Post Prophets
Were there any prophets identified or indicated after John the Baptist? Not one prophet was mentioned by name or given credit by either Christ or any of His apostils. "In many part and in many ways of old, God spoke to the fathers in the prophets; in these last days He spoke to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all; through whom He indeed made the ages." (Hebrew 1:1,2). I need to point out one error in this translation, which does make a difference in ones understanding: "spoke" Strong's #2980, all the possible translations are in the present tense, i.e. "speak , "talk", "preach" and others, not "spoke" which leads one to think that it was for then, while Jesus was with man in person, but later after then, we can expect additional prophets. Correctly translated, this verse does indicate that there is no longer a need for additional prophet to speak for Jehovah, because Christ is filling that position. According to Jesus, John was the best of the prophets, "For I say to you, Among those born of a woman, no prophet is greater then John the Baptist. But the least one in the kingdom of God is greater then he is." (Luke 7:28) and the last prophet, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." (Matthew 11:13) and, "The law and the prophets were until John; from then the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is pressing into it." (Luke 16:16). Because Christ now speaks to us by His spirit to our conscience and direct to our heart, would there be any need for more prophets? God Jehovah reveals His messages to man by way of His Son and Christ speaks to man by His spirit, which certainly is holy, but to capitalize Holy Spirit to make it a name of a separate being is not according to God's word. Do we capitalize His hands, His mouth or His eyes?
During the Old Testament times, God communicated with man in both direction,
by His prophets or seers, as some were called, who delivered questions from men to
God, and Jehovah sometimes responded with answers back, through the seer and prophet,
and sometimes He chose not to honor man's request. Jehovah also sent messages by
an angel, or angels of Jehovah. Most all-
Jesus and His writers, however, did warn us of many false prophets that were to come and were already doing their work, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are form God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world." (I John 4:1), and, "For false christs and false prophets will rise up. And they will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:24), but no mention of prophets from Jehovah or Christ were predicted after John the Baptist, only false prophets. It is our personal responsibility to test every prophet and it is our duty as a Christian to test every word from man, every speaker, pastor and writer about the Bible, and there are many teachers professing to know God and the godly path to righteousness, but many do not agree with each other; all should be tested with Gods word. There are over two thousand Christian denomination, all professing to be "Bible Based" and they profess to know the truth of the Bible, but this would be impossible, because all have a different set of doctrine and beliefs.
This brings to mind: can we trust every Book that is called the Bible? Many versions are available to choose from, along with many translations of God's word. The closest to the original, outside of the original, is obviously the best, but this is still based on man's opinion, great caution is needed, since most of us cannot read Hebrew or Greek, this is a problem. There is a Bible that, in addition to a so called "Literal Translation", there is the Hebrew text to the right side, with a Strong's Concordance number over each word for deciding on your own translation, using the Strong's dictionary part. This is a wonderful tool, if one considers that every Hebrew or Greek word has several English words that can apply, which can, and often does change our understanding of the written message, depending on the translator's choice in his attempt to honor the intended meaning of each verse, hoping he chooses for the sake of Bible consistency.
Can we rely on our own foolish understandings of the Bible? We can if we accompany our reading with prayer, asking God for truth and clarity, but first, what is important is reading all of God's word before forming any opinion on its content. Christ is waiting to share His spirit of truth to all who seek God and His righteousness. Other Christians can be a help in your personal quest for the truth, but caution is still needed, because most Christians believe they know what is Biblically correct, but you must depend on God's word over any words of man. The words of the Bible were written by inspired men, which was allowed to be included in His Book, according to Christ's inspiration, and He did make sure they were faithful in their writings. All the post prophets, after John have not been given a seal of approval from either deity, Jehovah or His Son. No matter who they are, what they profess or how intelligent and well spoken they are, all must be tested with God's word. The Hebrew text has been in control of the Israelites and the Jewish nation for the past four thousand years, and many copies are available for comparison, however, the Greek text was not the original New Testament text, according to logic, because the apostils and all the Bible writers were Jews and all were directed to address the lost of the Hebrew nations, all spoke Hebrew, with the exception of Paul who was directed by Christ to reach out to the other nation. I determine that most of the New Testament original text was in the Hebrew text because it would be illogical for a Jew to speak to another Jew in Greek, nor would they write in Greek to other Hebrews. The common language outside of the Hebrew nations was most likely Latin during the apostils day, being under the rule of Rome. Since there are no "original" New Testament copies available to the public, for whatever reason, I do not consider the Greek text as pure, It is either one or two generations away from the original text, considering it may have been first translated into Latin, then Greek and, without a doubt, some has been altered. Proof of this is that most Bible translation of the Old Testament have substituted God name with a title, either "Lord" or "God" instead of maintaining the correct rendition of "Jehovah" to the count of 6747 times. This indicates to me that the translators can and do change what they justify by their own desire. Knowing this, what would prevent them from also making changes in the Greek text? There are several ways to test these translations, when something seems to be contrary to the entire Bible; which is consistent from Genesis to Revelation.
We need to consider every word of modern day prophets, since they have been chosen by man, to see if they have gone astray from Jehovah's pure word, not intentionally, I assume, but it is our duty to following Jesus only, our Christ, because He is the only "Way" to the Father, who is God Almighty "Jesus said to him, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6), and He states no exception, only Christ is the way to Jehovah, our Father, "And Jehovah God formed man out of the dust from the ground, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7).
One more aspect to this subject, it was spoken that prophets will be part of the church body, "And God placed some in the church: firstly, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then works of power; then gifts of healing, helps, governings, kinds of language." (I Corinthians 12:28). This list describes various given talents and abilities, but prophets are not an ability, but an informed one of God's words. What was not represented in this list of abilities was inspired speakers, which was included in Strong's #4396, the list which included prophets. This is a talent needed in order to inform the congregation as to God's word, since quantities of Bibles were not available, only a few hand written scrolls. Not all apostils were inspired speakers, and this would make good sense, considering Hebrews 1:2, "in these last days He spoke to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all..." I bring attention again to "spoke", #2980 lalel: talk, preach say speak, tell, utter words. All listed words are in the present tense, not in the past. "in these last days..." indicates from then and into the future, instead of just when Christ was with them. The choice of words in translated verses does make a difference in our correct understanding, considering Hebrews 1:1,2, which is presented in the first paragraph of the paper. Christ is our Mediator, "For God is one, also there is one Mediator of God and of man, the man Christ Jesus." (I Timothy 2:5). Allow our Christ to do His work and test every word from man.