Monday, August 28, 2017

The Prophets

And for every nation is a messenger. So when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them in justice, and they will not be wronged
(Quran-10:47)

And We gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - all [of them] We guided. And Noah, We guided before; and among his descendants, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the doers of good.
And Zechariah and John and Jesus and Elias - and all were of the righteous.
And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot - and all [of them] We preferred over the worlds.
And [some] among their fathers and their descendants and their brothers - and We chose them and We guided them to a straight path.
That is the guidance of Allah by which He guides whomever He wills of His servants. But if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
Those are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture and authority and prophethood. But if the disbelievers deny it, then We have entrusted it to a people who are not therein disbelievers.
(Quran-6:84-89)

Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."
(Quran-2:136)

Exodus 3:13
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"

Genesis 20:5-7  New Living Translation (NLT)
5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.”
6 In the dream God responded, “Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from sinning against me, and why I did not let you touch her. 
7 Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don’t return her to him, you can be sure that you and all your people will die.”

2 Chronicles 24:19— 
The Lord sent prophets among them to lead them back to him. They warned the people, but they would not pay attention.


Source:
https://bible.org/seriespage/3-what-prophet

And mention in the Book [the story of] Abraham. Indeed, he was a man of truth and a prophet.
                                           (Quran-19:41)

So when he had left them and those they worshipped other than Allah, We gave him Isaac and Jacob, and each [of them] We made a prophet.
(Quran-19:49)

And mention in the Book, Moses. Indeed, he was chosen, and he was a messenger and a prophet.
(Quran-19:51)


Psalm 105:26
He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron, whom He had chosen.


Exodus 3:10
"Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."



The Prophethood from both Brothers


Deuteronomy 18:9-19 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you (Israelites), from your brethren (Ishmaelites)—him you shall heed— 
16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 
17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They have rightly said all that they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 
19 And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 


The Fake & false Prophet

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— 
22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.




Jeremiah 14:14-16 New International Version (NIV)
14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries[a] and the delusions of their own minds. 
15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 
16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.


Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods”—gods whom you have not previously known—“and let us serve them.” You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being. You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. As for that prophet or dreamer, he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from the place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

Source:https://bible.org/seriespage/3-what-prophet

The False Prophets can do miracles !!!

Matthew 24:24 King James Version (KJV)
 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Read for example John 1:19-23 and note that when John the Baptist began to preach, he was asked, “Are you the Prophet?” Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed—he did not deny but confessed—“I am not the Christ!” So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not!” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No!” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” 

Also in John 6:14 we see how the people, impressed by the power of Jesus, said, Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

 In John 7:40 again the people said, When they heard these words, some of the crowd began to say, “This really is the Prophet!” It is clear that the Jewish people expected a precise and personal fulfillment of this prophecy and when John the Baptist appeared they thought he was The Prophet, but John humbly disclaimed that honor, and directed their attention to Jesus—(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) So they asked John, “Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize, who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!” These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan River where John was baptizing. On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’” (John 1:24-30). The people then recognized Jesus as the Prophet. The people were right in thus recognizing Jesus as The Prophet. 

The Apostle Peter clearly taught that the great prediction was completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We read Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you—that is, Jesus. This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you. Every person who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed from the people” And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, “And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’ God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities.” (Acts 3:19-26).

The Prophets & People

2 Chronicles 20:20  King James Version (KJV)
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

2 Chronicles 24:19— The Lord sent prophets among them to lead them back to him. They warned the people, but they would not pay attention.

Source:https://bible.org/seriespage/3-what-prophet

Prophet as the Warner

Genesis 19:13
for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it."

1 Peter 2:14
or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

The Revelation

Different form of the Revelations

Hebrews 1:1 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets;

Dreams

Genesis 31:11 
"Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.' 

Genesis 20:5-7  New Living Translation (NLT)
5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.”
6 In the dream God responded, “Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from sinning against me, and why I did not let you touch her. 
7 Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don’t return her to him, you can be sure that you and all your people will die.”


Angles

Genesis 22:11

But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Face to face directly with God

The Lord spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the middle of the fire. (I was standing between the Lord and you then to reveal to you the message of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.) He said: “I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. You must not have any other gods besides me. You must not make for yourself an image of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me, but I show covenant faithfulness to the thousands who choose me and keep my commandments.” (Deuteronomy 5:4-10).


And it is not for any mortal that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger and revealing by His permission what He pleases; surely He is High, Wise.
[Quran-42:51] 


Deuteronomy 4:12 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice


The Manuscripts

Note:To record the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures.

Jeremiah 30:1-3:

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah. He said, “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll. For I, the Lord affirm that the time will come when I will reverse the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors and they will take possession of it once again.’”

And the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.” (Exodus 17:14).


And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Exodus 34:27).

Source:https://bible.org/seriespage/3-what-prophet

Indeed, this is in the former scriptures,
The scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
(Quran-87:18-19)



Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."
(Quran-2:136)

God & His Prophets


Noah, His Wife, His Sons, and Their Wives-
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:16)

Isaac-
And the LORD appeared to him [Isaac] the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (Genesis 26:24)

Jacob-
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants . . . Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. (Genesis 28:13, 15)
Then God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother. (Genesis 35:1)

Joseph
The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; . . . But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
(Genesis 39:2a, 21)
And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him . . . (Acts 7:9)


Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. (Numbers 20:6)

Exodus 3:15
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, !!! but by my name ‘the Lord’ I was not known to them!!!!I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners.
Exodus 6:2-4

Exodus 3:13
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"


 Say, "We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him."
(Quran-3:84)

And commemorate Our Servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, possessors of Power and Vision.
Verily We did choose them for a special (purpose)- proclaiming the Message of the Hereafter.
They were, in Our sight, truly, of the company of the Elect and the Good.
— Quran, surah 38 ('Sad), ayat 45–47[17]