Chapter 2

Prophetic Connection And Blessings

What happens when you hear the Shepherd’s voice through the Rod? What happens when a prophet appears in your life? What happens when God speaks to you through His human instrumentalities? Change begins!

Ninety nine percent of your success is showing up. Conversely, ninety nine percent of your failure is showing up in the wrong place. In order to achieve the right destiny, we need to connect with the right people in the right place at the right time! THE SCHOOL OF THE PROPHET

In the great closing work we shall meet with perplexities that we know not how to deal with; but let us not forget that the three great powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring His promises to pass. He will gather from the world a people who will serve Him in righteousness. 8T 252-254

I beseech those who are laboring for God not to accept the spurious for the genuine. Let not human reason be placed where divine, sanctifying truth should be. Christ is waiting to kindle faith and love in the hearts of His people. Let not erroneous theories receive countenance from the people who ought to be standing firm on the platform of eternal truth. God calls upon us to hold firmly to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority. {8T 298.2}

I. A Great Woman connected with Prophetic

2Kings 4:8-11 - And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where [was] a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And [so] it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this [is] an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

A. Hospitality: Brings Blessings

A Shunammite is a native or an inhabitant of Shunem. This Shunammite woman befriended the prophet Elisha. She made a prophetic connection. She connected with a prophet of God and ended up with a series of blessings. Because of her hospitality, this man of God became a fiend of this weathy family. The Shunammite woman displayed hospitality by regularly feeding Elisha and building a room onto their house. She made room for the prophet.

When was the last time that you made place in your heart for a man of God, let alone build a room on your house for one? Elisha repaid the childless couple by promising them a son. When the prophet shows up in our life, God has some place on the agenda. God will birth a dream that you don’t even expect! Because of this woman’s position, she appeared to have everything that money could buy. Yet the prophet uncovered a deep-sealed desire that escaped the power of all their money, she was barren, and carried an unspoken desire to give birth to a child.

The Bible refers to this woman as being a “great woman”. Her greatness was in her submission; she consulted her husband. She was a woman that was under authority; though she was great. The Bible never calls her husband a great man, but we do understand that this was a woman with great substance, as well as finances.

In her distress, the Shunammite determined to go to Elisha for help. The prophet was then at Mount Carmel, and the woman, accompanied by her servant, set forth immediately. "And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?" The servant did as he was bidden, but not till she had reached Elisha did the stricken mother reveal the cause of her sorrow. Upon hearing of her loss, Elisha bade Gehazi: "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child." {PK 238.2}

But the mother would not be satisfied till Elisha himself came with her. "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee," she declared. "And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked."

¢ When they reached the house, Elisha went into the room where the dead child lay, "and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes." {PK 239.1}

Calling Gehazi, Elisha bade him send the mother to him. "And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out." {PK 239.2}

B. Faith Rewarded Life

¢ So was the faith of this woman rewarded. Christ, the great Life-giver, restored her son to her. In like manner will His faithful ones be rewarded, when, at His coming, death loses its sting and the grave is robbed of the victory it has claimed. Then will He restore to His servants the children that have been taken from them by death. "Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, . . . and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border." Jeremiah 31:15-17. {PK 239.3}

¢ Jesus comforts our sorrow for the dead with a message of infinite hope: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." Hosea 13:14. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, . . . and have the keys of hell and of death." Revelation 1:18. "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. {PK 240.1}

¢ Like the Saviour of mankind, of whom he was a type, Elisha in his ministry among men combined the work of healing with that of teaching. Faithfully, untiringly, throughout his long and effective labors, Elisha endeavored to foster and advance the important educational work carried on by the schools of the prophets. In the providence of God his words of instruction to the earnest groups of young men assembled were confirmed by the deep movings of the Holy Spirit, and at times by other unmistakable evidences of his authority as a servant of Jehovah. {PK 240.2}

¢ It was on the occasion of one of his visits to the school established at Gilgal that he healed the poisoned pottage. "There was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." {PK 240.3}

C. A Prophet Feeds the People

At Gilgal, also, while the dearth was still in the land, Elisha fed one hundred men with the present brought to him by "a man from Baalshalisha," "bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof." There were those with him who were sorely in need of food. When the offering came, he said to his servant, "Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord." {PK 241.1}

What condescension it was on the part of Christ, through His messenger, to work this miracle to satisfy hunger! Again and again since that time, though not always in so marked and perceptible a manner, has the Lord Jesus worked to supply human need. If we had clearer spiritual discernment we would recognize more readily than we do God's compassionate dealing with the children of men. {PK 241.2}

It is the grace of God on the small portion that makes it all-sufficient. God's hand can multiply it a hundredfold. From His resources He can spread a table in the wilderness. By the touch of His hand He can increase the scanty provision and make it sufficient for all. It was His power that increased the loaves and corn in the hands of the sons of the prophets. {PK 241.3}

In the days of Christ's earthly ministry, when He performed a similar miracle in feeding the multitudes, the same unbelief was manifested as was shown by those associated with the prophet of old. "What!" said Elisha's servant; "should I set this before an hundred men?" And when Jesus bade His disciples give the multitude to eat, they answered, "We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people." Luke 9:13. What is that among so many? {PK 242.1}

II. God’s Representatives

Reverence should be shown for God's representatives--for ministers, teachers, and parents, who are called to speak and act in His stead. In the respect shown them, God is honored. {PK 237.1}

The kindly spirit that enabled Elisha to exert a powerful influence over the lives of many in Israel, is revealed in the story of his friendly relations with a family dwelling at Shunem In her distress, the Shunammite determined to go to Elisha for help. The prophet was then at Mount Carmel, and the woman, accompanied by her servant, set forth immediately. "And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?" The servant did as he was bidden, but not till she had reached Elisha did the stricken mother reveal the cause of her sorrow. Upon hearing of her loss, Elisha bade Gehazi: "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child." {PK 238.2}

A. Prophets in Their Own Rights

But the hue and cry of the opposition is, Away with prophecies at this time! For all the prophets and the law "Prophesied Until John." Matt. 11:13.

VTH says, “If a fore quoted scripture means that there were to be no more prophets after John, then there should have been none since that time. And were this the meaning, then the Scriptures would contradict themselves, for they bear evidence that while Christ was the Son of God, He was also "a prophet." Luke 24:19. And although John the Baptist never wrote a single prophetic utterance, yet he was rated by Christ with the greatest of the prophets (Luke 7:28). Also Matthew, Mark, and Luke, under the Spirit of Inspiration, wrote concerning Christ and His work. Likewise John, Peter, and Paul, and others contemporary with them, prophesied in their own right of many things to come. All these are Scripturally accorded the title "prophet." Jesus Himself testifies that the book of Revelation is a prophecy, for the angel "who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw" says: "Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Rev. 1:2, 3. "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." Rev. 22:18. Tract 6 page 4, 5

1. Private Interpretations in exchange of Gift of Prophecy

Now the fact that this prophecy was written nearly a century after John the Baptist was beheaded, is historical acknowledgment that the prophets did not cease with him. Thus in misconstruing Matthew 11:13 so as to make John the last of the prophets, the opposition is attempting to substitute for the gift of prophecy in the Christian era, "private" (uninspired) interpretations of the Scriptures. And in doing this, they are led either to ignore or to try to explain away the irrefutable statement of Paul: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues" (1 Cor. 12:28) -- absolute evidence that the second of the eight gifts to the church in the Christian era, is prophets.

Present-day Christians who despise the gift of prophecy in this age, and also deny that the Old Testament Scriptures have any application in the gospel dispensation, are thereby rejecting all the prophets, while at the same time acknowledging that they were the servants of God. So such church-members continue to build and garnish the tombs of the prophets as did the Jews who claimed to believe in Moses but, when tested, were found to be liars. In like manner most Christians today profess to believe the whole Bible, yet teach that all the laws and statutes, all the warnings and condemnations, apply only to the ancient Jews, whereas the graces they eagerly bosom within the Christian church! Tracts 6 page 7

2. Result of Despising the Gift of Prophecy

The present-day so-called gift of tongues is gibberish, and is no more the Biblical gift than is Sunday the "sanctified" Sabbath day; and the gift of governments is degenerated into an institution of prerogatives, formalities, goals, and the like, which, in their present low estate, are naught but agencies which in effect militate against the Truth and neutralize the piety of the church. In this state of affairs, do the best of these professed Christians of today seem better than the worst of yesterday's Jews?

"Awake, awake," cries the Word, "loose thyself from the" man-wrought "bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion." Isa 52:2. "Quench not the Spirit," O church of God! "Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:19-21.

B. Prophets in first and second division

Sacred history shows that the prophets in the first division received the Word directly from God through the medium of His Spirit. They were not obliged to prove any part of their prophecies by the writings of the preceding prophets. Whereas the prophets in the second division are appointed by the unction of the Spirit to interpret the writings of the prophets of the first division.

1. First Division - Prophets who had received the word directly from God through the medium of His Spirit.

Example: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel

2. Second Division – Prophets who are appointed by the unction of the Spirit to interpret the writings of the prophets in first division.

Example: Matthew, Mark, Paul (See. 6Tr 4,5)

Since the Scriptures explain that the church in all ages has been led into truth only through the gift of prophecy, the Christian has no choice but to conclude that God's will and plan for this time is just as it was for times past; that is, that the knowledge of salvation be imparted through the writings of the Old Testament prophets, as interpreted by those upon whom, as the scroll unfolds, He bestows the same Spirit by which He moved upon "holy men of God" "in old time." 2 Pet. 1:21. "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Mal. 3:6