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This month’s Message takes the form of a Bible study which continues the theme of the ministry gifts of Christ to continue His ministry to the WORLD through the CHURCH…

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The Ministry of PROPHETS

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The Old Testament Model

The Hebrew word nabi, which is translated “prophet,” means “one who announces.” The nabi, or prophet, was a person called by God to be His spokesman.

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The Former Prophets

 

Abraham is called a prophet (Gen. 20:7). God revealed Himself and His purposes to him (Gen. 15:1-18; 18:17) and he passed this on (Gen. 18:19).

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Aaron as the spokesman of Moses is called his prophet in that he was the intermediary between Moses and Pharaoh (Exodus. 7:1; 4:16).

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Moses speaks prophetically on many occasions (Deut 32:1-63 & 33:2-29) and predicts the coming of Christ: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth.” (Deut 18:18).

 

Samuel is described as a prophet (1 Sam 3:20) and a seer (1 Chron 29:29). He was directed by God in the appointment of Saul as king (1 Sam 9:19) and later David (16:1).

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Elijah (1 Kings 18:22) and Elisha (1 Kings 19:16) were mighty in word and deed

 

Female Prophets

 

Deborah (Judges 4:4), Miriam (Ex 15:20), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Anna (Luke 2:36)

 

The Major and Minor Prophets

 

The prophets “saw” and then they spoke:

Isaiah 1:1, Jeremiah 1:11,13, Ezekiel 1:1, Amos 1:1, Obadiah 1:1, Nahum 1:1, Micah 1:1, Habakkuk 1:1

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  • They saw things from God’s angle

  • They saw things in the Spirit

  • They saw things others were blind to

 

The Word of the Lord came to them and they spoke into situations

Jeremiah 1:2, Hosea 1:1, Joel 1:1, Jonah 1:1, Zephaniah 1:1, Haggai 1:1, Zechariah 1:1, Malachi 1:1

 

Prophecy was about forthtelling more than foretelling:

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  • They spoke God’s word for the moment although there was an element of predicting future events when it was appropriate

  • They spoke under the inspiration of the Spirit

  • They showed how things really were and where they were leading to

  • The recurring theme of all these prophets, with a few exceptions like Jonah, was to call God’s people back to Himself time and time again.

  • John the Baptist as the last of the Old Testament style prophets continued this, by calling people to repent because the Kingdom of heaven was coming (Matthew 3:1)

 

The New Testament Ministry

 

The Greek word for prophecy, propheteia, comes from two Greek words: pro meaning “forth,” and phemi meaning “to speak.” In other words, to speak forth.

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“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

 

This principle of being inspired by the Spirit is continued in the ministry of prophets in the New Testament but there is a difference:

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  • The Spirit does not come and go as in the OT (1 Sam 10:11, 19:20). We have an anointing that abides (1 John 2:20, 27) and if a person is called by God to be a prophet that will continue (if he/she remains faithful), until the day they die.

  • The ministry of prophets has a positive purpose to:​

    • Build up the body of Christ 

    • Promote unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God

    • Help God’s people to become mature

    • Experience the fullness of Christ

    • Be protected from false doctrine

    • Grow in love - for God, for each other and for the world (Ephesians 4:12-15)

  • Equip God’s people for works of service

 

Examples of Prophets in the New Testament

 

Acts 13:1: Prophets in the church at Antioch were involved in hearing the Holy Spirit’s call to send Saul and Barnabas as apostles to preach the gospel and plant churches.

 

Acts 15:32: "Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.”

 

Acts 21:9:  Philip’s four daughters “who prophesied.”

 

Acts 20:10-11: Agabus (see also Acts 11:28) foretells that Paul will be handed over to the Gentiles – not to stop Paul from going to Jerusalem but to confirm to him that when this happened, it was part of God’s will and plan for him and Paul courageously faced it!

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“God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets…” (1 Corinthians 12:28)

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From this we see that the Church and the world needs those who SEE from God’s perspective, HEAR what the Spirit is saying and SPEAK that boldly.

 

“A leader is one who sees MORE than others see, who sees FURTHER than others see,

and who sees BEFORE others do.” Leyroy Eims

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