Throughout this series if the solitary word prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

God will often use the prophet’s life experiences to help the prophet share pathos with the Divine and thus understand the heart of God in a greater way. An example of this would be Hosea the prophet’s marriage to Gomer, the lady, let us just say, of less than a stellar reputation who caused Hosea much grief during their marriage. God is not beyond placing the prophet in difficult relationships and circumstances.

The prophet however, is also difficult to live with at times. The prophet’s standards are extremely high, his or her spiritual stature can be too much for people sometimes, and their concerns too intense for people to understand. This makes life difficult for the family, friends, and associates of the prophet, just as it makes life equally difficult for the prophet himself, or the prophetess herself, at various times in life. For the prophet this can lead to aloneness, even in a crowd, and if that aloneness is not managed properly, it can lead to loneliness. It takes a special, divinely selected person to be married to, or the friend of, a prophet.

A reader pointed out something that I wrote in part four of this series, which prompted me to bring some added clarity to my remarks. What I wrote was, "The predications of the prophet can always be proven wrong by a change brought about in man conduct."

The reader went on to state in their comments, “This hadn’t really occurred to me. I thought that prophecy had to come true. I didn’t think about the purpose behind the message – leading people to change.”

I would like to add a bit more clarity to my previous statement. In so doing, it is important to remember that my various comments throughout this series are merely that, various aspects of a huge topic; they are not meant to be an exhaustive explanation of prophets and prophecy. You would have to understand a good bit about prophecy and how it works to understand my previous remark but I will try to give a basic explanation that should help readers understand in a greater capacity.

You have to consider the context of a prophecy and the form of the prophecy being given. There are some prophecies that will come to pass regardless and there are some that do not have to, or cannot come to pass based on how the people respond to the Word of God.

In the Bible, you will often hear God say to His people, if you do this then this will happen, if you will go or do this or that then I will do this for you or I will make this happen. God’s promises, found in the Word of God are much the same way in that they often are contingent upon an “if” that God has put into place. Those ifs are our invitation from Almighty God to subject our freewill to His Will. God communicates with His people in a similar fashion in some forms of prophecy.

If the prophecy is a conditional prophecy where God is commanding change, if the people will respond and change their course of action or behavior a prophecy regarding what will happen if they do not does not have to come to pass.

If it is a prophecy of God’s Will for the person or group, if people choose to respond to God and act then a prophecy can come to pass but if they choose not to act then a prophecy cannot come to pass.

I do hope this helps to bring more clarity to my previous statement about the ability for a prophet’s prophecies to be proven wrong, (adverted or missed out on) based on the conduct of the people. My statement was primarily meant to help people understand that what they perceive as a prophet being proven wrong or their prophecies failing is often the result of God’s actions due to the response of the people, or lack of response from the people, to the prophecy.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till 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; ¹⁴that 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, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.