Many are named in the Bible.  The greatest among men was John, the Baptist, perhaps because he best prepared the people for Yeshua’s appearance and was closest to Him.  Anything which is more closely related to Yeshua is greater than other things, because Yeshua is supreme over all creation. (Col. 1: 18).  You could invent the cure for cancer, a perpetual motion engine or wings that enabled men to fly like a bird, but these would be insignificant to the person of Yeshua Messiah.  The prophets and patriarchs were given vision, faith, and insight to see the Messiah thousands of years in advance of His appearing, initially and in the end times.  How amazing are God’s designs!  In order to give hope and encouragement to His children He laid out His eternal purpose ages before it all happened.  He may have withheld degrees of understanding, but as it is revealed in reality it proves and affirms His lovingkindness.

Those who carry God’s message exist today as much as ever.  Those who suggest that God changes through dispensations have only dreamed this to explain a fiction they prefer.  God never changes. (Mal. 3:8; Heb. 13: 8; James 1:17).  Scripture describes the gift of prophecy.  Yeshua said, a prophet has no honor in his own country.  God’s Prophets were often treated horribly by those to whom they were sent.  It is nevertheless a great responsibility to convey God’s message.  Prophets are just men and subject to the same fears and failings as other men, but God enables them to see and speak or act on His behalf.  Any believer could operate in any spiritual gift as determined by God, but there are also giftings that are consistent with a person’s particular calling or assignment.  For example, King David prophesied of the Messiah, but was not primarily called as a prophet.

I have written many articles relating to prophecy because it is a gift of God, although misunderstood, denied, faked, imitated and mocked by the secular world.  The Hebrew prophet’s message is still being revealed today as it pertains to events leading to the end times.  God also distributes His gifts and calling within the congregation of believers among which is the gift of prophecy.  The prophet of today may be like Amos of the Old Testament, who tended fig trees, but was called by God. (Amos 7: 14-15).  Amos’ message is relevant today because God’s words are eternal.  Listen to this message of God to Israel and the congregation of Believers [Eph. 2: 11-12], “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.  He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name.” (Amos 4: 12-13).  Note that God describes Himself as one who, “reveals his thoughts to mankind.”  Love never ends, but prophecies will cease when the human story is completed on earth and we all bow in the presence of God Almighty. (1 Cor. 13: 8-10).  Until that day, we can hear God’s thoughts through the prophetic voice.

Beware those who promote themselves, as the servant of God is humble and seeks only to represent God, rather than himself.  Moreover, the prophet is aware of his own frailty and fallibility, such that he/she exercises great effort, caution, and care interpreting the message received.  As such, where the prophetic message is not directly scripture, it must be tested against scripture and by the Spirit.  The prophetic gift is misunderstood, but is given for encouragement, thus it is for individuals and specific situations, just as it was in scripture.  God sent Nathan to convict David of His sin (2 Sam. 12: 7-10), but He also sent Elijah to a poor widow in a foreign country (1 Kings 17: 8-9).  The one true God cares about each person specifically and chooses to send encouragement through people.  Listen to the message, rather than the messenger.  Is it so hard to believe an infinitely loving God cares enough for you to send a person to tell you so, at just the right time, with words no one but you can fully understand and appreciate.  This is God’s means of encouragement and it has His attesting power as well. (1 Cor. 14: 24-25).