Hi Plenary,
What is your personal definitian of a prophet and prophesy?
Am asking because, in the last few posts of yours you have given extra pressure to it.
What I mean is,how do you know if anyone is a prophet?
Can you give some examples?
A prophet is someone who has received the gift of prophecy... (Which is one of the gifts, there are more, however, but the gift of prophecy is the highest, because it is the most important...) But someone who has the gift of prophecy, most of the times, also has other gifts... (Such as the gift of healing or the gift of explanations, etc.)
Essentially, someone who has the gift of prophecy, has been enlightened in his heart... (his heart which is in his soul, that is where spiritual life, free will, conscience are situated) Which means a prophet has a more direct connection to God....
A prophet is someone who has conquered his self-love and his love for the world through self-denial, in ample degree...
There are also false prophets, who according to Christian law, denounce Christ as the Messiah (which according to Jewish and Christian law is God Himself (and yes, there are also Jews who say otherwise, Jeremia and Isaiah are clear, however...)
A false prophet is a prophet who loves his self and loves the world....
It is the Spirit of God, who validates a prophet.. Which can also be seen in the doctrine that prophets teach.... (For example, Muhammad taught things completely different than Paul, John etc, and also different than Eliah, Jeremia, Isaiah, so it is impossible, that Muhammad was a true prophet... Let alone the last prophet.)
I have a very good friend, though I hav,nt met him in many years, he was and is a, don,t know the word for it, maybe it is similar in Dutch, "Föreståndare" for a pentecostal community, though his views of "pentecostal" are mostly rejected by the majority.
In english it is translated as such:
MANAGER
SUPERINTENDENT
DIRECTOR
PRINCIPAL
WARDEN
HEAD
In dutch it could be translated as "voorstander", which has a slightly different meaning than the Swedish one.... In Dutch we have the term "voorganger", which is essentially a kind of priest. But regardless, it is not the same as a prophet....
A prophet is someone to which God speaks directly, through the Spirit of God... Which is different from "standard" Christians, to which God also speaks, in the Spirit, but it is not as clear as to a prophet....
But also in the life of Christians, God is present and can be felt... (God communicates in many ways and forms.)
He was very sceptical to those who considered themselves a prophet.
He even told a woman once to"sit down".
It is obvious that it is not a good thing to have people popping up here and there proclaiming they have a message from God, it can lead just anywhere.
It is the Spirit of God who validates prophets... It can be felt, in the Spirit.
However, qouteing now from an article by Mendy Hecht in answer to a question,"What is prophecy?". Just a little from the answer.
1,"The era of prophesy came to an end some 23 centuries ago.
?? the revelation of John, from the Bible, is after the death of Christ... and revelations are prophetic in nature... so 23 centuries ago is impossible.
2,"Nevertheless, the principle that G-d communicates to mankind through prophecy remains a foundation of the Jewish faith".
Christianity still has prophets, to this day.
3,"A lesser form of prophesy, known as, ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration), remains the province of the tzaddikim, (the righteous men and women) of all generations.
It is possible to experience God through the Spirit of God, which is true, but revelations are a step further... And there are some extremely profound texts...
4, "And in a letter to the Jews of Yemen, Maimonides recounts an age-old tradition that "shortly before the Messianic era, prophesy will return to the Jewish people". End of the quotes.
Nope... the Jewish period is no more... It was the period between the church of Noach and the church of Christ. Prophecy will not return to the jewish church, because prophecy has never left the church... The church is now in the Christian era.... (And although also the Christian church will change somewhat, because the creation is always moving), the sacrifice of Christ and thereby the Cross of Christ is and stays the center....
In general we need no prophesy today, Gods will is already written down. What we do need, is to use our brain, and develope a sensitivity to be able to seperate the two inner voices.
My opinion is, there is divine guidence for all who seek it with all honesty and uprightness.
What say you?
Also others, of course.
Indeed, there is spiritual guidance for all who seek, that is most certainly true... But also don't forget, if one searches, one has to search in meekness, humility and most important love... One must abolish the works of the world, so seek earnestly and uprightly....
But as for the part that we need no prophecy today, that is completely false, because prophets are the most prolificient in building up the church...
The highest in calling are the prophets, because if one wants to be the closest to God, one has to know the Holy Will of God... And the ones who know the Will of God the best, are the ones who are in direct contact with God, through the Holy Spirit of God.... And prophet's know this is the way God works.... Muhammad didn't know the first thing about this...
