A 21st-Century “Prophetic Voice”

Around 700 BC Isaiah the prophet wrote, “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter” (Isa. 59:14).

Does this not describe the present condition in America to a great extent? Who can argue that we are experiencing a complete moral collapse in our society, and perversion of justice and righteousness (e.g. no right to life for the unborn, gay “marriage,” etc.) because of the denial of an absolute standard of right and wrong? Truth has fallen in our streets—just as it did in Isaiah’s day.

As a Hebrew prophet, a messenger of the God of Israel, Isaiah was called to boldly proclaim His Word to the people of his day if there was to be any hope of revival and blessing. His mission was to “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (58:1).

Similarly, revival in our day can only come from the proclamation of God’s Word, without compromise, by men of God who have the conviction of the Hebrew prophets … “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jeremiah 20:9).

While I pondered the faithfulness of men like Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other prophets called of God, I thought of AiG’s theme for 2004—“Operation: Refuting Compromise”. Here is the analogy I would like to make: the Old Testament prophetic ministry involved (in part) an exhortation to think about the past (to remember what God has done), a call to reflect on the present (to consider your ways) and a warning about the future (to take heed to what may be coming).

Seen in this light, the ministry of AiG is a “prophetic voice,” not in the sense of bringing new revelation, but faithfully proclaiming what God has revealed—beginning with the very first verse of the book of Genesis. As a pastor of a local church, I am called to do the same; however, I have a limited outreach.

Through AiG and other faithful, young-earth creationist organizations, God is reaching the larger Christian community with a critical message. They are blowing the trumpet in our day by:

1. Informing the church of what has happened historically when compromise is tolerated.

2. Alerting the church to the current compromise of Christian leaders who have accepted the old-earth view.

3. Warning the church about the consequences of following the theories of men rather than the clear record of God’s revealed Word.

Regarding the latter point, let us give due heed because the consequences are serious. We cannot surrender the Genesis record without surrendering the authority of Scripture. And when the authority of Scripture is abandoned, truth has indeed fallen in the streets of the evangelical camp, and the battle is lost, from a human perspective. A little leaven certainly has the power to affect the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6).

The church’s capitulation to atheistic scientists on the age of the earth is more than a “little leaven.” It is a stream of polluted water flowing freely into the church.

The “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, once said, “Brethren in Christ, in every church let us purge out the things which weaken and pollute.” I, for one, completely agree. More is at stake than most Christians realize.

What Ken Ham often points out is true: “The issue of the age of the earth is foundational.” If we abandon a literal reading of Genesis when there is no warrant to do so, we may find ourselves at a loss when it comes to defending our belief in the other “supernatural” truths plainly taught in the Bible.

Someone once said, “It is all too plainly apparent men are willing to forego the old for the sake of the new. But commonly it is found in theology that that which is true is not new, and that which is new is not true.”1

Brethren, let us not “forsake the old” (biblically revealed truth) for the sake of the “new” (false ideas), as many are doing in our day. Let us continue to “fight the good fight of faith” by supporting those organizations like AiG which are on the frontline of this current battle. The prophets of old are on our side!