The Prophet Historically and Presently

The Spirit of Prophecy: 1. The Prophet Historically and Presently
By Art Katz


What rises in your own thought and in your own heart when the word 'prophet' is evoked? What image, what sense of things comes to your own understanding? We need to remember that the false prophets were those who wore rough garments to deceive, and that the only reason they could succeed was because the people whom they deceived had an anticipation or a stereotyped view of prophet that their false depiction represented. Does a prophet have to be some longhaired wilderness man in a rough garment, who acts strange and peculiar, and who peers with great intensity in his eyes? How would you define what a prophet is? How is he different from an apostle, or a teacher, or an evangelist? Do prophets still exist, or are they strictly an Old Testament phenomenon? Is there such a thing as a New Testament prophet, as being something very different from the Old?

There is a tremendous amount of difference and controversy that broods over this subject. The church has really suffered from a kind of dichotomy between the Old and the New, as if the New has displaced or rendered the Old null and void. That is not the way God sees it. That is the terminology that men have employed, but it is not the terminology God Himself has given, and we have suffered loss for just that. Jews have also suffered for that because it leaves them secure within the framework of their own human understanding: "You have your Book; we have our Book." It is implying that: "You have your God, and we have our God". It is an impression that God never intended. We have allowed our Jewish kinsmen to luxuriate in this false understanding and to find safety in it. We need, therefore, to contend for the one faith, the one unbroken, continuous faith, given from the beginning, and that is climaxed, concluded and consummated at the end by the same God who gave it in the beginning.

We seem to be fascinated by the contemporary 'prophets' despite their shallowness, who themselves have completely bypassed interest in the great Hebrew prophets of old through whom God spoke, not only in addressing the Israel of their own generation, but the Israel that is yet future. It borders on a kind of biblical schizophrenia. We need to be constantly reminded that the prophets are the prophets of Israel. They are the spokesmen of God to that nation. Nothing more reveals God as God as is seen in His dealings and judgments with Israel. To separate ourselves, therefore, from Israel and the prophets of Israel, is to totally put us away from the hearing of God's prophets. This will, therefore, affect our whole consideration of what we mean by prophetic. It will condemn us to a kind of shallowness about the very things of which we are already victim.

In a word, we need to probe what the classic, timeless elements are that have constituted prophets in every generation, whether it is Elijah, Isaiah, or Jeremiah. Are there any essential differences in their message? If we can come to some understanding there, then we are cutting right into the truth of what the prophetic call is. Is it the soothing and benign comforting of a false kind, which is generally what people want? Our souls cry out for it, particularly in time of distress and consternation.

The true prophet, however, frequently rubs salt into the wounds of his hearers. He deepens the dilemma and brings it into yet a sharper focus by saying, "You are not going to find peace until there is a judgment for this." He brings an unwelcome message that contraverts all that is religiously understood and from which the flesh shrinks; and the most common way to nullify such a message is to 'kill' the man who brings it by rendering him null and void.


However diverse prophets are, is there anything central that runs through them all, that is intrinsic to being prophetic? What is the heart, the quintessence of that which is prophetic?

The differentiating quality of the man comes through in his speaking or writing, yet they all share the same title 'prophet.' We are trying to get at the heart of what that prophetic definition is, because if we have not as yet seen it in New Testament times, then how will we know and anticipate it when it comes? Certainly, we are heading for great tumult and controversy in Last Days' collisions between kingdoms of darkness and Light in that final warfare that eventuates in the victory of the one and defeat of the other. We cannot imagine, therefore, that the age is going to close without employing again men of the biblically prophetic kind.

If we were to examine the callings of all of the prophets and their responses, we would see how often these men cry out, "But I am a child and cannot speak." After all of our examining we would have a portrait, and it would be a composite portrait of the prophetic character. This is what we want to identify, because certainly the cry for that particular thing is with us in these Last Days. All of a sudden this subject has broken upon the consciousness of the church, and now there is a sudden flush of excitement. We seem to be running everywhere to hear 'prophets.' They have come to an instantaneous popularity and are being heralded in very lavish ways, not just as prophets, but even as 'the oracles of the hour.'

This is, therefore, a phenomenon that we need to examine to see how legitimate it is, and whether indeed it is of the Lord or some kind of counterfeit. We should be well along enough in the Lord to know that whenever the authentic thing is about to come, it is often preceded by something fictitious or counterfeit. We are watching this present prophetic (and apostolic) phenomenon very carefully and have an extreme sense of caution in our own spirits-if for nothing more than the suddenness and the popularity-both of which have not been our own experience.

The true prophet experiences quite the opposite, namely, a slow growth and much reproach.