Does God Know What You Never Say Out Loud? (Luke 3:3-16) | Daily Devotional & Bible Study

Most of us carry questions we've never said out loud. Does God see me in this. Did I hear Him wrong. Is something different about me?

In Luke 3, the people were wondering in their hearts about John, and Luke tells us John answered them. Nobody asked anything out loud. Today we're talking about what prophecy actually is, how to tell a real word from a counterfeit, and what it means that God answers what we never say.

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What does prophecy actually mean?

Most of us hear prophecy and think of foretelling. That's a piece of it, but a small one. In Scripture, most prophecy is reminding people of what God has already said.

The Hebrew word is navi, meaning spokesman. We see it in Exodus 7, where God tells Moses that Aaron will be his prophet, meaning Aaron will say out loud what Moses gives him. The Greek word is prophetes, from pro, meaning forth or on behalf of, and phemi, to speak. A prophet speaks forth words that aren't his own.

I say all the time that God's voice will never contradict God's word. The inverse is also true. Often God's word is God's voice. When the Holy Spirit brings a verse to mind, that's the same thing, and sometimes He asks you to share it.

What did prophets actually do?

They called people back to the covenant. Most Old Testament prophets weren't announcing new information. They reminded Israel of what God said at Sinai and showed them where they had drifted.

They told the truth to powerful people. Nathan confronted David. Elijah confronted Ahab. John confronts Herod Antipas over his marriage, which is what lands him in prison.

I'll be honest about that part. This gift is not always well received. I've lost relationships over it, lost business deals, left organizations because there was hidden sin I didn't want to be part of. I'm not talking about being hurtful. I mean speaking the truth in love. But people don't want to be confronted with their own sin, and neither do systems.

And sometimes prophets acted out their message. Isaiah walked barefoot. Jeremiah wore a yoke. Ezekiel laid on his side for months. Hosea's whole marriage became the sermon. That's the callback to John. The camel hair and the wilderness weren't details that happened because he was an oddball. They were the message.

How do you know if a word is really from God?

The enemy has a counterfeit for everything. People go to tarot readings and psychics because it's often accurate. That knowledge comes from demons, and demons often know true things.

So the test is not accuracy. A prophet from God will lead you to God. Even if a word is true, if it leads you somewhere other than God, it's a false prophet.

Faithfulness to God is the standard. Earlier this year there was a news cycle about a charismatic preacher data farming on Facebook to gather information for his prophetic words. The words were true, because he lifted them off people's profiles. But they led people into pain and chaos, and God is not the author of chaos. He was accurate. Accuracy wasn't the standard.

What do I do if I think I've received a word?

Ask the Lord what to do with it. That's the step I hold as most sacred.

If He gives you a word to share and you don't, you miss what He had for you and the person He was reaching misses it too. But if the word was insight for you to pray, or He wanted you to hold it until the right time, and you blurt it out, you can do real damage.

All of us are capable of this. It's a spiritual gift, but every believer has the Spirit of God in them. Until the Lord tells me I can share, I don't. Sometimes it takes the confirmation of another believer. Sometimes it takes separate time in prayer.

Why is John more than a prophet?

Jesus says in Luke 7 that among those born of women there is no one greater than John. Every prophet before him pointed to a day that was coming. John pointed at a person standing in front of him. He's the only one who got to say, behold, the Lamb of God is here.

That doesn't mean prophecy ended. In Acts, Peter says the Spirit was poured out so sons and daughters will prophesy. Anna called out who Jesus was. Philip had four daughters who prophesied. Paul says believers should desire this gift because it edifies. After Jesus, the shape changes. It becomes the gift that builds up the church.

What is John doing with Isaiah?

Exactly what we described. Reminding people of what God already said.

He quotes Isaiah 40, which opens a section written to comfort people in exile. It begins with comfort, O comfort my people, words first given to a defeated nation far from home, with the promise that God Himself was coming to lead them back.

In the ancient world, when a king announced a visit, crews went ahead to prepare the road. They filled washed-out ditches, cut back brush, cleared rocks, straightened switchbacks. A royal visit required a royal highway. Everyone listening understood that image.

But this road isn't made of dirt. Verse three already told us what the construction work is: a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance is the road work. The highway runs straight through their hearts. The King is coming, and not to the vicinity. Through your heart.

Every ravine filled means the low places lifted, which meant something to people buried under Roman oppression. Every mountain brought low means pride, self-sufficiency, and family pedigree get leveled. The crooked made straight uses the Greek word skolios, where we get scoliosis. It means bent or twisted.

Then the tax collectors ask what they should do. So do the soldiers. And John gives them practical answers.

One line I don't want us to miss: all flesh will see the salvation of God. Matthew and Mark quote Isaiah here too, but they stop after the first line. Luke keeps going, because he's writing so people outside Israel, including you and me, would know this story is for them too.

What does God know that you haven't said?

Look at verse 15. The people were wondering in their hearts about John. And then John answered them all.

Nobody said anything out loud. That's a callback to Simeon's prophecy in Luke 2, and it's a pattern you'll see all through this gospel. Jesus answers what nobody says out loud. John does it once here. Jesus does it continually.

A lot of us carry questions we never say. Does God actually see me. Is this ever going to change. Did I hear Him wrong. Am I somehow different, and that's why He doesn't talk to me.

God knows those thoughts. He knew them before you formed them, when they were still just feelings. There is not one thing you've thought or felt that God didn't know about. The things you're afraid to say out loud, He knows. The objections you think you shouldn't have, He knows.

So be honest with Him. Tell Him how you feel. He already knows, and He wants to speak to the fear and the pain and the raw spot, so that He can heal it.

That's part of making the rough way smooth.

Timestamps

• 00:00 A woman at church, and a word she'd been trying to track down
• 01:25 Foretelling is the smallest piece of it
• 02:54 God's voice never contradicts God's word
• 04:17 Navi, and Aaron speaking for Moses
• 06:59 Reading Luke 3:3-16
• 10:48 Public word versus private word
• 12:40 Prophets called people back to the covenant
• 13:40 What telling the truth has cost me
• 17:26 When prophets acted out the message
• 19:51 Accuracy is not the standard
• 20:46 Why John is more than a prophet
• 24:05 John quoting Isaiah 40
• 26:48 Repentance is the road work
• 29:06 Why Luke quotes past where Matthew and Mark stop
• 30:37 They were wondering in their hearts
• 32:15 The questions we never say out loud
• 34:49 Prayer

Frequently asked questions

What does the word prophet mean?
The Hebrew is navi, meaning spokesman. The Greek is prophetes, from words meaning to speak forth on behalf of someone.

Is the gift of prophecy still for today?
Yes. In Acts, Peter says the Spirit was poured out so sons and daughters would prophesy, and Paul encourages believers to desire the gift.

Where can I get the free Bible Study 101 download?
On the resources page of my website, including the color method chart.

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