WHO IS A TRUE PROPHET? (PART 1)
Biblical prophets are persons who convey a message from God, or teach the Word of God. In addition, sometimes God gave them a prophecy of the future to convey to the people of their time. In some cases, God used them in a miracle (e.g., Moses, Elijah the prophet, etc.).
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Thus a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spoke in God’s name and by his authority (Exodus 7:1). He is the mouth by which God speaks to men (Jeremiah 1:9; Isaiah 51:16), and hence what the prophet says is not of man but of God (2 Peter 1:20-21; compare Hebrews 3:7; Acts 4:25; 28:25).
Prophets were the immediate organs of God for the communication of his mind and will to men (Deuteronomy 18:18-19). The whole Word of God may in this general sense be spoken of as prophetic, inasmuch as it was written by men who received the revelation they communicated from God, no matter what its nature might be. The foretelling of future events was not a necessary but only an incidental part of the prophetic office. The great task assigned to the prophets whom God raised up among the people was “to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the character of God, and which lie at the foundation of his government.”
Any one being a spokesman for God to man might thus be called a prophet. Thus Enoch, Abraham, and the patriarchs, as bearers of God’s message (Genesis 20:7; Exodus 7:1; Psalm 105:15), as also Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; 34:10; Hos. 12:13), are ranked among the prophets.
The 70 elders of Israel (Numbers 11:16-29), “when the spirit rested upon them, prophesied.”
Asaph and Jeduthun “prophesied with a harp” (1 Chronicles 25:3).
Miriam and Deborah were prophetesses (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4).
The title of prophet was thus a general application to all who have messages from God to men.
But while the prophetic gift was thus exercised from the beginning, the prophetical order as such began with Samuel—colleges, “schools of the prophets”—were instituted for the training of prophets, who were constituted, a distinct order (1 Samuel 19:18-24; 2 Kings 2:3, 15; 4:38), which continued to the close of the Old Testament. Such “schools” were established at Ramah, Bethel, Gilgal, Gibeah, and Jericho.
The “sons” or “disciples” of the prophets were young men (2 Kings 5:22; 9:1, 4) who lived together at these different “schools” (4:38-41). These young men were taught not only the rudiments of secular knowledge, but they were brought up to exercise the office of prophet, “to preach pure morality and the heart-felt worship of Jehovah, and to act along and co-ordinately with the priesthood and monarchy in guiding the state aright and checking all attempts at illegality and tyranny.”
OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS
There are 16 MAJOR Old Testament prophets, whose prophecies form part of the inspired canon of Scripture.
These are divided into 4 groups:
• Prophets of the northern Kingdom of Israel— • Hosea • Amos • Joel • Jonah
• Prophets of the Kingdom of Judah— • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Obadiah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah
• Prophets of the Captivity period— • Ezekiel • Daniel
• Prophets of the Restoration period— • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi
The Hebrew word Nabi is the first and the most generally used word for a prophet.
In the time of Samuel another word, (transliteration: ro'eh, meaning a “seer,” began to be used (1 Samuel 9:9). Ro'eh occurs 7 times in reference to Samuel.
Afterwards another word, (transliteration: hozeh), “a seer” (2 Samuel 24:11), was employed.
In 1 Ch. 29:29 all these three words are used: “Samuel the seer (ro'eh). Nathan the prophet (nabi'), Gad the seer” (hozeh).
To be continued............
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