See Your Name in Print

OK, I’m back. Did you miss me?

You do not delight in sacrifice and offering; You open my ears to listen. You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering. Then I said, “See, I have come; it is written about me in the volume of the scroll. I delight to do Your will, my God; Your instruction resides within me.” -- Psalm 40:6-8

A while back I wrote a bit about the messianic passage Isaiah 50:4 that has a similar sense of hearing God and speaking on His behalf. This passage from the Psalm is quoted by the writer of Hebrews in chapter 10 as also applying to the Messiah, which it obviously does. However, God did not limit His specific prophecies solely to Christ. An example is 1 Kings 13:2 where an anonymous prophet names a descendent of the Davidic line, Josiah, as the individual who would destroy Jeroboam’s idolatrous altar, but generations in the future. Isaiah names Cyrus as the king of an as yet non-existent kingdom who would, hundreds of years later, decree the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Obviously skeptics can argue that these names were added after the fact or that, in Josiah’s case, the both prophecy and fulfillment were falsified, no proof being sufficient for a mind that rejects proof – not even living proof.

I believe that Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus. For my purpose today, though, the more applicable example is Josiah who saw himself named in the chronicles of Judah by this unnamed prophet. He was motivated to fulfill the prophecy. In fact Psalm 40, classified as a Davidic psalm, would have been quite familiar to Josiah. He could have uttered those very words of his ancestor as he realized that he had a job to do.

When I look into the Bible, I see God’s Will. In fact, I see God’s Last Will and Testament. There is no invocation of a will until the testator dies (see Hebrews 9:16-18). Jesus died to put God Last Will and Testament into force. The Holy Spirit is the Executor. You and I are named as heirs of God and "joint heirs with Jesus Christ". Like Josiah, we can find ourselves in the Book.

Some might argue that, even if it is true that some old prophet said there would be a king named Josiah, Josiah was a common enough name. If you are king and your name's not Josiah, you are pretty much off the hook. "Yeah, well, that idol stuff, uh, Josiah's supposed to take care of that." When a Josiah did come along, what choice did he have?

For one, he could have named his son Josiah. That's what we do with Social Security.

When you read God’s Will, and something comes alive to you, you are reading your destiny, just as Josiah did. The Holy Spirit begins to speak and say, “This is your heritage. For this, you were born.” The instruction that resides within you converges with the Will, interlocking like pieces of a puzzle giving you a larger, more coherent picture. That instruction resides as latent potential, I won’t say within everyone, but within every living soul. Yet it is up to us what we do with it. When the Spirit calls my name will I accept it, or will I say, "You must mean the other Josiah"? Will I understand that the call is personal, or will I push it off as being for priests, preachers, ministries, religions, organizations or governments?

As a Christian who struggles with an extremely rebellious nature, I have found it helpful to shelve the word “obedience” part of the time – not the concept, just the word. Instead let’s call it “fulfillment”. No need in stirring up trouble right off the top. The Holy Spirit calls me to see God’s Last Will and Testament, and to fulfill the stipulations of it. I will never walk in my inheritance unless I fulfill God’s Will. I cannot understand my own existence apart from fulfilling what is my prophetic destiny.

Hear in the Real World

The Lord God has given Me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me each morning; He awakens My ear to listen like those who are being instructed -- Isaiah 50:4

This verse is part of a long Messianic passage culminating in Isaiah 53. If you really want to know what the Crucifixion was like, read Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

The prophet is talking about the Lord’s Servant, describing both national Israel and the coming Messiah. When the Old Testament talks about the ultimate restoration and exaltation of Israel, it is talking about Christ who now embodies all of God promises made under both the Old and New Covenants. For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore the “Amen” is also through Him for God’s glory through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

The phase “those who are instructed” can be and is in some translations rendered as “disciple”. Jesus was given “the tongue of a disciple”. When He went into the synagogue, He was given the scroll and found it opened to a different passage in Isaiah – The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive and freedom to the prisoner, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn (Isa. 61:1,2).

In Acts, Peter talked about, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and curing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil because God was with Him.”

And now He has us to get the job done.

I suppose walking on water and turning water into wine is good work if you can get it. Who knows? It could be that one of us will get the call to keep a party going by giving them a nice merlot from the kitchen tap. Usually I find myself with less glamorous jobs. I sometimes have to give an encouraging word with the buffalo aren’t roaming, or listen to the woeful tales of the brokenhearted while the cell phones are. None of it is too hard, really, but you have to start off right.

Though the prophet tells us first that the Servant is given the tongue of those who are instructed, it is the ear that is awakened first. Like faith, your mission comes by hearing. I’ve found that I can do some good just by doing the right thing – do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God. But for fulfilling Isaiah 61, I need to hear from God.

I remember lying face down on a motel bed in Red Oak, Texas, of all places, and getting a commission from God that completely changed the direction of my life. I lived the next decade as a raven. A raven is a big ugly bird of questionable habits, unclean and despised. Some ravens carried food to the prophet Elijah as he sat by a brook during a drought and famine. I have that on my resume.

A lot of people talk about “the Anointing” and how one is “so anointed” and all that. I look at the anointing a little differently. To me it is kind of like a position I step into or assume. I take my place. I do my job. I fulfill my purpose – even if it is just for today, or maybe just for an hour, when I make the call or send the email to a friend that is on my mind. In that moment I am anointed to do good and break the devil’s grip on somebody’s life. It’s not me – it’s the office.

It all begins with hearing, with being awakened by the Spirit of God. As Ricky Raccoon says, “Listening Now.” Sometimes it is a literal awakening – often at 3:00AM – the fourth watch of the night. Sometimes it is like a fingerless tap on the shoulder, or that still, small voice calling my name.

I’ve never opened any blind physical eyes, but I have helped open some spiritual eyes. I once helped set a prisoner free because I wrote a stupid little note of encouragement. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just heard and obeyed. There is a little boy walking around alive and well because I sent somebody an email about forgiveness. I had no idea what was going on. I just heard and obeyed.

He awakens your ear to listen like a disciple.