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Dear Arthur and Sandra:
How did the people know John the Baptist was a true prophet?
Especially since they had not heard from God in 400 years?
Did the Israelites have any criteria for determining a true
prophet from a false one? And how did they know when a true
prophet was speaking to them? It seems like anyone can say,
"God wants to say this to you..." One criteria is to see prophecy
fulfilled, but some weren't fulfilled in a person's lifetime,
so how would they know the words were true at the time they
heard them, especially ones that didn't really contradict
what was already known about God (or were false ones always
contradicting what people knew to be truth and to be God's
word)?
Thanks for the update and the question. That's a good question
and I wish I had the time before tomorrow to research the
Scriptures and books for a more concrete answer. However,
time is short for me to write tonight but you did want something
tonight. So, I'll give you what comes to mind at this point.
Sorry, but I don't have the exact Scripture references off
the top of my head. I can look them up later but am trying
to get this to you quickly.
How did the people know John the Baptist was a true prophet?
I'm sure this can be answered in a variety of legitimate ways.
I guess my first, and best, answer would be that Jesus commended
him, was baptized by him, and basically said that there has
been no greater man who has ever lived up to that point. That,
to me, would settle it.
There were, indeed, criteria for determining a true prophet.
Not all of them come to mind right now, but one of the major
ones was 100% accuracy in their prophecy. A true prophet needed
to be perfect in that arena. As you know, the term "prophecy"
does not only refer to the prediction of future events. That
actually is secondary to what I believe is the primary use
of the word, which means to bring forth God's truth. Prophets
were spokespersons for God, were inspired by God, and were
given authority by God. Thus, you and I are prophets in that
sense, prophesying (bringing forth) God's truth.
Trying to put myself in that era, and trying to imagine
what it might be like, the question comes to mind, "How do
we determine today who is a true teacher and false teacher?"
I would think that even though we have complete Scripture
now, it still may be harder to distinguish today than 4,000
years ago. I say that because there are so many religions
and cults today that claim to be Christian, that use (or misuse)
Scripture, pray to "God", sound biblical, etc.
In antiquity, there certainly were false prophets and teachers
but I don't think they were on the scale that we see today.
First, Israel only had itself to deal with. What I mean is
that God wasn't speaking to them through Gentile nations.
Now, since the gospel is all over the world, we have so much
more to deal with in our evaluations.
There are a few things I think that I would have to consider
when evaluating a "prophet":
1. Is it consistent with Scripture, of course - not only
the text but the intention and context, as well. At the time
of John the Baptist, the OT canon was already complete. So,
there was OT Scripture to compare any teaching to, which Jesus
did frequently.
2. Is the power of the Holy Spirit evident in his teaching
and in his life? Does the Lord anoint him? As you know, there
is a certain authority and power on God's anointed that goes
beyond mere charisma. It's a life that is lived in the Spirit
and fears only God ultimately. There's a power to that life
that commands respect.
3. What is it that the prophet is calling me to do? Prophets
call people back to the heart of the gospel, to repentance,
and to faithfulness to God, and they usually do it in the
midst of much persecution, since people don't like to be confronted
with things like that. Yet, they persist because it is their
calling.
4. Is the Holy Spirit working in my heart under the prophet's
proclamation?
So often, because the Lord was speaking through the prophets,
they prefaced their remarks by stating, "Thus says the Lord
. . .". Very few people would have the audacity to say something
like that, for fear of death. They couldn't even say the name
of the Lord and thus wrote YHWH, right? I suspect that there
weren't too many "prophets" to evaluate, and of them, I suspect
that it would be rather easy to tell who was of the Lord or
not, IF I was sincerely seeking the Lord and not myself.
As I read the OT prophets, I never see them "enjoying" and
vying for the attention God is calling them to receive (negative
attention). They endure it, are overwhelmed by it, but persist
in it because the Lord commands them to do it. That's true
of all the OT prophets I can think of. It was true of John
the Baptist, and was true for the chief Prophet of them all,
Jesus.
I'm sure that I've left a lot out. I'm not sure if that
helps or not.
Blessings,
Arthur
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