PROPHETS

Prophets

 

 

1. Gift from God. Amos 2:11
2. Started with Moses. Jer. 7:25
3. Also some women called a prophetess; women serving as God's spokesperson. Five women are explicitly identified as prophetesses: Miriam (Exod. 15:20); Deborah (Judg. 4:4); Huldah (2 Kings 22:14); Noadiah, a "false" prophetess (Neh. 6:14); and Anna (Luke 2:36). Jezebel claimed to be a prophetess (Rev. 2:20). The ministries of prophetesses varied greatly. Miriam called upon Israel to celebrate God's deliverance. Deborah combined the offices of prophetess and judge, even accompanying Barak into battle. Huldah spoke God's words of judgment (2 Kings 22:16-17) and forgiveness (22:18-20) to King Josiah. Anna shared the good news of Jesus' birth with the Temple crowds. The false prophetess Noadiah sought to frighten Nehemiah. Jezebel attempted to involve the church of Thyatira in idolatry.
4.     The prophet Joel anticipated a time when all God's people, "male servants and female servants," would be filled with God's Spirit and prophesy (Joel 2:28-29). This prophetic hope was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:17-18) and in the ongoing life of the “early” church (Acts 21:9 - 1 Cor. 13:8). The early church was said to have tasted of the powers of the age to come. They faded but shall permeate the age of Christ’s age in the Millennium. Paul encouraged all believers to desire to prophesy (1 Cor. 14:1), that is, to offer speech which builds up the church (14:5). 1 Cor. 11:5 presumes women were involved in prophesying and prayer in public worship. The wife of a prophet here was called a prophetess (Isa. 8:3). 
5. Prophetic office understood through Jeremiah. Deut. 18:9-22
6. [nabbi]  the prophet speaks God's words on God's behalf. Exod. 7:1-2. The prophet does not originate the message but proclaims it.
7. [ro'eh] also made to see the message-concerns the reception of the message. Always holy, moral characters. 2 Kings 1:9, 11; 9:7; 17:13
8. Mediators also. Preached revealed law. Predicated coming events. Finally watched over the leaders and people.

Deut. 18 Chap. Note:  Turning to the subject of the prophet, Moses enjoined the people to beware of the false and to know the true. In dealing with the false prophets he described their methods. They would be the practice of secret things, of dealing with the spiritual forces of evil in a professed attempt to discover the will of God. The true prophet was then promised and described. The description given is brief but graphic. He would be one of themselves, receiving the words of God and uttering them to the people. All the true prophets of God that followed fulfilled this ideal in measure. The proportion in which they spoke to the nation the will of God with authority was the proportion in which they did so. As we study these words concerning king and priest and prophet, we inevitably realize that the perfect fulfilment in each case came ultimately with the coming of the Son of God. He was at once King of His brethren without inheritance in His own land; Priest, abiding in the service of God and ministered to by the people of God; Prophet of His brethren, speaking the word of God in all fullness and in all purity.