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A'Level: Daily Divinity Questions and Answers with Witness Dingani
30 May 2016 at 02:57hrs | Views
QN. "Genuine prophets" How far does this explain Israel and Zimbabwean prophets? (25) -pt 34
A LEVEL DIVINITY | REVISION QUESTIONS | 30 MAY 2016
COMMENT OVERVIEW
The above question might be confusing,one should note that one can be able to execute this question if he /she try to ask herself/himself different fundamental questions. For instance
- What is a prophet?
- What is being genuine?
- The author will include the following prophets for both Israel and Zimbabwe.
ISRAEL PROPHETS INCLUDE
- Moses
- Micah Ben Imlah
- Zedekiah the son of Chennah
- the country prophet "Amos"
- the civil servants "Gad and Nathan"
- the Tishbite "Elijah"
ZIMBABWEAN PROPHETS
- the man of cloth "Magaya"
- the apple prophet "Fodrick Fodrick"
- Madzibaba Godfrey Nzira
- Passion Njava
- B.W Anderson define a prophet as someone who communicate the will of
God ,whilst J Thompson define a prophet as someone who act as a
messenger of God.
- The word genuine means being pure/authentic
- One will understand that in Israel prophets were classified into two
class ;the true prophets and false prophets,this question needs to
prove that in Israel they were genuine prophets or not.
ANSWERS
® - In Ancient Israel the characteristics and roles of genuine prophets include ,fighting for worshipping of one God,advocating for justice,receiving call ,acting as a messenger to mention but few only.During the exodus event ,the Israelites had a confusion/challenge on how to differentiate the genuine from inauthentic this is evidenced in Deuteronomy 18:21 "…….How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?" This means that among the Israelites they was now two class of prophets which the author mentioned earlier ,hence ,the Israelites wanted to be sure .Moses then replied to them in Deuteronomy 18:22 "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him" In other words this means that any prophet who predicted accurate ,that same prophet was regarded as genuine ,Elijah and Micah Ben Imlah being one of them. Elijah predicted the drought in 1st Kings 17:1 and it came to pass ,same to Micah Ben Imlah who prophesied the defeat during Ramoth Gilead incident ,this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:11-25 .One will be justified to label these prophets as genuine .
® - The genuine prophets normally advocated for worshipping of one God, this is valid in the case of Moses and Elijah .Moses destroyed the golden bull which had been made by the Israelites so as to worship it, this is recorded in Exodus 32:15-33.The Mt Carmel Contest is known by everyone ,some scholars have labeled it as the battle of supremacy ,Elijah butchered Baal prophets after failing to communicate with their master "Baal" so as to send fire and consume the bull.The above prophets were fighting for one God ,hence,making them genuine prophets.
® - Israel prophets normally used the messenger style of speech "Thus says the Lord" so as to prove to the audience that they were sent by Yahweh or they were genuine. Number of so many prophets used this phrase (we all know the examples ,I won't waste time ).One will understand that even inauthentic prophets went on to hijack this phrase (The author will explain this later).The point in this case is that prophets proved to people that the message they uttered it was coming from the special source "Yahweh" .As such ,one will be forced to label the same prophets as genuine .
® - Fighting for social justice cannot be separated from genuine prophets. The likes of Moses, Elijah, Amos and Hosea fought for social justice. Moses confronted King Pharoah so as to free the Israelites ,this is recorded in Exodus 5:1, Elijah confronted King Ahab over Naboth's vineyard this is recorded in 1st Kings 21:17,Amos condemned the injustice ,the story of women of Samaria who are labeled as "cows of Bashan" which is recorded in Amos 4:1 is known by many people. The prophet of Jerusalem "Isaiah" condemned injustices which was prevailing among the Israelites ,this recorded in Isaiah 1:17.
- Number of so many characteristics and roles of Genuine prophets can be added.
HOWEVER PART
® - As much as it can be said that in Israel they were genuine prophets, it will be loss of memory if one ignore the likes of Zedekiah, Hananiah,Shemaiah who claimed to be genuine whilst they were not. The story of Zedekiah who prophesied victory during the Ramoth Gilead is known, the prophet claimed to be getting the message from Yahweh ,this is evidenced by the messenger style of speech which he used to deliver his message of hope,he also went on to use a symbolic act ;this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:11-33.He cannot be labeled as genuine because his predictions did not come to pass .The story of Hananiah who prophesied during the time of prophet of Judah "Jeremiah" is known ,Hananiah claimed to be the messenger of God ,he used a messenger style of speech and a symbolic action as he was delivering his message of hope .He prophesied that Israel will be exiled for 2 years as a result Israel was exiled for 52 years, Hananiah he went on to die the same year after Jeremiah had foresaw his death because of his message, this is recorded in Jeremiah 27:11-30.(The point in this case is that in Israel they were some prophets who claimed to be genuine whilst they were not".
ZIMBABWEAN CONTEXT
® - In Zimbabwean context ,one will understand that all prophets claim to be genuine .But their actions are quite similar to the Israel inauthentic prophets which the writer mentioned earlier. For instance ,some of the prophets in Zimbabwe they are known of their predictions which don't come to pass. [We all know the examples of prophets of the prophets] Bulawayo24.com and Nehanda Radio has greatly helped us for publishing such stories
http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-religion-byo-42212.html).
® - Bulawayo24.com on 23 May 2016 at 08:28hrs recorded a story of an apostolic prophet who is immoral "An apostolic sect prophet has been arrested in Zvimba for inserting a cooking stick in the privates of his clients and later raping them as part of "rituals" to cast out evil spirits" .(Follow this link,this will help you to have more information about the man http://new.bulawayo24.com/News/National/88778 ) the point in this case is that in Zimbabwean society they are prophets who are not genuine, since Jeremiah in Jeremiah 11,23 says immorality is a character of a false prophets.
HOWEVER PART
- Number of so many Zimbabwean prophets resemble the Israel true
prophets ,hence,they are genuine .This include
- The man of cloth "Magaya"
- Blessing Chiza
- Makandiwa
- Madzibaba Wimbo
- Media has recorded the mentioned prophets as their predictions came
to pass ,hence ,they are genuine [they resemble Israel true prophets]
- Number of so many examples can be added [Read local Newspaper this
will help you to have more information]
QUESTION DEMANDS
- Examine the validity of the statement
CONTACTS
+263777896159 {WhatsApp}
Witness Dingani {Like my Facebook page }
witnessdinga@gmail.com {Email}
"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."-Truman Capote
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." John R. Wooden
A LEVEL DIVINITY | REVISION QUESTIONS | 30 MAY 2016
COMMENT OVERVIEW
The above question might be confusing,one should note that one can be able to execute this question if he /she try to ask herself/himself different fundamental questions. For instance
- What is a prophet?
- What is being genuine?
- The author will include the following prophets for both Israel and Zimbabwe.
ISRAEL PROPHETS INCLUDE
- Moses
- Micah Ben Imlah
- Zedekiah the son of Chennah
- the country prophet "Amos"
- the civil servants "Gad and Nathan"
- the Tishbite "Elijah"
ZIMBABWEAN PROPHETS
- the man of cloth "Magaya"
- the apple prophet "Fodrick Fodrick"
- Madzibaba Godfrey Nzira
- Passion Njava
- B.W Anderson define a prophet as someone who communicate the will of
God ,whilst J Thompson define a prophet as someone who act as a
messenger of God.
- The word genuine means being pure/authentic
- One will understand that in Israel prophets were classified into two
class ;the true prophets and false prophets,this question needs to
prove that in Israel they were genuine prophets or not.
ANSWERS
® - In Ancient Israel the characteristics and roles of genuine prophets include ,fighting for worshipping of one God,advocating for justice,receiving call ,acting as a messenger to mention but few only.During the exodus event ,the Israelites had a confusion/challenge on how to differentiate the genuine from inauthentic this is evidenced in Deuteronomy 18:21 "…….How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?" This means that among the Israelites they was now two class of prophets which the author mentioned earlier ,hence ,the Israelites wanted to be sure .Moses then replied to them in Deuteronomy 18:22 "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him" In other words this means that any prophet who predicted accurate ,that same prophet was regarded as genuine ,Elijah and Micah Ben Imlah being one of them. Elijah predicted the drought in 1st Kings 17:1 and it came to pass ,same to Micah Ben Imlah who prophesied the defeat during Ramoth Gilead incident ,this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:11-25 .One will be justified to label these prophets as genuine .
® - The genuine prophets normally advocated for worshipping of one God, this is valid in the case of Moses and Elijah .Moses destroyed the golden bull which had been made by the Israelites so as to worship it, this is recorded in Exodus 32:15-33.The Mt Carmel Contest is known by everyone ,some scholars have labeled it as the battle of supremacy ,Elijah butchered Baal prophets after failing to communicate with their master "Baal" so as to send fire and consume the bull.The above prophets were fighting for one God ,hence,making them genuine prophets.
® - Israel prophets normally used the messenger style of speech "Thus says the Lord" so as to prove to the audience that they were sent by Yahweh or they were genuine. Number of so many prophets used this phrase (we all know the examples ,I won't waste time ).One will understand that even inauthentic prophets went on to hijack this phrase (The author will explain this later).The point in this case is that prophets proved to people that the message they uttered it was coming from the special source "Yahweh" .As such ,one will be forced to label the same prophets as genuine .
® - Fighting for social justice cannot be separated from genuine prophets. The likes of Moses, Elijah, Amos and Hosea fought for social justice. Moses confronted King Pharoah so as to free the Israelites ,this is recorded in Exodus 5:1, Elijah confronted King Ahab over Naboth's vineyard this is recorded in 1st Kings 21:17,Amos condemned the injustice ,the story of women of Samaria who are labeled as "cows of Bashan" which is recorded in Amos 4:1 is known by many people. The prophet of Jerusalem "Isaiah" condemned injustices which was prevailing among the Israelites ,this recorded in Isaiah 1:17.
- Number of so many characteristics and roles of Genuine prophets can be added.
HOWEVER PART
® - As much as it can be said that in Israel they were genuine prophets, it will be loss of memory if one ignore the likes of Zedekiah, Hananiah,Shemaiah who claimed to be genuine whilst they were not. The story of Zedekiah who prophesied victory during the Ramoth Gilead is known, the prophet claimed to be getting the message from Yahweh ,this is evidenced by the messenger style of speech which he used to deliver his message of hope,he also went on to use a symbolic act ;this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:11-33.He cannot be labeled as genuine because his predictions did not come to pass .The story of Hananiah who prophesied during the time of prophet of Judah "Jeremiah" is known ,Hananiah claimed to be the messenger of God ,he used a messenger style of speech and a symbolic action as he was delivering his message of hope .He prophesied that Israel will be exiled for 2 years as a result Israel was exiled for 52 years, Hananiah he went on to die the same year after Jeremiah had foresaw his death because of his message, this is recorded in Jeremiah 27:11-30.(The point in this case is that in Israel they were some prophets who claimed to be genuine whilst they were not".
ZIMBABWEAN CONTEXT
® - In Zimbabwean context ,one will understand that all prophets claim to be genuine .But their actions are quite similar to the Israel inauthentic prophets which the writer mentioned earlier. For instance ,some of the prophets in Zimbabwe they are known of their predictions which don't come to pass. [We all know the examples of prophets of the prophets] Bulawayo24.com and Nehanda Radio has greatly helped us for publishing such stories
http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-religion-byo-42212.html).
® - Bulawayo24.com on 23 May 2016 at 08:28hrs recorded a story of an apostolic prophet who is immoral "An apostolic sect prophet has been arrested in Zvimba for inserting a cooking stick in the privates of his clients and later raping them as part of "rituals" to cast out evil spirits" .(Follow this link,this will help you to have more information about the man http://new.bulawayo24.com/News/National/88778 ) the point in this case is that in Zimbabwean society they are prophets who are not genuine, since Jeremiah in Jeremiah 11,23 says immorality is a character of a false prophets.
HOWEVER PART
- Number of so many Zimbabwean prophets resemble the Israel true
prophets ,hence,they are genuine .This include
- The man of cloth "Magaya"
- Blessing Chiza
- Makandiwa
- Madzibaba Wimbo
- Media has recorded the mentioned prophets as their predictions came
to pass ,hence ,they are genuine [they resemble Israel true prophets]
- Number of so many examples can be added [Read local Newspaper this
will help you to have more information]
QUESTION DEMANDS
- Examine the validity of the statement
CONTACTS
+263777896159 {WhatsApp}
Witness Dingani {Like my Facebook page }
witnessdinga@gmail.com {Email}
"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."-Truman Capote
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." John R. Wooden
Source - Witness Dingani
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