Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

 

This Scripture is amazing. Why would the Creator of the universe obligate Himself not to do anything without first revealing it to the prophets? The reason for this is understood in His purpose for creating man. He created man for fellowship. He created man to walk and talk with Him, and to have the ability to both understand and appreciate the Lord and His purposes.

 

The prophets have been one of the primary ways that the Lord has continued to call man back to this fellowship. Therefore, the Lord declares that He will disclose His purposes to the prophets, who are to convey them so that man can return to the place of fellowship and appreciation of his Maker.

 

For this reason we should understand that what the Lord is saying through prophecy is always important, but the most important thing of all is the fact that He is still speaking to us. The quality of any relationship is determined by the quality of the communication. For this reason the Lord said in John 10:4, "When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." We will follow Him to the degree that we know His voice.

 

The first man who prophesied in Scripture was Enoch (see Jude 14). Enoch was a remarkable man whom very little is said about except that he walked with God, and the Lord took him so that he should not see death. Enoch was from the seventh generation after Adam, but since Adam lived over nine hundred years, Adam was still alive during Enoch's life. It is likely that Enoch talked with Adam and was stirred by the relationship that Adam had with the Lord before the Fall. Something in Enoch must have determined that he was going to try to recover that relationship, and he did.

 

Enoch became so close to God that the Lord just took him so he would not have to taste death, which was the sure consequence of the Fall. This infers that by walking with God, Enoch rose above the sin nature, and escaped the consequences of it. He must have done this by seeing the salvation through Jesus and His cross, because there is no other way for man to overcome the power of death except through the cross. How did this happen?

 

Those who walk with God will prophesy, just as Enoch did. As we are told in Revelation 19:10, "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." For Enoch to have prophesied he had to have the testimony of Jesus. All of the prophets had to have the testimony of Jesus, and that is why they all prophesied of His coming. They saw Him, and believed in Him, looking ahead to the cross just as we look back at it. 

 

Though Enoch was the first man that is said to have prophesied, the first man called a prophet in Scripture is Abraham, in Genesis 20:7. This is also the very first verse in which prayer is mentioned in Scripture. It is no accident that the first mention of both prophet and prayer are together. Prayer is communication. The development of communication with God, both to Him and from Him, is the foundation upon which all true prophetic ministry is based.

 

Abraham was also the first to be called the "friend of God" (see James 2:23). This is the essence of true prophetic ministry. The reason why the Lord said that He would not do anything unless He first revealed it to His servants the prophets is because the prophets are His friends, and He does not want to do anything without sharing it with His friends. This fellowship is the essence of why He created man. This is why Paul the Apostle said: "you may all prophesy" (see I Corinthians 14:31). Because of the cross, the veil has been rent. We can now all enter into the most intimate fellowship with Him. We can all walk with God and be such friends of His that He does not want to do anything without sharing it with us. That is the essence of the true prophetic ministry—simple friendship with God.