In the Old Testament, prophets were seen as important people who brought a message from God to people. They did not speak on their own authority, but spoke the very words of God (Jer 1:9, Num 22:38, Ezek 2:7-8), which was why it was so important to obey their commands. To speak falsely in the name of God was a terrible sin, punishable by death (see Deut 18:15-22), and prophets were clearly called by God to speak His words (Jer 1:5). Theirs was no easy life, for so often, their words were rejected and they were treated badly (see Acts 7:52), but they provided God’s people with comfort, warning, challenge, guidance and insight into God’s ways.
The content of prophecy could be varied, including:
- revelation about the nature of God (e.g. Isaiah 55:8-11, Num 23:19)
- a calling to God’s people to honour the covenant God made with them (Jer 3)
- guidance in specific areas (e.g. choosing a king or personal guidance such as Samuel gave to Saul)
- rebuke (e.g. Nathan’s message to David after David had committed adultery)
- prediction (with many Old Testament prophecies looking ahead to the coming of the Messiah – see Isaiah 53, for example)
Prophecy was often connected to praise and worship (see 1 Chron 25:1) and to intercessory prayer (see 2 Kings 20:1-11) and to miraculous powers (Elijah and Elisha seeing miracles with food, healings and other answers to prayer and prophecy, for example.)
Prophets gave their messages in a number of ways. The most obvious was through a spoken message (‘This is what the Lord God says’ being a common introduction to Old Testament prophecy), but often prophets combined dramatic physical symbolism with their message to reinforce what they were saying:
- Abijah tearing new garment into 12 pieces and giving 10 to Jeroboam to symbolise the division of the kingdom (1 Ki 11:30-31)
- Elisha had King Joash shoot an arrow symbolising victory over the Syrians (1 Kings 13:15-18)
- Jeremiah smashed the potter’s vessel to symbolise judgment (Jer 19:10-13)
- Ezekiel lay on one side for over a year to symbolise the siege of Jerusalem (Ezek 4)
- Ezekiel dug through the city wall and carried baggage out, symbolising exile (Ezek 12:3-6)
It’s obvious from the above examples that prophets were not ‘comfortable’ people to be around. They were people who saw strange visions, who dreamed bizarre dreams or could interpret dreams; they were people who heard the audible voice of God (1 Sam 3:1), who maintained such a close relationship with God that they could write about their conversations with God with first-hand experience. They challenged the status quo and were unequivocal in their pursuit of God. Their very existence was a vivid reminder of God’s passionate love for His people: as Wayne Grudem says, ‘The existence of prophecy among the people of Israel was a great blessing, for it indicated that God cared about them enough, even in their sins, to speak personally to them.’ (‘The Gift of Prophecy in the NT & Today’, P 282)
It’s impossible to read the Old Testament without being struck by the fervour and authenticity of these accounts of prophecy. We might not know how the prophets received every message from God (with beautiful understatement Wayne Grudem reminds us ‘in the long sections in the writing prophets, we are simply presented with the content of the prophet’s message with no indication as to how the prophet received it.’ (‘The Gift of Prophecy in the NT & Today’, P 277)), but it’s clear, as Peter reminds us later, ‘no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.’ (2 Pet 1:20-21)