Prophecy, What Is It?

By Charles Welch

'A prediction of some contingent circumstance or event in the future received by immediate and direct revelation' (Vitringa).

'A declaration made by a creature under the inspiration or commission of the Omniscient God relating to an event or a series of events, which have not taken place at the time the prophecy is uttered, which could not have been certainly foreknown by any science or wisdom of man' (Dr.Pye Smith).

The form of prophecy which is envisaged in these definitions is the predictive, but there is another form of prophecy which must not be omitted, that is the moral and didactic or teaching phase. The words uttered by the prophet had a meaning or a lesson for his immediate hearers as well as a forecast of 'things to come'. It is with the predictive phase of prophecy, however, that we have to do in this Volume. We may ask, what is a prophet? and find at least the elements of an answer in the words of Numbers 12: 'Hear now My words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house.

With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold' (Num. 12:6-8).

The word here translated 'prophet' is the Hebrew nabi . Gesenius says that naba , the verb, comes from a root meaning 'to bubble up'. Dr. Young, in his concordance, says it means 'flow forth' which amounts to much the same thing. If this etymology be true, it looks to the inspiration of the prophet. This Divine enduement, which appears to be an essential equipment of a prophet, can be illustrated by the case of Saul.

Samuel said to Saul: 'The spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man' (1 Sam.10:6). This came to pass so that it was said: 'Is Saul also among the prophets?' (1 Sam. 10:11).

When, as a consequence of Saul's disobedience, the Lord withdrew his favour from him we read, 'the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house' (1 Sam. 18:10). In these two cases prophecy, whether true or false, was the direct outcome of the 'coming upon Saul' of a spirit, a spirit that was either good or evil. From this same book of Samuel, we learn that: 'Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer' (1 Sam. 9:9).

Seer, Hebrew roeh . This word, as the English indicates, is derived from the verb 'to see', raah  which means 'to see' as in a vision. Again 1 Samuel will provide an illustration: 'And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision' (1 Sam. 3:1).

So the prophecy of Isaiah opens with 'The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw' (Isa.1:1).

According to Numbers 12:6 the usual mode of imparting the prophetic message to a prophet was by a 'vision' or 'dream'. Let us note a few references that show the relation of 'vision' and 'dream' to prophecy.

Nathan.     'According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David' (1 Chron. 17:15).

Isaiah.       'Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz' (2 Chron. 32:32).

Daniel.      'I Daniel, had seen the vision'; 'To seal up the vision and prophecy' (Dan. 8:15; 9:24).

Paul.         'A vision appeared to Paul in the night' (Acts 16:9).

                 'I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord' (2 Cor. 12:1).

'A prophet, or a dreamer of dreams' (Deut. 13:1). 'God... answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams' (1 Sam. 28:15). These and kindred passages show the close link that the Scriptures establish between the gift of prophecy and the dream. It will be observed, however, that the first reference (Deut. 13:1-3), like several not quoted here, refers to the false prophet, even as false prophets and their misleading visions are referred to by Jeremiah (Jer.14:14; 23:16). Ecclesiastes says: 'A dream cometh through the multitude of business... in the multitude of dreams... are also divers vanities' (Eccles. 5:3, 5:7). So that dreams by themselves are suspect and must not be confused with Divine illumination. On the other hand, the Lord spoke to Abimelech, to Joseph, to Solomon and to Daniel by dreams, and when the prophet Joel refers to the prophetic gift associated with the day of Pentecost, he said, 'Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions' (Joel 2:28).

Neither visions nor dreams of themselves were a sufficient warrant for unquestioning acceptance. Neither the prophet nor his hearers were treated as automatons. Just as in New Testament times, the believer is enjoined to 'try the spirits', for some were not of God, so, in Old Testament times, even though a prophet or dreamer of dreams gave a sign or a wonder, and even though that sign or wonder came to pass, even then all such prophecy should be tested by the known will and Word of God (Deut. 13:1-5).

Perhaps no gift so overwhelmed the individual mind of the human instrument as the gift of prophecy, for it is written, 'holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost', (2 Pet. 1:21), and that word 'moved' means 'driven' as by a tempest (Acts 27:15-17), and so much so that Balaam, even against his inclinations, admitted that, when the moment came, he would not be able to speak anything but what the Lord put into his mouth (Num. 22:38; 23:5 -10). Nevertheless, in spite of all this pressure on the one hand, the believer was expected to exercise his responsibility before the Lord, and to distinguish 'the chaff from the wheat' (Jer. 23:28).

A series of statements is made in Jeremiah 23 concerning the false prophets which illuminate this use of what we might call 'the moral yardstick': 'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings' (Jer. 23:21-22).

The moral issue, not a prodigy, was the test. These false prophets caused Israel 'to forget' the name of the Lord, and turned their hearts after 'Baal'. They are accused of 'stealing' God's words, and using their tongues to say 'He saith'. 'I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies, and by their lightness' (Jer. 23:32). Here are two test words that may be applied to the whole of Prophetic Scripture. If the result of any prophetic utterance be to 'make you vain' then we can be sure that such prophets 'speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord' (Jer. 23:16).

The Hebrew word that is translated 'lie' is sheqer . The primary idea of the word, according to Gesenius, is 'colouring' with the implied idea of falsehood. So, 'wanton eyes' are translated by Bishop Lowth, 'falsely setting off their eyes with paint' (Isa. 3:16). Keeping to the prophecy of Jeremiah we find this word sheqer translated 'feignedly', 'in vain', 'falsely', 'lying', 'lies' and 'falsehood'. Jeremiah 8:8 reads in the Authorized Version margin, 'the false pen of the scribes worketh for falsehood', or again, 'They bend their tongues like their bow for lies; but they are not valiant for the truth' (Jer. 9:3). (See Feigned Obedience, p.299). Over and over again Jeremiah warns the people against the teacher of lies, and finally was himself put into prison because the words he uttered were unacceptable in the ears of the rulers of the people.

'Lies and lightness'. The Hebrew word translated 'lightness' is pachazuth , which means instability. ' Unstable as water' (Gen. 49:4) uses the word in the masculine form. Zephaniah said, 'her prophets are light (pachaz ) and treacherous persons' (Zeph.3:4).

'Truth', emeth  (the parent of our word Amen) is the very opposite both of 'lies' and 'lightness', for the basic meaning of emeth  is 'steadfastness', 'establishment' (2 Chron. 32:1). 'Lies and lightness' here, are the tests for all prophetic utterances -- if they 'make you vain' they are not of God.

Why should 'false prophets' ever be permitted? Apart from the fact that such form part of the problem of evil that is ever present but never discussed in the Scriptures, we are definitely told that the prophet or a dreamer of dreams that says, 'Let us go after other gods' is permitted by the Lord, 'For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul' (Deut. 13:1 -3).

In our own generation we have had a number of 'prophets' who, by one form of computation or another, have 'proved' that the Second Coming of the Lord would take place on some specified date. One after another they have been proved false, but still they arise and still there will be found men and women foolish and blind enough to follow them: 'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them' (or 'surely there is no morning for them', Revised Version), (Isa. 8:20).

'Thy Spokesman... instead of a mouth' The first person to be named 'a prophet' is Abraham (Gen. 20:7), which shows that the title is not to be limited to 'prediction' but rather to the wider meaning of a spokesman for God: 'He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live'.

'So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech' (Gen. 20:7,17).

While Abraham utters no prophecy of future events, he 'prayed' and the thing he prayed for came to pass, so, even though the predictive element is inconspicuous, it is there nevertheless.

The next man to be named a 'prophet' is Aaron. When the time came for Moses to go into the presence of Pharaoh, the Lord said to him: 'See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land' (Exod. 7:1-2). 

This related appointment looks back to Exodus 3 and 4, where Moses was originally called by God and commanded to go back to Egypt and to Pharaoh. Moses had seen the sign of the burning bush (Exod. 3:1 -5), had heard the Lord speak in the name of the God of his fathers; had been assured of the Lord's presence; had received the unfolding of the great name I Am (Exod. 3:6-14) and had received confirmation by the working of two especially typical miracles (Exod. 4:1 -8), yet even after all this Moses is seen to be diffident: 'And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue' (Exod. 4:10).

Humility is a lovely grace, but a false humility takes on itself an ugly look whether assumed out of fear, pride or any other reaction to the Divine challenge. Paul served the Lord with All humility, and could nevertheless say, 'I can do all things', but only 'through Christ which strengtheneth me'. 

The Lord remonstrated gently with Moses, saying: 'Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say' (Exod. 4:11-12).

This is surely enough -- but no! Moses replied: 'O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send'. 

These words do not mean loving and loyal acquiescence but rather suggest, 'send by someone else, rather than send me'. The Students' Commentary remarks here: 'The hesitating and timid Moses of Mount Horeb was the same courageous and self-reliant Moses who smote the Egyptian dead! His strength then unfitted him as a Divine instrument, and now his weakness unfitted him.

God can use neither one nor the other, if the strength is trusted, or if the weakness is sheltered behind as an excuse'. 

So it was that Aaron came to be appointed: 'And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God' (Exod. 4:14-16).

It would take us too far afield to pursue the personal history of both Moses and Aaron and mark their interrelated service whether for good or ill. 

One thing only must be said before we pass on, and that is, quite apart from any personal failure on the part of Moses, he was ever a type. As representing the law he could not take Israel across Jordan, only Joshua, 'The Salvation of the Lord', could do that. So here. Moses, a 'king' (Deut.33:5) and a 'lawgiver', was early associated with a 'Sceptre' (Gen. 49:10).

Moses had access within the veil beyond the right granted to any high priest (Num. 7:89; Lev. 16:2) and so was in some ways 'a priest'; we have already learned that he was something more than a 'prophet', but these three offices can be truly borne by One and One only. He Who is in truth Prophet, Priest and King is the Saviour Himself, and Moses' failure but sets forth the total failure of all mankind and of all types and shadows. 

Aaron was to be 'spokesman' for Moses.

Aaron was to be 'instead of a mouth' to Moses. 

Aaron was to be a 'prophet' to Moses.

Moses 'took the place' of God to Aaron. 

Throughout the narrative, it is Moses who is commissioned, but it is Aaron who actually speaks, whether Aaron be mentioned by name or not. 'And the Lord spake unto Moses' (Exod. 8:1). 'And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron' (Exod. 8:5). 'And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh... and Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh' (Exod. 10:1,3). What is true of Moses and Aaron is true of the Lord and of His prophets. When the prophet speaks, it is understood that he speaks 'instead of a mouth', he is 'spokesman' for the Lord.

Let us, having gone so far, pursue this aspect of the subject further. 

'The Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth' (Num. 23:5). The context of this statement is illuminating. Balak, the king of the Moabites, seeing what Israel had done to the Amorites, was moved with fear, and sent messengers to Balaam, calling him to come and 'curse me this people', promising him great reward. After several vacillations Balaam consented, and when Balak heard that Balaam had come, went out to meet him saying, 'Am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?' but Balaam replied: 'Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say anything? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak' (Num. 22:38).

And so it was, in spite of the 'seven altars' with the 'seven oxen' and the 'seven rams', all was unavailing to alter the word of the Lord, Balaam spake only that which the Lord put into his mouth. Now if a reluctant and greedy self -seeker like Balaam could not help but speak words of truth when God chose, how much more may we expect and believe that the true prophet whose heart was in harmony with his Lord and the message he was called upon to give, would speak by inspiration. 

On several occasions Isaiah concluded a prophetic utterance with the words, 'The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it', but Jeremiah and his ordination sets forth very vividly this aspect of the prophetic gift. After Jeremiah learned that he had been ordained 'a prophet unto the nations' he said: 'Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak...

then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, "Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth"' (Jer. 1:5-9). 

Then follows, in verse 10 (Jer. 1:10), a summary of the prophecies that Jeremiah was to utter, and this in turn was followed by a test. How far could Jeremiah enter into the message he was bound to deliver? The Lord said to Jeremiah, 'what seest thou?' and Jeremiah replied, 'I see a rod of an almond tree'. To this the Lord replied, 'Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten My word to perform it' (Jer. 1:11-12).

To the English reader, the Lord's commendation does not seem to follow. 

There seems no obvious connection between an 'almond tree' and 'hastening' the Word. An almond tree is in the Hebrew shaqed , 'a watcher'; the almond was a harbinger of spring, being among the first to flower in January. The word 'hasten' is the translation of the Hebrew shaqad , but why the Authorized Version translators should have so translated it is not evident. The word means 'to watch' as can be seen in Jeremiah 5:6 and Jeremiah 44:27. The matter is placed beyond dispute by a reference in Jeremiah 31:28. Jeremiah's prophecies were related to 'rooting out', 'pulling down' and subsequently 'building' and 'planting' the nations (Jer. 1:10) and in chapter 31 this is referred to: 'And it shall come to pass, that like as I have Watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I Watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord' (Jer. 31:28).

What therefore the Lord said to Jeremiah at the beginning was, 'I will Watch (over) My Word to perform it' and according to Jeremiah 31:31 this promise of restoration will be accomplished under the terms of the New Covenant, a covenant that has no place in the dispensation of the Mystery. 

The prophet Hosea uses a very bold figure of speech when he says: 'Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth' (Hos. 6:5).

It may possibly come into the mind of anyone not too well -grounded in the truth that, after all, this reference to the words of God being put into 'the mouth' of a prophet is very primitive and belongs only to a primitive age. We therefore turn to the New Testament, where both before and after Pentecost the figure is employed. 

Referring to the forty-first Psalm, Peter says: 'This Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas' (Acts 1:16).

After Pentecost with its spiritual endowment and illumination, Peter still employs the same figure: 'But those things, which God before had shewed... by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began' (Acts 3:18-21). 

And yet once again just before a second miniature Pentecost, Peter said: 'Lord, Thou art God, Which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage?' (Acts 4:24-25).

We have seen that a prophet was one who received his message either by a vision or a dream, and had the matter ended there we might have reasonably supposed that, having seen the vision or dreamed the dream, he was left to explain and expound the revelation in his own way. This we see is not so and once again we thank God for the wondrous care and provision He has made to preserve intact and uncorrupted the Word which He sent to the children of men.