“There was a man named John who was sent from God.” John 1:6 HCSB
How do we know when we have been sent? How do we know we have been called? My Associate Pastor told me one time to study the calls of the men of the Bible to see which one resonates with Me and that will be my call and my ministry will probably mirror that call.
So here we go lets look at the calls of the Bible in order from Adam to Paul.
Adam: "The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it."
Genesis 2:15 HCSB
A call to take care of what God had planted.
Noah: ""Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside."
Genesis 6:14 HCSB
A call to build to save.
Abram/ Abraham: "The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you."
Genesis 12:1 HCSB
A call to leave the familiar (which is father started to do in Genesis 11:31).
Isaac:"The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham."
Genesis 26:2-3 HCSB
A call to stay and be blessed.
Jacob/ Israel. "Then the Lord said to him, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.""
Genesis 31:3 HCSB
A call to go back for God is with you.
Joseph: “He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.””
Genesis 37:6-7 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/gen.37.6-7.hcsb
A call to greatness. One of the future. One of the few given in a dream.
Moses: “Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.””
Exodus 3:10 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/exo.3.10.hcsb
A call to lead.
Aaron: “He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him.”
Exodus 4:16 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/exo.4.16.hcsb
A call to be a spokesman for God to the people (a priest).
Joshua: ““Moses My servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites.”
Joshua 1:2 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jos.1.2.hcsb
A call to possess God’s promises.
The judges: “The Lord raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders,”
Judges 2:16 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jdg.2.16.hcsb
A call for salvation and repentance.
Barak: “She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you: ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the Naphtalites and Zebulunites?”
Judges 4:6 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jdg.4.6.hcsb
A call to organize the troops.
Gideon: “The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you? ””
Judges 6:14 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jdg.6.14.hcsb
A call to deliver the people from bondage.
Samson: “for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines...
Then the Spirit of the Lord began to direct him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
Judges 13:5, 25 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jdg.13.5,25.hcsb
A call of power and direction. One of a few given before birth.
Samuel: ““At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel. He will save them from the hand of the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people, for their cry has come to Me.””
1 Samuel 9:16 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1sa.9.16.hcsb
A call to anoint Kings.
Saul: ““At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel. He will save them from the hand of the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people, for their cry has come to Me.””
1 Samuel 9:16 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1sa.9.16.hcsb
A call to deliver the people.
David: “So Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord took control of David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.”
1 Samuel 16:13 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1sa.16.13.hcsb
A call to be king lead by The Holy Spirit.
Solomon: “He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who is to build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father.”
1 Chronicles 28:6 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1ch.28.6.hcsb
A call to build. From a father to son.
Jeroboam (first king of Israel after the divided kingdom : ““ ‘After that, if you obey all I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and My commands as My servant David did, I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give you Israel.”
1 Kings 11:38 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1ki.11.38.hcsb
A call to obey God.
Rehoboam (Solomon”s son): “‘This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for I have done this.’ ” So they listened to what the Lord said and went back as He had told them.”
1 Kings 12:24 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1ki.12.24.hcsb
A call to remain and not fight against his brothers.
Elijah: ““Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.”
1 Kings 17:3 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1ki.17.3.hcsb
A call to go.
Elisha: “You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.
Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat as he was plowing. Twelve teams of oxen were in front of him, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah walked by him and threw his mantle over him.”
1 Kings 19:16, 19 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1ki.19.16,19.hcsb
A call to be discipled by another prophet (see 2 Timothy 2:2 & 2 Kings 2:2)
“Jehu: So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel — the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the Lord.”
2 Kings 9:6-7 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/2ki.9.6-7.hcsb
A call to remove the evil from with-in Israel.
Ester: “If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.””
Esther 4:14 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/est.4.14.hcsb
A call to appeal the King to save the Jews. A call to do something based on her position as queen.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar:“After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has. Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.” Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.”
Job 42:7-9 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/job.42.7-9.hcsb
A call to be forgiven.
Isaiah: “And He replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.”
Isaiah 6:9 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/isa.6.9.hcsb
A call to speak even if no one wants to listen.
Jeremiah: “See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.”
Jeremiah 1:10 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jer.1.10.hcsb
A call to reinstall God’s order.
Ezekiel “He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against Me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against Me to this day. The children are obstinate and hardhearted. I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whether they listen or refuse to listen — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Ezekiel 2:3-5 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/ezk.2.3-5.hcsb
A call to be a prophet.
Belteshazzar/Daniel, Shadrach/Hananiah, Meshach/Mishael, and Abednego/Azariah.: “The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court.”
Daniel 1:5 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/dan.1.5.hcsb
A call to serve God is the presence of the King.
Hosea: “When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him: Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord.”
Hosea 1:2 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/hos.1.2.hcsb
A call to be faithful to all those who are not faithful. A call to be an example.
Joel: “Hear this, you elders; listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?”
Joel 1:2 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jol.1.2.hcsb
A call to tell the people to listen to God.
Amos: “The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Damascus for three crimes, even four, because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.”
Amos 1:3 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/amo.1.3.hcsb
A call to remind the People God will Judge those who do wrong.
Obadiah: “The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord God has said about Edom: We have heard a message from the Lord; a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up, and let us go to war against her.””
Obadiah 1:1 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/oba.1.1.hcsb
A call to tell the nations what God says.
Jonah: ““Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted Me.””
Jonah 1:2 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jon.1.2.hcsb
A call to repentance.
Micah: “The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Moreshite — what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
Micah 1:1 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mic.1.1.hcsb
A call concerning the kings and nations.
Nahum: “The oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.”
Nahum 1:1 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/nam.1.1.hcsb
A call concerning a nation who repented but forgot.
Habakkuk:“The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.”
Habakkuk 2:2 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/hab.2.2.hcsb
A call to write clearly.
Zephaniah: “The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.”
Zephaniah 1:1 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/zep.1.1.hcsb
A call of judgement during a young and righteous King.
Haggai: ““The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” The word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? ””
Haggai 1:2-4 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/hag.1.2-4.hcsb
A call to motivate the people to rebuild the neglected temple while in captivity.
Zechariah: “So tell the people: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Return to Me” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts — “and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.”
Zechariah 1:3 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/zec.1.3.hcsb
A call to repentance for the people living in captivity due to fathers sins.
Malachi: ““I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you ask: “How have You loved us? ” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother? ” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob,”
Malachi 1:2 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mal.1.2.hcsb
A call to remind the people God Loves them.
Joseph: “But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 1:20 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mat.1.20.hcsb
A call to marry Mary, something that would be scary.
Mary: “The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/luk.1.35.hcsb
A call to be used by God.
John the Baptist: “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”
Luke 1:15-17 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/luk.1.15-17.hcsb
A call to go to the people for obedience. The second to receive their call before birth.
Jesus: “And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him.
I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God! ”
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God! ””
John 1:32, 34, 36 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/jhn.1.32,34,36.hcsb
“And a voice came from heaven: You are My beloved Son; I take delight in You!”
Mark 1:11 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mrk.1.11.hcsb
A call to become a Rabbi. A Rabbi would be declared by two or three people. God the father called Him and John called Him.
Peter, Andrew, James, John: ““Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for people! ””
Matthew 4:19 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mat.4.19.hcsb
“He also appointed 12 — He also named them apostles — to be with Him, to send them out to preach, and to have authority to drive out demons.”
Mark 3:14-15 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mrk.3.14-15.hcsb
A call to follow Jesus and then to tell others about Him.
Matthew: “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me! ” So he got up and followed Him.”
Matthew 9:9 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/mat.9.9.hcsb
A call to follow Jesus as a disciple along side a guy who does not like tax collectors (Simon the Zealot)
Paul: “But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name! ””
Acts 9:15-16 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/act.9.15-16.hcsb
A call by God from Ananias to go to the Gentiles with the news of Jesus
Timothy:“As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.”
1 Timothy 1:3-4 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/1ti.1.3-4.hcsb
A call to teach.
Us: Mark: 16:15-18 a call to preach,
Matthew 28:18-20 a call to make disciples.
Luke 24:47-49 a call to repent and preach.
John 20:21-13 a call to to Go and forgive.
Acts 1:4-8 a call to receive and to be a witness.
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