Are preachers prophets?
Question:
Good afternoon. My family and I are members of the Church of Christ, and I have been reading your articles on your church website for several years now, learning a great deal.
If you don’t mind responding to this email, I would greatly appreciate it.
Recently, the preacher at our church mentioned that he is a prophet because he teaches the Bible. He mentioned that he has not had any visions from God about the future, but he does know that Christ will return in the future.
I did reach out to another preacher about this, and he gave a response that I wanted to share if that’s OK:
Vine's Dictionary of NT Words: Prophet = (prophetes) - "one who speaks forth or openly," "a proclaimer of a divine message." In that strict sense, anyone who speaks or proclaims God's word could be called a prophet.
I was a little confused when the preacher at our worship service labeled himself as a “prophet,” but I could be missing something or misunderstanding something.
Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share?
Thank you.
Answer:
If it were true that reading the Bible makes a person a prophet, the problems would arise since Paul clearly stated that prophecy would end. "Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away" (I Corinthians 13:8-10). Prophecy was a temporary measure until the Bible (the perfect) was completed. Once the Bible was fully revealed, the need for prophecy ended.
What you were given is an incomplete definition. I've seen people do this before, especially with Vine's Dictionary when they don't notice that the definitions are presented in three parts: the classic Greek meaning (about 500 to 300 BC), the meaning as used in the Septuagint (about 100 BC), and the New Testament meaning (about A.D. 50). The person you talked to only gave you the classical Greek definition. Under the Septuagint usage, Vine said,
"In the Septuagint, it is the translations of the word roeh, "a seer"; I Samuel 9:9, indicating that the 'prophet' was one who had immediate intercourse with God. It also translates the word nabhi, meaning 'either on in whom the message from God springs forth' or 'one to whom anything is secretly communicated.'"
Thus, we are not talking about a person who reads messages communicated earlier, but a person who receives and relays messages directly from God.
Thayer states the classic Greek definition but goes on to say, "one through whom God speaks," citing several sources. He also defines a prophet as "one who speaks by divine inspiration."
The Complete Biblical Library defines prophets in the New Testament.
"Prophets and the prophetic gift acquire a unique function in the New Testament. To a certain extent the prophets of the New Testament and the prophetic function are modeled after the Old Testament prophets. They share many features as well as the same title. The prophets speak as inspired by the Spirit of God; likewise revelation occurs through the same channel (I Corinthians 13:2). ..."
Speaking of prophets, Peter tells us, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (II Peter 1:20-21). I'm sure the preacher there is a nice man, but he is not inspired by the Holy Spirit. He might read the words that the Holy Spirit gave to men in the past, but the Holy Spirit is not giving him new words to speak. Like all men, he has made mistakes in his lessons -- all preachers do. However, the words given to us by the prophets are without error. He knows a few things about the future because he accepts the words of the past prophets, but he knows nothing that has not already been revealed before.
You might claim to be a prophet in the classical Greek sense, but by the way "prophet" is used in the Bible, a preacher today is not considered a prophet.
