Prophets are God’s chosen servants. Divinely appointed as intermediaries to communicate God’s command to the people. The prophet is chosen to lead, shepherd, teach and counsel the people of God. The Bible says, by God’s word shall one be established and through the prophet shall one prosper. 2 Chronicles 20:20…Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established; believe and remain steadfast to His prophets and you shall prosper.
Prosper here means to thrive and flourish in all things. To have good success. Honoring the Prophet of God brings success to your life and causes you to flourish in all things.
God reveals his secrets to Prophets who in turn communicate to the people or intercede on their behalf. Genesis 18:19 For I have acknowledged him as My own, so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is righteous and just, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has promised him.”
Abraham was God’s chosen servant.He was sanctioned by God to impart God’s commands on his household and in response they honored him as God’s prophet. When God wanted to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah he disclosed his plans to his Prophet. Abraham was the Prophet that spoke on behalf of Lot. He interceded for Lot and his life was reserved. God did not reveal his plan to Lot, but to his servant Abraham first. If Abraham did not intervene for Lot, the number of his days would be cut off. Do you have a prophet that is interceding for you?
Would like us to understand that God reveals his heart to his prophets who step in the gap and intercede for the people. Sometimes we become dormant in life because we do not have a prophetic voice speaking onto our lives as is led of God. We stay in one phase of life for long without progress because no one is speaking onto our lives as God’s servant.
God’s servants are our covering its important for us to respect them. They can see sometimes what our eyes cannot see. Elisha’s servant saw them surrounded by an army with horses and chariots that the king of Syria had sent to seize the Prophet, and was terrified. But Prophet Elisha could see himself surrounded by chariots of fire that God had sent to protect him. 2Kings 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha. The prophet here was his covering.
God revealed himself to his Prophet Moses. He used him to perform miracles for Pharaoh to release the children of Israel from captivity in Egypt. When they came to the red sea and Pharaohs army was right behind them, God used Moses to part the red sea and made a miraculous escape for them. While they were in the wilderness hungry and thirsty, God again used His prophet to provide for them.
God used Prophet Elijah to provide for the widow and her son at Zarephath in a season of severe famine.
Benefits of honoring the prophet.
When you honor a prophet you receive the prophet’s reward. The Prophet’s reward is the fulfillment of the word vaticinated.
The prophet can be used to recover things that were lost.
-When the Lord sent famine in the land, he informed Elisha his prophet and Elisha instructed the Shunamimite woman to leave the country for there would be famine in the land for seven years. She honored God’s word and left with the family and their lives were preserved. At the end of the seven years she came back from Philistine and recovered all that was hers.
-God used Prophet Elisha to recover an axe that fell into the Jordan River during construction. (2Kings 6)
A Prophet can speak life to dead situations
Prophet Elisha was in Jordan when he was informed that the waters were bad and that the land was barren, so he spoke a word and the waters were purified and the land became productive.
When the son of the widow at Zarephath became sick and died, Prophet Elijah prayed for the son and his life was revived. (1Kings 17:22)
Through his Prophets God gives his people victory.
The Prophets hears God’s instructions for us.
2 Kings 4:5-6. So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing her the containers as she poured the oil. 6 When the containers were all full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” And he said to her, “There is not a one left.” Then the oil stopped multiplying.
This is a scenario were the widow had a predicament in her life and went to seek for counsel from a Man of God. She was unable to pay her creditors who wanted to take her sons to work as a slave in payment for the debt owed. The Prophet gave her an instruction which she honored and she was able to clear her debt and provide for herself and her son.
Naaman a commander of the army of the King of Syria was a leper. He left for Samaria to see the Prophet because of his leprously and was instructed to wash in the Jordan seven times for his flesh to be restored. Naaman was hesitant to the instructions given but when he fully submitted to the authority of God and did as commissioned he was healed.
You cannot honor your Prophet unless you walk by God’s revelation and are a God fearing person
When the Shunammite woman learnt that Prophet Elisha passed by Shunem, she and her husband arranged for a room on the house top,so that whenever the servant of God passed by he would rest there. The Shunammite woman was honoring the man of God and as she did this, God remembered her. The Prophet prophesied that she would have a son the same season the following year. Though her husband was old, the following year she gave birth to her son.
The prophet can also be sent to rebuke people who have gone astray from God’s command. For example, Prophet Nathan was sent to David when he struck down Uriah with the sword and took his wife.
What happens when you dishonor the prophet? Genesis 12:3 And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses, despises, dishonors you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.”
This shows how significant or powerful a Prophet is; if you dishonor him or have contempt for the Prophet the wrath of God shall befall you. But if you bless and do well to the prophet then God’s blessings shall be upon you.
There are repercussions of dishonoring the Prophet.
Numbers 12:1-2 Now Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; and they said, “Has the Lord really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?” And the Lord heard it.
When the Lord heard the murmurings and how disrespectful Miriam and Aaron were towards his servant Moses, he summoned them and Miriam became leprous. This are the effects of dishonoring God’s servants. God’s servants are divinely appointed and once you understand this you will be wary of your conversations.
Dishonoring the Prophet can make you lose your place or position.
1 Samuel 15:2-3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when Israel came up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Prophet Samuel instructed King Saul on what to do as they went to war with the Amalekites but Saul disobeyed God’s instructions therefore dishonoring him. He spared Agag the king of the Amalekites, the best of sheep, the oxen, lambs and everything that was good. But only destroyed that which was worthless. He was sent on a mission to totally destroy the sinners and eliminate them. As a result of dishonoring God’s instruction through the prophet, God rejected Saul as king of Israel and in his place another was appointed.
Dishonoring the Prophet can cause premature death
2 Kings 7:1-2 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of finely-milled flour will sell for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’” Then the royal officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “If the Lord should make windows in heaven [for the rain], could this thing take place?” Elisha said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but [because you doubt] you will not eat of it.”
There was a great famine in Samaria and God sent his prophet to prophecy, but the royal officer despised God’s prophecy. The following day, the king appointed the royal officer to be in charge of the city gate and the starving people trampled him at the gate as they struggled to get through for food and he died. The prophecy was fulfilled. He saw it but did not partake of it because he dishonored the Prophet.
Do not regard a prophet with contempt
Isaiah 7:9 And the head (the capital) ofEphraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son (Pekah). If you will not believe and trust and rely on God and on the words of God’s prophet instead of Assyria, surely you will not be established nor will you remain.
It is very essential for us to understand the role of the prophets and honor them. 1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who perform the duties of their office well be considered doubly worthy of honor. Recognize the authority of the man of God that God has placed in your life.1 Thessalonians 5:12 Now also we beseech you, brethren, get to know those who labor among you [recognize them for what they are, acknowledge and appreciate and respect them all]—your leaders who are over you in the Lord and those who warn and kindly reprove and exhort you.
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