After reflecting on these various types and styles, I have come to understand that there are unique personalities as well as variations in the respective gifts of prophets and seers. Notice that I have not made a value statement, making one gift more valuable than another. Rather, they are two of many expressions within the revelatory arena. Differences between prophets and seers seem to be more clearly distinguished in the Old Testament.
However, the lack of distinction in the New Testament does not necessarily indicate they are the same. Instead, it may simply indicate the writers did not distinguish between prophets and seers, which may reflect a difference between the Hebrew and Greek mind-sets.
The Greek language does not seem to recognize a difference between the two titles. Since the Early Church, many believers in the West have failed to make a distinction between prophets and seers. At some point, the Church also stopped recognizing the title of a seer. In a similar way, they diminished the role of a prophet and failed to note the distinction between prophets and pastors, or even prophets and evangelists.
Today, however, these perceptions are rapidly changing in many places around the world. As a starting point, I would like to suggest using the following three approaches. These steps will lay a biblical foundation for understanding these gifts. First, we need to approach the differences between prophets and seers through translating the original Hebrew words.
Second, we need to approach the differences between prophets and seers by looking at the manner in which the titles are used. Third, we need to approach the differences between prophets and seers by looking at those who were given the titles and by trying to ascertain, whether or not their titles indicated differences in their respective functions. We also need to look at how the words are used.
Furthermore, some believe that seers have not existed since the time of the Prophet Samuel B. However, this is a shortsighted point of view and creates a dilemma: Why does Scripture continue to make a distinction between prophets and seers after the era of Samuel? Therefore, I believe that 1 Samuel implies that Samuel moved from functioning as a seer to functioning as a prophet.
Or, more likely that Samuel fulfilled both the functions of a seer and a prophet! Perhaps this indicates a difference in how Samuel and Gad received revelation from God. Samuel was gifted in visions, knowings, and dreams. He transcended time and geographic locality to watch events that were occurring simultaneously outside of his immediate geographic location. He knew who was coming to his door before the person arrived. He even predicted weather patterns 1 Samuel It is possible that he walked in the same level of prophetic gifting as Samuel, but there is no record of this.
Did people go to a seer more than to a prophet? It seemed to be common practice for the people of Israel to look to the seers for direction 1 Samuel It was also common for them to bring the seer an offering for his livelihood 1 Samuel There are also several instances where people went to the prophet for wisdom and direction from God.
In conclusion, prophets and seers still function today, as they did in biblical times. In fact we are seeing a worldwide renaissance in these types of revelatory gifts. Next month, I will offer deeper insights on these dynamic, re-emerging, and mysterious revelatory gifts.
The explosion issued from what I can only describe as a sudden split between Jesus and the rest of the Godhead. At that moment, his life was ripped away from his heavenly Father and from Holy Spirit.
So, when Jesus died, he was cut off somehow from the rest of the Trinity. The important thing is what the Lord revealed to me through: From that explosion, there was a wave of power that reached out into the whole universe and also through the whole of time.
When I woke up, this dream had a profound impact on me. I thought about it for days and I ended up asking an artistic friend to paint it as a picture. You can see the results in the featured image for this article. Although it came through a dream, I saw something in the spirit realm. Something that had a profound impact on the world. If I was to define seer, then it would be someone who knows what God is doing, and is about to do, in the heavenly realm and here on the earth. They know this primarily through watching their Lord, through seeing him go about his work, from a place of intimacy.
But to me, a prophet is simply someone who shares messages from God with one person or many people. These dramatic encounters between the prophets and their heavenly king remind us of his lordship. They remind us of his complete control over history and the ongoing story of the world in which we live.
They were seers. For some people, it may be obvious whether they are a prophet or a seer. For others, the line between the two may be more blurred or unclear.
About that moment, Christ dying on the cross… death is swallowed up in victory!! I am a baby in Christ but my anointing is powerful. I am in a healing and deliverance church dying to self so he can increase in my life. Difficult in Receiving Revelation How do we know when a prophet is speaking as a prophet or giving his opinion?
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