Prophets as Preachers (pt.2)

Writing yesterday I tried to give means for reading the prophets without being confused and bored! Today reading the account of Balaam in Numbers has caused me to challenge that thought a bit, but not much. Some prophecy is this situational message bearing prompted by the Lord. It takes on both the unique personality of that prophet and the unique message of YHWH to the audience. But even Balaam spoke Bible and perhaps didn’t know it, “Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you” (Num. 24:9). This is a direct echo of God’s promise to Abraham, father of the people of Israel. So, while there certainly is a situational and experiential aspect to many of these prophecies (i.e.-Acts 21:10-11, Is. 44:28, I Kings 19:9-18), I still hold to the fact that the majority of written biblical prophecy is “sermonic”. May God be pleased to bless our reading of ALL His Holy Word.