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The prophet received
his inspiration from God the Holy Spirit. |
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The prophet communicated
in the written mode, and indeed the Old Testament canon of Scripture
was written entirely by men with either the gift or office of
prophecy. |
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Prophets were responsible
for teaching the meaning of the ritual plan of God. All of the
information concerning the system of feasts, sacrifices, and
the tabernacle/temple was given meaning through prophets. |
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Prophets were also
responsible for the spoken communication, which interpreted the
symbology of the ritual system.
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There is no record
of priests who hold this responsibility. Their job was to go
through the ritual system exactly as prescribed. |
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Scripture tells the
Levites to do, do, do, hundreds of times. But they do not ever
tell them to interpret. |
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The prophets were
the ones who told the people what it all meant. Prophecy filled
in the gaps left by the ritual system. |
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Whereas the ritual
system communicated truth about God and His plan for Israel,
the prophet would communicate something more pertinent. The ritual
system did not provide any guideline for specific application. |
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The message was pertinent
for the person or people for whom it was intended. |
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The message was appropriate
to the time in which it was spoken. |
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Whereas the ritual
system was not behavior specific, prophecy was. The prophet was
very specific in condemning wrong behavior, and praising what
was right among God's people of his time. |
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To interpret historical
trends, and to tell the people where those trends are leading.
This is called 'forthtelling'.
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It is important to
understand that events in this category do not have to come to
pass. |
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Many of the future
events related are contingent upon the fulfillment of some condition,
such as the recovery of the people from idolatry. If they turn
from their idolatry, the discipline the prophet describes will
not come to pass. |
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The future of these
events which are forthtold is still dependent upon human volition. |
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A good example of
forthtelling is Hosea 6:4-5: "What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning
mist, like the early dew that disappears. Therefore I cut you
in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my
mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you."
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To relate with perfect
accuracy certain future events which relate to the nation of
Israel. This is called 'foretelling'.
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The predicted events
still remain pertinent to the time in which they were predicted.
For example, if the prophet predicts the millennial rule of Christ,
then there is a reason why the people alive at the prophet's
time need to know about. |
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In other words, there
is always a message for the present time in the prediction of
the future. |
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Even though the events
predicted may not come to pass for hundreds, or even thousands
of years, they have some impact, some bearing on the people to
whom they were predicted. |
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Our understanding
of the events of the tribulation and millennium have an impact
on how we conduct our lives today. |
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Understanding the
tribulation gives us an idea of the consequences of giving in
to the cosmic system, for the tribulation reveals the cosmic
system in its unrestrained state. |
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Understanding the
millennium gives us an idea of the consequences of life under
Christ's full sovereignty, for the millennium reveals the kingdom
of God in its full glory. |
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A good example of
foretelling is the 22nd Psalm, which is a chilling prediction
of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. |
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The office of prophet
was an appointed post in the nation of Israel.
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Those who served in
the office of prophet functioned exclusively in the communication
of prophetic information. |
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There are two categories
of Old Testament writings written by those who had the office
of prophet. All together, this part is called "The Prophets". |
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The "former"
prophets wrote the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.
"Former" is just a fancy way of saying "early". |
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The "latter"
prophets wrote the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the
minor prophets. |
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The one in the office
of prophet did not hold another job, but instead, prophecy was
his job.
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The gift of prophecy
was an ability given by God to prophesy to one who did not hold
the office of prophet.
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When God had something
to say to His people, but the office of prophet was vacant or
spiritually bankrupt He gave to a few people the gift of prophet. |
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These people received
direct revelation from God, which led to their communication
to the people. |
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There are three parts
to the Old Testament written by those with the gift of prophecy.
All together, this was called "The Writings". |
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The prophetical books
include Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. |
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The Megalith included
those books which were read at the feasts. The Song of Solomon
was read at Passover. Ruth was read at Pentecost. Lamentations
and Ecclesiastes were read during Tabernacles. Esther was read
at Purim. |
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The historical books
include Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. |
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Moses had both the
gift and the office of prophet. He wrote the Pentateuch, which
contained the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. He had both because his
role in life changed from time to time. |
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Elisha and Elijah
held the office of prophet, but did not write. The important
parts of their ministries are recorded by other writers of Scripture. |
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The prophet was inspired
according to the standard of verbal plenary inspiration. |
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The prophet was always
aware of his inspiration.
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The Word of the Lord
came to him (many times). |
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God's hand touched
his mouth, Jer 1:9. |
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He was standing in
God's counsel, Jer 23:22. |
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The inspiration always
came by the Spirit, Num 24:2; 11:29; 1 Sam 10:6,10; 19:20,23;
1 Ki 22:24; Joel 2:28-29, Hosea 9:7, "The days of punishment
are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know
this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac." |
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The intermediate means
were many.
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Life experience, Hosea. |
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A visible symbol,
Amos 7:7. |
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A dream (the subconscious
mind, while asleep), Jer 31:26. |
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A vision (the conscious
mind, while awake), Zechariah. |
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Direct teaching from
God, Isaiah 6. |
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The interpretation
of historical trends from Bible Truth in the right lobe of the
soul. |
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From training, 1 Sam
10:5, After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there
is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet
a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with
lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them,
and they will be prophesying. |
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The exhale of the
prophet.
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He explained the meaning
of the ritual system. |
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He used the parable,
or allegory. Hosea 6:4, What can I do with you, Ephraim? What
can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears. |
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He acted his message
out in order to graphically illustrate it. |
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He foretold certain
future events, all of which had a relevant message during his
day. |
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These prophecies now
stand in two categories: (1)Those which have been fulfilled -
for example, more than 300 prophecies related to the life of
Christ. (2)Those which have yet to be fulfilled - for example,
the book of Revelation, and parts of Daniel, Ezekiel, and other
prophets. |
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The Old Testament
prophet was the rough equivalent of the New Testament pastor. |
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He interpreted God's
Word, he exhorted the people, he observed and interpreted historical
trends. |
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He was, however, different
in a few ways:
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He had a lesser understanding
of the full revelation of God, Mat 13:17, "For I tell you
the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what
you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did
not hear it." |
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This is because of
the age in which he lived. |
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This is because he
lived before the incarnation of Christ. |
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He did not have the
gift inside of himself, as those with the gift of pastor do. |
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He did not have the
full-time availability of the power of the Spirit, but instead
he only had it for the purpose of prophecy. |
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He had the power to
foretell certain future events. |
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The Old Testament
prophet was the one who brought the Word to the people, the one
who made it clear to them. The priests did nothing of the sort. |
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The Old Testament
prophet had the supernatural ability to foretell certain future
events. |
