The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
In its setting the verse is a warning directed against impenitent Israel announcing punishment for its iniquities. Just as a lion's roar makes hearers fear, the Lord's spoken warning of judgment makes the prophet proclaim it. When God gives His servants a warning to proclaim, His word and Spirit compel them to speak, and the message they bear is His and not their own.
That compulsion to speak cannot be stopped by fear, danger, or loss of reputation. The verse means the prophet must know when to speak and when to keep silent, but when the Lord bids him speak he cannot keep silent. It applies even while holding a revealed representation of a strange work God will do very soon that has not yet been fully written out for lack of strength.
In its setting the verse is a warning directed against impenitent Israel announcing punishment for its iniquities. Just as a lion's roar makes hearers fear, the Lord's spoken warning of judgment makes the prophet proclaim it. When God gives His servants a warning to proclaim, His word and Spirit compel them to speak, and the message they bear is His and not their own.
That compulsion to speak cannot be stopped by fear, danger, or loss of reputation. The verse means the prophet must know when to speak and when to keep silent, but when the Lord bids him speak he cannot keep silent. It applies even while holding a revealed representation of a strange work God will do very soon that has not yet been fully written out for lack of strength.