Prophets In The Odyssey

While there are many in the Bible who are identified as prophets, Abraham was the first one to obtain this official designation by God in the scriptures. In Genesis 20:6-7 where we find God speaking to Abimelech in a dream he was having. He told Abimelech to give Abraham back his wife “…for he is a prophet”. The word used for prophet here is translated from both the Aramaic and Hebrew word “nabi”, which means seer.

A prophet was to be a spokesman for the Lord. Each of the men granted with this ability would receive some type of communication directly from the Lord. The mode varied from instance to instance, but the communication was always undeniably from God. Upon receiving this communication from the Lord, the prophet would then be required to turn around and relay the information to the intended audience. This information was never for the gain of the prophet, but always used to glorify God.

A prophecy often contained two parts (dual fulfillment prophecies), the major prophecy, which was the prophecy from God of which, God instructed them to speak. In some instances, the major prophecy would not occur for several
hundred years. For example, the prophecy of Christ’s resurrection in Isaiah 53 did not come true for some 700 years after it was spoken. This, as one might imagine, could cause some credibility problems for the prophets during their time.

The New Covenant is a great example of dual testament prophecy. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, we read:

31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, " I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no
more."

Christ instituted the New Covenant at the Last Supper, and the ministry of the Gospel is the ministry of the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6). Yet the Jeremiah passage tells us that all Israel will know the Lord. This has never yet been the case.

So the near fulfillment applies only to a remnant of Israel (and gentiles believers who are blessed because they are connected to Israel), but the future fulfillment will be the more literal one when all Israel is converted at the end of the Tribulation (Zechariah, chapters 12-14). (Ed Vasicek)

It is important to note that the life of a prophet was generally not a very easy one. Much like preaching and teaching God’s word today, many people refused to believe the things they were told. They would become angry and even persecute the prophets. Prophets had moments of doubt and weakness just like all men before and after them with, of course, one exception, Christ.

Prophecy, when the one speaking it was truly speaking God’s words, always came true. Furthermore, it’s truth was very clearly seen in the fulfillment. Prophets spoke for God with accuracy and truth. They were His messengers to the masses.