When most people think of the job description for a prophet, they immediately think of dramatic dreams and visions of the future apocalypse.The common image of a prophet is of a predictor and prognosticator.
Biblical prophets foretold the future with 100 percent accuracy and announced the coming Messiah, the coming of
people to trust the Lord, obey God’s Word, and submit to his will for
their lives. In essence, the ministry of the prophet was to call people to
live their lives in conformity with God’s law.
It is also important to understand that even in the forthtelling func-
tion of the prophet, the foretelling element is always present to some
degree. When the prophets spoke to their contemporaries about cur-
rent situations, they generally included warnings and encouragements
about the future in their message. Almost every prophet appears first as
a foreteller. The notion of prediction seems to be the very essence of the
prophetic office and function (Deut. 18:20-22). Nevertheless, while
always recognizing the future aspect of all prophecy, it is important for
us to also remember the important function of the prophets to their
contemporary society.
In the Scriptures there are at least five specific tasks, functions, or
missions that the prophets fulfilled as they announced God’s message
to the people of their day. Let’s briefly consider the five functions of
forthtelling:
Reformers: The prophets served as reformers. They consistently
called the people to obey the law of God. The prophets were ethical
and moral preachers who denounced all the moral, religious, and
social evils of the day. The prophet of God was called on to fearlessly
rebuke idolatry, marital infidelity, oppression of the poor and needy,
injustice, and social, moral, and political corruption. The prophets
called people to turn back from their sinful ways and to live in confor-
mity to God’s Word.
Statesmen: The prophets confronted kings and played the role of
statesman in national affairs. Interestingly, the first two kings of Israel,
Saul and David, were also prophets. But the two roles even in that day
were clearly separate. The prophet Samuel confronted Saul about his
disobedience (1 Sam. 15:13-23), and the prophet Nathan confronted
David when he committed murder and adultery (2 Sam. 12:1-12).
Watchmen: The prophets served as watchmen among the people. God
raised up the prophets to point out the people’s religious apostasy and
to trumpet forth warnings of judgment for the people’s failure to turn
from idolatry.
Intercessors: The prophets served as intercessors for God’s people.
While the priests were the primary intercessors, offering sacrifices for
the people, the prophets also assumed this role, apart from sacrificial
and ceremonial activity. There are numerous instances of prophets
praying for the needs of people.
INTERCESSION
An anonymous man of God prayed for King Jeroboam.
Elijah prayed for the widow’s son.
Elisha prayed for the son of the woman from Shunem.
Jeremiah continuously prayed for God’s mercy on the rebellious nation.
Amos asked God to forgive Israel.
Comforters and Encouragers: The prophets comforted and encour-
aged God’s people. Prophets are often caricatured as negative
doomsayers who spent all their time going around lambasting people
for their sins. As we have seen, this was certainly a principal part of their
calling. But we often forget that a key aspect of the prophet’s ministry
was to console and comfort. First Corinthians 14:3 says, “One who
prophesies is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and com-
forting them.” The prophets were called by God again and again to
remind the people of his faithfulness, love, mercy, and compassion. By
urging the people to conform their lives to God’s law, the prophets edi-
fied and encouraged the Lord’s people. In Isaiah 40:1-2, the Lord tells
the prophet, “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak ten-
derly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and that her sins
are pardoned.’”The prophet Nahum, whose name means “comfort” or “consolation,”
brought comfort to the nation of Israel by predicting and previewing the
savage destruction of the wicked city of Nineveh. (Nahum is often called
the book Jonah would like to have written.) In this short book of three
chapters, Nahum clearly presents judgment and comfort side by side.
This is not unique to Nahum. While almost all the prophets spoke about
God’s judgment and wrath on the unrepentant, many also closed their
message with the promise of a glorious future in the messianic kingdom.
So even in the midst of judgment, there is a beautiful message of hope,
comfort, and encouragement. Hobart Freeman summarizes the task of
the prophet in this way:
The prophets boldly rebuked vice, denounced political corrup-
tion, oppression, idolatry and moral degeneracy. They were
preachers of righteousness, reformers, and revivalists of spiritual
religion, as well as prophets of future judgment or blessing. They
were raised up in times of crisis to instruct, rebuke, warn and
comfort Israel, but interwoven with their ethical and moral
teaching are to be found numerous predictions of future events
concerning Israel, the nations and the Messianic kingdom.
