5 Prophetic Voices that Shaped History

- Hi, My name is Julian Adams. I grew up in a system called apartheid in South Africa, which separated white people from people of color. It meant that everything in my life was at a disadvantage. I didn't get good education the way my white counterparts did. I didn't get the opportunities that many of my white friends did. And if it wasn't for some people who God raised up to prophesy against the prevailing culture, and to speak up against systems that even many of the churches had adopted, I would not be able to travel, I'd not be able to do the things that I do. I would not be able to serve the way I'm serving in the nations. God had to raise up some prophetic voices in order to shift and to shape the course of history. A man who did this, the first man that I want to talk about very simply, is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He's an incredibly humble man, a man of color who God raised up to begin to speak against the apartheid regime. He organized an activism that was filled with peace and grace, yet was so powerful to shift the way many of the world saw what was happening in South Africa. If it wasn't for his voice, publicly, if it wasn't for his voice being spoken out into many different contexts, I would not be able to enjoy the freedom that I have. I would not be able to enjoy being able to do what I do. Prophets are not just prophets that we see in the Bible, they are people God raises up to alter the culture, to alter the landscape of history in order to bring change for many, many people. Another such prophet is a woman by the name of Harriet Tubman, and I find her incredibly fascinating. She is this woman that God raised up, God spoke to. She spoke often about the communion that she had with God, and God raised her up to smuggle slaves in a time of America's history that was governed by segregation, that was governed by a sense of incredible injustice. And she developed a system of safe houses under the inspiration of God's voice and under the direction of the Holy Spirit that became known as the Underground Railroad that smuggled incredible people out of slavery into incredible freedom. I cannot help but also talk about William Wilberforce. An incredible man of God who had this incredible call as it were, growing up into ministry, yet God began to speak to him about shaping the policies of politics. And as he did that, the abolitionist movement really took root and began to gain momentum, and hundreds and thousands of slaves became free. In fact, we get to reap the benefit of that today in that our conscience, our morality, and our understanding of what's right and wrong has been so heightened that there are so many people now working to bring about freedom for modern-day slaves. The fourth person I really want to chat about is C.S. Lewis. He is just this incredible thinker, an intellect who carries an incredible ability to process and answer questions around God. But not only that, he's this creative who prophetically began to write allegorically about the Kingdom of God. You cannot help but think of the Narnia stories, and I love what C.S. Lewis did, because his work still lives on in the halls of academia and Oxford. People are still talking about his intellectual writings, but there's also a generation of young men and women, kids who have been caught up into the movies that have been made around the allegory of the Kingdom and who God is through the Narnia stories. I believe God wants to raise more people, more prophets like that. The last prophet, who I think is one of the most understated prophets, but she is well-known, is Mother Theresa. Hearing the call from God to go to the poorest of the poor, and she shifted the way many people in India understood the caste system, so that now more and more people are taking care of the poor, are loving the poor, bringing dignity to the poor. Her prophetic voice shaped history in such a way that even today people like Heidi Baker are beginning to change a whole nation in Mozambique because of the revelation and the prophetic way that she lived. I wonder if God's given you a prophetic voice, I wonder if God's given you a prophetic burden that you're carrying. And I wonder if you would begin to live in that way, if you would begin to live that prophetic call out, I wonder what that could do to change the course of history. If you're just discovering what prophecy means, I would encourage you to click on the link below for our free e-course, Prophecy 101. It will just help you discover how to flow in prophecy as a regular part of your life. Also subscribe to our YouTube channel, and share it all of your social platforms. We wanna get this message of God's incredible kindness out to as many people as possible.