PROPHETS
Introduction
A prophet is
someone who is called by God and he calls people in the name of God and in
place of God. A prophet is a spokesperson for God. Prophet is someone says something on behalf of someone, for
God. Prophet is someone who is called by God and he calls people in the name of
God and in place of God. He is the spokesman of God.
To be a prophet or servant of God is not a human choice, but
it is God who chooses. People try to make them diviner proclaiming great
adventure. In the Books of prophets a prophet is described as the man of
present rather than a man of future. A
prophet is not a futurologist, but he is interested first and foremost in the
present and that of his audience not to make present divine, but change the
present history of the people is the prime concern for the prophet. But,
therefore, it doesn’t mean that a prophet is confined in the horizontal of his
own history.
At the same time he is equally passionate with his future.
He believes that the future is connected with the initiative of God and the
response of human freedom. However, whatever he sees for the future is always
related to the present. He warns of the future judgments, so that people may
change their behaviors/attitudes at present. He speaks of the future blessings
to give hope for the present. The prophet speaks to the present, in light of the
future that God has revealed to him. His interest is not to make divine
the future, but changing the present. The prime concern of his oracles is the
present history of his people.
The prophet is
known as ‘The Man of God’, ‘The Servant of Jehovah’, ‘The Messenger of Jehovah’,
‘The Critic of Society’, ‘The Announcer of Future’, ‘The Interpreter of God’s
Word’, ‘The Sentinel of People’, ‘The Man of Spirit’, ‘The Man of Witness’, ‘The
Man of Sign’, ‘The Man of Present’ and ‘The Man of Unconditional Hope’.
Etymological Meaning
The English word
‘Prophet’ comes from the Greek word ‘προφήτής’ (Translitaration: prophetes)
means one who speaks forth or advocate /speaking (someone speaks something on
behalf of someone). The Hebrew term of prophet is נָבִיא (nabi>nabîm).
The verbal form of this Semitic word basically means to call or calling.
prophet<προφήτής
(pro+phetes) means to say/saying (someone says something on behalf of someone)
Pro (preposition):
for. It has three deferent meanings:
a. Temporal:
(related to time)>before
b. Spatious:
(related to place)>in front of
c. vicarious:
(related to person/object)>in place of...someone/something
Phetes (noun)
saying/proclaiming
On the other
hand, in Hebrew Prophet is called nabi, which has two forms: verbal form (nabi)
and noun form (nabîm). Verbal form of this Semitic word refers to calling and
noun form refers to one who calls on behalf of someone. So nabi means someone who
calls on behalf of someone >God.
A prophet is
someone who is called by God. From the experience of the past, being
enlightened by the word of God, lining in the present he delivers guidelines to
the people for the future. He is a spokesperson, who speaks on behalf of God. Today
a Prophet has a very important role, especially on regards of Spirituality. In
the Bible, often we see a prophet performs both a teaching and revelatory role,
announcing God’s Words on present issues revealing the detail about the future.
For example: Isaiah preached boldly against the corruption of his days (Isaiah 1:4) and delivered
grand visions of the future of Israel (Isaiah 25:8). Finally, I
can say a prophet is a critic of society, an announcer of future and a
charismatically authorized messenger.
The Positive Names for the Prophet
Nabi>prophet:
Someone who calls on behalf of someone >God.
Ro’eh >seer 1
Samuel 9:9: Someone who possesses supernatural vision, insight and foresight.
Hozeh >
messenger 2 Samuel 24:11: An authoritative messenger of God, a beholder or
seer, who receives supernatural vision.
In the Nook of 1
Chronicles 29:29 we find Samuel>Ro’eh, Nathan>Nabi and Gad>Hozeh.
The Negative Name for the Prophet
In the Book of
Joshua 13:22, we find the negative name for the prophet
kosen>diviner>false prophet.
There are three steps in the life of the prophet
Meeting the
Yahweh>Lord: Isaiah 6:1-9
Expressing the
experience about God: Jeremiah 1:4-10
Proclaiming the
word of God Ezekiel 3:12-22
The Idea about a Prophet
According to the
Modern Critics: Modern Critics fount do find in them (Prophets) a unique class
of religious individualists with a message found in the present rather than the
distant past or the distant future”.
They defined Prophets as “A prophet is one who proclaims a message on behalf of
another, generally a deity”.
Extra Biblical
Meaning of Prophet: In the past century, there was an archeological excavation
in the city Mari of Mesopotamia, where some extra biblical Oracles (Prophecies
of 19th century B.C.) were found, which resemble some of the OT
prophets’ Texts. The Oracle givers sometimes
bore names answers, ecstatics or speakers. We also find some Oracles givers as
shouters, revealers and votaries in the Ancient Near East Text (11th
century BC) and Assyrian Text (680-627 BC). In the Palestinian Text we
introduce Oracle givers as visionaries. The Oracle givers speak mostly about
themselves or sometimes on behalf of Baal, whereas the prophets speak on behalf
of Yahweh.
In the Ancient
Greece prophets refer to s group of ecstatics. Generally, the prophecies were
associated with the cult of Dionysus.
Prophet in the Old Testament
Abraham is the first prophet in the Bible. In Genesis 20:7 God spoke to Abimelech in dream,
saying, “Now then, return Abraham’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will
pray for you, and you will live.” We find more than 133 prophets in the Bible.
Among them sixteen are prophetess. In addition, many others foretell such as
the 70 elders of Israel (Numbers 11:25) and the 100 prophets rescued by
Obadiah (1 Kings 18:4). God had
revealed Himself to Abraham on several occasions. Jacob and Joseph, descendants of Abraham, both had
dreams regarding the future that could be categorized as prophetic. Moses was
called a man of God and was considered a great prophet (Deuteronomy 34:10). Joshua and many of the judges
served as prophets. The last judge, Samuel heard the voice of God as a young boy (1 Samuel 3:4). Later he anointed David, who served
as both king and prophet in Israel. The time of Elijah and Elisha was marked by a high level of
prophecies, as well as miracles.
Prophet in the New Testament
In the New
Testament, we come to know that John the Baptist foretells the
coming of the Messiah (Matthew 3:1). Jesus Himself appears as prophet,
priest, king, and Messiah, fulfilling many of the messianic prophecies of the
Old Testament. We also see Simian, who was waiting for the coming of the
promised Messiah. Anna was pleased, when she saw infant Jesus. The early church
also included prophets, for example, Ananias was given a prophecy about the
Apostle Paul’s future (Acts 9:10-18). The four
daughters of Philip who could prophesy (Acts 21:9). In the last days, two “witnesses”
will prophesy from Jerusalem (Revelation 11). In the New Testament prophecy is
listed as a spiritual gift in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Here prophet performs the task of
faithfully speaking God’s Word to the people. God’s household is built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief
cornerstone (Ephesus 2:20). The prophet is the instrumental in guiding the
nation of Israel and establishing the church.
The Classification of Prophets
Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and
Daniel.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
Canonical Prophets: Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
Non-canonical Prophets: Nathan, Elijah
and Elisha.
Pre-canonical Prophets: Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. All the pre-canonical prophets are non-canonical but all the
non-canonical prophets are not pre-canonical prophets.
Writing Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah and Malachi.
Non-writings Prophets: Nathan, Elijah
and Elisha.
Classical Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah and Malachi.
Non-classical Prophet: Nathan, Elijah
and Elisha.
Pre-exilic Prophets: Amos, Hosea,
Isaiah Jeremiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah.
Exilic Prophets: Obadiah and Ezekiel.
Post-exilic Prophets: Daniel, Joel, Jonah, Haggai, Zechariah
and Malachi.
Court Prophets: Eliza.
Temple Prophets: Nathan and Eliza.
A Prophet is a Seer
Commonly a seer
means a foreseer, one who sees or looks. The term seer refers to the
futurologist, who can foretell beforehand. However, in the biblical understanding
a seer never indicates a foreseer, who says something about future or human
fate. A seer is a prophet. A Prophet is a man of present, who experiences the
past, being enlightened by the Scripture, he speaks about the present to the
people on behalf of God. In II Samuel 24:11 we find Gad as a prophet and he was
also known as the seer of David. But mainly he was a prophet. The word seer
appears parallel to the Prophets in II kings 17:13 and Isa 29:10. Samuel is
called a seer three times in I Samuel 9:1-27.
In verse 9 we read anyone who went to inquire of God would say, “Come,
let us to the seer”.
According to A.
B. Davidson there may have been a class of seers in the time of the judges,
whose methods may not have been greatly unlike those in use among other Semitic
peoples, but we know nothing of them. Samuel is the only seer known to history.
Nevertheless though the clues are few, there are some which the seer held in
relation to both the priest and the prophet.
In the Book of
the Chronicles contains, the word hozeh (seer) occurs six times in the
OT and ro'eh (seer) occurs seven times. Though the term seer we come to
a point of understand that prophet indicates a seer who knows everything that
is going to be done. Since the prophet is the man of God and nothing happen
without the consent of God and as a loving one prophet know the plan of God
beforehand.
Some of the Old
Testament references indicate prophets as seers. Abraham was the seer, who saw
his own fate depending on God's promise. He believed that what was told to him
will be true. Moses was also a seer because he saw that Israelites will be free
from captivity and have own land.
In the book of
Genesis 49:23 we read about Jacob, who said about what is going to happen in captives’
life. That is way he went to the king to shout against the king to make free
the captives. In Genesis 40:23 we see that not only the prophet, but two
prisoners saw the dreams and listening the dreams Joseph the dreamer said of
their own fate and that came into existence. Joseph was the prophet who could
see the future through dreams and interpreting the dreams of King. Joseph
become an important person in the kingdom from a captive. Not only that but he
saves the life of the countrymen. In the book of Samuel we know that he is the
one who is the seer and also in the book of I chronicles we find the name of
Samuel as seer in 9: 22, 26: 28, and 29:29. We find Gad as seer of King David
(I chronicles 21:9 and 29:29)..The seer (prophet) said the fate of king
Jeroboam (I kings). The priest of Bethel says to Amos (7:12) “O seer, go flee
away to the land of prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel for it
is the kings sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” But prophet says
that god had called him from a herdsman to be prophet and prophesy to the
people of Israel (Amos7:15). II kings 17:13 says the seer of the God shouts
against the people, but they do not listen them and thus curse came upon them.
Seers who knew the fate of Israelites, for that reason they warned people.
A Prophet is a
Visionary
A Visionary is
the one who envision the future. For some groups this can involve the
supernatural. An example of a visionary is a great inventor who sees a problem
and finds a way to create something that no one else has ever imagined. He is
clearly speaking about seeing, and belongs among God's visionaries.
The essential
characteristics of a visionary are revealed in his words:
a. to see/hear
is to receive something.
b. to testify is
to transmit what is received.
c. to introduce
is to build up the individual and the community.
The Old Testament offers us plenty of examples for
reflection on the role of visionaries: beginning with Abraham, Moses, Samuel
and numerous prophets. Especially the example of Moses is particularly suitable
for us and rich for the observation of individual elements of that role: he
meets God in the burning bush; he hears
his word from the bush, from the cloud, from the sky (Ex 1-2-3); he begins to understand the history of Israel
in a new light; he learns about the promises given to the patriarchs; he hears
the promise of liberation; he should transmit it to his people; he should lead
his people out of the land of slavery; he leads God's people out of Egypt and
through the desert; through him the Lord makes a covenant with His people; he
calls the attention of Israel to the Covenant: he inspires and encourages them;
he reproves and threatens them; he comforts the people in their afflictions; he
heals their wounds in the name of God.
Among the prophets we could mention Jeremiah whose history
is stormy and painful, which he feels deeply and describes in his call to the
prophetic ministry and in his oracles where he speaks of his own bitter
experiences and his break downs in the ministry of God's message: cf. Jer
1:4-19 - Jeremiah's vocation; 20:7-18 - Jeremiah's "Oracles."
Like Moses the prophets also will:- receive God's word; be
visionaries (hence their title "roeh" - seer);- God will reveal his
mysteries to them, as friends,- these mysteries are related to his plans of
salvation; - they should transmit them to God's people in order thereby to
assist their covenant with God, their life with God: if they are sinful to
convert, if righteous, to become more righteous, if in despair, to strengthen
them, if in sorrow and darkness, to comfort and enlighten them. In the book of
Genesis Chapter 40 we see that not only the prophet but two prisoners saw the
dream and listing the dream Joseph the dreamer said of their own fate and that
came into existence. Amos was a great visionary as well, he saw several visions.
Visions are most frequently found in the prophetic portions
of the Old Testament. A prophetic work could be titled as a vision (Isa 1:1; Nahum 1:1), and certain prophecies Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah
developed a greater capacity for visionary revelation. Visions play an
important structural role in the Book of Ezekiel. The book is introduced as the
"visions of God" (1:1).
The prophecies of Zechariah contain
a series of eight "night visions" (1:7-6:15). Though the
interpretation of these chapters is difficult, it is clear that the visions
reveal God's intention to deliver the beleaguered restoration community. The
first and last visions stress the sovereignty of God, hence surrounding the
others in a tenor of certainty. These visions contain an important prediction
of the coming of God's servant, "the Branch" (3:8), a term that in biblical thought became synonymous with
"Messiah."
A Prophet is a
Votary
The word votary derives from the Latin word vōtum, means vow
and vovēre means ‘to vow’. Votary is a person bound by vows to live a
life of religious worship or service and he devout believer of a cult or
religion. He is a committed worshiper. The votary is a person who is fervently
devoted as to a leader or ideal; a faithful follower, as well as who is filled
with enthusiasm, as for a pursuit or hobby; an enthusiast. Ecclesiastical terms
of this votary means passionately devoted to the services or worship of God, a
deity, or a saint. In the book of I Chronicle 25: 5 we find Heman, a seer of
the king. Heman was a voraty. Lord loves him so much that He gave his 14 sons
and 3 daughters.
We don’t find the exact term that a prophet is a votary in the Bible. But
the role and characteristics of the Prophecy made us think of this that, a
prophet is a votary. If we look the etymological meaning of it we will have
clear idea about the term. A votary is a person bound by a vow or promise,
especially one bound to religious vows, as a monk or as a man. On the other
hand, a votary is a person devoted to a particular religious or a certain form
of a religious worship.
From this etymological definition of Votary, we can understand that,
there are many prophets we can find in the Old Testament, who devoted or
offered their lives at the service of God’s Words and take the promises to work
on behalf of Yahweh.
There are four fundamental Dimensions of Votary as we find in the
Scriptural texts:
a. “Super exposition of the object of Israel’s faith (Yahweh is the God
of the whole world, the controller of the world history).
b. They demand that their hearers shall prove themselves true servants of
God by marinating righteousness, love of neighbour, humility and trust in God (
Is. 1:16f. 7:9; 30:15; Mich 6:8)
c. Their deepening of the personal relationship between God and man (Jeremiah
31:31ff. Ezekiel 36:25; Hosea 2:16), a relationship the full force of which is
to be made effective in the future.\
d. Their portrayal of the messianic age to come”.
Prophet as a Shouter
Shouter comes from the Hebrew term nabi, e.g., Abraham. The term appears in the Books
of Samuel, where it describes a group of individuals, who roam around
playing music and acting in an ecstatic fashion. In English
translations of the Bible the
shouters are simply described as prophets. Prophet Amos was a shouter that the
priest of the Bethel says to Amos (7:12) “O seer, go flee away to the land of
Prophesy there but never again prophesy at Bethel for it is the kings
sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” The priest said Amos shouter
because he shouts against the king and kingdom. In the book of II kings 17:13 we
read that prophet shout and worn the people on behalf of God, but people did
not listen them and thus curse came upon them.
Prophet is as Messenger
The term
messenger derives from the regular Hebrew word mal'akh, and the Greek Angelos
means an angel or a messenger, who runs on foot, the bearer of dispatches. This
may be a human messenger or a messenger of God, an angel. The context must
decide the right translation. In Haggai 1:13 the prophet is
called God's messenger. Job 33:23 changes to
“angel” (margin "messenger"); and Malachi 3:1 suggests “angel” instead of “messenger”.
Malachi 2:7 and 3:1 have caused a great deal of comment.
The Greek apostolos, “apostle” becomes “messenger” in 2 Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25. In 1 Samuel 4:17 Hebrew “basar” uses
as “to tell good news or he brings the news”. Genesis 50:16 reads
"message" instead of "messenger."
Gad, seer of the
David was a messenger, God ask him to bear his message to King David saying
“Thus says the Lord: three things I offer you; choose one of them ... now
decide what answer I shall return to the one who sent me.” In the book of Amos
we find God said to Amos “Go and prophesy to the people of Israel” (Amos7:15)
but he was not treated well there rather threatened to be out of Bethel.
In the Old
Testament we see that God from age to age sends His messenger to prepare each man
for their special task. There were also “schools” of the prophets in Ramah (1
Samuel 19:18), Bethel (2 Kings 2:3), Jericho (2 Kings 2:5), and Gilgal (2 Kings
4:38), where we see that God send prophet Nathan to king David 2 Sam 11-12:1,
and the prophet Gad, seer of the David was a messenger, God ask him to bear his
message to King David saying “Thus says the Lord” (2 Sam 24:11); God said to
Amos “Go and prophesy to the people of Israel” (Amos 7:15) and “I will send my
messenger” (Malachi 3:1, Mk 1:2, Lk
7:27, Jn 1:6-7, Isa 40:3, Haggai 1:13.
Prophet as
an Ecstatic
The word "ecstasy" is derived from the Greek word
‘ekstasis’, which denotes the state of one, who is "out of himself." The
term ‘ekstasis’ is the state in which a man has passed out of the usual order
of his life, beyond the usual limits of consciousness and volition, being rapt
in causes of this state is to be traced commonly to strong religious
impressions. Religious ecstasy is only one type of an altered state of
consciousness characterized by greatly reduced
external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness,
frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) euphoria.
Although the experience is usually brief in time, there are records of such
experiences lasting several days or even more and of recurring experiences of
ecstasy during one's lifetime. Subjective
perception of time, space and/or self may strongly
change or disappear during ecstasy, sometimes called enlightenment.
Tertullian used the word in his discourse “On the Soul”. The
power we call “ecstasy”, a deprivation of the activity of the senses which is
an image of insanity (Genesis 2:21). Sleep brought rest to the body, ecstasy
came over the soul and prevented it from resting, and from that time this
combination constitutes the natural and normal form of the dream.
It is likely that some of Israel's prophets were ecstatics.
The word prophet has at least two senses in the Old Testament. There are
ecstatic prophets, and classic prophets. The ecstatic prophets are marked by
odd, even frenzied behavior. In 1Samuel 19:20-14 David had just escaped, for
the time, the hands of Saul. But Saul sent messengers to arrest him. The
ecstatic type of prophets in the times of the kings was often in large groups,
of even 400 at a time. Their prophecy might be induced by music. Kings often
consulted them, and at times they gave messages such as the kings wanted,
showing that at least in such cases there was nothing supernatural about their
state. In other cultures there are similar phenomena, e.g., the dervishes.
Conclusion
A prophet is
called by God. He calls people in the name of God and in place of God. From the
experience of the past, being enlightened by the word of God, lining in the
present he delivers guidelines to the people for the future. He is a
spokesperson, who speaks on behalf of God.
Today
a Prophet has a very important role, especially on regards of Spirituality. In
the Bible, often we see a prophet performs both a teaching and revelatory role,
announcing God’s Words on present issues revealing the detail about the future.
Finally, I can say a prophet is a critic of society, an announcer of future and
a charismatically authorized messenger.
Bibliography
1.
SENIOR,
Donald, Mary Ann Getty, Carroll Stuhlmueller and John J. Collins, ed.: The Catholic Study Bible, New York,
Oxford University Press, 1990.
2.
GOMES, Patrick Simon: Class Note on
Prophets: O.T.”, Banani, Dhaka, 2014.
3.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909, v.
5, sv. Ecstasy by Augustine Paul, p.
638.
4.
WILSON, Robert P.: Encyclopedia of
Religion. 1987, v. 12, sv. Biblical
Prophecy by Mircea Eliade, p.14-23.
5.
MARGHANITA, Laski: A Study of Some
Secular and Religious Experiences, Ecstasy,
London, 1961, p. 57.
6.
ElWELL, Walter A.: Evangelical
Dictionary of Theology. Vision, New
York, 1997, p. 278.
7.
ORR, James, ed.: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Messenger, 1915, p. 329.
Joseph
Blenkinsopp: A history of Prophecy in Israel, the Westminster Press,
Philadelphia, 1983, P. 27
