June 27th, 2020

Last week, the text was from Jeremiah 20. This week it is just a little farther down the road, at Jeremiah 28[:5-9]. The prophet Jeremiah is AGAIN running into difficulties, and he wants to make it clear what a true prophet does. The last verse of the text is given by the ESV in this way: ‘As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet (English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois).’

Usually we think of an apostle was someone who was sent. Can a prophet be sent as well?

To answer that question, it is important to see who a prophet is and what a prophet does. And one of the most helpful ways of doing that is by looking at the beginnings of that word.

Last week it was mentioned that Abraham was the first person to be called a prophet. This happens in Genesis 20:7, and here is a somewhat-literal translation of that verse:

        And now, return the wife of the man, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you,            and you will live, and if you not returning, know that you will certainly die, you and          all that is with you.

Usually we think of a prophet as someone who speaks to people. In this case it is one who speaks to the One ‘in charge’. As it says in the book of James, ‘The prayer of a righteous man has great power... (James 5:16b).’

The book of Genesis is set up in several large concentric structures, with the turning point in the middle of the fact that God remembers certain people at certain times and situations. On the other side of the turning point of Genesis 19:29, where God remembered Abraham and saved Lot, there is Genesis 18 and the somewhat similar account of Abraham coming to the LORD and asking for Sodom to be saved, first if fifty righteous people are there. But then Abraham decides that the number of righteous should be forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, then—and finally—ten. It should be noted that Abraham is very nice with his words and does not want to make the LORD angry by asking for so much. It is even more important to note that there is no apparent anger in the LORD.

So, what is a prophet? A prophet has a very close relationship to the king. The prophet talks to the king; the king talks to the prophet—both of these things happen.

Sometimes a king does not wish to talk, and this special person can talk on his behalf. The prophet can also be sent somewhere else, or he can be simply near the king and do the talking for him, when it is appropriate.

Some ancient languages connect the word ‘prophet’ to the words ‘call’, ‘proclaim’, ‘impart’, and ‘the called’. The first two point to something that the prophet does; the last two, to something that is done to the prophet. Instead of thinking that it is either one or the other, it could be both. As was said above, the prophet has a very close relationship to the king (See Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, published by Eerdmans, volume 6, pages 796-797).
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Often prophets are thought of as people who predict the future or who have written a book of the bible. That CAN be what a prophet might look like. But, ultimately, you should not be focusing on the prophet himself. His all-important job is to point you to Someone else who is much more important.

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