Category: General

Not the Same

Jeremiah 26:20-23

Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.  And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other menwho went with him to Egypt.  And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

I share this because I’m not aware of Urijah being mentioned anywhere else in scripture.  Yet he prophesied and according to scripture, it appears that he was no false prophet.  What he said was the very word of God.  And yet, we don’t have a single word of it.  We know that it was generally the same sort of thing as what Jeremiah was preaching.

I think this is kind of a problem for people who want to say that prophecy today is basically the same thing as scripture.  “Since the canon is closed, there can be no more prophesying, because to prophesy would be to add to scripture.”  The problem is that the scripture that we have doesn’t teach that at all.  Being a true word from God was necessary, but not a sufficient reason to be included in the canon of scripture.  So prophecy today has no reason to be thought of as adding to the written word of God.

“Why did it come to me?  Why was I chosen?”

“Such questions cannot be answered,” said Gandalf.  “You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate.  But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”

-Fellowship of the Ring, Ch 2