Lesson from God's Frist Prophet
By Dr. Mark Denison
At Revival in Our Time, it is our daily prayer that God bring revival to America and to the world. We are blessed to report the mighty movement of God through our partner ministries. When we pray for revival, we often talk about such themes as repentance, prayer, and the Holy Spirit.
Today, let’s consider God’s first prophet. I’m not talking about the prophets you usually think about in Scripture – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Elisha, etc. The first prophet mentioned in the Bible was found in Genesis. His name is Abraham.
n the Bible’s first reference to prophecy, it says that Abraham “is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live” (Genesis 20:7).
Abraham was an amazing man through whom God did amazing things. But why? What made Abraham worthy of being a) the Father of the nation Israel, and b) God’s very first prophet? I suggest the key to Abraham’s life is the key to anyone’s life – who wants to be an instrument of the Father.
2 Chronicles 20:7 “Did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?”
Isaiah 41:8 “Jacob my chosen one descended from Abraham my friend.”
James 2:23 “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. He was even called the friend of God.”
God blessed and used Abraham because he was his friend. So much of what Abraham did was from the overflow of his abiding relationship with God. His example shows us that those who truly know the Lord can hear his voice and speak for him as none other.
I learned a long time ago, a man cannot be much for God until he has been much with God. Abraham was arguably the most important man of the Old Testament. God used him in ways he never used anyone else.
What made Abraham special? It’s simple – he was the friend of God.