Capítulo III – Acción protectora

There were different kinds of prophets in the Bible although they were all sent by God. The difference had to do with their work and function at a particular time but not necessarily their ranks. In Christianity there are no prophets that are superior to the other; the Major Prophets were not called so because they were higher in calling than the Minor Prophets. We shall treat the types of Prophets in the Old Testament below.

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3.7.1 Canonical Prophets

The canonical prophets are the same as the authors of the prophetic books in the Bible. They are those prophets who wrote prophetic books of the Old Testament. Many of the canonical prophets for instance, Amos and Micah were interested in issues relating to social justice as they condemned the Israelite and the Judean States for politically oppressing the poor. Other canonical prophets like Isaiah acted as counselors in military affairs. The classical prophets also as they were also referred to condemned the Israelites and Judeans for ungodly religious practices especially those associated with the State cult (Isa 1:10-17; Amos 5:21-24). They announced God‘s judgment on the people and/or the State (Hampton Keathley IV 2009). One of the main reasons why the canonical or writing prophets arose in Israel was the problem of false prophets. It appears that from almost the beginning of the prophetic movement in Israel until the post-exilic times, many prophets appeared in Israel claiming to speak on behalf of God. These prophets called themselves ―prophets‖ but their message contradicted the message of the true prophets of God for instance, the message of Zedekiah contradicted the message of Micaiah (1 Kings 22:11-13) while the message of Hananiah contradicted the message of

Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28).

We may suggest the reason why the prophets wrote down their words or oracles in a scroll was to vindicate their ministry and to serve as a reminder to future generations that they were speaking the truth and that their oracles were fulfilled. It was in the fulfillment of the prophetic word that the people would recognize that a prophet had spoken the truth on behalf of God. As Jeremiah told Hananiah in Jeremiah 28:9:

―As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet‖ (Jeremiah 28:9).

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3.7.2 Court Prophets

The court prophets served in the king‘s court and were at the king‘s service. These court prophets were consulted before the king went to battle. The work of the court prophets is seen in 1 Kings 22:6.

―So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about 400 men, and asked them, ‗Should I go against Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?‘ They replied, ‗March up, and the Lord will hand it over to the king‖ (1 Kings 22:6)

The court prophets were paid from the king‘s wealth (Hampton Keathley IV 2009). Examples of court prophets are Nathan (2Sam 12:1-25) and Micaiah (I Kings 22:14).

3.7.3 Cult Prophets

The cult prophets were attached to various shrines or places of worship in Israel. They did not only function as prophets but they appear to have also served in the priestly capacity by offering sacrifices or performing other religious functions. The cult prophets received their compensation from the temple treasury while Samuel is an example of a cult prophet (1 Samuel 19:20) but he also offered sacrifices unto the Lord (1 Samuel 16:2) (Bruce Vawter 1961).

3.7.4 Ecstatic Prophets

Ecstasy is the state of being in a trance especially a mystic or prophetic trance. The derivation of the word ―ecstasy‖ suggests an out of body state (2 Corinthians 12:2-3) or the state of being out of control. According to Wood (1966), ecstasy in the Old Testament was associated with bands or schools of prophets (1 Samuel 10:5, 1 Samuel 10:9;

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1 Samuel 19:20; 2 Kings 9:1). The ecstatic state was often accompanied by music (1 Samuel 10:5; 2 Kings 3:15-16).

These ecstatic prophets lived in groups and had a leader; they wore a hairy mantle and a leather girdle (2 Kings 1:8). They often had scars, from wounds inflicted by themselves or by others when in a frenzy (1 Kings 18:28) (Wood 1966). In 1 Samuel 19:20-14 David had just escaped from the hands of Saul but Saul sent messengers to arrest him. The messengers found Samuel seeming to lead a band of frenzied prophets so the messengers fell into frenzy too. Then Saul himself pursued after he had sent three (3) batches of messengers and they all failed because the spirit of God took control of them. The ―spirit of God‖ came upon Saul and he fell into the same state. He took off his clothes and laid naked all day and night (I Sam 19:24). Although David was not a prophet the above example stated about him is just to make readers understand what ecstatic prophets sometimes did in their ecstatic mood. It appears that the music in some way induced the utterances, because Elisha also employed the minstrel in preparing to prophesy (II Kings 3: 15).

Archer (1974) asserts another group of prophets such as Micaiah, Elijah and Elisha in Israel were not associated with the temple or with the court but were independent of religious and political organizations. These types of prophets are known as ―peripheral prophets‖ because they operated on their own and were sometimes supported by the community but they did not receive any special benefits either from the temple or from the king. Sometimes these independent prophets became leaders of prophetic communities. For instance, Elijah was the leader of a prophetic community from which Elisha came (Archer, 1974).

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