Sabbath School Lesson 3 Summary – Old Testament Prophets | Q4 2026

Speaker A 00:00:00 - 00:01:10 Hello, I'm Mike Browning. Welcome to Let God Speak. Throughout history, God has guided His people through prophets. But what kind of people did God choose for this role? Were they flawless, superhuman figures? And how can we tell a true prophet from someone who simply claims the title? Today's lesson looks closely at what a true prophet of God is really like. Folks, joining me on the panel today, we have Rod Butler and Corinne Knopper. Thank you once again for joining in with our panel today and sharing together. We would like to invite everybody to join with us in prayer. So we invite you all to do that. Father in heaven, we just thank you for the amazing privilege we have of reading the Scripture. Speaker B 00:01:10 - 00:01:10 Oh yes. Speaker A 00:01:10 - 00:01:23 And seeking to understand its message. And I pray that your Holy Spirit will be with us today to guide us as we share together and as we read the messages you have given us. We pray in Jesus' name. Speaker B 00:01:24 - 00:01:25 Amen. Amen. Speaker A 00:01:25 - 00:01:36 Now, in order to understand a prophet's role, we need to know just how God communicated with them. So Rod, have you got some insights for us here? How did God communicate with the prophet? Speaker C 00:01:36 - 00:01:48 Well, He communicated via dreams and visions, except in the case of Moses, He, from time to time, He communicated face to face. And I'd just like to read that because it's quite important. Speaker A 00:01:48 - 00:01:49 Yes. Speaker C 00:01:49 - 00:02:29 I'm going to be reading Numbers chapter 12 and verses 6 to 8, the first part of verse 8. It says, And He said, Hear now My words. If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. So He says, I'm speaking mouth to mouth with Moses as a special case. But this highlights that, you know, God chooses, it's a reminder that He chooses how He wants to communicate with people. Speaker A 00:02:29 - 00:02:34 That's very interesting, isn't it? That He does that and He's not going to do it always exactly the same. Speaker B 00:02:34 - 00:02:35 No. Speaker A 00:02:35 - 00:03:11 Yeah, yeah, no, thank you for that. Appreciate that. I'm going to read from Exodus chapter 33 and I'm going to read verse 11 here. Where it talks some more about Moses and the way God communicated with him. Rod? So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend, and he would return to the camp. But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. But Moses, he went up into the mountain and spoke to God face to face. What's happening here really, Corinne? Share some things with us that are going to help us. Speaker B 00:03:11 - 00:03:19 Well, it was interesting to know that Moses and God were discussing things together, the matters of what was happening with everybody there. Speaker A 00:03:19 - 00:03:20 Hmm. Speaker B 00:03:20 - 00:03:53 And I found some more in Exodus, chapter 31, verse 18. And it says, He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, 2 tables of testimony, tables, tables of stone that were written with the finger of God. And this was after their extended communication time that they had. So God was giving Moses those 10 Commandments. Speaker A 00:03:53 - 00:03:54 The 10 Commandments, exactly. Speaker B 00:03:54 - 00:04:06 Yes. And then Moses was living between God and the people there at that time, carrying the messages from God to the people. And from the people back to God. Speaker A 00:04:06 - 00:04:08 Yeah, so that was a fantastic role he had. Speaker C 00:04:08 - 00:04:08 Yes. Speaker A 00:04:08 - 00:05:01 Look, it's really interesting. I want to just slip across to the New Testament for a moment, to 1 Peter and chap— sorry, 2 Peter, not 1. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21, where it talks about the way in which God is speaking to the prophets. And this is what it says. For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God, and as we'll see, in some cases women as well, spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So this is what is happening. The Spirit of God is moving within them and speaking through them. So we're getting some insight here into God's method of communicating with the prophets. Now, what sort of people? Let's talk about the prophets themselves, Rob. What sort of people were they? Were they, unique superhuman type people here? Speaker C 00:05:01 - 00:05:10 Well, you could get the idea they were, but they certainly weren't. They were, yes, they were called and they were gifted, they were given gifts to use. Speaker A 00:05:10 - 00:05:11 Yeah. Speaker C 00:05:11 - 00:05:43 But they were very human. And in fact, if we go to the New Testament and we look at James 5:17, it talks about the prophet Elijah. And it's quite interesting what it says. It says, Elias or Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of 3 years and 6 months. So there's a description of he was a man of like passions like we are, meaning he had all the worries and things that confront us. He did too, except— Speaker A 00:05:43 - 00:05:44 And all the temptations. Speaker C 00:05:44 - 00:05:49 Yes, except that his faith was rooted in God. It was very, very strong. Speaker A 00:05:49 - 00:05:58 These are dedicated men. Despite his humanity that James just told us about, he did do some remarkable things, Elijah, didn't he? I mean, it was outstanding what he actually did. Speaker B 00:05:58 - 00:06:38 Yes, he did. And I was intrigued when I looked at 1 Kings because there's good stories there of him. And chapter 18, and I'll start at verse 36. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel and that I am Thy servant and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Speaker A 00:06:38 - 00:06:42 Now it's worth mentioning at this point that this was a showdown, wasn't it? Speaker B 00:06:42 - 00:06:43 Yes. Yes. Speaker A 00:06:43 - 00:06:46 Between Israel and the false gods and the true God. Speaker B 00:06:46 - 00:06:47 That's right. Speaker A 00:06:47 - 00:06:48 So this was a very big event. Speaker B 00:06:48 - 00:07:19 Oh yes. And then he goes on in verse 37 saying, hear me, O O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. So, we're looking at a little bit more here. And then the next verse says, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust. And it licked up the water that was in the trench. Speaker A 00:07:19 - 00:07:21 Hmm. This was powerful. Speaker B 00:07:21 - 00:07:22 Amazing and powerful. Speaker A 00:07:22 - 00:07:24 This was fun. Speaker C 00:07:24 - 00:07:24 Yes. Speaker A 00:07:24 - 00:07:30 Okay, you'd think after that that nothing would faze Elijah, wouldn't you? Speaker B 00:07:30 - 00:07:33 No, but he still stands there alone. Speaker A 00:07:33 - 00:07:33 Yes, he did. Speaker B 00:07:33 - 00:07:35 And the hostile leaders at him. Speaker A 00:07:35 - 00:07:37 He did, and he was very faithful. But what happened? Speaker B 00:07:37 - 00:07:38 Oh yes. Speaker C 00:07:38 - 00:07:53 Well, within hours of that great event, he was running for his life. And it's interesting when you look at the reasons why. He'd just, if you look what happened that day, he had just seen, as you said, Mike, fire come down from heaven. Speaker A 00:07:53 - 00:07:54 Yeah. Speaker C 00:07:54 - 00:08:24 He was then involved with the killing of 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the groves. He then ran in front of the king's chariot with horses from Carmel to Jezreel. That's about 35 kilometers, 0.8 of a marathon. And when he gets to Jezreel, he gets threatened by the queen and he crumbles. And I'd just like to read those verses because it's important. You know, you think to yourself, how could a man go from such soaring heights of faith to plummet to the depths? Speaker B 00:08:24 - 00:08:25 Oh dear. Speaker C 00:08:25 - 00:09:00 Well, he was physically probably exhausted for a start. But it says here in verse 2, then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them, By tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. Now, by the way, Beersheba is way down the south of Israel. So he's running for a long distance after being at the very bottom of his energy anyway. Speaker A 00:09:00 - 00:09:16 Wow. This was amazing, wasn't it? After standing alone before the whole of Israel and all those prophets of Baal who were after his blood. You know, it's just amazing. Anyhow, how did he feel about this afterwards as he had time to reflect? Speaker B 00:09:16 - 00:09:51 Oh, he was so discouraged and very ashamed of what had happened. And 1 Kings 19:4, following on from there, says, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself himself that he might die and said, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I'm not better than my fathers. That's just how low he was feeling. Speaker A 00:09:51 - 00:09:53 He didn't feel better than anybody. Speaker B 00:09:53 - 00:10:04 No, he was an utter failure is what he felt. And many of us know what that can feel like today. Yes, we can feel like a failure sometimes. Oh dear. Speaker A 00:10:04 - 00:10:21 Speaking for myself. Okay, well now, how did God respond to this? Did He reject Elijah? Now this is very interesting. What was God's response going to be for this man whom He had blessed so much, who ran for his life before the threats of the woman Jezebel? Speaker C 00:10:21 - 00:10:55 Well, Mike, here's the great prophet who's at the lowest of the low. He's hit rock bottom, wants to die. And from this point on in the story, we see how God raises him up. The first thing He does, He sends an angel to feed him. And on the strength of that meal, he runs 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb to a cave. And then in the cave, God speaks to him with that still small voice and says, what are you doing here? And then gives him work to do to reinspire him. He's got to anoint the king of Syria and he's got to anoint Jehu, king of Israel. Speaker A 00:10:55 - 00:10:56 Mm-hmm. Speaker C 00:10:56 - 00:11:36 So then he's got to run north and do these things. And then finally, when he's done all these things, His successor, Elisha, is sort of identified. And then I want to read how God deals with him in the end. If we turn to 2 Kings 2:11. After he'd done all this work for the Lord. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. So here's this prophet who's the lowest of the low one minute, then goes and does more work for God. God rewards him by taking him to heaven. Speaker A 00:11:36 - 00:11:38 Does that encourage you as much as it does me? Speaker B 00:11:38 - 00:11:39 Oh yes. Speaker A 00:11:39 - 00:11:50 I just think that is such fantastic news. So, okay, so we got— we clearly understood, don't we, understand that the prophets are very human, same frailties as ourselves. Speaker B 00:11:50 - 00:11:51 Yes. Speaker A 00:11:51 - 00:12:05 Despite the amazing experiences they've had with God. Miracles don't last, not the impact anyway. No, no, Sid. That's very interesting. So let's talk about how you recognize a true prophet then. It's obviously clearly not because they're perfect people. Speaker B 00:12:05 - 00:12:09 Oh no. Well, I, I like going to the Bible for answers. Speaker A 00:12:09 - 00:12:09 The way to go. Speaker B 00:12:09 - 00:12:56 The best way to go. And Deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 21 and 22 will help us here. And if thou shalt say in thine heart, How shall we know the Lord's word which the Lord hath not spoken? And then verse 22 says, when a prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord, if the thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him. So when there's a prophet that speaks about future events, Hmm. Those events will take place. Speaker A 00:12:56 - 00:12:57 Okay. Speaker B 00:12:57 - 00:12:58 Yes. Speaker A 00:12:58 - 00:12:58 And there'll be no exceptions. Speaker B 00:12:58 - 00:13:00 Not presumptuous, no. Speaker A 00:13:00 - 00:13:04 There'll be no exceptions. So, but of course a prophet does a lot more than just tell the future. Speaker B 00:13:04 - 00:13:06 Oh, they do. Yes, yes. Speaker A 00:13:06 - 00:13:39 And their major role is communicating to the people the will of God. Of course, look, thank you for that. I'm going to, while we're in Deuteronomy, can we go back to chapter 13? Deuteronomy chapter 13 and verse 1 on. It talks, talking again about identifying a prophet, a true prophet. And this is what it says in chapter 13 of Deuteronomy, verse 1. If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, okay, so something, in other words, you can see. Speaker B 00:13:39 - 00:13:40 Yes. Speaker A 00:13:40 - 00:14:09 As a sign. Verse 2, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them. Now this is really interesting. You say, now this is what the— if this is what the person who claims to be a prophet tells you to do, to go after other gods, well what? Verse 3, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. That's really interesting. Speaker B 00:14:09 - 00:14:09 Hmm. Speaker A 00:14:09 - 00:14:24 Okay, so there's a faithfulness in the prophet's life here, in his relationship to God. I mean, the 2nd commandment of the 10 deals with worshiping idols. We know that. And that's pretty clear. And here, what do you pick up out of that, Rod, for us? Speaker C 00:14:24 - 00:14:51 Well, Lisa's talking about Old Testament prophets. And they're basically, the Old Testament prophets were, they led people, they had to remain faithful to God. They had to sort of, I guess, walk the talk, so to speak. They had to follow God's commandments. But also the Old Testament prophets, they were inspired by the Spirit of God. Speaker A 00:14:51 - 00:14:51 Mm-hmm. Speaker C 00:14:51 - 00:15:22 And if we go to, and we're talking about Old Testament prophets, but if we go to the New Testament, and I just wanna read 1 Peter, and 1 Peter, which is chapter 1 and verses 10 and 11, it says, Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify. So it's talking about the Spirit of Christ being in these Old Testament prophets. Speaker A 00:15:22 - 00:15:22 Yes, that's right. Speaker C 00:15:22 - 00:15:32 So we know, we know this as being the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit of Christ. So these Old Testament prophets had the Holy Spirit and they were testifying of the things that the Spirit of Christ told them to say. Speaker A 00:15:32 - 00:15:59 Yeah, that's really interesting. Thanks for that, Rod. That's quite an insight. Now I want to move on to something else now about a quality that was necessary in a true prophet. And courage was clearly one of those things. So we're focusing now on an interesting story, a period in history where Israel was divided into a northern and a southern kingdom. Ahab, a wicked king, was king of the northern part of Israel. Speaker B 00:15:59 - 00:15:59 Mmm. Speaker A 00:15:59 - 00:16:15 And Jehoshaphat was a good and faithful king to God, and he was caring for the southern portion, which was called Judah. Now, these 2 kings came together and made a kind of confederacy to have a war with neighbors, right? Speaker B 00:16:15 - 00:16:16 Yes. Speaker A 00:16:16 - 00:16:17 Aggressive neighbors. Speaker C 00:16:17 - 00:16:18 Yes. Speaker A 00:16:18 - 00:16:46 And they came together and Ahab brought out his prophets of Baal and others and said, well, should we go to war? And asked them, and they said, yes, you'll really, you know, you'll, You'll really give them a beating. And Jehoshaphat wasn't so clear about that. And so he said, well, isn't there a prophet of Jehovah here that we can ask? And Ahaz said, oh yes, there's one man named Micah, but I don't like him. He's always saying bad things about me. Speaker B 00:16:46 - 00:16:46 Oh. Speaker A 00:16:46 - 00:16:58 And now Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from him. And this is where we come into the story. So what happened when Micah came in? And talk to the 2 kings. What would take place? Speaker B 00:16:58 - 00:17:44 Oh, well, the Bible will tell us all about this in 1 Kings 22:13-14. And it tells us here, and the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth. Let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them and speak That which is good. And then verse 14, and Micaiah said, as the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that I will speak. He's not worried about what people are going to do to him. I've got the courage. God will tell me what to speak. Speaker A 00:17:44 - 00:17:51 And he wasn't because he was told by the guy who came to get him, look, nobody else has said good things about this campaign. Do the same. Speaker B 00:17:51 - 00:17:52 Oh, no. Speaker A 00:17:52 - 00:17:57 Rock the boat. But anyhow, as you say, so what happened? Speaker B 00:17:57 - 00:18:06 What happens? The prophecy he does speak really goes forward because Ahab dies in that battle, sadly. Speaker A 00:18:06 - 00:18:06 Yes. Speaker B 00:18:06 - 00:18:11 And because they don't want to listen to what God said. Speaker A 00:18:11 - 00:18:15 Okay, so just what— it was just what Micah said, that wasn't it? Speaker B 00:18:15 - 00:18:19 Micaiah brought down from God and spoke to them. Speaker A 00:18:19 - 00:19:06 Yes. Okay, thank you. Look, moving right along, before Saul became king, I'm going to turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9 and verse 6 to talk about this. Before Saul became king, when he was still a young man, he was, he's lost his father's donkeys and he wanted to find them. And it just tells us something about the prophet Samuel because he goes to Samuel and asked, look, do you know where our donkeys are? Wasn't that an interesting thing? 1 Samuel 9:6 talks about that. And this is what it actually says. I'll read it for you. Where are we? Here we are. He said to him, look, there is in this city a man of God. He's an honorable man. Honorable man. Get that? Speaker B 00:19:06 - 00:19:06 Mm-hmm. Speaker A 00:19:06 - 00:19:19 All that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there. Perhaps he can show us the way that we should go to find the donkeys. So that's a really interesting one. Rod, what does this tell us about Samuel? Speaker C 00:19:19 - 00:19:51 Well, it tells us that he'd already established a reputation for integrity and honesty and that he could be trusted. So not only would he, I guess, be a seer and tell the future, but also his word was sure and his personal life was a life of integrity. Now bear in mind, he was the judge of Israel because this, The first king hasn't been selected yet. So he was the person who people were looking to and his life was a life of honesty and integrity. That's important, that's a high calling. Speaker A 00:19:51 - 00:20:03 And he was interested in a young man's issues, buying him a donkey. I just think that's very touching. Okay, Corinne, again, moving on. What do we know about the character of a true prophet? The true prophet here. Speaker B 00:20:03 - 00:20:56 Jeremiah will tell us a little bit if you'd like to turn there with me in chapter 42. And verses 2, 3, and 4, all of these verses tell us a little bit more about them. And he said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all of this remnant; for we were left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us. That the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk and the thing we may do. He wants to show that they are a people of prayer and that they were seeking God earnestly for His guidance, just as we should be doing every time. Speaker A 00:20:56 - 00:20:56 Okay. Speaker B 00:20:56 - 00:20:58 Yes. Speaker A 00:20:58 - 00:21:00 And Jeremiah did that. Speaker B 00:21:00 - 00:21:24 He did that, yes. He goes on in verse 4, Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I've heard Behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you, and I will keep nothing back from you. Speaker A 00:21:24 - 00:21:29 Okay, that's good. So our point here being that he was a man of prayer. Speaker B 00:21:29 - 00:21:30 Absolutely. Speaker A 00:21:30 - 00:21:33 It's not as if the prophets automatically had a hotline to heaven. Speaker C 00:21:33 - 00:21:34 No. Speaker A 00:21:34 - 00:21:36 They still had to pray and ask God for guidance. Pray. Speaker B 00:21:36 - 00:21:38 So I think it's important to do that. Yes, God's guidance, yes. Speaker A 00:21:38 - 00:21:46 Look, moving on to another section here, did the prophets, Rod, only speak to Israel? Was that their only concern, the Old Testament prophets? Speaker C 00:21:46 - 00:22:28 No, they, they spoke to all nations. And we have an example of that. If we turn to Isaiah chapter 60, and I've got here verses 1 to 3, I'll just read it. This is a prophecy. It says, arise, shine, for thy light is come, And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and the kings to the brightness of thy rising. So here we have an example, a powerful prophecy where Isaiah is pointing to the Messiah as for the whole world, not just for the Israelites. Speaker A 00:22:28 - 00:22:30 Okay. important things we know. Speaker C 00:22:30 - 00:22:30 Yes. Speaker A 00:22:30 - 00:23:09 Here we are on the other side of the world and we know. So that's very good too. Look, as we have seen already, the kings often consulted prophets in a crisis. And I want to refer to 2 Kings 28 here and verse 11. And it says, Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king words saying, your servants have gathered the money that was in the house, and so on. And then verse 10, Shaphan the scribe showed the king saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the Lord. Now they had drifted so far from God, they had lost the Scriptures. Speaker B 00:23:09 - 00:23:10 Oh, sad. Yes. Speaker A 00:23:10 - 00:23:39 And so they discovered them and they bring them to Josiah, a young faithful king who wants to follow God. They said, we found the Scriptures. And verse 11 tells us, that when he read what was in there, he saw how far short the people were falling from God's will for them. And he tore his clothes in anguish. And that was really serious. So it was, it was a very serious thing. What was going on here? What did they do, basically? That's the next question. Speaker B 00:23:39 - 00:23:57 Yeah, well, Josiah was a young and faithful king. And when he discovers these long-lost scriptures and he realizes just how far the nation has gone, it's not just drifted, it's run away from the God of heaven, and he's just so deeply troubled about it all. Speaker A 00:23:57 - 00:24:00 Okay, so he, and he wants, so he goes to the prophet. Speaker B 00:24:00 - 00:24:01 He does. Speaker A 00:24:01 - 00:24:26 With the problem. 2 Kings 22:14, he talks about that. It says, Hilkiah the priest, and it names a number of them, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, et cetera, keeper of the wardrobe, and they spoke with her. and told her about it. What is it? What do you pick up out of this? Well, what's she saying? Speaker C 00:24:26 - 00:24:30 Well, firstly, it's interesting that it's a female. It's a prophetess. Speaker A 00:24:30 - 00:24:31 Yep. Speaker C 00:24:31 - 00:25:05 But if we look at the next few verses, she reveals the coming judgments on Judah. And they're quite, quite dark. And she said unto them, thus saith the Lord. I'm reading verse 15. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me and burned incense unto other gods. And I'll leave it there. But her message is taken seriously and the nation gets a reprieve for a while. Speaker A 00:25:05 - 00:25:07 Okay, and that's very significant, isn't it? Speaker B 00:25:07 - 00:25:08 Yes, yes. Speaker A 00:25:08 - 00:25:10 Now listen, we're gonna have to move ahead a bit here, folks. Speaker B 00:25:10 - 00:25:10 Yes, yes. Speaker A 00:25:11 - 00:25:14 Corinne, Deborah was another prophetess, right? Speaker B 00:25:14 - 00:25:15 Yes, she was. Yes. Speaker A 00:25:15 - 00:25:19 And can we look at her role? What was her role? Because she was a rather unique woman. Speaker B 00:25:19 - 00:25:49 Yes, she was. Judges tells us a little bit about her in chapter 4, verses 4 and 5. And Deborah the prophetess, the wife of Laban, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her to her for judgment. So she's— it shows that she served both as a prophetess and a judge. Speaker A 00:25:49 - 00:25:50 Okay. Speaker B 00:25:50 - 00:25:52 And strong leadership. Speaker A 00:25:52 - 00:25:53 She was a strong woman. Speaker B 00:25:53 - 00:25:54 Yes. Speaker A 00:25:54 - 00:25:55 She had a very powerful leadership role. Speaker B 00:25:55 - 00:25:55 Yes. Speaker A 00:25:55 - 00:25:57 That's our main point there. Speaker B 00:25:57 - 00:25:57 Yes. Speaker A 00:25:58 - 00:26:18 Leadership role. It's very interesting, folks. I'd just like to turn to Revelation chapter 12 and verse 17. As we look at a description now of the people of God right at the end of time. And it says, the dragon was enraged with the woman, the church, and went to make war with the rest of her offspring. Some places call it the remnant. Speaker B 00:26:18 - 00:26:18 Yes. Speaker A 00:26:18 - 00:26:37 And they're known because they keep the commandments of God and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. That's very interesting indeed. I'd just like to ask you, Rod, here, if you can help us with the meaning of the testimony of Jesus Christ very quickly. You'll have to be very brief. Speaker C 00:26:37 - 00:27:03 Well, very quickly. Luckily, the Bible explains. If we go to Revelation chapter 19 and verse 10, and it says, and I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, see thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have testimony of Jesus. Worship God. Here it is. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So God's people will have prophetic guidance to carry out their mission before the end. Speaker A 00:27:03 - 00:27:23 The spiritual gift of prophecy. And how grateful we are for that. And the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of course, recognizes this gift in the life of Ellen G. White and her writings. And we feel very grateful to God for giving us the guidance that's come to us through that. And she saw herself simply as a messenger. Speaker B 00:27:23 - 00:27:24 Yes, she did. Speaker A 00:27:24 - 00:28:00 That was the major role of a prophet, of course. So folks, thank you for being with us and thank you, panel. God still speaks to us today through the messages He gave through His prophets. Across some 3.5 millennia of history, and their words continue to reveal His will to those who listen. And in a fractured world like our own, He still speaks life and truth to us. So we're grateful for that. Well, people, thank you for joining us on Let God Speak. You can find our previous programs and teachers' notes at 3abnaustralia.org.au. You can email us. Do join us again next time. Speaker C 00:28:00 - 00:28:00 Bye. Speaker A 00:28:00 - 00:28:01 God bless. Speaker B 00:28:01 - 00:28:31 You have been listening to Let God Speak, a production of 3ABN Australia Television. To catch up on past programs, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au, call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456, or email [email protected]. Speaker A 00:28:33 - 00:28:41 We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to hear from you.