One of the main prophets and/or leaders in the Kansas City Prophets movement was Bob Jones (no relation to Bob Jones of Bob Jones University in South Carolina), the movement's visionary. He was said to have been specially anointed with supernatural visions from the Lord and a prophetic gift. However, he was quoted as saying that the general level of prophetic revelation in the movement's "prophets" had an accuracy level of about 65 percent. He said some prophets were as low as 10 percent accurate, with some of the "most mature" prophets having a rating "approaching 85 percent to 95 percent." [1]
Deuteronomy 18:20-23 is the test of a prophet in the OT. A biblical prophet has an accuracy rate of 100 percent.
Another movement that advocates the modern prophetic gift is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). One of NAR’s founders, Peter Wagner, wrote, “The church is to be guided and governed by prophets and apostles (Eph. 4:12–15). Prophets are people with the anointing of God to hear his voice and guide the church. God has empowered those with the gift of prophecy (that is, those who hold the office of prophet) to hear his revealed will “more accurately” once the intercessors have opened heavenly portals by binding demonic powers” (C. Peter Wagner, On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Answer God’s Call to Transform the World, Ventura, CA: Regal, 2013, 29) (click to open).
Biblical Prophets
NT prophets laid the church's foundation (Eph 2:20). Once the foundation was laid, their ministries ceased. See Michael Horton’s White Horse Inn article Reformed and Charismatic? Horton refutes the New Apostolic Reformation and other similar groups that believe in the continuing gift of prophecy.
The prophets in the OT were the most profound spokesman in history. [3]
1. Prophets foretold the future.
When they predicted events, it was to move their listeners to repent or be encouraged. Jonah preached his prophecy, “In forty days, Ninevah will be destroyed,” resulting in his repenting.
Prophets had a ministry of foretelling the future (prophecy): Over 300 OT prophecies were fulfilled in Christ’s 1st coming and over 400 will be fulfilled in His 2nd coming. Isaiah has more prophecies about Christ than any other prophetic book. There are at least 22 prophecies about Christ in Isaiah.
The prophets were preachers but more than preachers. They prophesied that God would reveal future events to them. Here is God’s claim of being able to predict the future (Isa 42:8-9). These verses declare that because God has fulfilled previous prophecies, He will bring to pass future prophecies. An example of God fulfilling a previous prophecy is the prediction that God would defeat Assyria in Israel in Isaiah 10:24-27 which was fulfilled in Isaiah 37:36-38. If God does not predict and fulfil prophecies, then Isaiah’s argument that God is different from idols is destroyed.
The Sunday evening, I got saved, the preacher a prophetic message on Hell. Hell is in the future of every person who rejects Christ as Savior.
2. Prophets forthtold the Word to their contemporaries.
There are 17 prophetic books: Five Major (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and Twelve Minor that cover four centuries in the OT from 840 B.C. (Obadiah) to 420 B.C. (Malachi). The 17 prophetic books are called the “dark continent of Scripture.” These OT dark ages needed prophets foretelling the future and forthtelling God’s Word to provoke repentance.
“The prophets spoke to Israel in times of crisis .... Had there been no crisis, there would have been little need for the prophets.” [4]
1. The prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah prophesied before the crisis of the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC to Assyria (Assyria invaded Israel five times).
1) Tiglath-pileser invaded in 743-738 B.C. (2 Kings15:19-20).
2) He invaded again later
3) Shalmanesser V invaded and defeated Israel in 722 B.C. Isaiah predicted this defeat.
4) Sargon II attacked later
5) Sennacherib attacked Israel but was defeated by a single angel in Isaiah 36-37 in 701 B.C.
2. The prophets Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Ezekiel and Obadiah warned the Southern Kingdom of Judah not to follow the example of Israel or they would experience a similar crisis. Judah fell to Babylon in 586 BC.
3. After the 70-year exile, when Persia was the new world power, Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, and Malachi prophesied to God’s people. These prophets ministered unto the end of the OT.
Augustine referred to “Seasons of the soul” or crises when sinners are more open to the gospel. For example, when my mother’s brother, Paul, an alcoholic, died, my mom looked into his casket and asked herself, where is my brother? Then, she asked herself, where would I be if I died? She knew she would be in hell. The death or crisis of her lost brother became a season of the soul and she trusted Christ as her Savior.
Prophets as individuals
A prophet was called “man of God,” “seer,” “visionary,” and “prophet.” “Prophet” during the literary period was the most common name for a prophet.
Nonwriting Prophets
Though these prophets did not record their prophecies, “The records of non-literary prophecy are not entirely lost to us for they are interwoven into the histories of Israel as they are told in the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.” [5]
“The prophets (non-literary) did not become a significant factor in religious history until the rise of the monarchy.” [6] They were the conscience of the king.
1. Samuel and Nathan.
The prophetic organization returns to Samuel, the first full-time professional prophet. (I Sam.3:21ff. lays out the office of the prophet). Prophetic organization — the prophets traveled with disciples (schools of the prophets) (Hullinger’s notes on Isaiah).
A. Samuel, the kingmaker. The monarchy or institution of kings came into existence because of the ministry of Samuel the prophet. Samuel anointed the first two kings of Israel.
B. There was a band of prophets in 1 Samuel 10:5-13.
1) Nathan received a vision of the temple in 2 Samuel 7:17.
2) Nathan rebuked King David in 2 Samuel 12 concerning his sin with Bathsheba. Nathan’s message, “You are the man.”
2. Elijah and Elisha had understudies called the “sons of the prophets” (2 Kgs 6:1-7). Elijah rebuked King Ahaz in 1 Kings 17:1 with a prophecy, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years.” The nonliterary, prophets were watchdogs of the king, admonishing him to faithfulness to Yahweh.
3. Isaiah preached to Hezekiah in Isaiah 36-39. Read Isaiah 38:1-2.
4. John the Baptist was called the greatest of the prophets in Mt 11:11 who rebuked king Herod in Mt 14:4.
Isaiah the Man
We know about Isaiah not from history but from what he said and wrote, especially in Isaiah 6:1-13.
1) He was humble. “Woe is me”
2) He obeyed God’s call, “Here am I, send me.”
3) Isaiah ministered to Judah’s kings (1:1) for around 58 years.
a. Uzziah (790-739) had a long reign during which Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727) confronted Israel and forced them to pay tribute (2 Kings 15).
b. Jotham (750-732) saw the beginnings of the decline of Judah.
c. Ahaz (735-715) sought the help of Tiglath-Pileser III for protection from Israel and Syria instead of trusting in Yahweh.
d. Hezekiah (715-686), whose reign saw the threat on Jerusalem from Sennacherib. Isaiah's ministry began sometime in Uzziah's reign, and he probably died sometime after the death of Hezekiah because Isaiah wrote a biography of him (2 Chron. 32:32).
e. Hezekiah lived after the death of Sennacherib in 681 BC (37:38). Isaiah ministered for at least 58 years (from at least 739, when Uzziah died [6:1], to 681, when Sennacherib died).
4) Isaiah was a scribe (2 Chronicles 26.22).
5) Isaiah was married and had two sons (7.3, 8.1-4).
6) Isaiah lived in Jerusalem (He wrote much about Jerusalem). Isaiah referred to Jerusalem by using more than 30 names. Isaiah has been called the “book of the city” (1:1, 8 and 65:18-19; 66:13).
7) Isaiah trained disciples (8:16).
8) There is no historical record of Isaiah’s death. Jewish tradition held that he suffered martyrdom under King Manasseh (697-642 B.C.) because of his prophesying. The early church father Justin Martyr (ca. A.D. 150) wrote that the Jews sawed him to death with a wooden saw (cf. Heb. 11:37) (Bible Knowledge Commentary OT).
Isaiah the Book
William Sanford LaSor stated that Isaiah was “The greatest Old Testament book.”
Isaiah’s name, “The Lord (Yahweh) is salvation,” meaning the Lord is the source of salvation, summarizes the book's message.
1. Judgment of Sin (chs. 1-39)
2. Salvation from Sin (chs. 40-66)
Wiersbe called Isaiah “The Bible in Miniature.”
1. 39 chapters in the OT matches the first 39 chapters of Isaiah.
2. 27 chapters in the NT matches the following 27 chapters of Isaiah.
• The second section begins with John the Baptist (40:1-11), just like the NT begins.
• The second section ends with the New Heaven (66:22-24), just as the NT ends.
• Isaiah 53 is the center of 40-66. Which John Whitcomb called “The greatest prophecy."
Isaianic authorship
The book claims to have come from Isaiah (1:1; 2:1; 7:3; 13:1; 20:2; 37:2, 6, 21; 38:1, 4, 21; 39:3, 5, 8)
Jesus Christ and the apostles quoted him as the writer at least 21 times, more often than they quoted all the other writing prophets combined.
Critics of Isaianic authorship
There is no record of any serious scholar doubting the Isaianic authorship of the entire book before the twelfth century when Ibn Ezra, a Jewish commentator, did so. However, with the rise of rationalism, some German liberal scholars took the lead in questioning it in the late eighteenth century (Thomas Constable, Netbible.org). The critics rejected Isaianic authorship because they rejected supernatural predictive prophecy.
These critics advocate three different authors who wrote to three different historical settings in these three parts of the book:
1. Isaiah’s lifetime (ca. 739-701 B.C.; chs. 1—39)
2. The Babylonian exile (ca. 605-539 B.C.; chs. 40—55)
3. The return (ca. 539-400 B.C.; chs. 56—66).[2],” Bibliotheca Sacra 144:573 (January-March 1987):24-43; and idem, “Literary Genres in Isaiah 40—55,” Bibliotheca Sacra 144:574 (April-June 1987):144-55. John D. W. Watts (Constable, netbible.org) is a modern commentator on Isaiah who advocated this approach.
Evidence for Isaianic authorship
NT writers quote from all these sections claiming Isaiah as the author: Romans 9:29 quotes Isa 1:9. Matt 3:3 quotes Isa 40:3. Romans 10:16 quotes Isa 53:1. Romans 10:20-21 quotes Isaiah 65:1.
Internal and external evidence points to the unity of authorship. The title for God, “holy one of Israel,” is mentioned 12 times in chapters 1-39 and 14 times in chapters 40-66. This title of God is mentioned only seven times elsewhere in the entire Old Testament.
1. Prophecies of judgment for sinners: Isaiah 1-39
Israel had broken the Mosaic Law. God predicted the punishment for breaking his Word in Deuteronomy 28:25.
A. Prophecies of judgment on Judah (1-12)
1) The Lord’s indictment against Judah (1-6)
2) Prophecies of deliverance (7-12) The Book of Immanuel (Trusting God or Man/Assyria)
a) Prophecy of the virgin birth (7:14)
b) Prophecy of the birth, death, and reign of Christ (9:6-7)
c) Prophecy of the reign of Christ (11:1-12:6). The Assyrian kingdom will fall (Isa
10:34). God’s kingdom will rise (Isa 11:1-12:6). This is the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15.
1. A description of the Messiah (11:1-5)
2. A description of the Kingdom (11:6-9)
3. A description of the Remnant (11:10-12:6). How do we know these are millennial prophesies? Because these prophecies can only be fulfilled literally in the millennium. These are not being fulfilled in our age, nor can they be fulfilled in eternity (Isa 11:10).
B. Prophecies of judgment on the Nations hostile to Judah (13-23)
1) Prophecies against nine sinful Gentile nations or cities to convince Israel that God will judge her enemies and set up his kingdom to persuade Israel to trust Him and the other nations.
a) Babylon (13:1-14:27)
b) Philistia (14:28-32)
c) Moab (15-16)
d) Damascus (17:1-11)
e) Assyria (17:12-18:7)
f) Egypt (19-20)
g) Edom (21:11-12)
h) Arabia (21:13-17)
i) Jerusalem (22)
j) Tyre (23)
2) Prophecies are written to assure Judah that God will judge her enemies.
C. Prophecies of universal judgment and blessing on the earth (24-35)
1) The Little Apocalypse: Transition from immediate to future judgment (24) and Kingdom blessing (25-27). God’s judgment on the nations through the Assyrian invasions (chaps. 13–23) forms a backdrop for the Lord’s eventual judgment on the whole world (24:1, 4). Known as “Isaiah’s apocalypse,” chapters 24–27 describe the earth’s devastation, people’s intense suffering during the coming Tribulation, and the blessings to follow in the millennial kingdom.
2) Six woes against those who set themselves against God and were scoffing at Isaiah’s messages (28-33)
1. Woe to Ephraim and Judah (chap. 28)
2. Woe to Jerusalem (chap. 29)
3. Woe to the obstinate children (chap. 30)
4. Woe to the Egyptian alliance (chaps. 31–32)
5. Woe to the destroyers (chap. 33)
3) Vengeance and blessing (chaps. 34–35)
1. The Lord’s day of vengeance (chap. 34) against the enemies of God.
2. The Lord’s day of blessing (chap. 35) for the people of God.
D. Prophecies of the Captivity (36-39) A Historical Bridge
Historical interlude: Judah to be in captivity (chaps. 36–39)
1) God defeated Assyria as predicted (Isaiah looks back in chapters 36-37 and climax 1-35).
a) Isaiah wanted to portray Hezekiah as one who believed in God and was miraculously delivered from the Assyrian threat by a sovereign act of God. The point of these chapters is that God can and does fulfill His Word to His people. He had told them on a number of occasions that the Assyrians would be defeated; now that promise was fulfilled.
b) Hezekiah was a man of faith
2) God delivered Judah from Babylon as predicted (Isaiah looks forward in chapters 38-39 and lays a foundation for 40-66).
a) In chapters 36–37, Hezekiah was a man of faith, but here he was a man of pride.
b) This account is also recorded in 2 Kings 20.
c) Three events occurred in 701 BC.
1) Hezekiah’s sickness (Isa 38)
2) Merodach-baladan’s visit (Isa 39)
3) Sennacherib’s attack (Isa 36-37)
“Hezekiah faced three crises in a short time:
1) An international crisis (The invasion of the Assyrian army),
2) A personal crisis (sickness and near death)
3) A national crisis (the visit of the Babylonian envoys). “He came through the first two victoriously, but the third one tripped him up” (Wiersbe)
2. Prophecies of Comfort for the believer (the remnant): Isaiah 40-66
God promised God’s People that He would return them to the land for their obedience (Dt. 30:1-5). Judgment, emphasized in chapters 1–39, is the purifying force that leads to the forgiveness and pardoning of sins emphasized in chapters 40–66 (cf. 27:9).
This section is divided into three parts of nine chapters each (chaps. 40–48; 49–57; 58–66).
A. Prophecies of deliverance from captivity in Babylon (40-48).
The chief deliverer is Cyrus, mentioned near the middle of the section (44:28–45:1).
B. Prophecies of the rejection and restoration of the Suffering Servant (49-57).
Four “Servant” Prophesies
1. The Servant is Sent (42:6-7)
2. The Servant is Rejected (49:7)
3. The Servant is Abused (50:6)
4. The Servant is Crucified (52:13-53:12)
C. Prophecies of the consummation of God’s restoration of Israel and the world (58-66). At the heart of this third section is the coming of the Messiah (chaps. 61–63).
1. The restoration to come by God’s initiative (chaps. 58–60)
2. The coming of the Messiah (61:1–63:6)
3. The nation’s prayer and the Lord’s response (63:7–65:25).
4. The Lord’s fulfillment of His promises (chap. 66)
Theology of Isaiah
The central doctrine of Isaiah is the Holy One of Israel.
1. Isaiah’s call is rooted in the holiness of God in Isaiah six. The adjective “holy” (Heb. qadosh) describes God 33 times in Isaiah and only 26 times in the rest of the Old Testament. Holiness is the primary attribute of God that this prophet stressed.
2. Isaiah is the prophet of holiness
a. In the book of The King his holiness is rejected (5:24)
b. In the book of The Servant dies for sinful people
c. In the book of The Conqueror sinners will bow before the Holy one of Israel (60:14)
Another important doctrine is God who keeps His promises (covenant promises)
In the ancient Near East, names were more meaningful than they are today. A person’s name was an indication of his or her character. The Book of Isaiah is no exception, for in this book, the meanings of God’s names play an important role in several prophetic utterances. Isaiah used the name “the LORD” (Yahweh) by itself more than 300 times, making it by far the most prominent name for Deity Isaiah used.
Since this name is the covenant name for God, it is natural that Isaiah used it often. He also frequently used the name “God” (’ělōhîm) in both parts of the book. It is noteworthy that “God” occurs six times in chapter 40 (vv. 1, 3, 8–9, 27–28; “God” in v. 18, however, translates the shorter form ’ēl), which introduces the section on comfort for the covenant people. As the one supreme Deity, God can give comfort to His people (Bible Knowledge Commentary).
God fulfilled the first-coming prophecies literally. God will keep the second-coming millennial prophecies literally. However, Covenant postmillennialist Loraine Boettner provides an example of allegorizing the millennial passage of Isaiah 11:6-8, which predicts that in the future kingdom,
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.” Here is how Boettner allegorizes this prophecy for Israel: “A fitting example of the wolf dwelling with the lamb is seen in the change that came over the vicious persecutor Saul of Tarsus, who was a wolf ravening and destroying, but who was so transformed by the Gospel of Christ that he became a lamb. After his conversion, he lost his hatred for the Christians and became instead their humble friend, confidant, and defender.[3] God literally keeps His promises. What promise from God’s Word do you need today? The promise of salvation (Rom 10:19), forgiveness (1 Jo 1:9), strength (Phil 4:13), or God’s supplies (Phil 4:19). Claim these promises proclaimed by God’s prophets!
[1] Steven F Cannon, "Old Wine in Old Wineskins: A Look at Kansas City Fellowship," The Quarterly Journal 10, no. 4 (October-December 1990): 8.
[2] C. Peter Wagner, The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit: Encountering the Power of Signs and Wonders Today (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1988), 107.
[3] Bullock C. Hassell, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 9.
[4] Ibid., 11.
[5] Ibid., 15.
[6] Ibid., 15.