Prophecy and “prophets” can be traced back as far as the book of Genesis. Jude 14 identifies Enoch1Genesis 5:19-23 as a prophet.2 Jude quoted loosely from a prophecy that Enoch gave, which stands recorded in the apocryphal Book of 1 Enoch. He is the only individual who lived before the Flood that God identified as a prophet. Notes on Jude 2023 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable. https://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/nt/jude/jude.htm In Jacob’s dying discourse with his sons, “have the characteristics of true prophecy.” A prophet is someone who speaks for God to His people (Amos 3:8; Jer. 1:7,17; Ezek. 3:4). In Exodus 7:1, God made Moses a god to Pharaoh and Aaron was to be Moses’ “prophet,” or mouthpiece3The word “mouthpiece” is used by Regular Baptist Press Responding to God’s Faithful Intervention: Minor Prophets Part 1. Teacher’s Guide. Page 13.. Aaron was to speak to Pharaoh for Moses. He was to be a spokesman for Moses. Aaron would be Moses’ prophet as he stood between Moses and Pharaoh and communicated Moses and God’s will to the king.
There are three Hebrew words that refer to the prophetic office. The first is ro’eh which is from the general Hebrew term “to see.” 1Samuel 9:9 says that, Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today’s “prophet” was formerly called a seer. A seer was one who was favored with visions of God. “The word seer, roeh, occurs for the first time in this place; it literally signifies a person who sees; particularly preternatural [supernatural] sights. A seer and a prophet were the same in most cases; only with this difference, the seer was always a prophet, but the prophet was not always a seer.”4Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible. 1 Samuel 9:9. (Electronic version)
The word most often translated “prophet” in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word nabi which comes from a root word meaning “to bubble forth, as from a fountain,” hence “to utter.”5Easton’s Bible Dictionary. Prophet. (Electronic Version) Exodus 7:1 helps us identify the essential meaning of the Hebrew word nabi. This word occurs almost 300 times in the Old Testament and “in its fullest significance meant ‘to speak fervently for God'”6Leon J. Wood quoted by Dr. Thomas Constable in The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable. Exodus 7:1-7. (Electronic Version) See also Exodus 4:15-16 where God says that Moses was to put words in Aaron’s mouth and Aaron was to Moses’ spokesman to the people. This is exactly what the Bible means when it refers to a man or woman as a “prophet.” The word means one who announces, or pours forth, the declarations of God. The English word comes from the Greek prophetes (profetes), which signifies, in classical Greek, one who speaks for another, especially one who speaks for a god, and so interprets his will to man; hence, its essential meaning is “an interpreter”.7Smith’s Bible Dictionary. Prophet. (Electronic version) It appears for the first time in Genesis 20:7 where God told Abimelech king of Gerar that Abraham was a prophet. Abraham, and the patriarchs, as bearers of God’s message (Gen. 20:7; Exo. 7:1; Psa. 105:15), as also Moses (Deu. 18:15; 34:10; Hos. 12:13), are ranked among the prophets. The seventy elders of Israel (Num. 11:16-29), “when the spirit rested upon them, prophesied;” Asaph and Jeduthun “prophesied with a harp” (1Chron. 25:3). Miriam and Deborah were prophetesses (Exo. 15:20; Judges 4:4). The title thus has a general application to all who have messages from God to men.8Easton’s Bible Dictionary. Prophet. (Electronic version)
Ancient Jewish scholars divided the books of the Scriptures into three parts – the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa (the writings)9Luke 24:44. The Law was comprised of the five books of Moses. The Prophets comprised the second and the largest division of the Jewish sacred writings. The Prophets was made up of the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 2 Kings, which was called the “former prophets.” The second part of The Prophets was made up of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, along with the books of Hosea through Malachi, which were then called the “latter prophets.” Philo of Alexandria, who lived in the first century A.D., mentioned the three different sections of the Old Testament (De Vita Contemplative 25). Like Jesus he calls the third section “the Psalms.”10Don Stewart :: Why Are the Books of the Bible Placed in a Particular Order? https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_272.cfm
Most modern Bibles divide the prophets into two sections. The first is called the “Major Prophets” and is made up of Isiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel. The section is called the “Minor Prophets.” This name comes from the fact that, by comparison, the books that make up the Minor Prophets are considerably shorter than those that make up the Major Prophets. Isaiah, for example, 66 chapters and Jeremiah is made up of 52 chapters while the longest of the Minor Prophets are Hosea and Zechariah which only have 14 chapters each. This division goes back to the time the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek. This translation, known as the Septuagint (which means seventy and is abbreviated LXX), began in the third century before Christ. Jerome, who translated the Old Testament into Latin in the fourth century A.D., also adapted this division. The English division follows Jerome.11Don Stewart :: Why Are the Books of the Bible Placed in a Particular Order? https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_272.cfm
The entire Bible can be understood to be “prophetic,” in the sense that it was written by men through who God communicated His Word. The predicating of future events was not a necessary function but only an incidental component of the office of prophet. The great task assigned to the prophets whom God raised up among the people was “to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the character of God, and which lie at the foundation of his government.”
We are told that after Moses, “there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses” (Deut. 34:10). Following Moses, God sent a succession of prophets who regularly reminded the people of His will. Unfortunately, the Israelites stubbornly rejected the word of the Lord (Jer. 7:25-26). Prophets who ministered during the judges include Samuel and a whole “company of prophets” arose (1 Sam. 10:5) that were probably disciples of Samuel. A host of prophets ministered during the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. Nathan prophesied during the reigns of David and Solomon (2 Sam. 7:2–17; 1 Kings 1:8–45). The Prophets Gad and Nathan were the two of the most important prophets during David’s rule. Nathan continued to serve as a prophet during the beginning of Solomon’s rule. Ahijah of Shiloh prophesied the breakup of Solomon’s kingdom into Judah in the south and Israel in the north. The prophet Micaiah predicted King Ahab’s death in battle. A prophecy which came to pass. Elijah and Elisha are two of the most well-known noncanonical prophets. They both served in the northern kingdom of Israel. Elijah served until Ahaziah’s death, while Elisha lived into Joash’s reign. Chronologically, Joel was, possibly, the first of the canonical prophets. He, like all of the prophets to follow him, warned the people of either Judah or Israel of impending doom if they do not forsake their sins and return to their covenant with God. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets. After 400 years of silence, the first of the New Testament prophets, John the Baptist, appeared. Jesus said that, “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.” John was a herald with a message to proclaim. Dr. Thomas Constable says that, John’s message was very much similar to that of the prophets that had preceded him. He appears on the scene suddenly and mysteriously, much like Elijah, whose ministry John mirrored (cf. 1Kings 17:1). The event John proclaimed was the imminent arrival of God’s kingdom. The kingdom that John and Jesus spoke about was the earthly eschatological kingdom that the Old Testament prophets foretold.12 Isa. 2:2-4, 9:6-7, 11:1-9, Ezek. 37:24-25, Jer. 30:9, Amos 9:11-15, Micah 4:1-5:5, Zechariah 2:10-12, 8:1-8. All that was necessary for the kingdom to be there was Israel’s acceptance of her King (Matt. 11:14). The Kingdom that the prophets prophesied was to come was near because the King was present.
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