Over the last couple of weeks, we have been talking about how everbody's talking. In Week 25, we examined the fact that we live in a world of messages. In our fast-paced, highly sophisticated culture, ideas constantly bombard our minds from all sorts of sources. To the degree that we are shaped by these ideas, they possess prophetic power. In Week 26 we concluded that after all is said and done, only two types of messages ultimately exist - messages that are from God and messages that are not from God. This week, we are going to look at how messages follow a chain of command.

The Roman Centurion in the passage above understood the concept of authority. He said, "I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it." The centurion's orders were followed because the centurion possessed authority. His authority came from those above him in his military chain of command. All in the military, be they ancient Roman soldiers, or modern day servicemen, understand the power of the spoken word. Because the centurion recognized Jesus' authority to speak for God the Father, he was willing to settle for a simple word from Jesus (Matthew 8:8). Jesus praised him for his faith. (Matthew 8:10)

All prophetic voices follow a chain of command. When President Bush sends Colin Powell, his Secretary of State, to a foreign nation, Powell speaks on the President's behalf. When a salesman for XYZ Industries speaks to a customer explaining his product's performance capabilities, pricing, and delivery schedule, he speaks with authority imparted to him by his company.

Throughout the course of each day, we operate in various prophetic capacities. At work we speak to a client on behalf of our company. At the home dinner table, correcting or instructing our children, we speak on behalf of God. Later in the evening, as the church building committee chairman, we speak on behalf of the building committee to our church's board of elders.

In the examples given above, the speaker is speaking for someone else. In so doing, he speaks from a chain of command and possesses legitimate authority to deliver his message. The speaker is representing (read as "re-presenting") the views of those above him in his chain of command.

The concept of speaking for someone else touches on the Biblical principle of representation. Briefly exploring this theme, Adam "represented" the human race when he ate of the forbidden fruit. His sin was imputed by God to all who descended from him. In juxtaposistion to Adam, Jesus, too, "represented" the human race when He offered himself as a living sacrifice for those very sins brought upon us by our father Adam.

Moses, Joshua, the Judges, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all of God's spokespeople throughout the Bible, were God's representatives - His prophets. Saul, David, and those who followed, were also God's representatives as kings of Israel. The people we elect today to our state houses and U.S. Congress are our representatives, speaking on our behalf and with our voice. They are elected to "re-present" our views in the halls of government.

Chains of command are all around us - in homes, schools, businesses, governments, the military - everywhere we go. But beyond these obvious examples, consider what happens when you open your mouth to speak. Where are your words coming from? What is their source? Who are you speaking for? Technically, we all speak with prophetic voices. We are all messengers. And we all disseminate ideas every time we speak.

Next time you hear someone speak, take this simple test:

• 1) For whom is the speaker speaking? (authority)
• 2) To whom is the speaker speaking? (audience)
• 3) What is the speaker saying? (message)