TO BE A PROPHET

Someone recently told me that they are a prophet. I had only two thoughts when I heard this: Are you a foundation builder (Ephesians 2:20-21) and, do you eat bugs (Matthew 3:4). I did not even get into the itchy camel hair robes of Elijah, Elisha and John the Baptist; among others wore; 2 Kings 1:8, Zechariah 13:4, etc.). Neither did I get into:

Isaiah walking around naked prophesying.
Jeremiah hiding his underwear under a rock by the Euphrates.
Jeremiah wearing “yoke-bars” as he spoke to the nation.
Hosea marrying a prostitute and naming his children weird names.
Jonah running from God and ending up in the belly of a great fish for 3 days.
Ezekiel eating a scroll, laying on one side for 390 days, cooking his food over a fire of manure, prophesying over dry bones that come to life.
Habakkuk confronting God on his seeming inactivity.
Balaam riding a talking donkey.

Not all prophets do all or any of the things other prophets have done. But it is clear from scripture that the prophetic man or woman may be different and live and do different things than the rest of society. This is not always true, but often is. They are often ‘seers’ or foundation builders and sometimes both.

In my experience if a person is truly a prophet they rarely tell anyone about it. They don’t need to.

“Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.” Jesus