Prophets and THE PROPHET

Prophets:

When it comes to prophets, what makes them prophets, and the masses that follow them, I find it is best to study Moses and his encounters with the children of Israel.

Numbers 11:24-29:
24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.
25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that [was] upon him, and gave [it] unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, [that], when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
26 But there remained two [of the] men in the camp, the name of the one [was] Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they [were] of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, [one] of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, [and] that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

Everyone should be a prophet, if everything were working as it should be. We were talking about this in Church awhile back. However, there is one very important thing to keep in mind. There is a huge difference between prophets and The Prophet. When it comes to The Prophet, there is only one of them. The capital letters here are extremely important. This is what we are talking about in Church. The capital letters make all the difference.

Moses' sister Miriam was a prophetess. God spoke to her and revealed things to her. Exodus 15: 20, 21.

However, when Miriam forced the issue and basically made the Lord choose between her and Moses, the Lord forcefully made His will known and let Miriam know that there is a big difference between a prophet and The Prophet, the Lord's Anointed Prophet.



Number 12:1-15
1 AND Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard [it].
3 (Now the man Moses [was] very meek, above all the men which [were] upon the face of the earth.)
4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood [in] the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, [and] will speak unto him in a dream.
7 My servant Moses [is] not so, who [is] faithful in all mine house.
8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.
10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam [became] leprous, [white] as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, [she was] leprous.
11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in [again].
15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in [again].

If we force the issue, God will find ways to let us know that there is a difference between prophets and The Prophet. If we choose to stand against The Prophet or The Lord's Anointed One, we will pay for it one way or the other. The greater our spirituality or our “prophetness”, the greater we will fall if we choose to take a stand against The Prophet. Every choice has its consequence and its price and its potential reward, especially when we are dealing with the Lord's Anointed, The Prophet.