The prophets are human too!

First Kings 13:1-32 is a good example of the complexity of the function of the prophetic gift. This passage and others challenge our neatly arranged conceptions of how the gift operates. Here we have a "man of God" who prophesied before the altar a message of punishment from God upon the apostate King Jeroboam. What he prophesied did come to pass. The altar was split apart and its ashes poured out. The king's hand extended against the prophet was shriveled. At the request of the king, the prophet prayed, and the hand was restored.

The prophet showed courage. There was no doubt that God was with him. However, on the way home, he was met by an "old prophet" who told him that God had given him a message. This message was for the prophet to come to the old prophet's house for a meal. Now, God had specifically told the first prophet not to go to anyone's home for a meal. However, he followed the advice of the "old prophet" and went to his house.

While he was there, the "old prophet" received a message from God to tell his guest that because he had disobeyed God's command not to eat at anyone's home, he would lose his life. This was exactly what happened. The "old prophet" was filled with remorse that his fellow prophet lost his life because he had "disobeyed the command of the Lord."*

The puzzling thing is that the "old prophet" carried messages that were contradictory. As a prophet he both urged disobedience and spoke the true word of God. The Scripture repeatedly calls him a prophet, yet he led another prophet astray by giving wrong advice. Later he gave every evidence of being genuinely sorry for his behavior, for the first prophet lost his life while following the older man's prophetic advice.

Scripture does not identify either prophet as false. Both are seen to have received messages from God and to deliver them. One thing seems clear in this passage: that prophets are human with all the strengths and weaknesses that go with humanity.

Prophets can also misjudge a situation as did Nathan when he advised David to go ahead and build the temple. "Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you," counseled the prophet. But later he had to confess to David that he had given him wrong advice. God had instead chosen Solomon to build the temple (Chron. 17:1-14).

Consider Peter. God had revealed to him at Joppa (Acts 10:17-48) that Gentiles should be accepted on an equal basis with Jews. He was living in harmony with this vision until some Judaizers exerted pressure on him. Peter yielded, and withdrew from the fellowship of the Gentiles. Paul rebuked Peter for this (Gal. 2:11-14), and also pointed out how Barnabas joined in this hypocrisy. In this act at Antioch, Paul says, Peter and Barnabas were not "acting in line with the truth of the gospel" (verse 14). Peter and Barnabas were also human.

These experiences show us that God uses humans, imperfect though they may be, as prophets to give counsel and reproof to His people. As such, the message should be heeded. The testimony of Scripture is that when we follow the messages of God's prophets we prosper; when we ignore them, we don't.

There are also times when God gives prophets revelations which they faithfully pass on to His people even though they do not fully comprehend the original message. Consider Daniel.

Did he understand the meaning of the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14? Indeed, he was "astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it" (verse 27).

Did the Old Testament prophets clearly understand all they prophesied about the ministry of the Messiah? Read 1 Peter 1:10,12.

Did John the Baptist (called by Jesus the "greatest of prophets") clearly understand the ministry of Christ? No, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the Messiah or if another should be sought (Matt. 11:2).

A prophet is human

Obviously the gift of prophecy does not include the gift of omniscience. Jesus seemed to imply that God only imparts knowledge as we need it and are able to grasp it (John 16:12). What God has revealed to prophets they know. What God has not revealed, they do not know, at least any more than anyone else knows. Prophets are able to fulfill their role because the Spirit of God rests upon them enabling them to speak or write His messages for His people in a reliable manner. The thrust of such a message is often preserved for future generations in such a way that these generations may be sure it is the Word of God they are encountering. However, while delivering that message, there are times when we see the humanity of the prophets or their writings coming through.

Such an example is found in 1 Corinthians 1:14-16. Paul states that he is thankful that he baptized only two people while in Corinth. Then, thinking about it further, he remembers that he also baptized "the house hold of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else."

Ellen White throws significant light on this point when she says, "The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God's mode of thought and expression. It is that of humanity. God as a writer is not represented. Men will often say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible." ¹

There can be no question regarding the authority of the Word of God. It is sure and certain. Peter tells us that the "prophecy of Scripture" is not merely the prophet's own ideas and interpretations; rather, it is a message from God. Humans spoke as they were "carried along" by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20, 21). Paul agrees with this in 2 Timothy 3:15-17 where he declares the Word of God reliable and able to make us wise for salvation, equipped for good works, through faith in Jesus Christ. He states further that the Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness.

Paul also says, however, that when God communicates a "treasure" is imparted, but this treasure is "in jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:7). God has to work with the best material He can find. There is never anything faulty or imperfect in the message God gives; however, the prophet is human, and as such has limitations.

Judging between the true and the false

How, then, shall we judge between true and false prophets?

1. Not by fulfilled prophecy alone. Often we quote Jeremiah 28:9: "The prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true." The context, however, reveals a prophetic contention between Hananiah and Jeremiah. Hananiah says that there will be peace for Jerusalem and Judah; while Jeremiah says that Babylonians will come and destroy Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah will not fall. Jeremiah is saying people will know which of the two prophets speaks truth by the way their respective prophecies come to pass. Here a specific situation is being addressed.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 gives us a fuller picture regarding the use of fulfillment of prophecy as a means of testing a prophet. It warns that miraculous signs or wonders take place through a prophet. That by itself is not sufficient evidence to show that the prophet is of God. The prophet must also teach the people to follow and obey the one true God. Jesus speaks along the same lines when He states that true prophets are judged not only by the fulfillment of their predictions but also by their life of obedience to God (Matt. 7:15-23).

2. Not on a basis of prophecy coming to pass alone, because some prophecies are given with conditions attached to their fulfillment. Surely no one considers Jonah to be a false prophet because Nineveh was not destroyed as he predicted. Jonah's predictions regarding Nineveh's destruction were conditional. When the people repented, the prophecy of destruction was not fulfilled.

Jeremiah 18:7-10 seems to imply that both the blessings and curses God promises a nation involve conditions which await the human response and which can change the outcome of what God has predicted or promised.

3. Not on a basis of prophecy coming to pass alone, because some times there is an apparent delay in the fulfillment and a given generation may not be alive to see the event predicted. An example is the prediction in Ezekiel 26 regarding the fate of Tyre. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. However, many centuries passed before Alexander the Great cast the city into the sea. The generations that lived and died between Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander could well have wondered if it would ever happen as Ezekiel predicted.

4. Not on a basis of prophecy coming to pass alone, because the fulfillment may exceed the original prediction and the existing generation may not realize it.

As an example, consider the birth and ministry of Jesus. Who, reading the Old Testament, would have understood that God's Messiah would be exactly as Jesus turned out to be? The Jews claimed that no prophet was predicted to come out of Galilee. They were right in this. However, when the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies took place, the Messiah was born in Bethlehem as predicted, but lived the rest of His life in Galilee.

Would a person reading the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament have foreseen the major events in the life of Christ, such as the Incarnation as it occurred through a peasant woman, death by crucifixion, and the Resurrection? Acts 1:6 and the surrounding story are illustrations of how even those closest to Jesus, hanging on His every word right up to the moment of His ascension, did not fully understand vital elements of His messiah-ship and His ultimate plan. The fulfillment of prophecy can involve a strong element of surprise. God is always moving forward, expanding the scope of His purposes, responding to situations in unprecedented ways, giving more than He has promised, because He is an all-loving Father. The pattern of "fulfillment exceeding prediction" arises out of the creative character of God.

The reactions of the Jews in the first century to the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies in Jesus shows that prophets can have their predictions come to pass, while that very fulfillment is not recognized by large numbers of people in the relevant generation.

5. Not by errancy of lifestyle.

Although we should expect that godliness is the consistent direction of the lifestyle of a true prophet, we also see that the best prophets stumbled and fell on many crucial occasions:

• Abraham, the first to be called a prophet, denied that Sarah was his wife. He told a half-truth: that she was his sister (Gen. 12:11-13,18).

• David deceived the High Priest in order to get the shewbread to eat. More pointedly, he was also guilty of abusing his power as he murdered a trusted man in order to commit adultery with the man's wife and finally possess her as his wife (1 Sam. 21:1-6; 2 Sam. 11).

• Moses lost his temper (Num. 20:9-11).

• At the king's suggestion, Jeremiah lied to the people regarding a conversation between himself and the king (Jer. 38:24-29).

• Elijah fled in despair and wished to die (1 Kings 19:3-5).

Like everyone else, prophets are only strong when they are faithful to God; but when they let go the hand of God, they fall. It is important that, crucial and trustworthy as the messages of the prophets are, we must still recognize their humanity, taking note of how God uses them in spite of their failings.

As we accept this insight into the humanity of the prophets, a clearer and more realistic understanding of the nature of their work and relation ship to God and His people will develop among us.