Letters Carry Authority

Prophets’ letters carried the same weight of authority as their formal sermons. In some cases, letters would be more helpful than a sermon because they were written to specific people with specific problems. Letters written to one person or to a church became equally beneficial to others as these letters (and sermons) were copied and widely distributed. People everywhere down through time have identified with these inspired, practical applications of divine principles to the details of life.MOL 13.11

Dramatization. Parables in words or actions are frequently-used teaching devices throughout the Bible. Jesus made generous use of parables to make clear the value of divine principles.MOL 14.1

Jeremiah’s ministry often used the parable of action and example. God asked him not to take a wife (16:1, 2) so that he would be a living reminder to the Jews of the approaching ordeal during the destruction of Jerusalem. Think of the teaching aids in the “potter’s earthen flask” (Jeremiah 19) that was to be broken as a sign of Jerusalem’s fall; or the “bonds and yokes” (Jeremiah 27) portending the coming yoke of Babylon.MOL 14.2

Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel often expressed his prophetic messages in the form of parables. Examples include the scroll that he was asked to eat (Ezekiel 3:1-3); the razor to cut the hair and beard (Ezekiel 5:1); the cooking pot (Ezekiel 24:3, 4); and the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37). Messages through parables got attention and were easily remembered.MOL 14.3

In reviewing these various methods of getting attention, one is impressed that God selected any method that would best fit the occasion. God is adaptable and persistent. All methods are authentic, for they come from the same Source. Moses’ Deuteronomic sermon, Isaiah’s personal interviews, Jeremiah’s transcribed sermons, Paul’s letters, Ezekiel’s parabolic dramatizations, Daniel’s books, Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, Jesus’ interview with Nicodemus—all were inspired by the Spirit. “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).MOL 14.4