The word "prophet" derives from the Greek word "to announce." A prophet of the LORD God spoke His words. The prophet spoke the words of God, not his own. He was a mouthpiece which God declared His message to men.
Now prophecy has both a broad and a narrow meaning. The broad meaning can be defined as to "forth-tell", and the narrow meaning means to "fore-tell."
TO ANNOUNCE....
JEWISH WRITINGS DESCRIBE PROPHETS AS: A prophet is an individual who receives a message from G-d to transmit to the people.
Baker's dictionary: rophet, Prophetess, Prophecy
A prophet was an individual who received a call from God to be God's spokesperson, often connected with some crisis that was about to occur, and then announced God's message of judgment and/or deliverance to Israel and the nations. The importance of this office can be seen in the fact that the word "prophet" occurs over 300 times in the Old Testament and almost 125 times in the New Testament. The term "prophetess" appears 6 times in the Old Testament and 2 times in the New Testament.
proph·et
ˈpräfit/
noun
1.
a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God.
another dictionary says...
A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet admonishes, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels. He brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond.
proph·et·ess
ˈpräfətəs/
noun
1.
a female prophet.
The doctrine of the New Testament has given women permission to preach (prophesy) before the church and the world( Acts2:16-18)-It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:,and in the book of Acts we see women working in the ministry, but alongside or with the men of the ministry.(Acts18)
A prophetess is simply a female prophet. Just like a prophet, a prophetess is a person called by God. A prophet (male or female) is the mouthpiece for the one who sends him or her; the prophet speaks on behalf of the sender (
Exodus 7:1-2). A prophet is considered a seer (
1 Samuel 9:9), because God gives him or her the gift of foreknowledge. God reveals his secrets to prophets (
Amos 3:7), and true prophesy is initiated by the Holy Ghost (
2 Peter 1:21).
1 Corinthians 12:28 and
Ephesians 4:11
Even during times when women held low standing in the eyes of men, the Bible tells stories of women in God-given positions of power and influence. After all, it is just like God to choose what mankind considers as the "weak things of the world to put to shame the things which [mankind considers] are mighty" (
1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
Notice this:To prophesy is to preach according to Webster (National Dictionary of English Language P. F. Collier & Son, New York 1937). Prophetess “female preacher” (Young’s Analytical Concordance pg. 781).
Some are quick to say they prophesied only in homes, and not in church, but
Ephesians 4:12 says, “Even so ye, for as much as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”
..
Just as a man can edify the church so can a woman edify the church...
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