A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

Grant Marshall - February 2021/5781

Isaiah 40 “Comfort; comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has ⌊received⌋ from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.” 3 A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh! Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God! 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall become low, And the rough ground shall be like a plain, and the rugged ground like a valley-plain. 5 And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all ⌊humankind⌋ together shall see it, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

A man called to be a Preacher, by which I mean a person chosen to speak out for God, must consider himself an enemy to Satan and a stranger to others. He is by definition in contention with everything ungodly. He must force himself through the thick darkness and the stench of human wickedness and depravity, a symbol of hopelessness, to bring a comforting note and point to those attending his audio announcement into the direction of Christ. He must consider his visit a one off, unless that is, the Lord gives him instruction to stay in a particular place for a time.

He will become an agitator and an aggravator to those whom he will convict, but a deliverer

of hope to those who realise their wretched state before God. The message of repentance is the foundation of his message, and for those who receive it in all humility and as the way

forward, they will not have an easy journey.

Among the rules of the five fold ministry, where exactly does the role of the Preacher lie? He

is not specifically a pastor or even a teacher of the precepts of the law. He’s not really a

discipler, tho’ he may bring many out of the crowd to Christ. In fact, he brings the word, as

prophetically as John the Baptist, and brings those who cry inwardly from the wilderness of

life to God. His passion is to see the lost and lonely found, and brought into relationship with

God. The Preacher moves around and his role falls between the Prophet and the Evangelist.

He is an advocate for revolution — a deliverer of the message — and that indeed is his

purpose — to bring a revolution upon humanity in order for it to be restored through

repentance and in right relationship with God. He is a proclaimer and a publisher of the