Read Acts
13:1-3
1 Now in the church
at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and
Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent
them off.
There was a period of
time over the recent Bible Overview Course when we were meeting in King’s
Church and in the room next door was the Lent Prophetic Course run by Sally
Ann. We were chatting beforehand one week when Sally Ann commented on how
appropriate it was that Bible and prophetic courses should be running in
adjacent rooms and joked that we just needed to get rid of the wall! I agreed;
the Bible and prophecy need to go hand-in-hand.
It is not clear here whether the five men
listed were all “prophets and teachers” or whether some were one and some the
other. It is noteworthy, however, that the two functions are listed together.
What is also noteworthy is the diversity amongst those listed. Two are from
North Africa, Simeon and Lucius – the first of whom could conceivably be the
Simon who carried Jesus’ cross.[1]
There is Saul, the Pharisee, who was from Tarsus in what is now southern
Turkey. There is Barnabas the Levite from Cyprus (4:36) and then Manaen a close
childhood friend of Herod’s![2]
- What is prophecy?[1]
- Why is it important that the Bible and prophecy go together (if, indeed, you agree that they should)?
- Is there any significance to the fact that one of Herod’s childhood companions is listed in this group?
If you have a bit longer :-)
When I read in the
Bible about God speaking to someone, I often find myself wondering what that
experience was like. Was it an audible voice? Was it an instantaneous
unshakable conviction? Or was it more like the way I believe he often speaks to
me? A growing conviction over time or a gentle nudge inside their heads, which
they think is God but might not be?!
Well, as is usually
the case in the Bible, we are not told. We just know that he did!
- Do you believe that God speaks to you? If so in what ways?
- When we believe that we have heard from God, how do we know if it is him speaking or not? What degree of certainty should we have before acting on what we we’ve heard?
- How can we help one another in this?
[1] The definition of the
Greek word, profeteia, is: “discourse emanating from divine inspiration and
declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked,
or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by
foretelling future events.” From Accordance, an NT computer programme.
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