God’s Horoscope
“And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own homeland and in his house.” Matthew 13:57
Prophet – “Prediction is very difficult, especially when it is about the future.” So says an ancient Chinese proverb. Solomon echoed the thought. “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?” Somehow we seem to have forgotten this ancient wisdom when it comes to the word “prophet”. We think that prophecy is like fortune telling, giving us advance notice of what will happen and when it will happen. After all, who doesn’t want to know how things will go? But if we knew the history of this word, prophetes, we might not make such a foolish mistake.
Long before the term “prophet” took on its contemporary meaning of predicting the future, the Greek term prophetes had a very different meaning. In fact, it did not embody the concept of peering into the future at all. In the most ancient Greek writers, the word is used as a description for proclaiming the will of the gods. It really means, “to speak forth”.
Because the word was intertwined with Greek oracles, it described the activity of declaring the divine will for human action. But this did not require elaboration of future events. Often the oracle made declarations concerning ethical responsibility, civil and personal matters or general directions concerning human conduct. What was described under the term prophetes was the interpretation of the will of the gods, an act that involved exposition of meanings hidden from ordinary view. The prophetes is one who uncovers the hidden meaning through speaking. This does not mean that the prophetes always spoke plainly. Often the expositions were paradoxical, forcing the listener to critically engage in the thought. Jesus spoke in this manner, so much so that his followers complained that they could not understand the words he used.
The prophet as proclaimer is the foundation of the Old Testament view. The Old Testament prophet was called by God to proclaim God’s message. The prophet did not choose to be a prophet. The word of the Lord came unbidden. In fact, these men sometimes tried to escape God’s call. Being a prophet was not being a celebrity. It was usually being an outcast.
Did you think that prophecy would help you know the future of your life? That idea doesn’t belong in the oldest meanings of the word. What does belong is the proclamation of God’s right way of living and His warnings for not obeying. That’s all we usually have and it’s all we really need. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Maybe that’s why Jesus told us not to worry about it.
