
Jesus Christ, Defaced, Unfazed: Barrister of Bliss Ch. 4, and
Not only is God Great, but Glorious Ch. 5
.The Desire of the Nations Ch. 2, Epilogue.

INTRODUCTION

In the knowledge of God, foundations are essential, as we have seen in Ch. 2.

Also to the point, however, is information. This actually represents the codified, closely structured, formatted, laboriously inspected and co-ordinated comprehensibility package, to whatever that is directed. It is not found co-ordinated, given syntax, semantic quality and practical cohesion with a sufficient receptor on its own. Work is needed to achieve this, and that is why it is not found. Programs to produce it are as much work as the information which they enshrine, making two dimensions of co-ordinated labour.

It is not a loose congeries of bits^*1, but a brilliant passage to be utilised between code and comprehensibility. It proceeds from the latter to the former, and then back again when 'read', whether this be by programmed procedures, or those with comprehension like that of the originator. Work is not done by omission of ingredients, but by their commission. If it were otherwise, empirical evidence would be easy to find^*2, and causality would be aborted (cf. Causes); but this is contrary to its nature.

In various stages of manufacture, information may have meaning only to the inventor, as it involves meaning plus code meaning, perhaps words, plus grammatical elements, with semantic undergirding, discipline in the encasement of thought, and a receptor somewhere capable of reacting to this information, as pre-arranged, or responding. This provides cohesion of method, as from impression with expression, AS information. This is a verbal motor that has its direction included.

On the way, a program may react to the information, but this is a complex case, where two, emitter and receptor are encoded in equivalence, for an outcome. The ultimate is the receptor which can understand, so that what went into the information may have release into what has capabilities in the same line of comprehension. This person, the receptor in this case, also needs to have equipment devised for such reception, a comprehending capacity to meet the call from the code, procured through the inward capacity to learn language, normally in growing up, and its import, via a spirit which is not robotic, but capable of assessing thought and significance. Thus is the flair of language, impelled into being, and receptive at its own level in one to one correspondence.

One of the most personal forms of communication, that is information of the person to person type above, is from God to man, since here is by definition (cf. SMR), the greatest comprehension, and in man is a correlation in that he is made in the image of God, Maker and Made the ground for the logical cohesion and necessary ability. Though man, in himself, is a lowly creature, yet in this he has extravagant gifts.

One of the most astonishing aspects, apart from the immediately inter-personal, communion between persons as such, is prophecy.

Here is information prepared for communication, a body of data prepared in turn, by the oversight and preparation of history, for eventuation. That is, the Being who knows what is to be, also has ultimate control of history (Ephesians 1:11), and hence has this before the mind, so enabling ready addition from this source in any communication at will, by analogy, as one might see a river's windings from an aircraft.

In other words, the thing predicted by this Being must happen for THIS communicator has not only thought of what is to be, but power to enact it, in the sphere of control (cf. Isaiah 43:13). It is not that it is an inflexible horror, as if man were a robot; but rather that God knows all about time, a mere element in His creation, and knows what is to be (Isaiah 46:8-10, Ephesians 1:11). Hence at will, He is able to communicate any element, period or episode, narrate and express it at any level. Those accustomed to googling things, should find this not difficult to comprehend. With God, however, as indicated, it is not mere knowledge, but preparing what is to be WITH DUE REGARD to His own principles, as shown in Ch. 1 above. Foreknowledge thus obtained, with all that is involved in man's degrees of freedom well-discerned, He then exposes them.

If then, as Creator, in the nature of foreknowledge there is the freedom for man, in the degree determined, that he might have latitude in much, but licence limited, since God alone is omni-competent, eternal and all-knowing; and for that very reason, the creation of man with a certain crucial liberty is possible only for Him, for whom there is no barrier, and for whom dictation is certainly not in His image: then to man He appeals as recorded in the Bible, and for him wept, in Christ (Luke 19, Matthew 23). The creation of liberty requires the facility to create a spirit and to endue it with potential for participation in truth as it is, and not as it merely might appear to be in a simple inter-relating body, in a starkly impersonal universe, one self-made before it was there to do it (cf. The gods of naturalism have no go!). The wisdom of God embraces all these things, all of which He made, articulated, bringing both existence and qualitative wonder to them, each in its kind, and when He discloses His foreknowledge, made sure in predestination, it is by no means a rule of tyranny, but an exposure to truth with all the glory of His prodigious mercy and kindness toward man included.

Accordingly, what is to be is one thing; knowledge of it is another; HOW it was worked out in the first place and with what ingredients, that is a third. What concern and interpretation went into this concerns HOW He foreknow; but this does not affect the point that it IS known. Prophecy is thus one example of person to person communication, through information, using a linguistic code impelled into being in the first place, and compelled into comprehensibility, by linguistic capacity and its requirements, on the other. The match is the matrix of function. Here the match of the communication through information, with history, is test of the Communicator and recipient alike, the one to produce such distinctive information, and the other to receive and test its fulfilment on the other. Truly is man made in God's image!

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

In what follows, we shall look at Revelation 19:9-20 in particular, in considering the nature of prophecy in spiritual terms; for what better place of seeing what God thinks of anything, than hearing what He says! (I Corinthians 2:9-13).

In Revelation, John has been exposed to the word and presence of God, and given a vast array of information for comprehension, for understanding, as Peter puts it, a light in a dark place; for indeed, the time is coming when there will be a halt to free proceedings. As Jesus declared (John 9:4):

"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;
the night is coming when no one can work."

I THE TEXT - Revelation 19:9-10

Unaware of his identity, John is about to worship the angel speaking with him. Here the liberty of millenia finds correction and John is immediately prevented from allowing any worship of the angelic figure who is instructing him: for the very opposite which is in focus. It is the testimony of JESUS, this which is the point, thrust, aim of all divine prophecy. It is this which is the very spirit of prophecy. It is not something autonomous, riotous, babble, prattle or philosophy: it tunes to the Lord as music to the bow and the moulding of the violin. Now approaching is the time when all trial is over (II Peter 3:9 and Revelation 7:14), where truth actually reigns over all, and is not lying in the street. Now it becomes pervasive like water in the ocean (Isaiah 11). So in Revelation 19 the very next verse shows the heavens opening and then disclosed is the Lord, Faithful and True on His way to overthrow spiritual seduction and wanton misuse of power on the earth.

2 THE SPECTACULAR OF THE FINALE

The spirit of prophecy now is attested in the spectacular of the finale, the overthrow of those actively confronting God (Revelation 19:19), with the finish of other spirits, such as those spewed forth from the mouth of the false prophets as seen in Revelation 16:13-16, cf. 19:20-21. Here is the crisis, the crusade, the ruin of renegacy. Now is seen the eclipse and judgment of all other spirits, the made making their own dreams, manipulative and meandering and the misleading. Summed up in the false prophet they are sent to their place by the Word of God.

3 MANY WERE THE TESTS

This has been the position while history unfolded, governed by the word of God, as the people of God kept to the word and the spirit of prophecy, not losing sight of the point or the purpose, alike. So we look at I Peter 3:13-16, I and II Corinthians 4.

4 MANY were the Testimonies as in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, as many were true to that precious deposit of the Spirit, sent by the Lord from the Father (John 15:26).

At once, that situation is wound up: for just as in "the fulness of time" (Galatians 4:4), Christ came to die at the period appointed (Daniel 9:24-27^*3), so now this triumph of truth comes after the cross, resurrection, ascension, time of testing and testimony. Here is the return in power of this same Jesus (I Thessalonians 3:13).

This, it is the day of the LORD, a delight to His saints, desperation to thieves and frauds, who would steal the word of the Lord as in Jeremiah 23, and spout like corroded drain-pipes. Those days of shameless disregard now culminate in the exposure of foxes and wolves, exposure in the light of truth, so that self-imposed blindness becomes not a serpentine affliction but a condemnation.

As for those who have been led by the Spirit (Romans 8:16), whether writers of scripture or not, children of God through the blood-bought birth-rite, their works follow (as in Revelation 14:13), but never lead, nor purify, this being an affair of the Lord Himself (Romans 3:23ff., Ephesians 2), the foundation (Acts 3:11).

5 NOW THE MEANING OF THE TERM

It may be used to signify

a) The Essence, crux, whole point of prophecy: the pith.

b) The Thrust, application: the purpose.

c) The Holy Spirit, lying behind prophecy,
always moving to glorify Christ (John 16:13-16): the Person.

d) The Moving, Empowering Basis as found personally by the prophets,
working, leading, thrusting -
I Peter 1:10-11, II Peter 1:19-20, Ezekiel 2:10-3:15. This is the Empowering.

Concerning d) above especially:

Note in Ezekiel the following phases concerning d) especially.

i) in 3:10, the Lord asks him to hear words.

ii) in 3:11 the Spirit lifts him up - he went "in the heat of my spirit," 2:14.

iii) in 3:14,24, God directed Ezekiel to a location, and
"the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet and spoke with me," indicating that He would close his mouth until the time came again to speak. This aspect of the spirit of prophecy, here the Holy Spirit acting directly, AND personally, meant that not only is the insurgence given, but the interim is set, before further word is given, and intimate interchange accompanies the message.

Such is the intimacy in the association with the Spirit, active, directing, the Lord's moving thus, just as in John 15:26, where Jesus Christ indicates that He will send the Spirit from His Father. So does the trinity move on the face of His servants sent to write His word, in the spirit of prophecy.

In all of this, there is one principle above all, one thrust, objective, whether direct or indirect, symbolic or directive, dire or delightful, one that moves beyond the others, one generic over the particulars: it is the testimony of the Messiah, Jesus. In Him, the symbols cohere, whether for salvation, intimation or execution (Ezekiel 4:1-17), He the corner stone (Psalm 118:22) and the foundation (Isaiah 28:16) alike. The thrust for disbelieving Ahaz was for that reason, a witness to come centuries later, just as for many today, it is too late to participate, because of the stubbornness of their wills. That condition was epitomised by the condemnation from Stephen (of their conduct, while he yet prayed for their spirits), as "always resisting the Holy Spirit," (Acts 7:51), whose testimony expectedly led to almost instant death at the hands of those by him exposed. And to whom did he go, and whom did he see as he closed his challenge ?

"Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God," for "he gazed into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." The testimony of Jesus is indeed the very spirit of prophecy, as the Spirit of God attests Him.

But how did Ezekiel in his prophecy make any such attestation of the Messiah by the Spirit ? Firstly, it was in the vision of the temple, and the prince who would use His own gate, and no one else, for there He sits, though it be shut up to all others (Ezekiel 44:1-3). So has this gate been shut for centuries, the Golden Gate, signal of the PRINCE who is also PRIEST (as in Ezekiel 46:12), for He indeed did make such an offering outside the gate, and He did it Himself, for He WAS it; so does Ezekiel present to us the Messiah, as in Zechariah 6:12-13, both priest and prince. THAT, as the mighty King Uzziah learnt to his cost (II Chronicles 26:16-20), is a combination impossible except for the Messiah.

Led by the Spirit (Ezekiel 43:5),he saw things in format to come, amidst instructive and even inspiring symbols. The Messiah is also featured in Ezekiel 17:22-24, as the sprig to grow to singular proportions, a shelter to the birds of heaven. A shelter indeed is this incomparable Christ; and it is here as in Isaiah 32:1-4, where we see the coming king will be as the shadow of the Mighty Rock, a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest, while no less, rivers of water in a dry place. It is the focus on Him, the testimony of Him which is the spirit of prophecy: He all-competent, unconditional in character, impervious in truth, irreplaceable in provisions.

It is He as in Ezekiel 21:27 who ALONE has AS HIS DUE, the reign in majesty in the earth, for all will be OVERTHROWN till HE comes "whose right it is." Micah focusses Him profoundly in Chs. 5-7, Jonah symbolically, he being thrown out that the ship might have peace amid the torrents, he symbol and type of Christ in this respect. Thus, with his casting away, the turmoiled ship had peace indeed, though Jonah prefiguring Christ, was himself swallowed up. That seemed to him like the bars of hell, till he was spewed out, returned to land, emblem both of peace and of mercy, a rescue symbolising the resurrection fo whom ? Why, of the Messiah, this same Jesus!

Look indeed again at a) b) and c) above, further a-field - the pith, the purpose and the Person concerning the "spirit of prophecy," in the word of God.

Ezekiel is one whose prophecy reeks with the word of Spiritual Royalty, famous with the "prince" and His singular priesthood; and while much is in symbol, some is also quite direct: and he has much company.

The whole Law is filled with symbols of the sin He had to bear, the modes of sacrifice representing elements of His favour and function for covering sin and providing for man's entire approach to God. Thus the tearing of the temple curtain was attestation that now the way was open in ONE, for one as for all. The temple then became a past thing, a former thing not to the point, a symbol for which the substance now substituted.

If you were concerned in a war, and sent your son to fight, with what concern you watch his course, and when one says to you, HOW ARE YOU HELPING ? and what have you to show for your heart in this field, you might answer: "There is my son, flesh of my flesh, emissary of my heart, figure of my faith in the victory, watch Him." Though this is merely analogy, yet its pith is to the point. The Son leads to the Father and the Father to the Son (as in Matthew 11:25-30), and the testimony is not merely epitomised in the Son, but enshrined in Him, the Eternal Word made flesh, the door, the refuge for escape (Hebrews 6:19), so that in Hebrews 2, the marvel is that any should even imagine there is any other hope, salvation, satisfaction for the truth of God, and our salvation, but He! How will any escape if this be neglected! God warns, challenges, likewise drawing many to Himself.

And how much more might be said of the prophets, and the spirit of their testimony, the crux, focus, thrust toward the door into heaven, the escape hatch from hell, Jesus Christ.

In all these things, the Spirit has given from the Lord the focus from afar to near at hand, pausing in the feats of salvation, and turning to the finale, focus on the Christ in Revelation being intense. It is as might be expected of an astronomer on stars; but this star, it is One!

Throughout, the deposit of the written word of God leads on to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, sent from the Father, so that the very spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. It attests Him in forming the Bible as in forming spiritual souls in its terms (Isaiah 34:16; 44:1-4, 61:1-3, 32:15-17).

You see His light, poised for the flight into the night (John 1:1-5), this to be made by the Messiah as in Genesis 3:15 (sought for murder from infancy). born from a woman but deliverance from God over the dominance of every evil power. It is He whose heel would be bruised but would crush the head of the serpent; and He is likewise shown, through many awakening glissades from Deuteronomy 18 to Psalms such as 2, 16, 22, 35, 40, 69, 72, 110, 118, as centred in the very spirit of prophecy, where as David declares, "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue," II Samuel 23:2.

You see the Spirit at work on this great task, and just as in many of the Psalms, so is He found in cardinal place of salvation in Ezekiel, as in Isaiah 32:1-4,15ff., His word substantially appointed from heaven by His Spirit, as in 34:16. The same thrust appears notably in Zechariah Chs. 4,11-13, as in many flashes of light on the Lord, in Daniel 2, 7, 9, Haggai, Nahum, Proverbs 8;and not only so. It echoes from prophet to prophet, in themes, analogies, formulae, phrases, with functions as King, Prophet and Priest, Saviour, refuge, deliverer, the very joy of focus from the prophetic function of the Lord.

So let Him abide in the heart that seeks the truth, for in repentance is found through Him, reconciliation with God, and restoration, His same Spirit convicting of His truth and our need (John 16, Matthew 11, John 6:37).

SIGNIFICANCE

Foundation and information alike have come to mankind from the Lord, and vast has been the work of the Lord, not only in creation, but in information, in communication, in comprehensibility. Not only is this done, but it is done in testable ways, called prophecy, so that the information is verifiable, and through comprehension there may be rest.

First, there is the knowledge of truth, beyond mere reaction or response; secondly there is the knowledge of how to walk in it, to be a constant companion of truth; thirdly, there is the communication that the truth is not mindless, but invested, found and the permanent possession of the mind of God, its imprint in the WORD of God, who is it, sent forth to do and to know, to enact and to prepare, to come and to save (cf. Matthew 11:27-30, Luke 15, Hebrews 9, John 14:6, 8:58).

Fourthly, there is the finding of the remedy provided in this truth, by Him personally, and and the identification by numerous features foretold with precision, of this Word on its personal mission as person-to-person communicator, face to face (II Corinthians 5:17ff.). It is shown to be Jesus Christ, duly dying for the purpose noted, at the date noted, through the hands noted (cf. SMR Chs. 8-9, The Christian Prescription Ch. 2), and with the next step in the divine scenario, as also pre-announced, the resurrection of the very body which had been so smitten, battered, butchered and hung for hours in slow death (cf. The King's Counsel Ch. 3).

That was, as it still is, a triumph of patient forbearance, unequalled power, creative sublimity, moral mastery, unbounded love and seconded with this, perfect precision in relation to the prophetic scenario. The greatest acts have been those of God, and with them have come their results, here together listed. The first in the scenario was creation, the second the fall, the third the results and the fourth interweaving, the prospect and symbolism of the remedy, with the fifth, the Redeemer, lord of remediation and ruler of resurrection (II Cor. 5:17ff., II Timothy 1:8ff.), the sixth, the extended interval for consideration of these things, and the seventh to come, the Rule of the King whose abasement at Calvary was such a persuasive presentation (cf. John 12:32). With this comes the Eighth, Judgment and the Ninth, its issuance, to heaven and to hell, as appointed (I Peter 2:6-8). The tenth is the eternity with the Lord.

See The Magnificence of the Messiah, Christ the Wisdom of God Ch. 8, for example in these fields. A presentation dwelling on a particular part of this series, is to be found in The Review of What is True as the End Finishes Ending.

NOTES

On bits, and 'bittism', a reductionist ploy that does not match the entire reality of integrality and final quality, see the following.

Message ... 5, 4,

Christ Incomparable ... Ch. 2,

The gods of naturalism have no go! 14

Evidence and Reality Chs. 2, 5, 6, 7

Impossible for Men, Open to God, Ch. 3,

Dig Deeper, Higher Soar ... Ch.    1,

The Kingdoms of this World and the Kingdom of Christ Ch.     8,

The Holocaust of Morals and the Coming of Christ the King Ch. 3,

Glory, Vainglory and Goodness Ch. 1,

God's Gift of Grace in Jesus Christ Ch.      7,

Holiness, History, Review and Overview Ch. 5,

It Bubbles ... Ch. 9,

Spiritual Food and Drink Ch.   4,

Repent or Perish Ch.    7,

Possess Your Possessions Chs. 3, 3, esp. *2, *3.

See for example:

Jesus Christ, Defaced, Unfazed: Barrister of Bliss Ch. 4, and
Not only is God Great, but Glorious Ch. 5.

The Desire of the Nations Ch. 2, Epilogue.

On the clear prediction of the death date of the Messiah, sited around what we now call AD 30, see:

Mini-Messages with Maxi-Impact Ch. 10 (short treatment of death-date prophecy concerning Christ),and

Christ the Citadel ... Ch. 2.

The Christian Prescription Ch. 2 .

For this, see also SMR pp. 886ff.,

Highway of Holiness, Path of Peace, Way of Truth Chs. 4 and 7.