Episode Transcript
Merry Christmas, Sower Nation! J.D. Walt here with a quick update on what's now and what's next on the Wake-Up Call.
Ivan Filby, my friend and Seedbd's CEO, will lead us through the end of the year with a short power-packed series. I will be back on January 1st with a month-long series I'm calling New Year. New Word. I'm inviting you to ask God for a word from Scripture to guide 2025. And I would love to know your Scripture text as I'll be choosing from among these to write about for the whole month. You can share that text here.
In the meantime, Merry Christmas! Happy New Year and I'll see you on the field in 2025.
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Matthew 2:1–3
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
CONSIDER THIS
I never thought much about the Magi until Marta, our exchange student from Madrid, Spain, became part of our Illinois family in 2011. We wanted to be a good host family, and knowing Marta would likely feel homesick being so far from her family, we asked her about Christmas traditions. She told us that her family exchanged small gifts on Christmas Day, but the most important day to exchange gifts was January 6.
I learned that January 6 is Three Kings' Day in Spain. It commemorates the day the three kings presented their gifts to Jesus—gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What a great day to exchange gifts!
Matthew is the only gospel writer who records this story. It is a fascinating story: it's got an unusual star, a long journey, some Eastern stargazers, a quest, a dream, a despotic king, a small town, a young mom, a baby, some spiffy gifts, and a detour home. But the story has so much more to teach us. It gives us a glimpse of how God can speak to us, how we can follow closely, and some pointers about worship too.
We'll touch on these along the way. But my main focus in this short series is on prophetic ministry. When my mate, John David Walt, asked me to write and record the Wake-Up Call today and over the next five days, he specifically asked me to talk about prophetic ministry.
So, let's begin. First off, let's set the record straight. Matthew never tells us how many men journeyed in this eastern caravan. He certainly doesn't tell us they were kings. Yet, that's often how we think about this Scripture, isn't it? We reinforce it whenever we unthinkingly sing, "We Three Kings of Orient Are." It's a great hymn; we included it in the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer's Praise (hymn 208), if you want to look it up. It contains some great lines and has a catchy tune. But the first line comes from tradition, not Scripture, and we mustn't confuse the two. In the Western world, where fewer people read and study Scripture regularly, many people gain an understanding of who God is and who they are from the worship songs we sing. If our songs or hymns are off-kilter, our understanding of God and ourselves will be off-kilter.
So, what's all this got to do with prophetic ministry? Good question. Let's begin by thinking a little more about the star. When the Magi first saw the star, how did they conclude that it signified a new king of the Jews? We know the Magi were from the East. Some scholars suggest they may have been part of the Jewish diaspora and knew the Scriptures. We don't know for sure. But, even if they had a Jewish heritage and were familiar with the Old Testament writings, what made them connect the star to a newborn king? What made them search the Scriptures in the first place?
To understand what may have happened, we must look closely at how God often trains prophetic people to interpret what they see. We see this most clearly in the book of Jeremiah. Let's look at Jeremiah 1:11–14:
The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.
The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."
The word of the Lord came to me again: "What do you see?"
"I see a pot that is boiling," I answered. "It is tilting toward us from the north."
The Lord said to me, "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land."
It's almost as if God has enrolled Jeremiah in Prophetic Ministry 101. The training begins when God asks Jeremiah, "What do you see? Jeremiah replies." I see a branch of an almond tree." Jeremiah goes to the top of the class: "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." God's response is so intriguing. First, he confirms that Jeremiah has seen it correctly. We don't know if he saw a real almond branch or a vision; it doesn't matter. What matters is that Jeremiah paid attention to what God wanted him to see. God then tells Jeremiah the significance of the image: "For I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." We don't see it in our English translation, but God includes some nifty wordplay here. The Hebrew word for almond sounds very similar to the Hebrew word for "watching." I'm sure that from that moment on, every time Jeremiah saw an almond tree, he was reminded that God was still watching over his word to make sure it would be fulfilled." The good news is that he is still watching over his word for you and me today.
I wonder if the Lord trained the Magi similarly, helping them connect the star with the newborn king in a distant land. Perhaps the conversation went something like this:
God: What do you see?
Magi: We see a bright new star.
God: Look more closely. What is it doing?
Magi: It's rising.
God: You have seen correctly. Behold, I am raising up a new King of the Jews just as I have raised up this star.
I've found that when God gives me a prophetic picture for a church or an individual, I ask myself, "What do I see?" For this example, let's say I see a prophetic picture of some Magi giving me gold.
Next, I'd ask, "What does the image signify? What does it mean?" Let's be honest; it could mean any number of things. Maybe the Lord wants to remind me to worship King Jesus; maybe he wants me to know I am precious to him; maybe it's a warning that the stock markets are about to crash, and I should invest in gold; maybe it's to remind me of a gift I had promised to make but neglected to do so.
Here's the point: it might mean any number of things. So, I need the Lord's help to connect the dots. Similarly, the rising star might have meant many things to the Magi. They, too, needed the Lord's help to connect the dots so they could see how it signified a new King of the Jews.
Sometimes, there is a third stage, a call to action, but not always. God often simply wants to communicate with us because he loves us. He wants to encourage us, comfort us, and strengthen us. In this way, prophetic ministry is a love language to us, for us, and through us.
So, if prophetic ministry is a love language, are you ready to become more fluent?
THE PRAYER
Lord, help me learn to see and hear all you want to speak to and through me. Let me not rush ahead or lag behind. Teach me to pay attention to what you want to show me, and help me to learn to wait on you for understanding. Amen.
THE QUESTIONS
Why do you think it is that, like Herod, so many of us assume Jesus wants to take away from our lives, not enrich them? What is it that we fear? What is it that you fear? Have you ever had a small impression that you thought might be from the Lord? In what ways was it the same, and in what ways was it different from any other thought in your head?
