All the “Prophets”

Overview

Various individuals conveyed a very brief or simple message of warning from God while some had very long messages. We could not know about any of them unless those individuals who received that message from God spoke about it and shared it with others. There were numerous examples of very brief yet specific messages from God (Amos 3:8). Some individuals received a message from God as a dream (in the night), some as a vision (during the day), while others heard from God as a spoken voice. More than a few saw the ‘angel of the Lord’ (Hagar, Moses, Balaam, Joshua, Gideon, Samson's parents, David, Elijah the Tishbite, Zechariah) while only one prophet talked with God ‘face to face’ (Moses, Exo 3:6; Exo 33:11; Deut 34:10).

The messenger of God does not always foretell events [examples: Exo 7:1; Num 11:25-27]. Many spoke of God's care and provision in the past and encouraged repentance and a return to faithful obedience toward God. Sometimes they confront a person about their past sin and spoke about a punishment for their behavior that will come about [examples: 1 Kgs 21:17-24; 2 Sam 12:1-12]. A few like Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo were stirred to speak words to encourage and motivate fellow Israelites.

Isa 30:21 "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

In the cases of Ehud, "one of the children of the prophets", Jehu the son of Nimshi, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, those men acted out God's message or a portion of it. [See also enacted parables.] After a significant victory of deliverance Miriam, Deborah, and Barak sang prophetic songs (Exo 15:20-21; Jdg 5:1). David, Asaph, and others sang God's message and/or wrote psalms often put to music (2 Sam 22:1; 23:1; 1 Chr 16:7; 25:1; 2 Chr 29:30; Luke 20:42; Neh 12:46). One couple in the period of the judges was told (and reported to others) they were going to have a very special son. Abiathar as the high priest reported God's answer to David's inquiries just like Eleazar the high priest and Phinehas the high priest did earlier for Israel. Several individuals even prophesied as proof that God's word was going to come to pass [example: 1 Sam 19:20-24].

Two types of prophets

Some of those messages had come through Abimelech the Philistine, Laban the Syrian, a butler and a baker of Pharoah, Pharaoh of Egypt, and a Midianite man that told a dream unto his fellow soldier. Two message filled dreams were given to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Those messages were almost always given by way of a dream, given in the night by God to unusual people (Job 7:13-15; 33:14-17). But those men told the message to another person or group so that it became known and was recorded.

One thing for us to specifically note was that those individuals just listed and others were not known as godly individuals. Balaam was not a godly man but God used him to bless Israel in spite of his personal corruption from love of money (Num 22:1—24:25). Neither was the ‘old prophet’ from 1 Kings 13:11-32, who did not comport himself in any virtuous manner, yet he was also used by God. Necho king of Egypt, Caiaphas the high priest, and others did not wholly obey God in their personal life yet were used to convey a message from God which was reported, recorded, preserved, and transmitted in Scripture to us. But God in fulfilling His purposes chose and used each of them to receive and speak about the message given to them.

This type of prophet, not known as godly, was specifically put in contrast to the holy prophets. The expression, "holy prophets," directly implied that there were "unholy prophets." The term, "holy prophets," was emphasised by Zacharias in Luke chapter one, by Apostle Peter in both Acts chapter three and Second Peter chapter three, and again by Apostle Paul in Romans chapter one.

Luke 1:70 "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began."

Acts 3:19-21 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

2Pet 3:1-2 "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour."

Rom 1:1-2 "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures)."

Godly or holy prophets

Any message from God to pre-sin man (pre-fall, Gen 2:16-17) and to post-sin man (post-fall, Gen 3:1-24) was a call to obedience (Gen 4:6-7; 12:1-4; 1Sam 3:1-18; Isa 6:1-13; Jer 2:1-37). For both the gentile and the Israelite there were consequences for not obeying. Treating God's messengers lightly or with dishonor prompted repercussions (Num 16:12, 28-37; Deut 11:6). Discounting or disobeying the message itself was even worse (Num 11:1-3; 21:5-7; Deut 4:25-27; Jer 11:8, 11; 22:5; 44:16). Meanwhile, the prophetic word to the covenant people of Israel was especially a call to return to and maintain ongoing obedience (Isa 1:19; Amos 3:1; 5:1, 14-20; Jer 7:9-11, 23; Hos 4:2; Amos 2:6-8; Matt 7:24).

1) For individuals examples include Cain (Gen 4:8-15), a pharaoh of Egypt with Abraham (Gen 12:14-20), Abimelech of Gerar with Abraham (Gen 20:3), Sihon and Og (Josh 2:10), king Saul (1 Sam 15:19-23), and a prophet's neighbor (1 Kgs 20:35-36).

2) For groups examples include two groups of fifty soldiers (2 Kgs 1:9-13) and a group of youths (2 Kgs 2:22-24).

3) For cities examples include Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:1-29), Jericho (Josh 6:1-26), Zephath (Jdg 1:17), and Jerusalem (2 Chr 24:23; 36:19).

4) For nations examples include Egypt (Ge 15:14; Ex 10:7), Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar (2 Kgs 19:12-17; Isa 37:12), and Makkedah, Lachish, Gezer, Hazor (Josh 10:28, 33; Acts 13:19) and even Israel itself (Neh 9:17; Dan 9:10).

For the great majority of these prophets, their lives followed God's directives (Lev 19:18; Deut 6:5; Mic 6:6-8). Their messages were consistently calling their fellow Israelites, and sometimes other nations, to repent. They repeatedly called the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah to return again to their covenantal blessing under God (Isa 1:19; Amos 3:1; 5:1, 14-15; Jer 3:1; 7:9-11, 23; 18:11; 35:15; Hos 4:2; Amos 2:6-8; Matt 7:24). Their message from God was often to return to Him with a genuine heart (2 Chr 7:14; Jer 36:3; 38:20) and not simply with an outward show (Isa 1:11-15; Amos 4:4-5; Pro 21:4; Amos 4:8-10; Jer 14:12).

Jer 11:7 "For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice."

Jer 25:4 "And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear."

Jer 26:5 "To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;"

Jer 29:19 "Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord."

Jer 35:15 "I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me."

Jer 44:4 "Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate."

Dan 9:6, 10 "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ... Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets."

What makes a "prophet?"

Do various individuals qualify as a prophet if they do not foretell future events? Can they just use God's prior words to build, encourage, or reprove (Jdg 6:8-10)? Some prophets did not write out their own message, was speaking sufficient? Can the prophet speak and let someone else write it down as was done by Jeremiah with Baruch or as demonstrated with many others? Was acting out a part of the message sufficient to be recognized as a prophet? Did singing or putting a message in acrostic psalms qualify? The answer was, of course, "yes" to all of these questions.

How then do we define ‘a prophet’ that encompasses many varied forms of passing on the message from God while noting that some individuals were not holy while most were holy? The simplest and broadest definition of a prophet was "a person who both received God's message and conveyed God's message to others". They were someone who spoke openly and honestly about the message received from God. In many circumstances, whether the messenger or prophet was noble or not did not matter. This was directly implied when the New Testament spoke of God's "holy prophets" (Luke 1:7; Acts 3:21; 2 Pet 3:2; Rev 22:6). Thus there were others not included in that list.

Whether the individual wrote down the material or someone else recorded it accurately for them was not essential criteria. A ‘prophet’ was anyone who received God's message and faithfully reported that message for the benefit of others (2 Chr 24:19). These were often given in varied forms of dreams, visions, a voice in the ear (Deut 4:36; 1 Kgs 19:12;), face to face, words from an "angel of the Lord", divine guidance while composing a song or writing a psalm, or in David's and later Ezekiel's case when they received in a spoken and visual combination the plans for the temple.

Various descriptions of prophets

A few prophets, known as major prophets, had long books recording their work and message [examples: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel]. A group known as minor prophets have short books recording their message [examples: Obadiah, Habakkuk, Amos of Tekoa, Nahum the Elkoshite, etc.]. Various individuals had only one brief message recorded [examples: Hanani the seer, Eliezer the son of Dodavah, Oded, etc.]. A few prophets had only one single sentence recorded for us to know about their message [examples: Jehu the son of Nimshi, Necho king of Egypt]. Some have no message recorded yet they were called a prophet, or prophetess, a man of God, or that they had a prophecy [examples: "sons of the prophets at Bethel", Huldah the prophetess, Igdaliah, etc.]. While others are reported only as part of a group [examples: Saul and his messengers, "man of sons of the prophets", "one of the children of the prophets"]. A few acted out their message [examples given above]. Some shown in the long table below, though called upon by God, were not very typical—their service as a prophet was very brief and eclectic.

Five times a woman was called a prophetess. These were Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Isaiah's wife, and Anna. [Just two false prophtesses were named, Noadiah and Jezebel (Neh 6:14; Rev 2:20).] There were, however, many more unnamed prophets presented in Holy Scripture who served God and carried his message. These were described by terms like: seventy elders, man of God (four times), a company of prophets (two times), messengers of Saul, a man of God of Judah, a prophet (three times), a certain man of the sons of the prophets, sons of the prophets at Bethel, sons of the prophets at Jericho, and one of the children of the prophets. Samuel, Zadok, Gad, Heman, Iddo, Hanani, Jehu the son of Hanani, Asaph, Jeduthun, and Amos were directly called a seer (1 Sam 9:19; 2 Sam 15:27; 24:11; 1 Chr 25:5; 2 Chr 9:9; 16:7; 19:2; 29:30; 35:15; Amos 7:12). But many more were described by that general term seer while others were called a prophet, a man of God, or a messenger.

2 Kgs 17:13 "Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets."

2 Chr 33:18-19 "Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers."

2 Chr 24:19 "Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear."

Jer 7:25 "Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:"

1 John 4:1 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

Foretelling prophets

But for the prophet who would foretell, i.e. prophesying or conveying God's message about the future (Amos 3:7), their requirements were very narrow and strict (Deut 18:18-22). The criteria was that their words foretelling about near term future events must come to pass within their lifetime before they could be trusted regarding their long term prophesy.

Testing false prophets

Deut 13:1-3 "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: 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."

Isa 30:10-11 "Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

Lam 3:37 "Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?"

Jer 14:14 "Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart."

Jer 23:25 "I have heard what the [false] prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed."

Jer 28:9 "The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him."

Neh 6:12-13 "And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me."

Matt 7:15-19 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

2 John 10 "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed."

Confirming true prophets

Deut 18:18-22 "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. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

Num 12:6-8 "And he said, 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: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" [emphasis added]

Isaiah 42:9 "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them."

Isa 48:3-5 "I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'"

Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

Eze 12:25 "For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass ..."

Eze 33:33 "And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them."

Dan 2:29 "As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass."

2 Pet 1:19-21 "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

Messianic prophets

When Jesus spoke to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32) and began at Moses’ book in Genesis Jesus had quite a list of prophets to cover. But not all prophets had spoken about the Messiah. Jesus taught Cleopas and the other disciple how to understand and apply the Holy Scriptures when those prophets had either pointed to and/or spoken of the coming Messiah. Those two disciples learned alot about Messianic prophesy (Rev 19:10) while walking about threescore (60) furlongs (about 7.5 miles) because they were taught by the master teacher Himself.

John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Acts 3:18-24 "But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken [of him], have likewise foretold of these days."

Acts 10:43 "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

Obscure prophets

The obscure ‘prophets,’ those rarely considered in a list of prophets, received a message from God and relayed it to others. Only by telling others could any of these be recorded in the historical record of Holy Scripture. Those presented and not known to be noble included: Adam, Cain, Abimelech, Laban the Syrian, the butler and baker of Pharoah, Pharaoh of Egypt, Balaam son of Beor, the Midianite man that told a dream unto his fellow soldier, an old prophet, Jehu the son of Nimshi, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and Caiaphas the high priest. Other named yet obscure prophets included: Ehud, Barak the son of Abinoam, both Manoah and his wife, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, Agur the son of Jakeh, the mother of king Lemuel, Isaiah's wife, Zacharias the son of Barachias, etc. Individuals in both of these groups were placed in italic in the long list below because 1) they both received and reported God's words, 2) they are often overlooked, 3) and the biblical record gave ample evidence to call them a ‘prophet’ as defined above.

All kinds of prophets

The chronological list presented below, included named and unnamed prophets (but not false prophets). It was compiled from searching these kinds of terms used in Scripture: seer, prophet(ess), "man of God," prophecy, prophesied, "spake against," "the Lord said," "the word of the Lord," word + "came unto", message + Lord/God, messenger + Lord/God, "angel of the Lord appeared," dream(ed), "at night," vision, et cetera. The number of prophets was quite large because of what God said in 2 Chronicles 36:15, "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place." That word ‘betimes’ meant at the appropriate time, in due season, often, and early. God was quick to warn men and women to discourage proceeding into sin starting with Adam and Eve (Gen 2:16-17) and their son Cain (Gen 4:6-7) and continuing through human history.

Even now the people of God who share God's message of salvation in Christ Jesus and warn of God's punishment for sin are carrying on the very same work as done by a great many of those prophets reported in the Old Testament and early New Testament record. [see an alphabetical list of named New Testament disciples]

Mark 16:20 "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

Acts 2:4, 11 "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ... we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God."

Acts 8:4 "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."

Acts 8:25 "And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans."

Acts 10:34-42 "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead."

Acts 11:19 "Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only."

Acts 13:5, 42 "And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. ... And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath."

2 Cor 5:20 "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."

Titus 1:3 "But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour."

Hebrews 2:3 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him."

"1 Peter 1:25 "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

2 Peter 2:9 "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished."

2 Peter 3:7 "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."