Today I read Joshua 1 where the mantel of prophet of Israel falls to Joshua. The Lord comes to him and tells him that Moses is dead and that he is now the prophet and gives him instructions. The people then confirm that Joshua is the prophet and they will follow him, at least the Levites do. They understand that he now wears the mantel.
The calling of a new prophet is something that is very serious. The people need to know who to look for when their leader is gone. The Lord wants to speak to His people but there needs to be order and a process in place so that chaos does not ensue. Remember that God's house is a house of order. Even in this dispensation it took some time to work out the kinks until God stepped in and put a stop to it. But God has always had a prophet to lead His people at large. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if we did not have a process to follow as far as who could receive revelation for the people of God!
Actually such a thing happened in the days of Joseph Smith. Other members of the church claimed to be receiving revelation for the church members as a whole and the Lord had to teach them that only if you had stewardship for someone could you receive revelation for them. Only the Prophet can receive revelation for the entire church body. This is important because what if two opposing revelations were to come out? How would you know which one is the right one? It is the one from God, meaning the one that follows His established order. God will not leave His people stranded and without help. However, it is up to us to recognize what that pattern is and follow it. He has always told us what it is so it is not that hard in that sense. What is a challenge is the counsel usually bucks against the trend, because the natural man is an enemy to God. That is what is hard. Until tomorrow.
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