16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of Yahweh.

Characteristics of a True Prophet

A true prophet is one who is under the direction of the Spirit of God. Without this Spirit he could as easily invade heaven and scale the throne of the Eternal, as to lift the thick veil of futurity and unravel its dark mysteries. Yet aided by that Divine afflatus, he records with unerring precision the destinies of nations and kingdoms, even before they exist.

In his revealings he uses no mummeries—no incantations—no cabalistic signs—no mysterious knockings. He invokes not the aid of familiar spirits—neither does he pretend to read the destinies of men and nations by the configurations of the heavenly orbs. He makes no pretensions to superior sagacity or foresight, nor to greater holiness. Neither does he boast of the possession of intellectual powers and literary attainments higher than other men.

When God makes choice of men to fill the Prophetic and Apostolic offices, he passes by the reputed wise, learned, and honorable among men, and chooses "the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty," &c., and this he does "that no flesh should glory in his presence," 1 Cor. 1:27–29.

A true Prophet faithfully reports or records what God has revealed to him while under the Divine influence. If the things come to pass which he has spoken in the name of the Lord, then we know assuredly that the Lord has spoken by him.

Sometimes, when under the afflatus, the Prophet heard, as it were, the voice of God speaking to him, directing him what to do and what to say—as, "Thus saith the Lord;" "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying."

Sometimes in dreams and visions of the night, things and events were portrayed before them with all the minuteness and vividness of reality—a daguerreotype likeness of things before they transpire; as, for instance, the prophecies of Isaiah are represented as

"visions of things which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem;"

also the vision which Peter, James, and John saw on the mount of transfiguration, representative of the glory which Jesus and the saints will have in the future age; and also, the vision of things beyond the power of utterance, which Paul saw and heard in Paradise, &c.

Again, symbols are sometimes employed to represent nations, kingdoms, empires, peoples, governments, powers—Heaven's heraldic signs of things to come, represented by the sun, moon, stars, heavens, earth, seas, &c.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, July 1856