Why prophecy

The passage about executing a prophet who speaks something that does not come to pass contrasts in context with the true prophet like Moses The prophet to which it refers is a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods or speaks presumptuously what God has not said , But does this refer to stoning a prophet who thought God was speaking and misunderstood him or made a mistake on some point? If it actually referred to anyone who makes a mistake in speaking for the Lord then it would rule out Nathan, who had to correct himself 2 Sam Jeremiah teaches that in fact most prophecies are conditional Jer God sometimes lets true prophets know when conditions have changed and judgment is delayed 1 Kgs After being mentored by senior prophets, by the time that newer prophets were speaking, they seem to have been fairly mature in their prophetic calling.

Prophecies in local congregations must be evaluated, but a prophet who prophesies wrongly on a massive national scale seems to be at most an exception in the OT. So while an error might not always make a person a false prophet who prophesies rebellion against God, it is still serious business. Meier, Paying the Prophet Prophets would depend on God for their well-being. They did not prophesy for money, but they let God take care of them.

Minority Status The prophet is often someone who speaks up for the minority group. Their vocation as a prophet can likely lead them to become an outcast or face resistance because they do not represent the majority status.

Many times, this puts them in the place of calling out injustices and immoral actions such as abuse, idolatry, murder, and other acts of sin against neighbor and God. In order to articulate their message, they often use words or metaphors to convey meaning, and to arouse, inspire, awake, and provoke emotion within their audience.

The Prediction Comes to Pass One of the most obvious ways to tell if a prophet is true, is to determine whether their prediction comes to pass. Their message should anticipate future realities and events with precision, because the words they speak are the words of the Lord. Northern Prophets The northern prophets dealt with the people of Israel, primarily those who went into exile with the Assyrians , and came before the southern prophets in terms of Israel's history.

Hosea frequently uses the metaphor of marriage, presenting his audience with a God who seems emotional and intimate, while still being a God of judgment and mercy. Amos is a prophet of social justice, speaking up for minorities and presenting a sovereign Lord.

Southern Prophets The southern prophets come in phases before, during, and after the Babylonian exile. Isaiah: For the book of Isaiah, there is little known about the specifics of a single particular man who was Isaiah.

Biblical scholars have determined that there are actually three different authors within the book of Isaiah, and they are known as Isaiah 1, 2 and 3. Within this Guide, we will be focusing on Isaiah 2.

He was raised by priests and is very young when he is called to prophecy. On one occasion, Jeremiah even tells God he is too young to be a prophet. After King Josiah dies, Jeremiah tries to tell King Johiakim who was the son of Josiah and the people of Judah of the oncoming exodus, specifically through dramatic public displays.

Ezekiel: Ezekiel preached during the exile and right after its end. Ezekiel was sent to tell the people in exile about visions he received, but they refused to listen. Following that, by the end of Ezekiel 18, his wife has died, and he has received instructions that he must remain silent. After his silence, and with the exile over, Ezekiel has many prophecies of hope and renewal, new life and redemption.

References Groenewald, A. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus. Home About Our Church Beliefs. Hebrews In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

Rather than part of the learned skill of divination, prophecy was instead a unique type of omen. Rather than seeing Hebrew prophecy as a secondary and scribal literary development from an earlier and more primal spoken original, exemplified by Mesopotamian prophecy, this paper argues that the two sorts of prophecy were configured very differently within two very different systems of knowledge and political communication. The result helps explain why prophecy remained marginal to scholarly knowledge in Mesopotamia but became central to it in Judea: Prophecy became a dominant genre in Hebrew because Hebrew prophets claimed knowledge differently than in Mesopotamia.

Daniel , et al.