- Types of prophets
- Seer
- Definition - someone with the gift of clairvoyance who was able to see what others
could not see and thus inform them of truths they could not know
- Examples - Ahijah (1 Kings 14), Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-10), Isaiah (2
Kings 19:32-36)
- At one time most prophets were known as seers (1 Sam. 9:9)
- Diviner
- Definition - someone who read the signs of nature in an effort to
determine the will of the deity
- Examples - Gideon's action (Judg. 6:36-40), wise men (Matt. 2:1-2)
- Read movements of heavenly bodies, patterns of birds in flight,
entrails of certain animals - baked clay models of sheep livers have been found by
archaeologists in certain Mesopotamian centers with "maps" drawn upon them to
indicate the omens each part of the liver was supposed to represent
- Ecstatic
- Definition - someone who prophesies from within a trance-like state
- Ecstasy - "a mental state in which human consciousness is so
concentrated on a particular idea or feeling that the normal current of thoughts and
perceptions is broken off and the senses temporarily cease to function in a normal
way" (J. Lindblom, Prophecy in Ancient Israel, 106)
- Examples - Saul (1 Sam. 10:1-13), Ezekiel (Ezek. 1-3)
- Prophetic Guilds
- General
- In early Israel group prophecy was the norm, individual prophecy was
the exception
- Characteristics
- Organized around a central figure who was a mentor and also decided
issues of custom and discipline (e.g., Samuel [1 Sam. 19:20], Elijah [2 Kings 2:7], Elisha
[2 Kings 4:38-41])
- Members were referred to as "sons of the prophets"
- Lived in a community and shared meals together
- Members were free to come and go and might well have had
responsibilities outside the community
- May have tried to look distinctive by distinct clothing (2 Kings 1:8,
Zech. 13:4), a distinctive mark on the forehead (1 Kings 20:35-43), or shaving the head (2
Kings 2:23)
- Types of guilds
- Cult prophets
- Oldest prophetic guild in Israel
- Attached to shrines
- Offered oracles but probably also served as priests by offering
sacrifices and receiving people's petitions to God
- May have been responsible, as time passed by, for poetic and musical
aspects of worship
- Might not stay at shrine always - some bands seemed to roam around
from one shrine to another (1 Kings 17:19, 2 Kings 4:8-10)
- In north, probably lasted until Assyrians conquered - in south
probably died out as Jerusalem Temple became dominant
- Court prophets
- Employed by king and summoned when king needed special direction in a
crisis time
- Sometimes there were large numbers of them (1 Kings 22:6)
- Great pressure to say what the king wanted to hear
- Sometimes did confront the king (e.g., Nathan in 2 Sam. 12:1-15)
- Some Early Prophets
- Abraham (Gen. 20:7)
- Aaron (Exod. 7:1) - served as a prophet for Moses as Moses did for
God
- Miriam (Exod. 15:20, Num. 12:1-15)
- Moses (Deut. 18:15-19, 34:10) - model for prophets to come
- Deborah (Judg. 4:4)
- Samuel (1 Sam. 3:20)
- Scholars often stress he is the beginning of the prophetic movement
in Israel
- He is also a judge, priest, and leader of a group called "the
sons of the prophets"
- Nathan (2 Sam. 7:2, 12:25)
- Gad (2 Sam. 24:11)
- Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29)
- Shemaiah (2 Chron. 12:5)
- Jehu (1 Kings 16:7)
- Iddo (2 Chron. 13:22)
- Oded (2 Chron. 15:8)
- Elijah (1 Kings 18:36)
- Micaiah (1 Kings 22:8)
- Elisha (2 Kings 6:12)
- Jonah (2 Kings 14:25)
- Huldah (2 Kings 22:14, 2 Chron. 34:22)
- PLUS unnamed prophets (e.g., 1 Kings 13:11)
- Three important early prophets
- Nathan
- 2 Sam. 7:1-17 - told David God did not want him to build a temple,
but would establish his dynasty forever
- 2 Sam. 12 - confronted David concerning his adultery with Bathsheba
and murder of her husband Uriah
- 1 Kings 1 - helped engineer Solomon's succession to the throne
- Summary - not afraid to take the king on but was interested in court
intrigue
- Elijah
- 1 Kings 18:20-40 - contest with prophets on Mt. Carmel - after God
answered and consumed the sacrifice offered to Him, Elijah killed the prophets of Ba`al
- 1 Kings 19 - theophany on
Mt. Horeb
- "Still, small voice" - can be translated as a barely
audible sound, perhaps even an inner voice or urging
- Theologically significant because Ba`al, the storm god, typically
appeared in storm phenomena like God had at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:16) - God could appear in
powerful natural phenomena but he did not have to appear that way - God was not and is not
confined to one method of revealing Himself and His will
- 1 Kings 21 - confrontation with Ahab concerning the treatment of
Naboth
- Summary
- Able to perform miracles (multiplication of food [1 Kings 17:12-16],
raising of the dead [1 Kings 17:17-24])
- Typically had negative relationship with kings, although he did
anoint Jehu to be the next king of Israel (northern tribes)
- Courageous
- Did not die but was taken by God in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1-14) -
many believed he would be returned to earth to announce the coming Messiah, would live out
the rest of his life, and then die
- Became the symbol of the ideal prophet - appeared with Jesus at the
Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36)
- Elisha
- Performed miracles
- Some are like those of Elijah (multiplication of food [2 Kings
4:1-7], raising of the dead [2 Kings 4:18-37, 13:20-21])
- Other miracles demonstrate power but seem to have little spiritual or
moral zeal or message (purifying water [2 Kings 19-22], making a lost ax head float [2
Kings 6:1-7])
- 2 Kings 9 - inspired a revolt on the part of the army commander, Jehu
- Worked hard to shape historical forces to make them fit his
conception of God's will
- Generally more positive toward kingship
- Cursing of the boys (2 Kings 2:23-25)
- Some boys make fun of Elisha's bald head
- He cursed them in God's name
- Two she-bears then came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the boys -
the text does not specifically state that any of the boys died but certainly some might
have
- The lesson - do not mock a prophet of God - to mock God's
representative is to mock God Himself and He will punish the offender(s)
- Not the nicest story about a prophet but certainly a memorable one