Joel 1:2 “Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land”

The Hebrew word for prophecy is Naba H5012 – nāḇā’, meaning to “be under the influence of a spirit“.  The Hebrew word for prophet is Nabi H5030 – nāḇî’ meaning a speaker or spokesperson under the influence of a spirit.  Of course, this good be a true or false prophet, meaning the true prophet would follow YHWH’s Spirit and every word of YHWH to the letter, and a false prophet could be under any other evil spirits – which are many, and they would not agree with all of the words/commands of YHWH.  One have to be very careful and always first test a prophet to see whether he is a true or false prophet.

In Deuteronomy 13 (click here to read more) a whole section is outlined on how to identify a false prophet.  The underlying rule of thumb is, whatever he or she says and does MUST align with Torah (the laws and instructions of YHWH in the first five books of the bible).  Otherwise he or she is considered to be a false prophet.  Yeshua also warned against false prophets in Matthew 7:15-27, saying that they look and talk like sheep, but are wolves on the inside.  Yeshua continues to say that they will say “Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name” in verse 22, and verse 23 Yeshua will respond “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’”

The first time we see the word Prophet (Nabi) is where YHWH says that Abraham is a prophet, in Genesis 20:7 “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet”.  YHWH also tells Moses that Aaron will be a prophet in Exodus 7:1. Joshua was also a great prophet, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 34:9 “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as YHWH commanded Moses.” We also learn that Samuel was a trusted prophet in 1Samuel 3:20 “And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of YHWH”

Yeshua Prophesied

In Deuteronomy 13 it explains how the world and nations look for wizards, fortunetellers and enchanters, but we are not to do that.  Instead YHWH will send a very special Prophet, in verse 13-15, “Thou shalt be perfect with YHWH thy Elohim. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, YHWH thy Elohim hath not suffered thee so to do. YHWH thy Elohim will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken”  This prophecy of Moses about a Prophet, is confirmed by Peter in Acts 3:18:26

“But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.  Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of YHWH, and that He may send Yeshua, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘YHWH your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Yeshua, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

Many times in the new testament, the people proclaimed that Yeshua was the Prophet that was promised/prophesied. Matthew 21:11 “And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Yeshua, from Nazareth in Galilee.” Luke 7:16 “Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” John 4:19 “The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.”  Matthew 21:46 “When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.” John 6:14 “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  Also John 7:40, John 9:17, Luke 24:19, Mark 6:15 and more..  The greek word is G4396 – prophētēs and is mentioned about 150 times in the new testament, including Revelations where it talks about all the prophets, and then off course the famous 2 prophets in Revelations 11.

For more on previous posts made about the meaning of the word “Prophecies”, click here.