Can we trust modern-day seers? Should we listen when they predict the coming of Christ and the end of the world? And when their message doesn’t square with Scripture, what should we believe? Is there a prophet we can trust? In this timely and timeless message, Chuck Swindoll answers these questions and gives us a checklist of what we should look for in a trustworthy prophet.
Parenting is not to be taken lightly. As parents, we all have moments where we want to walk away or feel like we need a do over, but that doesn't happen. What does happen is our reflection in our children.
Habakkuk, witnessing the evils around him, wrestled with God’s seemingly indifferent attitude. It was an offensive contradiction to His holy nature. But when God revealed His plan, an even greater problem arose. So Habakkuk decided to get alone and wait for his mind to clear. God gave him a fresh vision…hope beyond his despair, which resulted in a time of meaningful prayer as Habakkuk praised the awesome Lord of heaven and earth.
One hundred years after Jonah’s visit, Nahum wrote to the next generations living in Nineveh, announcing judgment because those who had been converted in Jonah’s time had refused to pass on to their children and grandchildren (the people of Nahum’s day) the knowledge and fear of the true God. Negligence led to this terrible consequence. The result? God had to destroy such an apostate people.
Because Scripture is inspired and the individual words of the Bible are God-breathed, we know words and their meanings are important to God. They should be to us as well.
It is doubtful the poor peasants of Judah ever had a stronger champion than fellow countryman Micah, the powerful preacher. Though neither as intellectually gifted as his contemporary Isaiah nor as popular as his peer to the north Hosea, Micah nevertheless defended the downtrodden with vigilant zeal. He cared for his people and warned them of certain punishment if they refused to repent.
The book of Jonah is the clearest revelation in all the Old Testament of the missionary heart of our God. Jonah is not the story of a whale but of a nation in desperate need of deliverance…and a messenger who was reluctant to go and announce the truth.
Obadiah’s message is related to two historical periods: Obadiah’s own times and the imminent threat of the nations’ captivity by Assyria and Babylon as well as its eventual restoration. Except in his case, Obadiah’s message was not to Israel or Judah but to Edom, and there was no hope of restoration for them.
Born of humble means, raised to work with his hands, rugged and unflappable, Amos became one of the most colourful personalities among the prophets. God’s severe predictions of judgment had to be delivered by a man who modelled that message.
Prophets like Isaiah were not rookies who carried out hit-or-miss pre-game chapel programs for a few teams in Judah. No, they were the real deal, sent and anointed by God to be trusted and revered.
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