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Lesson 3, Old Testament Prophets, begins with a picture most of us will recognize. Just as a GPS guides a traveler to a destination, God has given His people a kind of heavenly positioning system, and part of it came through the prophets. This week we take a close look at who those prophets were. Sunday shows Elijah, a great prophet who became deeply discouraged, and reminds us that prophets were frail people like us. Monday asks how we can recognize a true prophet, and Tuesday looks at what prophets actually did in relation to kings, priests, and the people. The second half of the week widens the picture. Wednesday introduces three women whom God called as prophets: Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah. Thursday warns about false prophets, the counterfeits Satan has always produced, and Friday returns to Ellen White, who like many prophets before her was anything but eager for the task. The thread running through the week is that God does not wait for perfect people. He calls willing ones, and He gives them what they need to carry His message. The Humanity of Prophets James says that Elijah was a man with "a nature like ours," and the story proves it. After fire fell from heaven on Mount Carmel, Elijah fled from Jezebel's threat, sat under a tree, asked to die, and told God that he alone was left. His lament suggests he felt responsible for the whole nation's apostasy. It is a reminder that the prophets were not superhuman. They knew fear, anger, and discouragement, and God met Elijah in his low moment with care, not condemnation. If you have ever felt like a failure in your work or your faith, you are in good company. Identifying True Prophets Because God's people were warned about false prophets, God made it possible to recognize true ones. A true prophet delivered the Lord's message faithfully even when it was unwelcome. Micaiah stood alone against four hundred prophets who told King Ahab what he wanted to hear, and Ahab hated him for it (1 Kings 22:1-14). A true prophet was also known for godly character, which is why Saul and his servant spoke of Samuel as an honorable man of God (1 Sam. 9:3-14). Yet a man of God was not a flawless man. The people we respect most are often imperfect, and God works through them anyway. Functions of Prophets Prophets stood between God and the powerful. Israel demanded a king like the nations around them, and Samuel warned them before anointing Saul (1 Sam. 8:4-22). From then on, prophets called unfaithful kings back to God's law, sometimes at great cost (1 Kings 18:4-19; 2 Chron. 24:20-22). They also confronted corrupt priests, as with the household of Eli (1 Sam. 2:27-36). Beyond that, prophets taught the people God's law (2 Chron. 34), carried messages to surrounding nations (Isa. 60:1-3), and sometimes wrote down God's words so they would be preserved. They were people of prayer, of the Word, and of service. Women Prophets Scripture is clear that God also called women to the prophetic office. The Hebrew word nevi'ah is used of Miriam (Exod. 15:20) and the Greek prophetis of Anna (Luke 2:36). Miriam led Israel in a song of victory at the Red Sea, and Micah lists her with Moses and Aaron as someone God sent to His people, though she also sinned and was disciplined for how she treated Moses (Num. 12:1-10). Deborah judged Israel, received revelation from God, and sang of His victory (Judg. 4, 5). When the Book of the Law was found in Josiah's day, the king's officials went to Huldah, who delivered a message of coming judgment, and the reforms that followed delayed it (2 Kings 22:11-14; 2 Chron. 34:22). Men and women alike were sinners who needed grace. False Prophets Satan has always produced counterfeits. In Jeremiah 14, God announces judgment through sword, famine, and pestilence, and false prophets contradicted Him, but the Lord said plainly that He had not sent them (Jer. 14:14). Some drew their claims from false gods (Jer. 23:13, 14), and others spoke from their own imagination (Jer. 23:26; Ezek. 13:2). Many simply followed popular opinion. In 1 Kings 22 a messenger even urged Micaiah to agree with the crowd, but Micaiah refused and waited for God's word. The lesson warns that the popular path is never a safe guide, least of all in a corrupt culture. Ellen White: Not Perfect but Willing When Ellen Harmon received her call, she was young, shy, and in poor health, and she felt crushed by the responsibility. She wrote that she prayed for the burden to fall on someone else, and that death seemed easier than the task (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pp. 35, 36). After prayer and encouragement from fellow believers, she accepted, and gave her life to God's leading (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 38). Her ministry helped shape the Seventh-day Adventist Church, organized in 1863, along with its health and educational work, and her writings total about 100,000 pages. The point of her story is not that she was extraordinary but that she was willing. Christ Connection Every prophet in this lesson was a signpost, and none of them was the destination. Elijah's weakness, Micaiah's courage, Huldah's faithfulness to the written Word, and Ellen White's reluctance all remind us that God's messengers are only as strong as the One who sends them. The prophets point to Jesus, the perfect Prophet, who spoke only what the Father gave Him to say and never wavered when the whole crowd went the other way. Reflection and Application 1. Elijah felt like a failure right after a great victory. What Bible promises have helped you in seasons of discouragement? 2. Who are the people you respect most, and how does it help to remember that God works through imperfect people? 3. Micaiah stood alone against the crowd. Where are we most tempted to follow the popular view instead of waiting for God's word? 4. Huldah applied God's written Word to a real situation. How can we test every message against what Scripture already says? 5. Ellen White hesitated but said yes. Is there a calling you have been putting off? ✨ In essence: "Old Testament Prophets" shows that God's messengers were real people who feared, doubted, and sometimes failed, yet who stayed faithful to the One who called them. He is still looking not for perfect people but for willing ones, and He gives us His Word to tell the true voice from the false.