...There are many prophets in the old testament that had a significant impact in spreading the word of God. I will discuss them and the message they provided to the people of their time. The first prophet I will talk about is Elijah. Elijah was an significant prophet who lived during the ninth century B. C. during the reigns of Ahab in the northern kingdom of Israel. Elijah shaped the history of his day and dominated Hebrew thinking for centuries afterward. Elijah's prophetic activities emphasized the unconditional loyalty to God required of the nation of Israel. Elijah had conflicting views and did not accept standards of his day, when belief in many gods was normal. He appears in the role of God's instrument of judgment upon a wayward Israel because of the nation's widespread idolatry. Elisha, whose name in Hebrew means “God is Salvation,” was an Israelite prophet and disciple of Elijah. Elisha is described as a miracle worker, he is known for healing the sick and reviving the dead. Elisha was also involved in politics. Elisha’s message was to those in charge that they should turn back to traditional religious practices and acknowledge God’s absolute power over every aspect of life, personal as well as political. When he healed the sick, it was to demonstrate God’s power over life and death. When he helped in battle, it was to demonstrate God’s power over nations and kingdoms. Elijah had a much friendlier relationship then his mentor when it involved political authorities. ...
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...They spread the word of God to the people in hopes of them obeying God’s will. Whether the audience wants to obey God or not is their choice, but the prophet had no choice but to comply. Ultimately prophets are spokesperson for God but have the same authority as God. Those who did not listen to the prophet’s word would then be judged by God. To distinguish a true prophet was easy because they had to be an Israelite, which eliminated any foreigners from pretending they were one. A prophet was to be a mediator between God and people. He or she would deliver God’s message to the people. If there were any questions or concerns then the prophet would relay the message to God. Other nations had prophets sent by God as well but could not be called true prophets because they were not of Israel descent. An example of such a prophet is Balaam. Balaam came from Mesopotamia and was very famous for his prophesies. “God used him to prophesy what God wanted him to say rather than what he was paid to say.” (Williams 693) This shows that although Balaam is not considered a prophet in the Old Testament, he, who was not an Israelite, was still used to spread God’s message. The prophets would warn the people of God’s wrath if they remained unfaithful and did not stop the corruption they were causing. Even during God’s judgment, He would send prophets such as Ezekiel, to teach them why God had punished them and what they can do to get back into God’s good graces. It is hard to compress the prophet’s...
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...“The Prophet Habakkuk” Ruby A. Jones Bethel University Old Testament REL 111 Sherry Henson March 25, 2013 “Historical background for The Prophet Habakkuk” Habakkuk’s name means “Embrace” and he was the eighth Prophet of the Minor Prophets. He was Prophet to the Southern Kingdom (Judah) who wrote his book around 600 B.C. Some may call Habakkuk the questioning Prophet because he questioned God’s wisdom. Habakkuk was confused, but unique because he questioned God’s wisdom without being punished. God did not mind Habakkuk’s concerns and was gracious enough to answer him. Habakkuk saw many sins that Israel and other nations were committing and was greatly concerned. Therefore he complained to God. “Summary and Analysis of The Prophet Habakkuk” I believe that Habakkuk was a man of God because he was very concerned about the wrong doings of the people of Judah. He could not understand why God was not punishing them for their sins. Habakkuk complained to God about the violence, wickedness, destruction, iniquity, perversion, strife, contention, and justice not being upheld. Habakkuk thought God was not doing anything about the people sinning, and was not concerned about man, but God reassured him that the people would not go unpunished. When God finally told Habakkuk what was to come he questioned God’s wisdom. I believe this is why He did not tell Habakkuk his plans right away, because He knew Habakkuk...
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...الله ابن عبد المطلب ابن هاشم), was a man from Meccawho unified Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam. Believed byMuslims and Bahá'ís to be a messenger and prophet of God, Muhammad is almost universally considered by Muslims as the last prophet sent by God to mankind. While non-Muslims regard Muhammad as the founder of Islam, Muslims consider him to have restored the unalteredoriginal monotheistic faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, andother prophets. Muslims discuss Muhammad and other prophets of Islam with reverence, adding the phrase peace be upon him whenever their names are mentioned. Born in about 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca,Muhammad was orphaned at an early age; he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. After his childhood Muhammad primarily worked as a merchant.Occasionally he would retreat to a cave in the mountains for several nights of seclusion and prayer; later, at age 40, he reported at this spot, that he was visited by Gabriel and received his first revelationfrom God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preachingthese revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" (lit. islām) to Him is the only way (dīn)acceptable to God, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein asother Islamic prophets. Muhammad gained few followers early on, and met hostility from some Meccan tribes. To escape persecution, Muhammad sent some of his followers to Abyssinia before he...
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...In our chapter reading from Fee and Stuart, "The Prophets: Enforcing the Covenant in Israel," the authors discussed the nature and key characteristics of the prophetic genre. As we can see, many of the problems readers encounter as they engage this segment of Scripture occur because they do not understand the nature or function of prophecy in ancient Israel. Taking that portion of our reading into consideration, summarize the key aspects of the genre. Be sure to include aspects of their hermeneutical suggestions in your summary thread as well. The Prophets: Enforcing the Covenant in Israel In order to understand prophecy, it is important to realize that prophecy does not pertain to what may occur in our future but that which was to occur in the future of the people of the Old Testament. A Prophet was not one who spoke to God but an individual who presented God’s word to His people. There are two types of prophets; Major and Minor Prophets. The terms do not assert one’s importance over another, they were merely utilized to identify longer books/messages and were often not in any chronological order. The function of prophecy in Israel can be broken down into four basics thought. “1. The prophets were covenant enforcement mediators.” (Stuart, 2003) “2. The prophets’ message was not their own, but God’s.” (Stuart, 2003) “3. The prophets were God’s direct representatives.” (Stuart, 2003) “4. The prophets’ message is unoriginal. The meaning is that of God but the wording and vocabulary...
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...Timeline Essay of the Prophets Grand Canyon University BIB 351 12/11/2011 After having done a great deal of studying of Old Testament passages about the prophets I will explain what a prophet is, how God worked with them and who they were. God stopped talking openly to people after Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden, He then chose specific individuals through whom He would communicate. The prophet must be able to hear the voice of God and bring God’s words to the world. All prophecy will be “as the Spirit gives utterance” (Acts 2:4). In the ministry of a prophet, a called prophet speaks the message the Lord gives him. The first time the word “prophet” is used in the Bible is in the days of Abraham (Gen. 20:7). Each prophet had a specific message for the people of Israel from God. Some messages were warnings to Israel's about punishment if they continued to sin, others were about God's efforts to reconcile himself with Israel after a period of punishment, and prophecies about Israel and the nations it interacted with. Major Prophets of the Old Testament Isaiah’s period of prophecy was from 740 to 680 B.C. Isaiah is most often thought of as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets of the Bible. Isaiah prophesied about Israel's judgment and reconciliation with God, the coming savior Christ, and judgment of nations, and the end times. Jeremiah's ministry was from 630 - 585 B.C. In his writing he prophesized of the Israelites’ exile to Babylon, the fall of Jerusalem...
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...DOOMSDAY 2012: PROHETS OR PROFITS FINAL Kimesha K. Sanders Western Governors University DOOMSDAY 2012: PROPHETS OR PROFITS Ever since the beginning of time people have been obsessed with the concept of the end of days. So if there is one topic that can create a good conversation, it’s the “Apocalypse”. In our times, we get more than our share of talk about the apocalypse. An apocalypse is a revelation, an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling (wikipedia.org). This means that no one could possibly know when this event will occur. Still, for thousands of years people have tried to predict when and how the world will end. From where do all these apocalyptic prophecies originate? Are we the victims of the hidden agendas of the media and secret societies? Are modern interpretations of ancient Mayan calendars and prophecies accurate; and do these prophecies predict the end of the world in 2012? And what has NASA said about all of this? When it comes to apocalyptic or “end of the world” prophecies it doesn’t matter. “End of the world” prophecies are ridiculous. We can’t rely on people, books, internet sites or movies to tell us an exact date because it is clearly something of the unknown? People are using prophets for profits! Apocalyptic prophecies derive from the stories told about the death of Jesus Christ and his ascension from the grave. It was said that He would one day return....
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...Performance Assessment Isaiah was a prophet in 739BC that lived in the southern kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians were invading Israel. Judah found protection so they became allies with the Assyrians. But the king decided that they should fight to take control over them. But Isaiah spoke about peace. Isaiah's Message, The Hebrews thought that the Messiah would be like king. And would free them from the cruel, and harsh government. Isaiah told them that the Messiah would suffer. St. Bakhita was born 1869.She died on February 8, 1947. And she was canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. When she was little she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. She was a child, but they made her walk barefoot, to a slave market in El Obeid....
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...Prophet Lucius was a North African, Libya Cyrene, who was a Christian, Jew, a teacher and a prophet in the Church of Antioch. Lucius was among the other prophets in the church who commissioned Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary work which enables them to preach the gospel of Christ with boldness to the Jews and the Gentiles (Acts 13:1-4, 46,49-52; Romans 16:21). The bible states that the early church faced great persecutions after the death of Stephen, and they were scattered abroad. Subsequent to this, the early church was preaching the gospel to the Jews only. However, the Bible told us that the African, Libya Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hands were with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord (Acts 11:19-21). We have always been told that Christianity was...
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...Prophet Muhammad Muhammad was a man who was loved by over 1.2 billion Muslims. Others think that Muhammad was a violent warlord. He was the last Prophet of Islam and was the great founder of the religion of Islam. Muhammad was a humble man and had an unlimited amount of compassion and had a strong sense of justice, (www.beliefnet.com). Muhammad believes in keeping the five pillars to get you to go to heaven, (www.gotquestions.org). It also helps you have a responsible and good life, according to Islam. The five pillars are, Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, and Hajj. All of them practically means to worship God daily, and help the state of Islam, (www.bbc.co.uk). Muhammad was born in the year (570) in the town of Mecca. Mecca is a city in Saudi...
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...Muhammad's legacy is still remembered to this day, because he was so successful in building an empire. He built his empire off the religion Islam, that many people followed and still continued after his death. When Muhammad was born in Makkah (570), his father had died. He was sent to live with other people till he was 5 or 6 years old. Then he went back to his mother, but she soon died. He was an orphan now, so he lived with his uncle who was a trader. He then worked as a caravan trader for a widow, who was in the trading business. Soon he got married to her, and had children. Muhammed went to pray in a cave, and he said the angel Gabriel appeared,and that Gabriel told him that he was the prophet of Allah (God), and said Allah sent him. The people he told about this encounter put all of the encounters he told about, in a book they call the Quar’an. Muhammad now had followers for the religion Islam. Some people didn't want this religion, so they rejected it. They boycotted Muhammad and his followers. They refused to sell them things, so they starved, and his wife, and clan leader died. Soon after, He went on a night journey, where a horse guided him to pray with people like, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The horse guided him through the seven levels of heaven, and he met God....
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...To many Christians the Prophets are seen as being predictors of the Messiah, but it can be argued that one can take any tidbit of information from a source (not just the bible) and use it, whether within context or out of context, to support one’s argument. In my opinion, as far as the prophets are concerned, just because the prophets seem to predict the coming of the Messiah because of the parallels that have been drawn between the books of the prophets and the New Testament does not necessarily mean that they were able to predict the future—it means that the New Testament authors such as Matthew had either heard or could refer back to the writings of the Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Micah, and Hosea. The problem is not that the authors of the New Testament were trying to build a bridge to the old; the problem is that over time the people have come to think like Borg did in his period of “pre critical naïveté” that “the prophets were supernaturally inspired predictions of Jesus”. For me, the skeptic, it seemed all too convenient that the Old and New Testaments would match up so well in the seemingly never ending series of predictions and fulfillment; almost like the Nostradamus nonsense that you hear about on the History Channel. I wondered what it was that made people make this jump, this connection. That’s when I read that this way of reading the prophets had been reinforced by the best selling book “Halley’s Bible Handbook” which dated back to 1924. According...
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...The Prophet Muhammad The Prophet Muhammad is the organizer of Islam. Individuals of the Islamic confidence know him as the Dispatcher of God. Muhammad carried on with a harsh life yet he additionally changed individuals' lives. His religion has affected a great many individuals. There are no photos of Muhammad's face; he made a point that the religion was to not be about him, but rather about Allah. In 570 C.E in Mecca, Arabia a child kid, a relative of Abraham named Muhammad, whose name signifies "exceptionally commended", was conceived. Muhammad's dad, Abdullah, kicked the bucket before he was conceived and his mom, Amina passed on when he was just six years of age. After the passing of his mother, he turned into a vagrant. A lady named Halima, who turned into his temporary mother, took him in. In 595 C.E., Muhammad was reached by one of his affluent widowed cousins, Khadija, who required him to offer a few merchandise for her. A significant number of Muhammad's cousins lived in Mecca, so it was not unprecedented that Khadijah had reached him. He was known for being a decent dealer. Muhammad and Khadijah met a few times to talk about the offering of products. Khadijah started to end up keen on him on an individual level, despite the fact that she was fifteen years more seasoned than Muhammad. Khadijah asked Nufaysah (known as the relational arranger) to inquire as to whether he was keen on wedding Khadijah. Muhammad and Khadijah were soon connected with and wedded. Polygamy...
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...Liberti Todd BIBLE 105 September 28, 2014 Diligence and Laziness vs. Wisdom and Folly The believer is called to live a life that is above reproach. While that does not mean the believer will never stumble it does mean that the believer is to live life wisely. There should always be a difference between the lifestyle of a Christ follower and an unbeliever; the life of someone that has been transformed is not common but carful and consistent with their change. Evidence of thought plus attention to certain actions are what help the believer to stand out in the world, there is a call to diligence and wisdom as opposed to living life lazy and imprudent. Although there are similarities between diligence and wisdom, laziness and folly, there are differences as well; observing scripture and context each will be addressed in this essay. Solomon, the wisest man in the bible, was the author of the book of Proverbs. The book goes into great detail about the difference in outcome for the diligent and wise man compared to the lazy and foolish man. It is imperative for every believer to read and study the book of Proverbs in depth to understand the sayings and to be able to apply it to their lives. Interesting enough the Hebrew teaching on diligence show the blessings of the Lord flowing on those that to choose to obey; blessings do not just flow on the believer but also the unbeliever as well. The dictionary definition of the word diligence is “constant and earnest effort to accomplish...
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...Prophet Eesaa While Maryam (Mary), may Allaah exalt her mention, was praying in her place of worship, an angel in the form of a man appeared before her. Filled with terror, she tried to flee, praying: {قَالَتْ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِالرَّحْمَـٰنِ مِنكَ إِن كُنتَ تَقِيًّا . قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَنَا رَسُولُ رَبِّكِ لِأَهَبَ لَكِ غُلَامًا زَكِيًّا . قَالَتْ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا . قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ ۖ وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرًا مَّقْضِيًّا} 'Translation' {…'Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, (so leave me), if you should be fearing of Allaah.' He said: 'I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you (news of) a pure boy (i.e., son).' She said: 'How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?' He said: 'Thus (it will be); your Lord says: 'It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter (already) decreed.'} [Maryam:18-21]. The angel's visit caused Maryam, may Allaah exalt her mention, great anxiety, which increased as the months went by. How could she face giving birth to a child without having a husband? Later, she felt life kicking inside her. With a heavy heart, she left the place of prayer and went to Nazareth, the city in which she had been born, where she settled in a simple farm house to avoid the public. But fear and anxiety did not leave...
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