Biblical Prophets

The Hebrew word for "saw", literally means a "vision," but often signifies a "prophecy." This word, as it stands in this verse, unquestionably denotes that there is nothing in this book which was not made known to Isaiah himself.

We learn from this word that the prophets did not speak on their own accord, but were enlightened by God, to see those things which they themselves would not have otherwise been able to understand.

All throughout Biblical history it has been documented that God had sent his prophets to deliver His divine messages to the people or nations that He was wanting to reach at that time.

God would send His prophets to warn people about their sinful and wicked ways and the possible divine judgments that they may be facing in the near and long term future because of their evil actions.

These same prophets were also used to help, guide and encourage some of God's chosen vessels.

Throughout history people try to label or link prophets to fortune tellers. This would be completely off the mark, and very dangerous for those who try to place this title or stigma on God's personal servant and spokesperson.

Prophets are God fearing people, in which God has chosen to be His personal servant, that is designated to deliver His divine messages to individuals and the world.

Messages that give warnings to sinners and urging them repent from their sinful and wicked ways. Messages can also come through vision and dream interpretations. Or perhaps having a prophecy delivered that speaks of great blessings or deliverance to come for a particular faithful person or nation.

Now when we do our Bible study, we are taught to place the prophets that are documented in the Bible within three primary categories, Major - Minor - Oral.

Major and Minor are titles that are placed on majority of these prophets based off of their documented writings. Now this does not mean that these prophets that are label "minor" has any less authority than the prophets that are label "major".

I would like to believe that these minor prophets did just as much work as the major ones. I'm pretty sure that they did just as much preaching and serving the Lord as any other. So they should not be penalize with a title that suggest other wise.

Biblical oral prophets Elijah and Elisha don't have any written books to their credit, but I would not even dare to think that they were "minor" in any way.

This is why I will try to write about every Biblical prophet that I come across, being that I can research and gather enough reliable information on them.

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Voice In The Wilderness

"I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands," Abimelech would tell the Lord.

"Yes I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I didn't let you touch her. Now return Abraham's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die," the Lord would warn and instruct the king.

Agabus was one of the prophets who came down from Judea to bring Paul the Apostle a message. While taking Paul's belt, he tied his own feet and hands and said that "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" So what happen to Paul?

One day while Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, he was met by Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh. This is when Ahijah delivered the message on how God was going to tear the kingdom away from king Solomon, leaving him only with one. But now God used Ahijah to tell Jeroboam that he would be getting the other ten tribes.

Anna was the daughter of Phanuel who was from the tribe of Asher. Her husband had died seven years after they had married, and she was a widow until the age of eighty-four. It is said that she never left the temple where she served, but worshiped God night and day, fasting and praying. She gave thanks to God when Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus to the temple to be circumcise. She spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38)

Deborah the Prophetess had inspired Barak to go and defeat Sisera. Sisera was the commander of a Canaannitish army which was called Jabin's army (Judges 4:4-5).

Note: There were only two people who held the position of a judge that were also called prophets. She was one and Samuel was the other.

The account of Elijah also includes the accounts of king Ahab and his wife Jezebel. The interaction between the three makes it almost impossible to separate the accounts.

The thing that stands out immediately about the Prophet Elijah is that he comes on the scene in the Bible, from out of no where and immediately becomes a problem for king Ahab and his wife Jezebel.

The ministry of this exciting prophet starts right where Prophet Elijah ministry had ended. Prophet Elisha found himself in a rare position to be able to have the divine mantle that God place on Prophet Elijah to be passed on to him.

Here we find that for three years there was peace between the Arameans and Israel. But during this time Ben-Hadad had not followed through on the promises that he had made to Ahab, and because of this the Israel king had decided to send for his officials so he could express his concerns. Apparently Ben-Hadad who was still king of Aram had not fully kept his word in returning all the cities that his father had taken from Ahab's father.

Unfortunately there wasn't a prophet present that could step forward and represent the one true God. But Ahab knew of one that he hated, and he went by the name Micaiah. So the Israel king had sent one of his officials to bring this prophet to him at once. There's not much that we know about this prophet of God. But what we do know is that Ahab hated and despised him, because he never had any good prophesies that the Israel king wanted to hear.

This cloak was Elijah's mantle which symbolizes preeminence and authority for the prophet's earthly ministry. Now this same cloak would be passed on to his most dedicated student, Elisha. This was a confirmation that he would now officially become Elijah's successor.

Here we have a record of perhaps the first recorded prophet in the Bible. Enoch who name means "dedication" recorded account begins at Genesis 5:18-24.

Lets explore a little bit about the Prophet Hosea who is believed to be the first of all the writing prophets. It is also believed that he was raised up a bit before the time of Isaiah.

Huldah was the wife of Shallum, who both lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. She prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem. Which did come to pass when they were taken and put in captivity by Babylon.

Miriam was the first female prophet that was mention in Bible. She was the sister to Moses and Aaron. She would probably be best known for the jealousy she displayed towards Moses and his wife, in which she was punished by God with the disease of leprosy.

God saw that Noah had enough good qualities within him, to where God decided to turn Noah into a seed for all of humanity to be saved through at that time. Make sure you get that? It was at that time when God had decided that He was going to destroy humanity. But instead, He decided to save humanity through the seed of Noah at that time.

Now this prophesy that was given by this prophet of Judah was very powerful? For it did not just state the events that were to follow behind Jeroboams actions, but it actually named the name of the man that was going to do it, 300 years before he was born.

Isaiah's wife was mentioned when she was giving birth to his second child. Here's Isaiah's account of the birth: The Lord said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me." Then I went to the prophetess (Isaiah's wife), and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. Before the boy knows how to say 'My father or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria. (Isaiah 8: 1-4)

These four young women were the daughters of Philip the deacon. Philip was one of the first seven deacons that were chosen by the early church to wait and serve tables. He later was promoted to an evangelist and went to the city of Samaria, where he became a great soul winner. As for his daughters, they were mentioned when Paul the Apostle had visited and stay with Philip while he was in Caesarea. It's at this point the Bible mentions (Acts 21:9) that Philip four daughters were prophetesses.