Prophet נָבִיא

Our word for today is interesting because it is a name God uses to call Abraham and is the first time the word is used in the Bible. You might notice something familiar when you start reading the beginning of chapter 20 of Genesis which we are now in today. Didn’t we already do this already? This reminds us of what Abram did when he was in Egypt back in chapter 12. I guess the old saying old habits die hard is said for a reason. And just like back with Pharaoh king of Egypt God has to rescue Abraham once again this time with king Abimelek. Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” After Abimelek releases Sarah back to Abraham we see this exchange. Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” So Abraham clearly sinned against God and King Abimelek by lying about Sarah. Here is what is interesting even in Abraham’s sin that God is in the middle of rescuing him from he uses our word for today. Genesis 20:7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a נָבִיא prophet. נָבִיא prophet, spokesman, speaker. It is used 314 times in the Old Testament. A good description of this word is found in Exodus 7:1-2 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your נָבִיא prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. So we see our word prophet is basically a spokesperson to speak on behalf of God. We tend to think of a prophet as someone who predicts the future which can be a part of what they do. But it basically is this idea of representing another and speaking for them. Abraham then would be a prophet in this general sense instead of the predictive sense of a prophet based on what we know about his life from the Bible. This is amazing to me that God would call Abraham his representative while He is rescuing him from the consequences of his sin which is not a very good way to represent God. But that is our God full of mercy and compassion. Abraham is certainly not the only prophet or representative that did not always represent God well. 1 Kings 19:13-16 Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your נָבִיא prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there,...anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as נָבִיא prophet.Notice that God doesn’t scold Elijah from running away instead he encourages him and then puts him back into his service. Paul as a leader in the church was very much aware of how much he fell short of God’s standard yet God worked in him and through him in spite of it. 1 Timothy 1:15-17 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Then Paul gets so excited about what God is doing that he can’t help himself and breaks out in praise and worship to God in the very next verse 17. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. When we understand what God has done in our life and what God wants to do through our life we break out and praise Him as well.