The Messengers

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Published: Monday, 20 May 2024 06:12
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The Messengers

(Formerly, “The Two Kings and the Prophet of Fire”)

by Peps; CLSF –Rosales; 29th July 2023 (Sunday)

 

 

 

SMS CAPITAL

SMS is “short message service”” commonly called as “text messaging;.”

 

The Philippines was dubbed as the texting capital of the world when phone calls, texting, and international roaming started gaining popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, even hitting a record high of sending an average of 250 million messages a day in 2005.

 

How many text messages can we send every day? And as a Christian, how many messages from the Scripture can we memorize and how often we receive messages from God?

 

Readings

2 Kings 1:1-8, “2 One day Ahaziah was on the roof of his house in Samaria. He fell down through the wooden bars on top of his house and was badly hurt. He called messengers and told them, “Go to the priests of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, and ask them if I will get well from my injuries.” 3 But the Lord’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “King Ahaziah has sent some messengers from Samaria. Go meet those men and ask them, ‘There is a God in Israel, so why are you men going to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Since you did this, the Lord says, You will not get up from your bed. You will die!’” Then Elijah left.    5 When messengers came back to Ahaziah, he asked them, “Why did you come back so soon?” 6 The messengers said to Ahaziah, “A man came up to meet us and told us to go back to the king who sent us and tell him what the Lord says: ‘There is a God in Israel, so why did you send messengers to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Since you did this, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!’” 7 Ahaziah said to the messengers, “What did the man look like who met you and told you this?”8 They answered Ahaziah, “This man was wearing a hairy coat with a leather belt around his waist.” Then Ahaziah said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite. “

 

Two Kings & The Prophet of Fire

Elijah often had clashes with government officials. Ahab and Jezebel were one among them as well with the king’s assistant, Obadiah (who was also a prophet). Clashing among prophets happens just in the case of 1 Kings 20:35-36. The same goes when prophet Micaiah clashed with another prophet in 1 Kings 22:13-28.

 

For awhile since Elijah ran out of fear in Mt. Sinai, we never heard from him in 1 Kings chapter 20. But in 1 Kings Chapter 21:17-20, Elijah resurfaced in full force. The Scriptures said, “The Lord spoke to Elijah.” And what was God’s command to him? “Go to King Ahab in Samaria..”Clashes between the two emerged again. This time the tension escalated for an obvious reason how King Ahab addressed Elijah as “trouble-maker” that became too personally vicious and called him, “my enemy.” (1 Kings 18:17; 21:20).

 

While Elijah-Ahab’s first duel concerns on the king’s worship to a false god, Baal, the second duel focuses on land-grabbing issue resulting to the death of the king. So land-grabbing is not a simple issue. Finally, the king died as Elijah have spoken. The following is the trend of the prophet-king issue:

 

  • CARMEL. (1 Kings 18:38) WHEN  Elijah showed himself as a prophet of fire first to king Ahab at God sent fire and licked the burnt offerings, the wood, the stones, the dust and the water
  • WAR ESCALATED. between the king and the prophet when the former called the latter "trouble- maker of Israel in 1 Kings 18:17 then as "my enemy" in 1 Kings 21:20. That branded name as “my enemy" took place when God commanded Elijah to confront the king for taking a poor man's property (Naboth). .
  • LAND GRABBING ISSUE, every male child of Ahab shall die just like to King Jeroboam and Baasha (1 Kings 21:21-22). The "evil" Hebrew "ra" pronounced "rah" means evil, bad, malignant, calamity, misery, trouble.
  • JEZREEL, (God sows) in Samaria where dogs licked Ahab’s blood on the ground as prophesied by Elijah (1 Kings 22:38).

 

Second King

Do you consult with medium? How about “spirit of the glass,” or horoscope and others?

 

Now we will be dealing with the second king,no less than Ahab’s son who succeeded him asking, no less than King Ahaziah.

 

A quote often heard as “like father, like son.” The same goes with King Ahab and also to his son, Ahaziah. Both have the same thing in common, they are worshippers of false gods.

  • AHAB, Ahaziah’s father, has 450 Baal prophets and another 400 prophets of the groves (1 Kings 18:19) .
  • AHAZIAN , Ahab’s son is also worshipper as Baal-zebub the god of Ekron (2 Kings 1:2).When he fell from the rooftop and started inquiring from the false gods if he will live. That was when God got mad so He sent an angel to Elijah to meet the "messengers" of the king (verse 3). While angels are messengers of God, prophet is also called “God-messenger.”  He 17 years old when he replaced his father Ahaz as king and he did evil like his father (1 Kings 22:51-53). Did king Ahaziah consulted with mediums in the same way what King Saul did (1Samuel 28:1)?

When a person consults with false god, will that be witchcraft and sorcery ?  (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; Number 17:16; Deut. 18:11).

 

Theophanic

According to Oxford Dictionary, theophany is visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god. The following are my personal experience that can make me or your crazy. It is mind-boggling if not you might call it insanity:

 

  • Japan Airlines (JAL), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 1986. During my first 6 months as Bible-believing Catholic and Christ-focused Christian, I had this encounter. Sonny, a new born-again Christian, a former mercenary in Vietnam and during that time worked as an IT expert with American company visited me in Japan Airlines where I worked. Just when between the two of us in the office, Sonny suddenly placed both his hands on his face and lowered his head down on the floor. I asked him, “What happened to you?” It took him a minute to explain, “My eyes got hurt when suddenly your face shone bright with flashes of light!” Both of us were astounded.

 

  • Baler, Quezon, 1995. I was invited as a Guest Speaker to an International Convention held at 3-story hotel in Baler. On my second day, right after dinner, the delegates went upstairs where we were booked in to take rest, while I stayed awhile for a cup of coffee at the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel. Three young men were seen drinking whose ages ranges from 27-32. All of these young men took turns looking at me while I refrain looking from their side. One man stood up and approached me and said, “Would you like to join us for a couple of beers?” I said, “Thank you but I do not drink beer anymore.” He politely went back to his seat. The 2nd young man stood up and approached me again. and asked, “Will you join us please and can I take another cup of coffee for you?” Again I politely declined. He again went back to his table. Then the third guy came and approached me and politely asked if he could sit down. I obliged. During conversations, he said, “I don’t know what to do, my mom is dying of cancer. And I have found out that my dad is playing around with other woman. And our accountant stole from us over P10 million and our business are down… Am confused and worried but when I saw you, my burdens in life have gone light but what I saw from you is a “face of an angel!” Hughhh! My mind simply gone out from my head. “What is the man talking about?” I said to myself. From 11:00 PM till 1:00 AM, I explained to them the Scriptures. All these three (3) young men accepted the Lord.

    One month later, someone called me up from the landline at the church and asked, “Is this Kuya Peps?” I said “Yes! Whose this?” He replied, “I am Paul, a law student in UP Diliman, the younger brother of Kuya Rocky..” I replied, “Yeah, he told me about you. How is your Kuya Rocky now?” Suddenly I heard a shrieking sound from the other line as this young man was desperately in tears. I waited him to subside till he stopped crying. And then said, “What happened?” Paul said, “He died a week ago from heart attack … Yesterday, I saw his dairy and brushed on it until I saw your name and telephone number…”Then he stopped. I asked him again, “What was written down there?” Paul replied, “I saw your name and your telephone number and the words that says, “ I saw the face of an angel!” And who could explain that?

 

       Stephen, a young boy in the Book of Acts were taken in to be stoned by death by the

       Pharisees and their followers but instead this is what they saw:

 

       ” And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the

        face of an angel. ” - Act 6:15

 

 

  • At the Church, 4:00 AM, 1998. While praying, two angels suddenly appeared both on my sides. They took me holding both my arm and flew transcending the roof and soaring on the skies above. We ascending too fast like a light, a second is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a second. It was unexplainable.

 

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance, “ – 2 Peter 3:8-9

 

Sometimes we wonder, why to some, angel appears to them? We cannot simply force God and tell Him he should appear to us? God appears to anyone he wants.  

In Exodus 33:18, Moses pleads with God, “Show me thy glory!” And God answers, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, Yahweh. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. “

 

 

  

The Messengers

Both the angels of God and the Son of God, Jesus Christ are messengers, but also some other men as well in the Scriptures in the like Abraham, Jacob, Isaac and the prophets (Hebrews 1:5; 2;1-8). But Jesus Christ also warned us of false messengers like the false prophets in Matthew 24: 4-5.

 

  

Messengers

We lack messengers of God today while Science and Technology, Communication and Artificial Intelligence overtake God’s representatives.

 

Paul exhorted the believers in Rome these words:

“ 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?   15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!  16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Romans 8:8-17

 

 

 

Hermes

When our plane departed John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City sometime in 2005, right after take off, I heard these words from the Lord, “Mercury.”

 

Hermes is prominently worshiped as a messenger, often described as the messenger of the gods (since he can convey messages between the divine realms, the underworld, and the world of mortals).

 

 

Greek god Hermes (the Roman Mercury ) was the god of translators and interpreters. He was the most clever of the Olympian gods, and served as messenger for all the other gods.

 

if you noticed that during the COVID-19 PANDEMIC in 2020 over 3.5-Billion out of 7-Billion people on the Planet Earth, there was a sudden boom of Science and Technology especially Communication where COVID-19 protocols such as lockdown, social-distancing, e-commerce, military check points, touch-less transactions, e-banking, etc put humans on hold, held like prisoners and hostages and they were being manned and controlled by technology of modern communication like Mercury or Hermes? This is not a plain coincidence but epiphany.

 

The Voice

Be a prophet, a preacher, pastors, Word of God or God’s messages, these VOICES are messengers.

 

Isaiah 40:3, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 

 

Matthew 3:1-4, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,  2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. ”

That voice never wanes. That voice never retires. The voice will never die. The voice will there forever and ever.

 

Not once

Elijah strikes back, not once but twice. In 1 Kings Chapter 17, Elijah rebuked King Ahab. and in 2  Kings chapter 1, the same prophet rebuked Ahab’s son, King Ahaziah.

 

Due to Ahaziah's abomination, the prophet of fire strikes back not just once but twice  to the messengers sent by King Ahaziah (1 Kings 1:9-16). While the first two captains and their 50
Platoon members we killed with fire from heaven, the 3rd captain and his 50 men were spared. They lived! HOW?

Provoke not

Provoke not a prophet.

 

Beware of provoking an angel or a prophet otherwise you invite a curse or death. “ Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him,” ( Exodus 23:20-21).  

 

Take the case of Elisha when some boys provoked him calling him, “you bald-headed man!” Such provocation caused God to send two bears and ripped 42 boys ripped their bodies apart, “(2 Kings 2:23-24).

 

Prophet of Fire

The two first captains sent by King Ahaziah made the same provocative statements to Elijah thus the words: "the king says, come down quickly." The 3rd captain did not demand but rather said "Man of God, spare my life and the Lives of these 50 servants of yours." So Elijah spared the lives of this 3rd captain and his 50men.

Then an angel instructed Elijah to go with the 3rd captain to meet Ahaziah. Elijah spoke to Ahaziah face to face to declare his death until he died.

 

Therefore, a prophet can declare who will live and who will die according to the Word of the Lord. Beware of these messengers. Their message has the power to save or to condemn.

 

 

Apocalyptic Messengers

We live in the end of times. Merriam –Webster defined “apocalypse” as “something viewed as prophetic revelation.”

 

Just like Elijah, called as “prophet of fire” in the same way, Jesus Christ is greater than Elijah. John the Beloved saw this in his vision and wrote:

 

Rev. 1:12 – 15, “ And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14,” And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 15  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire”

 

  • 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. ”
  • 4:5, “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. ”

 

Book of Revelation

  • Final book of the T
  • Title:  Greek  apokalypsis, i.e.  'unveiling' or 'revelation'.
  • The only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon
  • Christian Eschatology
  • The author names himself as simply "John"

 

Revelation 1:8,  “ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. ”

 

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is apocalyptic (futuristic). And it is therefore prophetic. See the words, “ I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine not until that day…”What day? That is referring the “Day of the Lord.”

 

Apocalypse is an Old English apocalipsin, via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek apokalupsis, from apokaluptein  meaning ‘uncover, reveal’, from apo- ‘un-’ + kaluptein ‘to cover’..

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

The word angel comes from the Greek word aggelos (pronounced angelos), which means messenger. Some English translations of the Bible also translate malak, the Hebrew word for messenger, as angel when the malak is from God. Sharing a message from God is the primary role of angels in Scripture (Daniel 8:15-16; Zechariah 1:12-21; Luke 1:11-13