Calling the Prophets

How do prophets know they’re prophets? Do they just go to sleep one night thinking they’re going to be a farmer or a shepherd or a stonemason, and the next day they wake up with the future laid out before them like a movie script?

Do they have vivid dreams that foretell disaster? Do they get giant signposts that say, “Carl, you’re a prophet now?”

Let’s look at how Biblical prophets get their call.

Naming the Prophets

Just like before we could look at how Jesus’s disciples were first called, we had to figure out who they were, we have to do the same for the prophets.

We should start by defining prophet: a prophet is a person who speaks the words of God to the people of God. Today, we tend to associate “prophecy” with telling the future because God gave so many prophets glimpses of the future. But their primary task is to speak to people on God’s behalf. (Conversely, a priest is someone who speaks to God on behalf of the people.)

A prophet is a person who speaks the words of God to the people of God.

Traditionally, there are four major prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel—and twelve minor prophets—Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

They’re easy to remember because they all have Bible books named after them, and they’re all in a row at the end of the Old Testament, starting right after Song of Solomon¹.

But there are a lot more prophets than that! Moses and Jesus, for two really easy ones. John the Baptist, who prepares the way for Jesus. Mary, the mother of Jesus, who sang her prophecy. John of Patmos, the author of Revelation, who also gets his own book. Elijah and Elisha are extremely famous prophets who don’t get books named after them. And what about King David, whose psalms are interpreted by New Testament authors as prophetic?

Then there are what I call the “very minor prophets” who get specific single words from God and express them to kings or others at the right time. There are dozens of them!

There are lots of lists of prophets out there, some longer and some shorter; I’m going to do my best to be thorough, but feel free to let me know if I miss one.

Major Prophets

The major prophets all experience long ministries; Jeremiah was called as a youth, and Daniel served God almost from the moment he was deported when he too was very young. As we will see, the experiences that started their prophetic ministries have a lot in common.

Isaiah

The book of Isaiah begins with five chapters of prophecy—identifying Judah’s sin and hope for repentance—before we ever meet Isaiah the man. Then in chapter 6, Isaiah records his call. He is taken in a vision to the throne of God:

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
—Isaiah 6:1–4

He is prepared for ministry by cleansing:

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
—Isaiah 6:5–7

And finally he is called, he answers, and he is commissioned:

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
—Isaiah 6:8–10

Isaiah’s call has an interesting parallel with the famous call of Moses at the burning bush, in that like Moses Isaiah claims he cannot be a prophet because of his mouth. Moses says he is “slow of speech and slow of tongue,” and Isaiah says, “I am a man of unclean lips!” Of course, even in his objection, he inhabits the role of prophet, because he identifies that, like him, his nation is unfit to stand before God: “I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips!” For Moses, God gives Aaron as a spokesperson; for Isaiah, God cleanses Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal from the altar of the throne room. How much cleaner can you be?

Jeremiah

Jeremiah narrates his call right at the beginning. Like Isaiah, he is also taken in a vision—in fact, a series of visions. It starts with God calling to him verbally, confirming his purpose from before his birth, and commissioning him as a prophet:

4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
—Jeremiah 1:4–5

Jeremiah, like Moses and Isaiah, objects to God’s call on the grounds of speech:

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
—Jeremiah 1:6

His objection is clothed in humilty: he is “only a youth,” meaning he has not yet reached adulthood and independence from his parents (although this detail doesn’t indicate his exact age). Still, God counters his objection and reassures him:

7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” 9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
—Jeremiah 1:7–10

Like Isaiah, God touches Jeremiah’s mouth, making it holy—consecrated for God’s use. And He tells Jeremiah not to worry, that God will protect him—which foreshadows that Jeremiah is going need God’s protection.

Finally, just as God gives Isaiah an overview of his ministry, He gives Jeremiah two visions that summarize his call. He begins, amazingly, with a pun:

11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” 12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
—Jeremiah 1:11–12

The Hebrew word for almond (shaqed) sounds like the Hebrew word for “watching” (shoqed). The almond tree buds early, so it was said to “watch for spring,” just as God is watching over His word to perform it—Jeremiah can have confidence that what he says, God will do.

Jeremiah gets a second vision, this time indicating the manner of this judgment: invasion from the north.

13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.”
—Jeremiah 1:13–15

Finally, God reiterates His promise of protection, which should tell the reader Jeremiah’s prophecy is going to get him in trouble, even before God confirms it:

17 “But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.”
—Jeremiah 1:17–19

God immediately commands Jeremiah to begin his ministry “in the hearing of Jerusalem.” Right at the seat of power. He’s going to need that protection.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, launches immediately into his inauguration as a prophet:

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.
—Ezekiel 1:1–3

Ezekiel’s initial vision is wild; it’s the source of the famous “wheels within wheels” that has sparked so many attempts at artistic interpretation:

4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
—Ezekiel 1:4–6

It turns out Ezekiel, like Isaiah, is seeing the throne room of heaven; he just seems to have noticed these psychedelic creatures first:

26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
—Ezekiel 1:26–28

God commissions Ezekiel to proclaim the rebellion of Israel to the people of Israel:

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’”
—Ezekiel 2:1–4

Apparently, Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, will have something to fear from the people to whom he is sent, because God assures him twice that he has nothing to fear:

6 “And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”
—Ezekiel 2:6

9 “Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”
—Ezekiel 3:9

Finally, God consecrates Ezekiel’s mouth just like He did Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s:

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
—Ezekiel 2:8–10

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
—Ezekiel 3:1–3

Ezekiel must have been as scared as Isaiah and Jeremiah, but unlike them, he is stunned into speechlessness that lasts the whole vision and seven full days afterward:

15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
—Ezekiel 3:15

Daniel

Daniel’s call as a prophet does not look anything like the first three; rather than laying out his profession explicitly, God brings Daniel along gradually.

When Daniel and his friends are first exiled to Babylon (and renamed), the men refuse to eat the meals prepared by the king’s servants as a way of remaining distinct from the Babylonian culture attempting to assimilate them. As part of this act of faith, God grants them favor:

17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
—Daniel 1:17

Daniel is called on to provide this understanding to interpret two of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams:

16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
—Daniel 2:16–19

18 “This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!”
—Daniel 4:18–19

Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar required Daniel’s interpretation as well in the matter of the writing on the wall:

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
—Daniel 5:13–16

During the reign of King Belshazzar, Daniel begins to have visions that are his own, not in response to the dreams of kings:

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.
—Daniel 7:1

The visions are terrifying, and Daniel, to whom God gave interpretations of two weird dreams and four weird words, cannot interpret them on his own:

15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.”
—Daniel 7:15–16

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”
—Daniel 8:15–16

20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.”
—Daniel 9:20–23

Years later, when Cyrus was king of Persia, yet another vision arrives, this one no less vivid, but which Daniel understands without angelic intervention:

1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision.
—Daniel 10:1

As happened to Ezekiel during his initial call, the visions overwhelm Daniel:

28 “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”
—Daniel 7:28

27 And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.
Daniel 8:27

8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength.
—Daniel 10:8

In the midst of his final epic vision of the future rulers of the Near East, he is struck dumb—again like Ezekiel—and we hear an echo of Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s concerns about their ability to perform their office:

15 When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. 16 And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. 17 How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”
—Daniel 10:15–17

So God gives Daniel understanding of others’ dreams, then of a communal vision, and finally of his own visions, which grow more and more confusing and terrifying until Daniel cannot speak until an angel touches his lips, confirming God’s call on his life.

Now we see that three of the major prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel—had very similar calls to a life of ministry and prophecy. Daniel shares some characteristics, but due to the lack of a specific initiating call, he is the most dissimilar.

Element	Isaiah	Jeremiah	Ezekiel	Daniel
Verbal Call	Isaiah 6:8–10	Jeremiah 1:4–5	Ezekiel 2:1–4	Daniel 1:17
Muteness			Ezekiel 3:15	Daniel 10:15
Objection	Isaiah 6:5	Jeremiah 1:6
Mouth	Isaiah 6:6–7	Jeremiah 1:9	Ezekiel 2:8–10 Ezekiel 3:1–3	Daniel 10:16–17
Vision	Isaiah 6:1–4	Jeremiah 1:11–12 Jeremiah 1:13–15	Ezekiel 1:4–28
Promise of Protection		Jeremiah 1:7–8 Jeremiah 1:17–19	Ezekiel 2:6 Ezekiel 3:9

Minor Prophets

The minor prophets are only minor in the sense that their books are shorter and their visions less all-encompassing. Their prophecies are no less God-given, and their messages are no less important. There’s just less of it.

Hosea

Hosea’s life—his ordained marraige to Gomer, her unfaithfulness, and their reconciliation at great cost to him—is an allegory for God’s relationship with Israel. As such, he experiences not so much a single vision as a constant call to live out the parable God has for His people.

First, God instructs him to marry a woman with a sexual past who will eventually betray him:

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
—Hosea 1:2–3

God dictates the names of all three of Gomer’s children (the first is explicitly also Hosea’s child, but the book does not name the father of the second and third):

4 And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
—Hosea 1:4–5

6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
—Hosea 1:6–7

8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
—Hosea 1:8–9

Finally, God commands Hosea to go redeem Gomer from the situation she finds herself in; somehow, she has fallen from “wife of a prophet” into a position where she may be purchased:

1 And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.
—Hosea 3:1–2

The remainder of the book are Hosea’s combined prophecies that give color and detail to the parable that is his life with Gomer.

Joel

The book of Joel, for all its vivid imagery, gives only one hint at how God called Joel to prophecy:

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel
—Joel 1:1

…and he launches right into an invasion of locusts.

Amos

The story of Amos’s call comes near the end of the seventh of nine chapters:

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
—Amos 7:14–15

Amos hears many words from the Lord and sees five explicit visions:

1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.
—Amos 7:1

4 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.
—Amos 7:4

7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
—Amos 7:7

1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.”
—Amos 8:1–2

This fourth vision is notable because its pattern matches that of Jeremiah’s call: God shows the prophet a vision and asks what he sees. They even both contain puns! Just as “almond” and “watching” sound alike in Hebrew, so do “summer fruit” (qayits) and “end” (qets).

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.”
—Amos 9:1

While we call him a “minor” prophet, we know that God doesn’t see Amos that way, because he, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, sees a vision of the throne of God.

Obadiah

In this short book, we learn nothing of Obadiah but his name:

1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
—Obadiah 1:1

Jonah

The story of Jonah is exceptionally well-known, partly because it tells such a great story. And part of that story is Jonah’s conversational relationship with God. His initial call comes right at the beginning, along with the purpose of his ministry:

1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
—Jonah 1:1–2

After the episode with the ship and the fish and Tarshish, God repeats Jonah’s commission:

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
—Jonah 3:1–2

Micah

We learn almost nothing about Micah, not even his family (unlike Joel and Jonah, whose fathers we learn):

1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
—Micah 1:1

I know this article is about the prophets’ calls, but I can’t let Micah go without noting the unbelievable string of puns in the rest of the first chapter.

Nahum

Nahum’s ministry has the same content as Jonah’s: the downfall of Nineveh in deliverance of Judah. And like Micah, we learn only his origin, not his lineage. It appears that Nahum got one singular vision which functioned also as his call to ministry:

1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
—Nahum 1:1

Habakkuk

Habakkuk calls his prophecy an “oracle,” but it uniquely consists of a dialog between him and God, which suggests that his “call” to ministry may have been God’s answer to his prayer. After the first interaction, God commands Habakkuk to write his vision, which functions as the closest to a prophetic call that we get:

2 And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end–it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”
—Habakkuk 2:2–3

Zephaniah

Zephaniah gives us his pedigree, possibly including Hezekiah the king of Judah, but no details about how God initially called him to prophecy:

1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
—Zephaniah 1:1

Haggai

Of Haggai we learn neither his hometown nor his lineage nor anything else about him, but God speaks to him six separate times, none of which resemble a call to ministry:

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest
—Haggai 1:1

3 Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet
—Haggai 1:3

13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.”
—Haggai 1:13

1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet
—Haggai 2:1

10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet
—Haggai 2:10

20 The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month
—Haggai 2:20

Those last two are notable for having happened on the same day but being recorded separately. In fact, Haggai’s oracles are so well-dated that we can compute specific dates for them; for example, these last two oracles occurred on December 18, 520 BC.

Zechariah

Zechariah names his father (Berechiah) and grandfather (Iddo) twice; apparently this lineage is important because Ezra also mentions Zechariah’s lineage to Iddo (Ezra 6:14). This Iddo may be the very minor prophet Iddo, but is far more likely to be the Iddo from Nehemiah 12:4 who “came up with Zerubbabel.” Zechariah and Haggai were contemporaries; they presumably knew each other, or at least Ezra knew both of them.

Anyway, Zechariah doesn’t get a specific call either, just a word from God out of the blue:

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo
—Zechariah 1:1

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo
—Zechariah 1:7

Zechariah sees many visions from God; the book records eight visions alongside Zechariah’s oracles.

Malachi

Malachi, like Haggai, gives us nothing to go on but his name:

1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
—Malachi 1:1

Minor Prophet Calls

So of the twelve minor prophets, only Amos, Jonah, and maybe Habakkuk give us insight into how God called them to their ministries.

The rest of them simply introduce themselves and launch right into their prophecies, oracles, or visions.

Speaking of visions, only Amos, Habakkuk, and Zechariah have visions; the other nine give us spoken oracles.

Prophets Without Books

What about the final category of prophets, those who speak for God but don’t fall into the traditional lists of prophets? Somewhat ironically, some of these prophets are far more “major” than the so-called Major Prophets.

Moses

Moses is by far the most important prophet of Israel, but because his story is wrapped up in the definitive event of Israel’s history—the exodus from Egypt—the books that tell his story are named after what God did through Moses rather than Moses himself.

Moses’s call is at least as well known—perhaps even more so—as Jesus’s:

2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
—Exodus 3:2–3

When he gets to the burning-but-not-consumed bush, God speaks to him and calls him to his work:

10 “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
—Exodus 3:10

God establishes Moses’s prophetic office in this same event, but remember the role of prophet: a prophet speaks the words of God to the people of God; they are not necessarily future-tellers. God gives Moses words to speak to Israel:

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’”
—Exodus 3:14–17

For decades after this, Moses speaks the words of God to both the people of God and the enemies of God. God affirms this role for Moses much later, ironically as part of Moses’s most famous future-telling prophecy:

18 “I [God] will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”
—Deuteronomy 18:18

But this remarkable foretelling of the eventual coming of Jesus Christ isn’t the only time God gives Moses a glimpse of the future. He also shows Israel its future, first in a song that serves as both reminder and prophecy in Deuteronomy 32:

1 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.”
—Deuteronomy 32:1

And then as specific prophecies for each tribe in the form of a series of blessings just before he dies in Deuteronomy 33. For example, protection for Benjamin:

12 Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”
—Deuteronomy 33:12

And abundance for Zebulun and Issachar:

18 And of Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar, in your tents. 19 They shall call peoples to their mountain; there they offer right sacrifices; for they draw from the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
—Deuteronomy 33:18–19

So we see that Moses primarily fulfilled the traditional office of prophet, but near the end of his life, he also spoke of the entire future of Israel from his death all the way up until the coming of Jesus.

Jesus

I don’t usually think of Jesus as a prophet; I typically think of Him first as God and savior and sacrifice, then as teacher. But I also say things like, “Jesus is the ultimate prophet-priest-king.” This divine appointment—prophet-priest-king—is known as the “threefold office,” and it’s a critical way for modern Christians to understand the roles of Jesus in the cosmos and in our lives. But this article is about that first part, prophet.

Jesus is called to speak the words of God in the second-most-famous prophet-calling episode after Moses’s burning bush: Jesus’s baptism by John.

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him
—Matthew 3:16–17

Since Jesus is God, everything Jesus speaks is in some sense prophecy. And it’s clear that that’s how Jesus sees His preaching:

4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
—Mark 6:4

43 but he Jesus said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
—Luke 4:43

24 “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”
—John 14:24

It’s interesting that, unlike the Old Testament prophets, Jesus never says, “Thus says the Lord”—because obviously the Lord is saying it!

But Jesus also gives us some of the darkest future-telling prophecy in the Bible. For example,

4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”
—Matthew 24:4–14

This foretold future does get better:

13 “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
—Matthew 24:13–14

But then worse again:

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
—Matthew 24:29

But then, finally, better forever:

30 “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
—Matthew 24:30–31

Moses and Jesus are by far the most famous of this third category of prophets, but let’s look at five more exceptionally famous prophets: Elijah, Elisha, King David, John the Baptist, and John of Patmos.

Elijah

Elijah was a prophet and a miracle-worker in Israel during the reign of the evil King Ahab of Israel (if Ahab doesn’t sound familiar, you might recognize his more-famous wife, Jezebel). He kind of comes out of nowhere² with a prophecy of drought:

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
—1 Kings 17:1

We never see a formal call on his life, just God speaking to him repeatedly (1 Kings 17:2,8,14, and many others).

Among his many miracles, including the spectacular defeat of hundreds of so-called prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18), Elijah has the interesting role of raising up another famous prophet in Israel, his student Elisha.

Elisha

God’s call on Elisha’s life actually comes through Elijah, not to Elisha directly:

16 “Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.”
—1 Kings 19:16

So Elijah goes to find Elisha and calls him somewhat abruptly:

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.
—1 Kings 19:19

To Elisha’s credit, he doggedly follows Elijah, and even knowing how Elijah has been persecuted by Ahab, he begs to follow in his footsteps:

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”
—2 Kings 2:9

King David

King David is not the first name that comes to mind when considering Biblical prophets, but the New Testament authors very clearly considered him a prophet. Peter refers to him explicitly in his incredible Pentecost sermon:

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”
—Acts 2:29–31

The author of Hebrews groups him with “Samuel and the prophets” in the so-called “Hall of Faith”:

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets–
—Hebrews 11:32

David himself, in his last words, says he speaks the words of God:

2 “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.”
—2 Samuel 23:2

Despite these attestations, the Bible does not record a prophetic calling for David, only Samuel anointing him as the future king of Israel:

12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
—1 Samuel 16:12–13

We can’t leave David without mentioning his most famous bit of prophecy: Psalm 22. It contains at least nine unique prophecies that are directly fulfilled by Jesus’s crucifixion.

John the Baptist

John the Baptist is Jesus’s cousin, and like Jeremiah he is called by God before he is even born. Before he is even conceived, God speaks of him to his father Zechariah:

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
—Luke 1:13–17

It takes Zechariah a while to digest the news, but eventually he sings of John’s future and speaks prophecies himself:

76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins”
—Luke 1:76–77

Between the angels’ visit and Zechariah’s song, however, John actually gets a second prenatal call, this time from the also-as-yet-unborn Jesus, when Mary visits Elizabeth, and John recognizes Jesus:

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.
—Luke 1:39–41

This event causes two shocking prophecies, made all the more so because they are both by women—one very old, and one very young. First, Elizabeth prophecies of Mary:

41 And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”
—Luke 1:41–45

And in response, even more wondrously, Mary sings the Magnificat, a glorious song of praise, history, and prophecy, which starts this way:

46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord”
—Luke 1:46

We have just barely gotten past John’s birth, and we’ve seen prophecies from an angel, his father, his mother, and Mary herself!

But God’s not done with John yet. About thirty years later, God speaks to him directly and begins his true ministry:

2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
—Luke 3:2–3

And here, all of these “other” prophets start coming together.

1. Moses spoke of God raising up a prophet like himself.
   1. He anointed Joshua, whose Hebrew name is Yeshua, as his immediate successor.
   2. John baptized Jesus, whose Hebrew name is Yeshua, as Moses’s prophesied successor.
2. John came in “the spirit and power of Elijah.”
3. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with the transfigured Jesus (Matthew 17:3, Mark 9:4, Luke 9:30).
4. On the cross, Jesus inhabits King David’s prophetic lament from Psalm 22.

We’re going to look at one more prophet, perhaps the most famous future-telling prophet in the Bible, and definitely the most confusing.

John of Patmos

John of Patmos³ wrote the book of Revelation, traditionally the final book of the New Testament, making him appropriate for the last prophet in this article.

John’s initial prophetic calling is incontrovertible: Jesus Himself shows up and starts dictating seven letters to churches in and around modern-day Turkey.

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
—Revelation 1:9–11

John himself says he was visited by an angel (Revelation 1:1), but the voice doing the dictation belongs to someone who says, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17–18) Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.

John gets a second call that kicks off the rest of his visions a few chapters later:

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
—Revelation 4:1

As muddied in interpretation as the rest of Revelation is, these calls to prophecy could not be more clear.

One interesting note on John: he also gets an anti-call, the only instruction in Scripture not to deliver some prophecy⁴:

4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
—Revelation 10:4

All The Other Prophets

There are a lot more prophets in the Bible than we have time to investigate here. Beyond the major prophets and the minor prophets are what I call “very minor prophets”—the ones given specific words from God for specific times, but who are neither major characters like Elijah nor professional prophets like Isaiah nor prophets with their own entire books like Micah. There are more than forty Biblical men and women in this category.

There are also major characters who prophesy, but for whom prophecy is not a significant facet of their identity; the patriarch Jacob, son of Isaac, is a good example. Toward the end of his life, he prophesies over his twelve sons just as Moses will later prophesy over the twelve tribes.

Who Cares About Calling?

God calls different people different ways for different purposes. Just as Paul tells us that each of us serves a different role in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4–31), God called each of these men and women in different ways at different times to serve Him the way He intended.

Some got visions, some heard a voice, some were living metaphors. Some gave one powerful prophecy; some ministries lasted for decades. Some wrote, some spoke, some sang.

So it is with you and with me. How is God calling you, and to what office?

1. Lamentations kind of interrupts the flow, but it was written by Jeremiah, so we’ll let it slide. ↩

2. Fine, technically he comes out of Tishbe. ↩

3. I’m not going to get into who actually wrote Revelation in this article. It’s possible that the John who wrote Revelation is one of the other Johns we know from elsewhere: John “the beloved disciple” who wrote the Gospel of John; “John the elder” who wrote John 2 and John 3 (who may be the same person as John the disciple); or some other John. The most likely scenario is that all five books—the Gospel of John; John 1, 2, and 3; and Revelation—were all written by the same person. But to avoid any argument, this article does not make any assumption about what else the author of Revelation wrote. ↩

4. Daniel gets an instruction once to seal up a vision for a time (Daniel 12:4), but John is told not to record the words in the first place. ↩