v. Apostle, Priest, Seer
Gen 20:7 because it is p, and he will pray for you, and you will live
Exo 7:1 I have made you god.. Aaron will be your p
Num 11:29 I wish all the Lord’s people were p
Num 12:6 when there is among you p of Jehovah
Deu 13:1 when he rises up in your midst p, or
Deu 18:15 p out of your midst .. the Lord will raise up
Deu 18:20 the p that has the presumption to speak
Deu 34:10 never again rose p.. like Moses
1Sa 3:20 knew that Samuel was faithful p of Jehovah
1Sa 9:9 who today is called p .. he was called a seer
1Sa 10:11; 19:24
Prophet (Heb. nâbî’, “called” or “one who has a calling”; probably from Ac. nabû, “to call”; Aram. nebî’; Gr. prophet’s). Someone who first received instructions from God and then passed them on to the people. These 2 aspects of his work were reflected in the names by which they were known: seer (jôzeh or rô’eh) and prophet (nâbî ‘). The 1st was more common in the early period of Hebrew history (1Sa 9:9). The most frequently used term is nâbî’, as it designates him as God’s spokesman. As a “seer” he discerned the will of God, and as a “prophet” he transmitted it to others. I. The prophet and his work. The prophet is a person called and supernaturally qualified as a spokesman for God. Whereas in OT times the priests were the people’s representatives before God – their spokesmen and mediators for him – the prophet, in a special sense, was God’s official representative among his people on earth. While the priestly office was hereditary, the appointment of a prophet came from divine calling. The priest, as mediator in the sacrificial system, led Israel in worship, although his secondary duties included devoting a portion of his time to instructing the people about God’s will as already revealed by the prophets, Moses in particular. Instead, religious instruction was the primary task of the prophet. The priest was largely concerned with the ceremony and rites of the sanctuary (which focused on public worship), with mediation for the forgiveness of sins, and with the ritual maintenance of right relations between God and his people. The prophet was primarily a teacher of justice, spirituality, and ethical conduct, a moral reformer with messages of instruction, counsel, admonition, and warning, and his work often included the prediction of future events. In the case of Moses, one of the greatest prophets (Deu 18:15), prophecy was a comparatively minor function. In a broader sense of the word, there were prophets from the earliest days of the world. Both Abraham (Gen 20:7) and Moses (Deu 18:15) were called prophets. During the period of the judges the prophetic office languished, and “the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was often no vision” (1Sa 3:1). Samuel’s call toward the end of that period was momentous. He was the 1st “prophet” in the strictest sense of the word, and can be considered as the founder of the prophetic office; he went from place to place as a teacher of Israel (10:10-13; cf 7:16, 17). After him and until the end of the OT times, various chosen men spoke to the nation in the name of God, interpreting the past and the present, exhorting justice, and always directing their eyes to the glorious future that God had indicated to them as. village. Samuel would have founded what is known as “the schools of the prophets”. The young men who received their education in these schools (19:20) were known as the “sons of the prophets” (2Ki 2:3-5). The 1st such school mentioned was at Ramah (1Sa 19:18, 20), the seat of Samuel (7:17). The sons of the prophets were not necessarily direct recipients of the prophetic gift, but they were divinely called, like today’s evangelical ministers, to instruct people about the will and ways of God. The schools of the prophets were a powerful force that held back the tide of evil that so often threatened to engulf the Hebrew people under a flood of idolatry, materialism, and injustice, and provided a barrier against the advancing tide of corruption. very quickly. These schools provided mental and spiritual training to selected young men who would be the teachers and leaders of the nation. After Samuel, in the time of the united kingdom of Judah and Israel, there arose men like Nathan the prophet, Gad the seer (1Ch 29:29) and Ahijah (2Ch 9:29). Then, under the divided monarchy, there were many prophets. Some (Hosea, Isaiah, etc.) were authors of books preserved in the sacred canon; others (Nathan, Gad, Shemaiah, Iddo, etc.) also wrote, but their writings have not been preserved. Some of the greatest prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, did not write down their prophetic speeches, and are therefore sometimes called “oral prophets.” In the Hebrew canon, the 4 great historical works of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are called Former Prophets, because their authors were held to be prophets. Although largely historical in nature, these books show the intent of their authors to preserve a record of God’s dealings with Israel as an object lesson for their own and subsequent generations. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and “the Twelve”—from Hosea to Malachi—are called the Later Prophets. 948 Under the divided kingdom, the prophets Hosea, Amos, and Jonah worked mostly for Israel, the northern kingdom; the rest, especially for Judah, the southern kingdom, although some of these also included the northern kingdom in their messages. Incidentally, the phrase “Minor Prophets” (Hosea through Malachi) should be clarified: they are so called only because their books are comparatively short relative to those of the “Major Prophets” (Isaiah through Daniel). In no way does it imply that the ministry of its authors was of short duration or that their writings were of minor importance and/or inspiration. The Latter Prophets can be divided chronologically into 4 groups: 1. 8th Century BC Prophets Includes Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah, roughly in that order. The 8th century saw the rise of Assyria, and before the end of this period the nation took the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom into captivity, thus making the nation disappear. On at least 2 occasions Judah also came close to being destroyed by the Assyrians. The main role of the eighth century prophets would have been, first, to avoid, if possible, the captivity of the northern kingdom by calling their people to return to the service and worship of the true God, but also – particularly in the case of Isaiah – sustain the southern kingdom during this time of great national crisis. With the death of Isaiah the prophetic gift seems to have been silenced for half a century or more. 2. Prophets of the 7th century BC This century witnessed the heyday of Assyria, but before the end of the century it had disappeared from the scene of action and the Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian Empire had taken its place. During the years of the decline of Assyria and the rise of the Chaldeans, God sent several prophets to call the people of Judah to a complete reform that would prevent the imminent Babylonian captivity. Among those prophets were Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and perhaps Joel. 3. Prophets of the Babylonian captivity period. These were Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and perhaps Obadiah. The primary goal of the messages of this period was to help Judah understand God’s purpose in allowing captivity, to inspire hope for a restoration, and to lift the eyes of the Jews to the glorious opportunity that awaited them upon their return from captivity. if they were faithful to God. Jeremiah delivered his messages to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah before and during the beginning of the captivity, and Ezekiel ministered to the exiles in Babylon, Daniel was sent to the court of Nebuchadnezzar to communicate God’s will to the great monarch and gain his cooperation with God’s plan for God’s people. 4. Post-exilic prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The first 2 encouraged the people to rise up and build the temple; Zechariah received a series of apocalyptic visions that described the glorious future that awaited Israel during the age of restoration if they were faithful to God (Zec 6:15). About a century after Zechariah came Malachi and with him the end of the OT prophetic canon (1 Mac. 4:46; 9:27; 14:41). Although the book of Daniel contains some of the most important prophetic messages found in the Scriptures, the Hebrew people did not include it in the prophetic section of the canon. Since such historical works as Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings are included in the prophetic section, it is evident that the content was not the main factor that determined their classification within the canonical writings. but the craft of its writer. Thus, Daniel served primarily as a statesman in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, and although he received some of the greatest visions of all time, he was not considered a prophet in the same sense as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, or the others, whose lives were dedicated exclusively to the prophetic office; nevertheless, Christ called him a prophet (Mat 24:15). See Canon (I). At the dawn of NT times, the gift of prophecy was reactivated with the inspired declarations of Elizabeth (Luk 1:41-45), and Simeon and Anna (2:25-38). A few years later came John the Baptist in the role of Elijah (Luk 1:17). Christ declared that John was a prophet “and more than a prophet” (Matt 11:9, 10). Paul esteemed the prophetic gift as one of the graces of the Spirit (1Co 12:10), and declared that it was one of the greatest gifts (14:1, 5). As in OT times, the prophetic gift did not necessarily involve the prediction of future events, although this aspect of prophecy might be included, but consisted largely of exhortation and edification (vs 3, 4). The call to the prophetic office and the consequent gift of the prophetic gift were acts of God, as in the case of Isaiah (Isa 6:8, 9), Jeremiah (Jer 1:5), Ezekiel (Eze 2:3-5) and Amos (Amos 7:15). Moses received him from the burning bush (Exo 3:1-4:17). Elisha’s call to the prophetic office was heralded by 949 CHRONOLOGY OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS 950 Elijah (1Ki 19:19, 20; cf 2Ki 2:13, 14). The prophetic call was accompanied by a delivery of special abilities so that the prophet could speak on behalf of God. He made him a “watchman” or “guardian” over the house of Israel (Eze 33:7), and held him strictly accountable to God for the faithful delivery of the messages he was to give them (vs 3, 6). Having accepted the prophetic call, he could not abandon it at will, as Jeremiah once thought to do (Jer 20:7-9; cf 1Ki 19:9; Joh 1:6-8, 23; 3:2). …