Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.

Amos 3:7

The word for plan in the verse above could also be translated secret, and many English translations do; the idea is between the two. The prophets, Amos says, are brought into the Lord’s confidence. He tells them a plan that is close to him, in an intimate conversation.

The prophesies are not mysterious, inscrutable or secretive. They may be complex, full of (or entirely made of) symbols or even hard to comprehend because of loss of cultural context but they are not puzzles from a trickster god meant to frustrate and confuse.

Rather, the God we serve who the prophet wrote about takes the faithful into his inner circle and tells them all the important things he wants to do. And we are part of the plan!

Ethan Kirl