Reference: Prophecy, Prophets
Hastings
Hebrew prophecy represents a religious movement of national and worldwide importance, not paralleled elsewhere in history. Most significant in itself, it has acquired deeper and wider import through its connexion with Christianity and the philosophy of religion generally. The present article will deal in brief outline with (1) the history, (2) the inspiration, and (3) the functions and specific teaching, of the prophets of the OT; also (4) with the special topic of Messianic prophecy and its fulfilment in the NT.
1. History and prophecy.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
and now send back the man's wife, for he is inspired, and he doth pray for thee, and live thou; and if thou do not send back, know that dying thou dost die, thou, and all that thou hast.'
And Moses saith, 'Let me turn aside, I pray thee, and I see this great appearance; wherefore is the bush not burned?'
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'See, I have given thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother is thy prophet; thou -- thou dost speak all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother doth speak unto Pharaoh, and he hath sent the sons of Israel out of his land. read more. 'And I harden the heart of Pharaoh, and have multiplied My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt,
Jehovah reigneth -- to the age, and for ever!'
And Moses appeaseth the face of Jehovah his God, and saith, 'Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
and now, if Thou takest away their sin -- and if not -- blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'
and Jehovah cometh down in the cloud, and speaketh unto him, and keepeth back of the Spirit which is on him, and putteth on the seventy men of the elders; and it cometh to pass at the resting of the Spirit on them, that they prophesy, and do not cease. And two of the men are left in the camp, the name of the one is Eldad, and the name of the second Medad, and the spirit resteth upon them, (and they are among those written, and have not gone out to the tent), and they prophesy in the camp; read more. and the young man runneth, and declareth to Moses, and saith, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' And Joshua son of Nun, minister of Moses, one of his young men, answereth and saith, 'My lord Moses, restrain them.' And Moses saith to him, 'Art thou zealous for me? O that all Jehovah's people were prophets! that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!'
And Jehovah cometh down in the pillar of the cloud, and standeth at the opening of the tent, and calleth Aaron and Miriam, and they come out both of them. And He saith, 'Hear, I pray you, My words: If your prophet is of Jehovah -- in an appearance unto him I make Myself known; in a dream I speak with him;
And He saith, 'Hear, I pray you, My words: If your prophet is of Jehovah -- in an appearance unto him I make Myself known; in a dream I speak with him; not so My servant Moses; in all My house he is stedfast; read more. mouth unto mouth I speak with him, and by an appearance, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah he beholdeth attentively; and wherefore have ye not been afraid to speak against My servant -- against Moses?'
'When there ariseth in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he hath given unto thee a sign or wonder,
'When there ariseth in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he hath given unto thee a sign or wonder, and the sign and the wonder hath come which he hath spoken of unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known), and serve them,
and the sign and the wonder hath come which he hath spoken of unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known), and serve them,
there is not found in thee one causing his son and his daughter to pass over into fire, a user of divinations, an observer of clouds, and an enchanter, and a sorcerer, and a charmer, and one asking at a familiar spirit, and a wizard, and one seeking unto the dead. read more. For the abomination of Jehovah is every one doing these, and because of these abominations is Jehovah thy God dispossessing them from thy presence. Perfect thou art with Jehovah thy God, for these nations whom thou art possessing, unto observers of clouds, and unto diviners, do hearken; and thou -- not so hath Jehovah thy God suffered thee. A prophet out of thy midst, out of thy brethren, like to me, doth Jehovah thy God raise up to thee -- unto him ye hearken;
And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? --
And Deborah, a woman inspired, wife of Lapidoth, she is judging Israel at that time,
that Jehovah sendeth a man, a prophet, unto the sons of Israel, and he saith to them, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants,
and the Spirit of Jehovah hath clothed Gideon, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and Abi-Ezer is called after him;
And the youth Samuel is serving Jehovah before Eli, and the word of Jehovah hath been precious in those days -- there is no vision broken forth.
Formerly in Israel, thus said the man in his going to seek God, 'Come and we go unto the seer,' for the 'prophet' of to-day is called formerly 'the seer.'
Afterwards thou dost come unto the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is, and it cometh to pass, at thy coming in thither to the city, that thou hast met a band of prophets coming down from the high place, and before them psaltery, and tabret, and pipe, and harp, and they are prophesying; and prospered over thee hath the Spirit of Jehovah, and thou hast prophesied with them, and hast been turned to another man;
and they come in thither to the height, and lo, a band of prophets -- to meet him, and prosper over him doth the Spirit of God, and he prophesieth in their midst.
and they come in thither to the height, and lo, a band of prophets -- to meet him, and prosper over him doth the Spirit of God, and he prophesieth in their midst.
and they come in thither to the height, and lo, a band of prophets -- to meet him, and prosper over him doth the Spirit of God, and he prophesieth in their midst. And it cometh to pass, all his acquaintance heretofore, see, and lo, with prophets he hath prophesied, and the people say one unto another, 'What is this hath happened to the son of Kish? is Saul also among the prophets?' read more. And a man thence answereth and saith, 'And who is their father?' therefore it hath been for a simile, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?' And he ceaseth from prophesying, and cometh in to the high place,
And David hath fled, and is escaped, and cometh in unto Samuel to Ramath, and declareth to him all that Saul hath done to him, and he goeth, he and Samuel, and they dwell in Naioth.
The Spirit of Jehovah hath spoken by me, And His word is on my tongue.
And David riseth in the morning, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Gad the prophet, seer of David, saying,
'Hath it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel's slaying the prophets of Jehovah, that I hide of the prophets of Jehovah a hundred men, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water?
and the hand of Jehovah hath been on Elijah, and he girdeth up his loins, and runneth before Ahab, till thine entering Jezreel.
and the king of Israel gathereth the prophets, about four hundred men, and saith unto them, 'Do I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear?' and they say, 'Go up, and the Lord doth give it into the hand of the king.'
and he saith, I go out, and have been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets; and He saith, Thou dost entice, and also thou art able; go out and do so.
And the matters of David the king, the first and the last, lo, they are written beside the matters of Samuel the seer, and beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the matters of Gad the seer,
And he maketh the most holy house: its length is by the front of the breadth of the house twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and he covereth it with good gold, to six hundred talents;
And the rest of the matters of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not written beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and with the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?
yet the high places have not turned aside from Israel; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect all his days.
If evil doth come upon us -- sword, judgment, and pestilence, and famine -- we stand before this house, and before Thee, for Thy name is in this house, and cry unto Thee out of our distress, and Thou dost hear and save.
And he appointeth the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, by the command of David, and of Gad, seer of the king, and of Nathan the prophet, for by the hand of Jehovah is the command, by the hand of His prophets;
An Instruction of Asaph. Why, O God, hast Thou cast off for ever? Thine anger smoketh against the flock of Thy pasture.
Our ensigns we have not seen, There is no more a prophet, Nor with us is one knowing how long.
'Strike not against Mine anointed, And to My prophets do not evil.'
And they say, Come, And we devise against Jeremiah devices, For law doth not perish from the priest, Nor counsel from the wise, Nor the word from the prophet, Come, and we smite him with the tongue, And we do not attend to any of his words.
Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah.
if so be their supplication doth fall before Jehovah, and they turn back each from his evil way, for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath spoken concerning this people.'
hath the word of Jehovah certainly been unto Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of Jehovah.
And I have broken down the wall that ye daubed with chalk, And have caused it to come unto the earth, And revealed hath been its foundation, And it hath fallen, And ye have been consumed in its midst, And ye have known that I am Jehovah.
And it cometh to pass in my seeing -- I, Daniel -- the vision, that I require understanding, and lo, standing over-against me is as the appearance of a mighty one.
Come in have the days of inspection, Come in have the days of recompence, Israel doth know! a fool is the prophet, Mad is the man of the Spirit, Because of the abundance of thine iniquity, And great is the hatred.
And I raise of your sons for prophets, And of your choice ones for Nazarites, Is not this true, O sons of Israel? An affirmation of Jehovah.
For the Lord Jehovah doth nothing, Except He hath revealed His counsel unto His servants the prophets.
Thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets Who are causing My people to err, Who are biting with their teeth, And have cried 'Peace,' And he who doth not give unto their mouth, They have sanctified against him war.
Her prophets unstable -- men of treachery, Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, They have violated the law.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, Ashamed are the prophets, each of his vision, in his prophesying, And they put not on a hairy robe to deceive.
a prophet, therefore, being, and knowing that with an oath God did swear to him, out of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, to raise up the Christ, to sit upon his throne,
and also all the prophets from Samuel and those following in order, as many as spake, did also foretell of these days.