THE PROPHETS: INTRODUCTION/THE CALL Lesson # 1
MARK 1:1-15
I. Introduction:
We are going to speak about the “Call” of a Prophet today. It will concern not only the call of a prophet but take us into seeing the call of anyone to a task for the Lord. But before we begin, let me ask you to do something for me.
Pass out 3 X 5 cards (or pre-printed half sheet with questions on them) to everyone present.
On your card answer the following four questions.
1. Tell me of someone who was called of God.
2. How would you envision a call from God.
3. Are you called? If yes then what do you mean by that?
4. If you were called what happened?
II. The Old Testament View of A Call: Insights from Von Rad.
There are several calls in Scripture that are written accounts of “calls”. In the Old Testament alone we have several narratives that report such an event.
Amos: Amos 7-9
Isaiah: Isaiah 6, 40
Jeremiah: Jeremiah 1
Moses: Exodus 3-4
Micaiah: I Kings 22:19-22
Ezekiel: Ezekiel 1-3
Zechariah: Zechariah 1:7-6:8
Elisha: I Kings 19:19ff
Samuel: I Samuel 3:1ff.
A. The Purpose of the Calls.
Note: Von Rad says the writing of these calls had a definite purpose.
1. The calls showed that you were to abandon the fixed order. We will see this when we look at the call of Jeremiah in the following weeks.
Q What do you think von Rad means when he says called to abandon the fixed order?
An = These people were not called to ministry to maintain the status quo: to keep a “well-oiled machine” going. They were called to be ones who “rocked the boat”, who upset things and were commissioned to attempt to change people and change their society.
2. Von Rad also speculates that the prophets wrote their call to justify why they were so different from everyone else. The prophets often stood alone, and the writing of their call was to justify their unique stance and perspective.
3. The writing of these calls showed that the calls themselves were a burden from God Himself that had to be borne.
Q What does von Rad mean they were a “burden to be borne”?
An = The prophets witness that a burden was placed upon them. The call made them lose control over their future. They were no longer their own person. They often did not want the job. Moses’ call in Exodus 3-4, shows us he tried four times to get out of it. It was too scary to him and he did not want the job. When we look at Jeremiah’s call we will also see that he did not want the job. Some of the prophets actually called their messages “burdens”. .
B. What We Would Like to Know But Are Never Told.
Note: Von Rad also says that we would like to know many things that are never told us.
1. We have no idea how a prophet prepared for a call.
2. We know nothing of the prophet’s psychological condition. Did the calls come in ecstatic states or melancholic states or ill health? We are not told what the prophet’s state of mind was. We do not know anything about Jeremiah’s inner condition prior to his call. The book of Jeremiah just opens with his call.
3. We never really know how the revelation comes to the prophet. “The Word of the Lord came unto me saying…” is a common phrase used to describe the reception of a prophetic word. The problem is the Hebrew word “Word” can mean one of three things: literally a word, or a thing or an event (like a vision). Scripture does not tell us as much as we would like to know about how revelation came. Did the revelation come verbally in words that could be heard or through visions or through trances or some other intuitive means?
Q Why do you think the Scriptures did not tell us these details?
An = They were obviously not important to God. He consistently focuses on other things.
4. We do not know quite the way the prophets understood their message, we just know they did understand.
C. Review of the Cards or Half-Sheets.
Go through the questions one by one and get people to share their views.
Note: Let us look at another famous person and their call: Jesus Christ.
>>>> Have everyone turn to Mark 1.
A: John the Baptist’s purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus (1:4-8).
>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:4-8
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Q Why does John teach a “baptism of repentance”. Why do they have to repent?
An = The word repent in Hebrew literally means “to turn”. They could not stay the way they were if they were to be ready to meet the Messiah.
Note: It is probably helpful to know that only Gentiles or non-Israelites were baptized. They were considered unclean ceremonially (compared to Jews) and dirty. For a Jew to be baptized was an action founded in choosing to humble oneself.
Q Was John enjoying a comfortable life style? Are these details about his diet, how he was clothed and where he lived important to know?
Q How did John die and where did he die?
An = He died in prison by having his head cut off and delivered on a plate to someone who did not like his message. You can see why someone who really understood what was involved with being a prophet did not want the job.
B. The Introduction of Jesus and a dramatic affirmation from God: Mark 1:9-11.
>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:9-11.
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love: with you I am well pleased.”
C. The Desert Experience: Mark 1:12-13.
>>>>Have someone read Mark 1:12-13.
At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Note: The pattern of struggle orchestrated by God, coming after the glory of the call is a common Old Testament theme. Part of living a truly Christian life is to live in the desert occasionally. Moses was in the desert, and so was Paul and Jesus Christ. In the desert is deprivation and that deprivation can take a number of forms. One must choose to successfully deal with the desert experience and therefore with loss of what others have and often with pain. Remember it is the Holy Spirit that leads Jesus into the desert (1:12) and the season of temptation, and the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing. The Holy Spirit desires to bless the prophet; and the desert experience and the good that comes from it takes on a different shape for each of us. Therefore our desert experiences will differ.
Q Have you ever noticed that new Christians often go through a desert experience soon after their conversion?
An = Remember this is a pattern. Israel was saved from Egypt at the Red Sea and then went immediately to a time of teaching (Mt. Sinai) and then into the desert.
D. Jesus comes out of the desert with a “Word” from the Lord (Mark: 1:14-15). It is a Word of Promise that God’s rule was near (the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of us). If a person weathers their personal desert experience, they too will come out with a word from God. Jeremiah and the prophets weathered their desert experiences and became the foundation for the rebuilding of their nation’s spiritual life.
>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:14-15.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come”, he said. “The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Q What is the essence of Jesus’ message in 1:15?
An = God’s rule is near, repent!
Q Is the good news or is the term “gospel” that we can no longer be in control of our lives, but the possibility of submitting to His rule is at hand?
D. Final Words: from von Rad.
Note: The Bible does not often tell us what we want to know but it does tell us what it wants us to know.
1) The call is stronger than the man’s past. Jeremiah does not think he had the prerequisites for the job, however God thought Jeremiah did. God is greater than our past baggage. If he has called us to be a Christian then if we will obey Him He will overcome our personal inadequacies. He did this for His prophets and He will do it for us.
2) The call indicates we are appointed by a superior. Someone that is greater than us issues the call. We do not call ourselves. If we do we will fail.
3) They were not just spiritual visions but visions that affected concrete reality. Von Rad says their messages or visions were never about having mere spiritual experiences. They were given to the prophets so that they could communicate them and impact their world morally, politically, socially as well as spiritually.
4) The message came from outside of the prophet. The message did not originate from the prophets themselves
>>>> Have someone read John 8:28.
“…and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”
Next week: We are going to look at another aspect of the nature of prophets in general before we look at Jeremiah’s call. Read Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 and Psalms 126:5-6.