By a Prophet

Hosea 12:13 "By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved."

Here we have a glimpse of the power that worked in Israel's deliverance and guidance - a glimpse, not just of a moment in history but of the Principle of God's working throughout all history…

All else that Moses was - his education - his years of preparation in the wilderness - his strength of character - was laid aside and was subservient to this one thing... he was a PROPHET!

His Vision was the Source and the Sustenance of his life throughout the times of deliverance and the journeying of Israel.

His Vision brought the Birth and Flowering of God's purpose for a nation in his generation.

His Vision brought the dawning of the Light and Glory of a New Era.

Without a prophet it never would have happened.

Without a prophet the darkness would have continued unbroken over Egypt.

Without a prophet the years of slavery and tears would have advanced without interruption.

Perhaps never in the course of the last centuries has there been a greater need of a prophet than there is today.

I’m not talking about the variety of “prophets” who so confidently walk amongst us.

I’m not talking about the ones who seem to be self-appointed and self-anointed to their task.

I’m talking about those who, in the desert, have lost their sense of self importance.

These in their emptiness have seen the flame of a bush ignited by God.

These are the ones who have heard a voice, not of earth, calling them to a task which will demand their life’s blood.

Who among us today, knows what is going on in the 'Egypt' around us?

Who among us today discerns the time of God in the midst of our confusion?

Who sees the connection between spiritual and natural worlds?

Who, beyond the limits of time, sees the unfolding of the plan of God for the next generation?

Who has heard God answer as they have asked, "What of the children?" "What of the future?"

Where is our Solution?...What is our Salvation?

      Like Moses -We need... To see Him

                                  We need... To hear Him.

                                          We need... To obey Him.

To see Him and to hear Him...this is our need.

But what will it take to come to the place of Vision?

  For Moses it took a cutting off from the comforts of Egypt.

  For Moses it took a cutting off from the fellowship and activities of his  brethren.

  For Moses it took a desert, a loneliness, and a total simplification of all

  that his life had involved in times past.

When all was blasted away and Moses was brought to the barren, wind-swept, sun-scorched, horizons of emptiness - then God came with his REVELATION and then Moses became the PROPHET for his people.

Maybe our deserts will not be physical... or maybe they will be, to a measure that we can't even imagine today!

However it be, there will be many, many similarities between our lives and Moses' if God is going to show himself.

The Cost will certainly be the losing of all that appeals to, and sustains, the life of natural man.

But the Payment of God is a Revelation which carries within it the Seeds of Life for ourselves and our people.

My father used to say, "We don't have revival because we are content to live without it."

So too our revelation of God depends directly upon the measure of our desire - the finding is still to those who seek "with all your heart."

God would have us understand, in this critical hour in which we live, that life is not about techniques or methods - A BURNING DESIRE WILL LIGHT ITS OWN WAY TO GOD.

In reality as in the life of Moses, it is not so much us finding God as it is God revealing Himself to us - while we are seeking Him He reveals Himself.

How important is it to us?

  To lay all else aside and search for God alone?

  To search the scriptures and let them speak for themselves?

  To come with a heart which says only, 'I come to do thy will?'

If there is one word from God for us in this hour, I believe it is this, 'Now is the time to seek God.'