Throughout the Bible the Lord warns us of listening to prophets that He did not send (4). But sinful man has itching ears and desires to hear false prophecies because they tell us what we so often want to hear rather than what is true (5). Thanks be to God, with the coming of Christ, the Lord raised up for us a Prophet like Him whom we should hear and listen to (Deut. 18:15). Throughout Christ’s ministry God the Father called us to listen to Christ’s Words (Mark 9:7), Jesus is called the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14), and with the death of the actual apostles, the authoritative prophetic Word of God was complete.
So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
II Kings 5:8 NKJV
What is a prophet?
Imagine for a moment that your hope in this life was in the words of people today claiming to be anointed prophets or apostles of God. When their prophecies fail to come to pass they say, “Prophets in the New Testament are not always 100% accurate.” When a prophecy seems to come to pass they claim it is proof of a divine anointing. Would you consider your hope built upon an unshakeable and enduring rock or upon the unsteady ground of shifting sand? Would you know anything with certainty or would you ask like Pilate, “What is truth?”
What is a prophet? A prophet is someone chosen by God to reveal the Word of God (1). Notice the period at the end of that sentence. A prophet or an apostle does not choose himself; he does not reveal his own words, thoughts, ideas, hopes, or dreams but reveals the Word that God has given to him (2).
In times past, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets. But in these last days, God has spoken to us directly by His Son in His Word (Heb. 11:1).
