“The fact that the Prophet cared
for every human being and tried
his best to ensure their security
in the hereafter must be the most
telling of his compassionate and
merciful characteristics.”
Cat Stevens
Power Truth
Prophets are people whom God has chosen to represent
him and convey his message to the people.
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets.”
Amos 3:7 KJV
What Does a Prophet Do?
What is a prophet? Why are they relevant figures from the past up to the present time? A prophet is a messenger. They are ambassadors. They are the people whom God has chosen to represent him and convey his message to the people. The Bible says, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18)
Prophets are people whom God has chosen to represent him and convey his message to the people.
What does a prophet do? As messengers of God, the goal of every prophet is to speak the truth of God in the most enlightening and clearest way possible. Usually, a prophet has a vision, dream or a prophecy from God. Upon receiving such, the prophet will go and convey the message to whomever God has instructed him to speak with.
Prophets may have different roles. They can intercede and protect the people of God just like what Moses did for the Israelites. Upon receiving the word from the Lord, Moses went to Egypt and rescued the Israelites. Moses had been the mediator between the then stubborn pharaoh of Egypt and God. Moses had spoken warnings after warnings and conveyed every message of God to pharaoh. From the word to free the Israelites to the warnings about plagues to the proclamation of God’s glory, Moses had been consistent in speaking the truth of God to pharaoh and the Israelites.
Prophets may be used by God to intercede and protect his people.
The functions of prophets can be summarized into three:
1. Prophets are preachers of God
2. Prophets are predictors or “forecasters”
3. Prophets are watchmen
Just like the many pastors or priests or missionaries, prophets are also preachers of the word of God. They may preach blessings, warnings or call the people of God to repentance. Case in point is the story of the prophet Jonah. God instructed Jonah to go to Niniveh and preach his word to the people – “Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” God wants Jonah to give his warning to the Ninevites and convey his plan of destroying the city because of their massive sins.
Prophets also have the gift of predicting the future. They function as predictors who proclaims God’s message about the future so he can demonstrate to his people that he controls the past, present and the future of life. Do not confuse prophets with fortunetellers or magicians or sorcerers. The reason why prophets can predict the future is because God empowered them to do so. Remember how Daniel successfully interpreted and predicted the future through King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? It was God who gave him the wisdom. The bible says, “Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”
Being a watchman is also a function of prophets. They can act as guards who watch over the people of God and give signs and warnings when needed just like the prophet Ezekiel. God said to Ezekiel, “Son of