Prophets And Prophecy (Part 1)

Being a mouthpiece for the word of the Lord was often a dangerous calling. People frequently mocked, rejected, persecuted, and even killed God’s prophets (2 Chron. 36:16; Jer. 11:21; 18:18; 20:2, 7–10). Stephen, the first martyr of the new covenant, pointedly asked, “Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?” (Acts 7:52).

What's interesting is that God Himself defined the role and function of the prophets at the beginning of Israel's history as a nation:

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19

That's the most important definition. A prophet in the Bible was someone who spoke the words of God to people who needed to hear them.

To fully understand the role and function of the Old Testament prophets, you need to be familiar with Israel's history as a nation. After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness, Joshua ultimately led the military conquest of the promised land. That was Israel's official beginning as a nation on the world stage. Saul eventually became Israel's first king, but the nation experienced its greatest growth and prosperity under the rule of King David and King Solomon. The nation of Israel was split apart under the rule of Solomon's son, Rehoboam. For centuries, the Jews were divided between the northern kingdom, called Israel, and the southern kingdom, called Judah.

God began to use prophets as the primary way of speaking to his people during the period of the judges before Saul became King. They remained God's primary way of delivering His will and words until Jesus took the stage centuries later.

As God’s spokesman, their message can be seen in a three-fold function they had among the people of God in the Old Testament:

First, they functioned as preachers who expounded and interpreted the Mosaic law to the nation. It was their duty to admonish, reprove, denounce sin, threaten with the terrors of judgment, call to repentance, and bring consolation and pardon. Their activity of rebuking sin and calling for repentance consumed far more of the prophets’ time than any other feature of their work. The rebuke was driven home with predictions about the punishment that God intended to send on those failing to heed the prophet’s warning (cf. Jonah 3:4).

Second, they functioned as foretellers who announced coming judgment, deliverance, and events relating to the Messiah and His kingdom. Predicting the future was never intended merely to satisfy man’s curiosity, but was designed to demonstrate that God knows and controls the future, and to give purposeful revelation. The prediction given by a true prophet would be visibly fulfilled. The failure of the prediction to be fulfilled would indicate that the prophet had not spoken the word of God (cf. Deut. 18:20-22). In 1 Samuel 3:19 it is said of Samuel that the Lord was with him and let none of his prophetic words fail (lit., “fall to the ground”).