This is a collection that I did not anticipate writing. I began looking up scriptures for a post that I was going to title “Prison Praise”, and as I was looking up scriptures on different people in the Bible who prayed from a literal prison, a metaphorical prison, and even a fish used as a prison. I found myself in the book of Jeremiah, unable to go further. I just became immersed in the words of that book and began to take down notations that formed their way into a post that is still in the writing phase. It became pretty clear that I was finished with the Praise Collection for the time being and Adonai was opening the door to a collection on the prophets found in the Word. I don’t know what direction that this collection is going to go, as I didn’t even know it was going to be a thing. I don’t know what order I will write about them or how many parts each post will have. The one thing that I do know is that this is more of a teaching aimed at my own heart. The writing doesn’t feel like the style that I have been writing in, at least to me. I know that this is making me do a deeper self-examination and take a closer look at my relationship with my Savior. My heart is burdened, and it is heavy. As I have read the words in the book of Jeremiah, my heart has cried out for our nation and the nation of Israel in a way that it never has before. It has given me a burden for the lost that I have never felt before. It has impressed on my spirit that time is short and Yeshua is returning soon with an urgency that I have never felt before.
I have always thought about these men and women who held the title prophet or prophetess and wondered about their personal relationship with Adonai. I have been brought back to the Words Yeshua spoke in Luke 14:27-35 several times over the past couple of days. [27] Whoever does not carry his own execution stake and come after me cannot be my talmid. [28] Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Don’t you sit down and estimate the cost, to see if you have enough capital to complete it? [29] If you don’t, then when you have laid the foundation but can’t finish, all the onlookers start making fun of you [30] and say, ‘This is the man who began to build, but couldn’t finish!’ [31] Or again, suppose one king is going out to wage war with another king. Doesn’t he first sit down and consider whether he, with his ten thousand troops, has enough strength to meet the other one, who is coming against him with twenty thousand? [32] If he hasn’t, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation to inquire about terms for peace. [33] So everyone of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has cannot be my talmid. [34] Salt is excellent. But if even the salt becomes tasteless, what can be used to season it? [35] It is fit for neither soil nor manure – people throw it out. Those who have ears that can hear, let them hear!” These are men and women who counted the cost of serving Adonai. They did not live comfortable or easy lives. Before there was a cross of salvation, they took theirs up and proclaimed the Word of God boldly and did not back down. I want to serve more like they did, and I know that to have that kind of walk with Adonai, it comes with a price. My prayer is that I don’t back away from the cost and that I press in closer to Him, because what lies at the end of this race is so much greater than I can even imagine.
The word prophet in Hebrew is nabiy (naw-bee) and is spelled with the letters Nun, Bet, Yud, and Aleph. נביא It generally means spokesman, speaker, or inspired man. In looking at the individual letters that make up the word we see something a little deeper.
· Nun – emergence, faith, breaking down walls of separation.
· Bet – shelter, heart, house
· Yud – heavenly message, messenger
· Aleph – Adonai
The prophet emerged in faith with a word to break down the walls of separation between Adonai and His people. He was sent to speak to their hearts with a message from Adonai.
Nabiy has a numeric value of 63. I am always blown away by how Hebrew words and phrases connect by their numeric values, and this is no exception.
· Abac (aw-bas) – To feed, to collect, to bring together, to fill in
· Buwnah (boo-naw) – Insight or intelligence
· Galal (gaw-lal) – To roll, cause to turn; hollow out, excavate, turn
· Zuwn (zoon) – To feed, to nourish, to point, to sharpen, to shape, form
· Yizliyah (yiz-lee-aw) – Whom God will preserve, deliverance
· Michyah (mikh-yaw) – Preservation of life, sustenance, reviving
· Makob (mak-obe) – Pain, sorrow, grief, suffering
· Negohah (neg-o-haw) – Brightness, splendor
· Nachah (naw-khaw) – to lead, guide, bring
Each of these words can be related to the role of the prophet. They brought words of harsh judgement, but they also brought words of great promise and restoration. The words they spoke so many years ago still echo throughout time. Many have been fulfilled and many have yet to be made manifest but will in Adonai’s time.
Most historical and cultural commentary for the posts in the Prophet Collection will come from The Complete Jewish Study Bible, unless specifically noted. Meanings of the letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet will be from Hearing God’s Love Language by Chaim Bentorah or Hebrew Word Pictures by Dr. Frank T. Seekins
My prayer is that this collection will be life changing for both of us. I know that it has been for me so far, and I am still in the initial post for the book of Jeremiah. I have a feeling that it will be done in at least two parts as I have really been going over this book line by line. May this journey through the lives of these incredible men of God speak to our hearts, and may His words that were prophesied hundreds of years ago speak to our hearts and transform us into the sons and daughters of the Most High that we have been called to be.
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