The first individual to be identified as a prophet was Abraham (Gen. 20:7). The word “prophesy” means to “bubble up like a fountain,” signifying that there is an inner source which moves him to speak. There are three words pertinent to our study are prophet, prophecy, and prophesy. A prophet is the person who prophesies. Prophecy is the message he gives and prophesy is the act of speaking and revealing the message. Prophecy and teaching are similar but different in some points. The prophet and teacher both convey a message, but the prophet always is inspired in the message he gives; the teacher is not.
While the prophet could control whether he spoke or not (“the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet,” 1 Cor. 14:32), that did not mean the prophet always understood what he said. Job spoke things he did not understand (Job 42:3). Peter wrote, “The prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what time or what manner of times the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you did they minister these things” (1 Peter 1:10-12).
The fact that a prophet prophesied did not indicate the moral character of the prophet, although the scriptures speak of the “holy prophets” (2 Pet. 3:2). Caiaphas was the high priest who had complicity in the death of Jesus, yet he was used by God to prophesy. When the Pharisees lamented because of the greatness of the signs of Jesus, Caiaphas said, “Ye know nothing at all, nor do ye take account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not. Now this he said not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation” (Jn. 11:49-52). Balaam was a lover of money who would have cursed Israel had God allowed him to, but God put profound messages of truth in his mouth (Numbers 24). Prophets were not confined solely to men. Joel said, “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Joel 2:28-29). The Corinthian church had women who prophesied, but they were required to put a covering on their heads when they did so to show they recognized God’s order: God, Christ, man, and woman (1 Cor. 11:5, 3). Philip the evangelist had four virgin daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8-9).
While the prophets were miraculously endowed with the message they spoke, they were not always workers of miracles. We know nothing of any miracles Abraham worked, but that is not to say he was not so empowered. We know Elijah worked miracles by causing a widow’s meager supply of oil and meal never to fail so long as the prophet resided with her (1 Kings 17:16). He called down fire from heaven to devour a sacrifice on an altar, even to lap up the water in a trench around the altar (1 Kings 18:38). Elisha was his “replacement” to Israel and he caused Naaman to be cleansed of leprosy by dipping seven times in Jordan (2 Kings 5:10-14). He also raised the child of a widow from death (2 Kings 4:19-37). But not all prophets worked miracles. Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11:11). Still, great as John was, he worked no miracles. Many of Jesus’ disciples came to him because of John and they said, “John indeed did no signs, but all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true” (John 10:41).
Whatever was the nature of the man who was a prophet, they were an instrument of God. They were chosen by God to reveal His will to man. And while God did not always enable the prophet to work miracles to confirm his message, the prophetic message he gave, when it was fulfilled, served a far broader scope than a miracle. We cannot witness a miracle performed by a prophet 2,000 years ago; we depend on those who saw the miracles to confirm the truth of it. But fulfilled prophecy never ceases speaking to man. The further away we get from the prophecy and its fulfillment (whether 70, 100, 500, or 2,000 years before), the stronger our faith in the prophecies which are yet to be fulfilled. In weeks to come, many prophecies, some very familiar and some not so, will be reviewed to show the marvel of the book we call the Bible. Truly, “Whatsoever things were written aforehand, were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).
Jim McDonald
