Radar Towers
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (Acts 11:28)
Agabus was a proven and seasoned prophet. In this passage he predicts that a severe famine would take place during a time in the near future. This is why the apostle Paul, in his epistle, took up an offering for the believers living in Jerusalem. Paul was proactive in his response to this prophecy; prophecy helps us prepare and take proactive measures. Paul had a heart of compassion to help them through this difficult and unfruitful time. The church in Antioch acted proactively responding to the prophet’s prediction that was yet to come. This is why prophecy is so important. God would rather have us take proactive measures, and lead to alleviate the burdens in the world. Prophecy opens the door for us to be proactive.
The word predicted in the previous Scripture is translated semaino (say-mah’-ee-no) derived from the word sema; basically meaning “a mark; to indicate or to signify.” Agabus, the prophet, marked a word and spoke it with great confidence. Why did he speak with such confidence? He spoke because he deeply believed it had come from the author of truth-God Himself. Marking is a term that indicates surety. In other words, we are sure, confident and know without a doubt that God has spoken. When we mark what God has said it leaves no doubt in the mind of the receiver of the prophetic word spoken by God. The prophet, Jeremiah, affirms the “marking” principle in the following passage. He says:
For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? (Jeremiah 23:18)
In this passage Jeremiah highlights three important factors in the prophetic ministry. Prophets are to develop an intimate relationship with God since it is from this relationship that they acquire the ability to perceive what God is saying by visual or audible methods. Then they are to mark or ensure that what they receive is truly a word from God. They could not speak unless they knew without a doubt in their heart and mind that it was from God. The three principles are:
a.) Presence
The prophet’s role is to seek, and discern God’s voice. The word counsel above comes from the Hebrew word cowd meaning “a private session, a company of persons in close deliberation; by implication-intimacy, consultation, a secret assembly, secret (counsel).” It means going into God’s presence to have a meeting or session with Him. Before you ever receive a prophetic word from someone you must know first hand that they are a person of prayer. Don’t receive any Request prophetic word randomly without checking out the source.
What happens in one of these sessions with God? First, you connect and relate with your Creator. God desires a relationship with His people, but we are to make a concerted effort to meet with Him during our prayer times. His presence is addictive, once we make it in we experience dimensions of Him that are all too wonderful, and naturally we are inclined to want more of Him. Prophet Chuck Pierce in his book, Reordering Your Day: Understanding and Embracing the Four Prayer Watches writes about God’s presence in this way:
Being in God’s presence is ultimate fulfillment…a foretaste of heaven…Once you have experienced the presence of God; you are always thirsty for more.
His presence is addicting and once you encounter His presence you will want more of Him.
b.) Perception
A prophet is similar to the antenna on a car. He or she picks up sound waves from the airwaves of heaven, learns to translate them and then disseminates this information in a clear message to its intended audience; much like a car radio does with radio sound waves. After a person or a prophet goes into God’s presence he is to perceive a word by visual or audible means. The word perceive, in the passage above, comes from the Hebrew word ra’ah (raw-aw’) meaning “to see or discern, behold or to consider.” It denotes visual perception. A seer is someone who picks up information with his or her spiritual eyes.
Another form of perception is by audible means. The word heard is the Hebrew word shama` (shaw-mah’) a primitive root word meaning “to hear intelligently; to listen or give ear.” In general, a prophet picks up information in one or both of these fashions. From these definitions we learn that visual and auditory venues are critical to develop if we are to pick up information from God.