John 4: 19
‘”‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet.’”
What do you say to someone who you have never met before yet knows your darkest secrets? When we stand before God at the final judgment we will have a similar experience. Everything we have said and done will be exposed before God. The difference between now and then is that like the woman at the well, now we think we can hide our flaws.
When the woman is confronted by the truth about her life, she reacts with amazing aplomb. Instead of losing her wits, she simply observes, “Sir… I can see that you are a prophet.”
Looking through the literature we find that there is no concise, commonly agreed on definition of what a prophet is. Smith’s Bible Dictionary offers the following: “The ordinary Hebrew word for prophet is nabi, derived from a verb signifying “to bubble forth” like a fountain; hence the word means one who announces or pours forth the declarations of God.”
Q: What do you think the woman at the well understood a prophet to be? What do you think a prophet is?
I think she realized that only a prophet could do what Jesus did. A prophet receives and proclaims revelation from God. I think it is important to keep that distinction when talking about prophets and distinguishing the office from teacher or preacher.
I think the woman thought that a prophet meant is someone who tells her of the things she has done,..she probably thought,..how can this guy know anything about me if he weren’t some kind of prophet,..
I understand a prophet to be someone who speaks from God to His people,..this someone tells us what God is doing or has done or what will be done,..if we listen and obey we are the ones that are rewarded,..in more ways than one.
I housed this homeless person in my shed for a season,..he told me that he was a prophet and he prophesied over my wood shed, he said that God would always keep this wood shed filled with wood, pressed down, shaken and over flowing. Well,.. this guy has since moved on into our Fathers kingdom and my wood pile has never diminished and continues to fill up every year to the point of overflowing,..it may be from all the fences I have taken down but they continue to become burnable pieces to keep this old house the good Lord has provided for this family warm and those that enter in on a cold rainy night,..I am thankful God moved me to house this guy in my shed for a season,..what a friend we have in Jesus,..was he a prophet I may never know,..what difference does it make,..if he believed that he was a prophet who am I to say that he is not,..they are God’s gifts and He chooses who He gives His gifts to,..
It’s been said that it is better to give than receive,..well someone has to be the receiver of what’s been given,..I guess I just happen to be a receiver as well as a giver,..keep smiling!
Prophets of the bible were individuals who lived ” in the world, but not of the world” in every way. Their one purpose in life seems to be serving God. With the exception of Hosea, they appear to be men who remained single and delivered messages or performed tasks for God, such as Samuel with David.. The New Testament speaks of some being given the gift of prophesy, I personally have no experience with anyone claiming to be a prophet.
We Christians are parts of the body of Christ, we have been given specific gifts and are called to glorify God by allowing Christ to be seen as our gift is transformed into service.
Basically a prophet was/is an individual serving and testifying of God as He directs them. Christians are redeemed sinners called to unify as one so Christ is glorified through the combined actions of our specific gifts. No one individual is greater than another.
For my part reading all of your comments today has been very “prophet-able.” 🙂
What a foreboding pun…