What does it mean to be a prophet according to the Bible?

Please name ONE failed prophecy, or prophecy that is thought to have failed (or require someone to apply some special "conditions").

2 Peter 1:19-20
1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
1:19 We have also THE MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY; whereunto ye do well that ye TAKE HEED, as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place, until the Day dawn, and the Morning Star (Rev. 2:28, Rev. 30:16) arise in your hearts:

The Prophecies can NEVER fail; the only thing that fails is people's misunderstanding or misinterpretation of them.

And not knowing who the true people Israel are, or Who Christ really is, can and does produce most if not all of the confusion.

A Freeman said:

Please name ONE failed prophecy, or prophecy that is thought to have failed (or require someone to apply some special "conditions").

2 Peter 1:19-20
1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
1:19 We have also THE MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY; whereunto ye do well that ye TAKE HEED, as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place, until the Day dawn, and the Morning Star (Rev. 2:28, Rev. 30:16) arise in your hearts:

The Prophecies can NEVER fail; the only thing that fails is people's misunderstanding or misinterpretation of them.

And not knowing who the true people Israel are, or Who Christ really is, can and does produce most if not all of the confusion.

Click to expand...

Edit: I misread this post. I agree with it.

Two Kinds of Prophecy.

Bible students speak of two kinds of prophecy—classical and apocalyptic. Classical (or typical) prophecy commonly deals with immediate events or issues. Apocalyptic prophecy (from a Greek word meaning “to reveal” or “to uncover”) focuses on the end of human history as we know it. It deals with events in the distant future, especially in regard to the Second Advent. A major example of this type of prophecy is the book of Revelation. Another is the book of Daniel. Passages such as Isaiah 24-27, Zechariah 9-14, and Matthew 24 are also regarded as apocalyptic prophecies.

Apocalyptic prophecy is identifiable by a number of characteristics.

1. There is a more frequent reference to visions than in classical prophecy.

2. There is a more intense use of symbols.

3. It frequently deals with the distant future.

4. There is often intense contrast of good and evil, sometimes symbolized by light and darkness. (We see this, for example, in Revelation’s description of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.)

5. Apoca-lyptic prophets not infrequently mention an interpreting angel who helps them understand the message received.

By this point you have a good handle on the subject. But in what follows, we want to say a word about four important approaches to interpreting prophecy that you may find helpful.

Four Approaches to Prophetic Interpretation.

Students of prophecy generally fall into four interpretive schools of thought: historicists, preterists, futurists, and dualists.

1. The historicist interpretation sees apocalyptic prophecies as revealing human history in a continuous fashion. They believe, for example, that the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation present the great sweep of the future from the prophet’s time to Christ’s coming kingdom. Strong evidence for this can be found in the major series of symbols extending through the centuries, in both Daniel and Revelation. Daniel 2 and 7, for instance, present a series of metal and animal figures that symbolize kingdoms that will succeed one another until the eternal kingdom of God is set up (the stone of Daniel 2) or until the time when the saints of the Most High enter the eternal kingdom of God (in Daniel 7). Daniel 11 and 12 repeat the pattern, describing the actions of individual rulers along the way.

Thus there is strong internal evidence from the book of Daniel (and also from Revelation) that these prophecies were intended to give their hearers and readers a view of the sweep of history from God’s vantage point.

However, there are those who have denied this historic point of view, applying the fulfillment of events mostly in the past (preterist), or mostly in the future (futurist).

2. Preterists, applying the book of Daniel in the past, for example, see its prophecies ending in the second century B.C.—in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Greek king who ruled in Syria. Since he was a cruel king who did evil things to the Jews, preterists see him as the fulfillment of the bad things that were to happen to God’s people. From this point of view, the book of Daniel was not written in the sixth century B.C. as future prophecy. Instead, they believe, it was written in the second century B.C. while these events were happening. So the conclusion is that the book of Daniel is not prophecy, but rather history—written up as prophecy by an unknown author.

3. For futurists, the prophecies did begin during the prophet’s own time. But then the great prophetic clock stopped. There was a gap, and major segments of human history—such as Christ’s earthly ministry and the early Christian church—have simply not been addressed by prophecy. Futurists subscribing to the dispensationalist position are waiting for the prophetic clock to start up again. When it does, they will count down the final seven years of earth’s history (the seventieth week of Daniel 9), during which, they believe, there will be a final (literal and personal) antichrist who will appear in Israel and persecute the Jews for three and one-half years. Meanwhile, the church, having been raptured out of the world, will have left the Jews to be persecuted by this antichrist and his followers. These final seven years will end with the second coming of Christ—actually the third coming for them. Thus for the futurists, the great sweep of the Christian Age is represented only by a gap. Prophecy did not address it at all.

4. Dualists want to take a “both and” approach. And what occurred in Catholicism in the sixteenth century and in Protestantism in the nineteenth century is now being repeated.

In the early 1980s a controversy over prophetic interpretation developed. At that time preterism was offered as an alternative to historicism. Under the label of “dual interpretation of prophecy,” people were told they could keep their historicist view, “adding” preterism to it.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Which of these interpretations is right? The preterist’s position leaves the impression that God has been quite uninterested in us since the second century B.C. (when, they claim, Daniel was written) or since the first century A.D. (when Revelation was written). For since then, according to them, God has really not spoken. It’s a truncated view of God’s activity in history. The futurist faces the same problem, but claims that all these prophecies relate to our time alone. The dual approach seems to want the best of both worlds.

For the historicist, God’s prophetic voice has continued to speak to all ages. Just as the Old Testament has provided us with a history from Creation to the end of the Old Testament Era, so these apocalyptic books provide us a panoramic view of our Christian Era in advance.

The Protestant Reformers were distinctly historicist. One of the events they observed was the activity of the “little horn” of Daniel 7:7-26, which they identified with the Papacy in Rome.

Quite naturally, papal scholars saw things differently and attempted to parry the Reformers’ thrust during the Catholic Counter Reformation in the latter half of the sixteenth century. In 1590 Francisco Ribera of Spain published a lengthy commentary on Revelation in which he denied the Protestant interpretation and applied the prophecies in the future. Meanwhile, a Spanish interpreter named Luis de Alcazar introduced the preterist interpretation into Catholic circles.

Similar developments did not occur in Protestantism until considerably later. The first preterist approach to the book of Daniel in Protestant circles came with Anthony Collins’ commentary published in 1726. Up to this time almost all prominent Protestant interpreters were historicists. With the inroads of rationalism, humanism, and liberal thought in the nineteenth century, however, many mainline Protestant denominations drifted toward preterism.

Futurist interpretation of apocalyptic prophecy was introduced by an Englishman named John Darby in the 1820s, at the time William Miller was preaching the prophecies of Jesus coming from a strongly historicist point of view.

At present, preterist views are held mostly by the liberal mainline Protestant denominations, while futurist views are found especially among conservative evangelicals. The historicist interpretation of prophecy has continued, however, through the teaching and preaching of a minority of Christians. In a sense, they stand virtually alone as the heir of the Reformers’ interpretation of Bible prophecy.

Much time has elapsed since these Bible prophecies were given. That means we have almost reached the end of time as we know it. Maranatha! May we be ready for Christ’s soon coming.

Types of false prophets that are condemned in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 18:10, "One ... that useth divination [fortune teller]."

"An observer of times [astrologer]." Deuteronomy 18:10.

"An enchanter [magician]." Deuteronomy 18:10.

"A witch [female psychic]." Deuteronomy 18:10.

"A charmer [person who casts spells or charms]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

"A consulter with familiar spirits [spirit medium]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

"A wizard [male psychic]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

"A necromancer [person who claims to consult with the dead]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

NOTE: Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says that all who do these things are an "abomination" to the Lord. For this reason, Christians should have nothing to do with them.

God's end-time true church will have the gift of prophecy.

Revelation 12:17, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Revelation 19:10, "I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

NOTE: God's end-time remnant church has "the testimony of Jesus," which is "the spirit of prophecy." By comparing Revelation 19:10 and 22:9, we see that the angel defines John's "brethren" that have the spirit of prophecy as "the prophets" and "them which keep the sayings of this book." In 1 Corinthians 1:5-8, Paul writes that the church will have "the testimony of Christ" and will "come behind in no gift" until Jesus' second coming. So God's last-day church will indeed still have the gift of prophecy.

phipps said:

Types of false prophets that are condemned in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 18:10, "One ... that useth divination [fortune teller]."

"An observer of times [astrologer]." Deuteronomy 18:10.

"An enchanter [magician]." Deuteronomy 18:10.

"A witch [female psychic]." Deuteronomy 18:10.

"A charmer [person who casts spells or charms]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

"A consulter with familiar spirits [spirit medium]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

"A wizard [male psychic]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

"A necromancer [person who claims to consult with the dead]." Deuteronomy 18:11.

NOTE: Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says that all who do these things are an "abomination" to the Lord. For this reason, Christians should have nothing to do with them.

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Deuteronomy 18:22
When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken.

The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
...

There are a host of failed predictions from Ellen White.

Why are they ignored? I cannot help but wonder.

The Role of the Prophetic Gift in the New Testament.

In the basic New Testament lists of spiritual gifts the “prophetic gift” is listed as second–between that of apostles (first) and that of teachers (third). See 1 Corinthians 12:28-30; Ephesians 4:11. The gift did not usurp the role of the apostles, but its function affected the apostles at times as well as the church membership in general. Some of the apostles were themselves endowed with this gift. The activities of persons so endowed in New Testament times may be summarized as follows:

1. They were commissioned at times to forewarn of coming difficulties (Acts 11:27-30; 20:23; 21:10-14). In the first instance (Acts 11) the warning of coming famine resulted in a brotherly bonding of the Gentile Christians in Antioch with the Jewish Christians in Judea. The former, contrary to ethnic customs, willingly sent relief to their Jewish brothers in Christ.

2. Through the gift the foreign mission outreach of the church was initiated (Acts 13:1-2). It also had a part in directing where the early missionaries were to labour (Acts 16:6-10). In Paul’s second missionary tour it is noted that he was accompanied by Silas, a prophet.

3. In a doctrinal crisis the gift functioned to encourage and to confirm the membership in the true doctrine. The crisis pertained to the relationship of the Jewish ritual to the salvation of Gentile Christians. A large church council made a decision in harmony with the Spirit’s directive (Acts 15), although the decision was not inwardly accepted by all. The controversy had broken out in Antioch to which church the decision of the council was related by letter. Judas and Silas ministered for a time to this group: “Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words” (Acts 15:32).

4. The prophets built up, encouraged, and consoled the church. “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men” (1 Corinthians 14:3).

5. The prophets tended (along with the other gifts) to unify the church in the true faith and to protect it from false doctrines. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—” (Ephesians 4:11-15).

6. The prophets along with the apostles assisted in founding the church. “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20, cf. 3:5; 4:11).

This is taken from my other thread, Does God have a Church?

The Recent History of the Gift of Prophecy.

After the death of the apostles, prophets enjoyed respect in many circles until 300 AD, but the decline of spirituality in the Church and the resulting apostasy led to a diminishing of both the presence and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, false prophets caused a loss of confidence in the prophetic gift.

The decline of the prophetic gift during certain periods of Church history did not mean that God had withdrawn the gift permanently. The Bible indicates that as the end approaches, this gift will be present to assist the Church through these difficult times. More than that, Scripture even points to an increased activity of this gift.

Before the First Advent of Christ, God gave the gift of prophecy to John the Baptist to prepare the way for His coming. In a similar way, the prophetic gift must be restored before the Second Advent, so that everyone will have the opportunity to prepare to meet their Saviour.

Christ mentions the rise of false prophets as one of the signs that His coming is near (Matthew 24:11, 24). If there were to be no true prophets during the time of the end, Christ would not have warned against anyone claiming that gift. His warning against false prophets implies that there would be true prophets as well.

How did God call the prophets in the Bible?

Though it’s not always specified exactly, it was common for God to call prophets through dreams or visions. In these visions, God would give the prophet a message to deliver to the people. Sometimes the message is one of encouragement. Sometimes it’s a warning. Even though many prophets were called through visions, each vision and message was unique to the prophet being called.

Each of the Bible prophets lived and prophesied in a specific time and situation. By getting to know a few of the prophets—specifically Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and John—we can begin to understand why and how God called them, and for what purpose.

Moses.

Moses is one of the earlier major prophets of the Bible, preceded only by Noah and Abraham. He was the carrier of the Ten Commandments and the God-led liberator of the Children of Israel from Egypt. So we can consider Moses as a standout Bible prophet.

He had quite the resumé. Early on we read about him escaping the persecution of Israelite children. Then before we know it, he’s becoming a member of the Egyptian royal family!

But then we hear about him leading the Israelites through the Red Sea and through the desert, at the opposition of the Pharaoh. Then he’s acting as a mediator, communicating the covenant of God to God’s people!

God’s prophetic call to Moses is climactic. In the wilderness of Midian, where Moses was living as a shepherd after becoming a fugitive from Pharaoh, God appears to him in the form of a burning bush:

"Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt" (‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3:10‬‬).

"Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ... Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say” (Exodus‬ ‭4:1, 10-12‬‬).

Not all prophets feel like they are worthy of prophesying for God, but He always provides what is needed for that prophet to get the job done. Moses seriously doubted himself, but God reassured him that He would show him what to tell the people.

Moses is a good example to us that prophets are not perfect.

While they communicate on behalf of the Divine, they are not divine themselves. They make mistakes just like everyone else. There were times when Moses resorted to doing things his own way, almost completely ignoring God’s direction.

For example, in the desert at a place called Meribah, God gives Moses specific instructions to speak to a rock in order to bring forth water for the children of Israel. Instead of following God’s instructions, Moses strikes the rock with his staff (Numbers 20:10-13).

That might seem like a minor difference (and there’s more to this story, of course), but the bottom line is that Moses did what he saw fit, instead of what God explicitly asked him to (God is particular).

God still provided the Israelites with water, but He had to address that situation with Moses later on. And whenever Moses tried to do things his own way, things usually took a lot longer or were a lot more difficult.

What ultimately matters, however, is that Moses always came back to God and allowed His work to be done through him. God works with the prophets He calls to both accomplish what needs to be done, and to allow the kind of growth the prophets themselves often need.

Isaiah.

Isaiah is a very well-known Bible prophet. In fact, the book of Isaiah is the most-quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament.

Isaiah was a prophet to the kingdom of Judah, and he’s notable for all of his prophecies about Jesus’ birth and His role as the Messiah.

God called Isaiah to be His prophet through a vision. God asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” And Isaiah responds to God’s call with a willing heart, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

Even though he says he is a “man of unclean lips” and that he “lives among a people of unclean lips,” an angel touches a coal to Isaiah’s lips to symbolize God taking away Isaiah’s guilt and giving him a message to share to His people (Isaiah 6:5).

God calls all kinds of people to be prophets, and He calls them for different reasons, too.

Even though Isaiah gave prophecies to the people for that specific time—prophecies of warning and rebuke (Isaiah 6:11-13)—God also gave Isaiah many prophecies of hope and encouragement about the future Messiah.

This is fitting, since Isaiah’s name means “the Lord is salvation.”

Isaiah lives out the meaning of his name through his several prophecies of Jesus’ birth:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:1).

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

As a prophet living in the middle of the Babylonian captivity of Judah, God uses Isaiah’s prophetic message to bring the people hope—an assurance that God is sending them a deliverer, just as He did with Moses when His people were enslaved in Egypt.

This time, however, the deliverer is not a created human being. It is Jesus.

Isaiah’s prophetic message provides hope for those in exile. Hope that we can continue to read today to remind us of God’s plan to save humanity through His Son.

Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was a prophet to the Southern kingdom of Judah, and he lived through the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, which resulted in the Jewish exile in Babylon.

The book of Jeremiah starts out with his call to be God’s prophet:

“Then the word of the Lord came to me saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you;
And I ordained you a prophet to the nations’ ” (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

God states to Jeremiah that before he was even born, God knew he would be a prophet, and He chose him for that purpose.

Jeremiah’s call highlights how, sometimes, God’s choices for a prophet are unexpected.

In this case, Jeremiah is probably just a teenager.

For example, after God says He has chosen Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah refuses and claims that he is too young to be a prophet:

“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth” (Jeremiah 1:3).

However, God reassures Jeremiah that his youth is not a reason for him to not be a prophet. He says that He will guide Jeremiah’s word and give him the wisdom to speak before the people (Jeremiah 1:6-7).

And God did give Jeremiah the wisdom he needed to deliver messages to the people of Judah.

Though much of what Jeremiah shared called the people to repentance, Jeremiah also delivered God’s messages of encouragement.

One standout passage in Jeremiah’s messages to the people of Judah is Jeremiah 29:11-13:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

God used Jeremiah to give the Jewish exiles hope in the future. And just as God had plans for Jeremiah to be a prophet, He also has plans for all people, if they are willing.

Daniel.

Daniel is often known for being thrown into the lion’s den by King Darius of Persia, but Daniel was actually a prophet, too.

His prophetic book is particularly interesting because the first several chapters aren’t really prophetic. Instead, they give us insight into who Daniel was as a person, and what kind of a situation he lived in.

Daniel was probably very young at the beginning of the exile in Babylon. And though he essentially grew up in a culture that didn’t respect God, he remained faithful.

He was faithful as he upheld the dietary guidelines of Israelite culture in the kingdom of Babylon and received praise from Babylonian officials for his strength and wisdom (Daniel 1).

He also showed his commitment to God when he was given the power to explain the Babylonian king (Nebuchadnezzar)’s dreams, even when the king’s own oracles couldn’t (Daniel 2, 4).

Even when he was in danger of persecution, Daniel was loyal to his beliefs and open to God’s guidance. Ultimately, he gained the respect of the Babylonian kings and gave them insight into the future.

Unlike the other prophetic books that we have talked about, the book of Daniel doesn’t have a specific moment in which Daniel is called to prophecy.

In fact, Daniel is given a vision that he doesn’t understand, and we get to read about how he goes to God for explanation (Daniel 8).

In all scenarios and situations—exile, persecution, exaltation, confusion, and clarity—Daniel goes to God for guidance, and his prophecies always point to God’s kingdom as the ultimate goal.

John.

John, or John the Revelator, was a New Testament prophet. He was Jesus’ disciple, and he wrote the Gospel of John as well as the book of Revelation, which is where we can read his prophetic writing.

During the writing of the book of Revelation, John was exiled on the island of Patmos. While there, he received a message from God to write down the visions he was going to receive.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and, ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodecia.” (Revelation 1:10-11).

God called him to be a prophet and to spread a message to these churches, which were literal places, but are also symbolic of different groups of people and different types of group belief and behavior.

- Ephesus (The Loveless Church)

- Smyrna (The Persecuted Church)

- Pergamos (The Compromising Church)

- Thyatira (The Corrupt Church)

- Sardis (The Dead Church)

- Philadelphia (The Faithful Church)

- Laodicea (The Lukewarm Church)

John’s prophesying can come across as a bit confusing because it is so symbolic. But in the end, John’s message to believers is one of hope for the future. It is about God doing away with sin and evil for good, then saving and restoring humanity.

Just like Jeremiah prophesied hope for the children of Israel, John prophesied hope for all believers.

What stands out the most is John’s vision of Heaven and the New Jerusalem. In his final chapters of Revelation, John simultaneously predicts the future, prepares us for the new world to come, and encourages believers of Jesus to remain hopeful:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’ ” (Revelation 21:1-4).

John’s prophetic message is encouraging even to us today. His message is a great example of how prophetic messages in the Bible are both timely and timeless. Leading us to our last point…

Why the Bible’s prophets are relevant today.

So many of the prophetic messages might at first seem like they don’t apply to things in the 21st century.

We aren’t wandering in the desert.

We aren’t exiled in Babylon.

And we aren’t waiting for the Messiah to be born.

But that doesn’t mean that our stories are all that different from the people in the Bible.

- Moses’ role as a prophet shows us God’s grace and mercy covers our imperfections. He can work through us even though we will inevitably make mistakes.

- Jeremiah’s message teaches us that even when we are surrounded by destruction and faithlessness, God has a hopeful plan for our future.

- Daniel’s message is an example of how we can impact the people around us through our faithfulness in Him.And though we aren’t Babylonian exiles, we are living in this world waiting for deliverance (the second coming of Jesus). Throughout our “exile” time, we can patiently and faithfully live out God’s message of hope and salvation.

- Isaiah’s prophecies of Jesus’ birth, often heard quoted around Christmas time, is an incredible reminder of God’s plan of salvation and Jesus’ sacrifice.

- And finally, John’s Revelation shows us that there is joy yet to come for believers in Jesus.

Even though the Bible prophets spoke to a specific time and specific people, getting to know them shows us that they are a lot like we are. They are simply human.

Truly, a servant of God can come from anywhere.

Now, whenever we read any of the prophetic books, we can find ways to relate to the Bible writers and maybe learn from their message and apply it to our lives today.