Response to a thread; Prophets as fortune tellers
In the old testament, prophets were often set to deliver God’s message to his people. This was done across kingdoms, and usually, the news would often be the same, for example, the word on redemption and God’s plan for salvation. Indeed as an avid reader of the bible, I have come to realize that most of the prophets made a prediction and even foretold the fortune. I want to bring into focus the meaning of the term prophet because most people miss out on this point. A Prophets is one who receives the divine message and speak to people on behalf of God. Part of being a prophet also meant that you had the gift illustrated in (1 cor 12:4)***
The role of prophets. Ancient prophets like Isaiah had varying roles, including announcing what would happen and even telling people to denounce their wrong ways. Indeed to serve as God’s representative, one had to be chosen by God himself. Jer 1:9 notes ***. Among the prophets who existed, I would like to briefly mention Jeremiah, who emerged as one of the greatest Hebrew prophets and was very popular with his prophecy on Babylon captivity. His prophets, in an extraordinary way, vindicate that indeed prophets are true fortune-tellers. Israel had gone astray and was not following God’s command, and therefore God’s wrath had to be on them. Jer 29:10 notes ***. Indeed the future of Israel comes to reality as they go into a foreign land to serve their days
In conclusion, I would like to add and shed some light on a common misconception that people usually have . the role of a prophet is not just limited to fortune-telling the future, it goes beyond that, prophets like Nehemiah were prophets not because they foresaw the future but because they aided Gods work and saw to it that Gods name was uplifted, that in my opinion is also a prophet. Lastly, prophetic words also remind us of the nature of God issa ih 44 6 **
Work cited
The Holy Bible. New international version. Illinois: Tyndale House, 2010. print.
Smith, Dr. 2 Introduction to Biblical Archaeology Part 2. 3 September 2014. Youtube. 2 April 2020.
Work cited
The holy bible. New international version. Illinois: Tyndale House, 2010. print. (McGrath)
McGrath, Alister. The Christian theology reader. Oxford: John Wiley and sons, 2011. print.