Great Prophets and Signs from God
- HOW DO WE KNOW A TRUE PROPHET OF GOD?
- WHAT is the SIGN of a true Prophet?
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
Gospel of Luke 7:16 ESV
A great prophet among us
Before we look at an extraordinary sign in Troas suggesting that Paul is also a Prophet of Almighty God, let’s look at other true Prophets of the past.
The gospel points to JESUS and not to the Apostle Paul or some other Old Testament prophet.
- WHO does a prophet speak for and what does he say?
- Is it the message and work of ALMIGHTY GOD or that of rebellion against the LORD?
The Lord Jesus Christ
~ A.D. 28 - the year being less important than the short time of two decades before this present miracle by Paul Luke 7:
.. behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother..
And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
.. for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
Gospel of Mark 6:14b-15 ESV
Elijah
About 860 Before Christ - the sign from GOD being more important than the year.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
1 Kings 17: ESV
God speaks to him and also commands the response of one (or more) to whom he is sent. Paul has already experienced this as have Peter and other Apostles sent out with the Gospel by the resurrected Jesus Christ.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
1 Kings 17:14-15 ESV
All are obedient to God for an extended time. They continue to witness a miracle but a greater sign will soon prove the power of God and truth of his prophecy through Elijah.
After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him..
19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.
.. Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord,
“O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”
.. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
More on Elijah AND other prophets What did they see?
The Apostle Simon Peter
About A.D. 40
And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.
WHAT FURTHER SIGN DO YOU NEED THAT THE HAND OF THE LORD IS ON A MAN THAN A RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD?
The Apostle Paul
Returning now to the mid- A.D. 50's about a dozen years after the resurrection of Tabitha or Dorcas in Joppa by Peter, a couple of dozen years after many witnessed the signs of multiple resurrections by the Lord Jesus AND more than nine centuries since the sign of the Prophet Ezekiel for a widow in Zarephath.
Acts of the Apostles 20:
after the 3-story fall of Eutychus from an upper room window to his death
But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”
11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.
12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Acts of the Apostles 20:12 ESV
WHAT THEN?
Paul’s preaching, worship and discussion with the believers in Troas had gone until midnight. (WHAT A LONG EVENING SERVICE!)
But then AFTER the SIGN of the Lord through PAUL raising the dead youth, the faithful returned to WORSHIP (and no doubt thankfulness) until the break of the very day. The Apostle would then continue to sail into the rest of the world with the Gospel of JESUS Christ.
JOY of the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues not only in Troas and back into Macedonia and Greece, but in other ports along the Apostle Paul’s third missionary journey.
12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.
Prophets and Signs
A false prophet shows NO SIGNS other than deception and ambition against Almighty God.
Saul of Tarsus had been a great aggressor of Zion without regard for the mercy of God and ears to hear the warning of Israel’s Prophets predicting a servant Messiah who would not ‘break a bruised reed’.
YET the LORD had bruised Paul’s zeal near Damascus and confronted his heart with the Gospel of His Own RESURRECTION!
NO SIGN of a Prophet proves his message true more than a resurrection of a body and restoration of a soul.
THE LORD had provided proof of His Word through Moses and through Elijah who have now appeared to Jesus’ Apostles Peter, James and John. The Word provides a sign to Saul by once more appearing to the apostle then prophesying the most difficult journey ahead as JESUS would send Paul out to the Gentiles as His chosen instrument.
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Acts of the Apostles 9:15b-16 ESV – The Lord sends Ananias to open Saul’s eyes.
Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
To Be Continued.. Lord willing, when we will meet Paul in Assos and sail back to Ephesus…
