From the transcript
When people face problems or have to make important decisions, they often turn to others for advice. If the issue is small or familiar, they may ask their family or neighbors what to do. But, when the issue is large and there will be long-term consequences, people often look for an expert, someone who can be trusted to give authoritative and true guidance about what should be done. Throughout the history of Scripture, God often provided this kind of fully reliable guidance through his prophets. These men and women authoritatively applied God’s covenants to the situations his people faced.
This is the third lesson in our series We Believe in Jesus, and we have entitled it “The Prophet.” In this lesson, we’ll explore the ways that Jesus fulfills the office of prophet, authoritatively applying God’s covenant to our lives.
As we mentioned in a prior lesson, in the Old Testament God instituted three offices through which he administered his kingdom: the offices of prophet, priest and king. And in the final stage of God’s kingdom, which we commonly call the New Testament age, all three of these offices find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ. For this reason, studying the importance and function of these offices throughout history can help us understand Jesus’ present administration of God’s kingdom, as well as the blessings and obligations of his faithful followers.
When most people hear the word “prophet,” they tend to think of someone who makes predictions about the future. And this is even true of most Christians. But while it’s true that biblical prophets did sometimes foretell the future, this was not the main focus of their ministry. Most fundamentally, God’s prophets were his ambassadors. Their job was to explain God’s covenants, and to encourage his people to be faithful to him. And this was also the heart of Jesus’ prophetic work.
In line with this understanding of what prophets did, we’ll define a prophet as:
God’s covenant ambassador, who proclaims and applies God’s word, especially to warn of judgment against sin, and to encourage the kind of loyal service to God that leads to his blessings.
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