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of the Lord, and watch for the spiritual interests of the people. In the New Testament the word
prophetes is used, which is composed of pro and phemi. The preposition is not temporal in this
case. Consequently, the word prophemi does not mean “to speak beforehand”, but “to speak
forth”. The prophet is one who speaks forth from God. From these names, taken together, we
gather that a prophet is one who sees things, that is, who receives revelations, who is in the
service of God, particularly as a messenger, and who speaks in His name.
b. The two elements combined in the idea.
The classical passages, Ex. 7:1 and Deut. 18:18
indicate that there are two elements in the prophetic function, the one passive, and the other
active, the one receptive, and the other productive. The prophet receives divine revelations in
dreams, visions, or verbal communications; and passes these on to the people, either orally, or
visibly in prophetical actions, Num. 12:6-8; Isa. 6; Jer. 1:4-10; Ezek. 3:1-4,17. Of these two
elements the passive is the most important, because it controls the active element. Without
receiving, the prophet cannot give, and he cannot give more than he receives. But the active is
also an integral element. One who receives a revelation is not yet necessarily a prophet. Think
of Abimelech, Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar, who all received revelations. What constitutes
one a prophet, is the divine calling, the instruction, to communicate the divine revelation to
others.
c. The duty of the prophets.
It was the duty of the prophets to reveal the will of God to the
people. This might be done in the form of instruction, admonition and exhortation, glorious
promises, or stern rebukes. They were the ministerial monitors of the people, the interpreters
of the law, especially in its moral and spiritual aspects. It was their duty to protest against mere
formalism, to stress moral duty, to urge the necessity of spiritual service, and to promote the
interests of truth and righteousness. If the people departed from the path of duty, they had to
call them back to the law and to the testimony, and to announce the coming terror of the Lord
upon the wicked. But their work was also intimately related to the promise, the gracious
promises of God for the future. It was their privilege to picture the glorious things which God
had in store for His people. It is also evident from Scripture that the true prophets of Israel
typified the great coming prophet of the future, Deut. 18:15, cf. Acts 3:22-24, and that He was
already functioning through them in the days of the Old Testament, I Pet. 1:11.
2. DISTINCTIONS APPLIED TO THE PROPHETICAL WORK OF CHRIST.
Christ functions as prophet
in various ways:
a. Both before and after the incarnation.
The Socinians were mistaken in limiting the
prophetical work of Christ to the time of His public ministry. He was active as prophet even in
the old dispensation, as in the special revelations of the angel of the Lord, in the teachings of
the prophets, in whom He acted as the spirit of revelation (I Pet. 1:11), and in the spiritual