-What is a prophet
and who were the prophets spoken of in Acts
3:21 and Luke 1:70?
A prophet was one who proclaimed
a message given to him by the Creator about what was to come in the future:.Hosea
12:10;
Numbers 12:6,8; Deuteronomy
18:18,19;
1Kings 20:35. Note
in Numbers 12:6,8 that God 'speaks' to prophets in
dreams with messages for them often to be given to another:.Jeremiah
23:28.
Apostles
were similar, but
their
work was more regarding overall direction and all encompassing purpose,
whereas
a prophet's messages to others were specific individuals, times and
locales.
The Creator used prophets
in Old Testament times.(2Peter
1:20,21; Acts 4:25; 28:25).to
speak to men. How did they receive what to say?.Jeremiah
1:9; Isaiah 51:16.
In the era
of the New Testament, God is
inside us:.Hebrews
1:1,2 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds."
Today it is the prompts
from the Creator that we hear which well
up within us:.Hebrews
3:7 "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost says, today if you will hear his
voice." 1John 2:27 "But the anointing
which you have received of him abides in you and you need not that any
man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and
is truth and is no lie and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in
him."
And it is so much better
than those of old understood:.Matthew
13:17 "For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous
men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them
and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them."
We give attention.(worship).to
Him today through meditation. Also
see 'Holy Spirit'.
The Creator can and does
speak through prophets.(1Corinthians
12:28;
Ephesians 2:20; 3:5),
who reveal new things from God. If what a prophet says does not occur.exactly.as
said, even once of perhaps many prophecies, then he is a false
prophet. God makes no mistakes. But what about women prophets? Looka
here!
A true prophet of the Creator
is 100% accurate 100% of the time; no errors. And how long should we wait
to see if a prophet's word comes to pass? A true prophet will say when:.Joshua
6:4,5.
Agabus was a prophet in
early New Testament times:.Acts
11:27,28; 21:10,11. There
were others:.Acts
13:1,2; 15:32. This ability is
a gift from God.(Romans
12:6).and
a gift ranking far below love for others:.1Corinthians
13:8.
From.Matthew's
Henry's Commentary:."Prophets
were the immediate organs of God for the communication of his mind and
will to men. The whole Word of God may in this general sense be spoken
of as prophetic, inasmuch as it was written by men who received the revelation
they communicated from God, no matter what its nature might be. The foretelling
of future events was not a necessary but only an incidental part of the
prophetic office. The great task assigned to the prophets whom God raised
up among the people was 'to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim
the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the character
of God and which lie at the foundation of his government'."
"Any one being a spokesman
for God to man might thus be called a prophet. Thus Enoch,
Abraham
and the patriarchs,
as bearers of God's message.(Genesis
20:7;
Exodus 7:1; Psalms
105:15), as also
Moses.(Deuteronomy
18:15; 34:10; Hosea
12:13), are ranked among the prophets."
The seventy elders of Israel.(Numbers
11:16-29)."when
the spirit rested upon them prophesied"; Asaph
and Jeduthun."prophesied with a harp":.1Chronicles
25:3.
Anna,
Deborah,
Huldah
and Miriam, were prophetesses, the
Creator using these fine women most effectively:.Exodus
15:20; Judges 4:4. The title
thus has a general application to all who have messages from God to men.
Besides these fine women, there were
many others.
God loves and respects women
very
deeply; example.
Easton's
Bible Dictionary:."In
New Testament times the prophetical office was continued. Our Lord
is frequently spoken of as a prophet:.Luke
13:33; 24:19. He was and is the
great Prophet of the Church. There was also in the Church a distinct order
of prophets.(1Corinthians
12:28;
Ephesians 2:20; 3:5),
who made new revelations from God. They differed from the 'teacher' whose
office it was to impart truths already revealed.
"This Hebrew word is the
first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of Samuel
another word, "ro'eh", for "seer", began to be used:.1Samuel
9:9. It occurs seven times in reference to Samuel. Afterwards another
word, "hozeh", meaning "seer".(2Samuel
24:11), was employed.