Prophets from the Old Testament throughout the New Testament had no specific qualifications other than being moved upon by God as a vessel, a medium, whereby a specific word could be given. They came forth to speak their, "Thus, says the Lord . . .," from many walks of life. They were shepherds, farmers, priests, and princes. Women and children were sometimes used of God to speak his words. As God so moved upon His chosen vessel, the prophet so spoke.

Although it was known that Jeremiah and John the Baptist would be used of God to speak His word before they were born, to be a prophet was not to be a profession but rather a participant in the work of God for a specific time and a specific place. Since the prophet was a participant in the working of God, often the personality and character of the prophet was evident as God spoke through the vessel to the people. The compassion and love of Hosea, the lamentation and sorrow of Jeremiah, the articulation and ingenuity of Isaiah, and the persistence and flare for the dynamic of Ezekiel, reveal the many facies of God’s prophetic words.

The prophets were often called the shepherds of the people, the servants of God, watchmen, and the messengers of the Lord. They were people who spoke for God, communicating God’s message to man. So moved upon by God, they often spoke their message without fear and concern for their preservation. Teaching, reproving, correcting, and training they continually put forth the message of God to the people of God. Faithfully proclaiming God’s word and not their own, the prophet of God always spoke with the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ, as in all things, reveals the standard of the prophetic utterances. He stated, "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:49-50).

It is, in fact, the New Testament that gives the true meaning and the true challenge of those who are moved upon by God to speak His words. There is no greater moment of joy than to experience the coming of the Holy Spirit upon and into the body of human flesh. The union formed out of the flesh of man and the Spirit of God is the life that God intended for all men to experience. Pure, unadulterated love (the life of God) floods the soul of man and reaches out to touch every aspect of his senses. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory.

The joyful experiencing of God is the story of the event that transpired on the first Jewish feast day of Pentecost after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The early followers of Jesus had been told by Him not to depart from Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Father. It was a promise that Jesus Himself had given to them. For He had told them that something would occur in their lives that would forever change their lives. They would become filled with His Holy Spirit.

When the intercourse of the Holy Spirit comes into the flesh of man, there is nothing else that can occur but the flesh of man experiencing the full sensation of his being. Those early believers heard the wind. They saw the fire. They spoke with a new tongue. It was an experience like no other experience. It would forever change their lives.

Miraculously, those early followers of Jesus were speaking in a language that was totally foreign to them. They would soon recognize that not only did they speak at that moment in a new tongue, their speech would forever be changed. They would have a new way of expressing themselves. Their entire thinking process was being changed. They were being moved to a different way of life. They were becoming people of the kingdom of God.

They were experiencing exactly what the prophet Joel had predicted. Many years prior to this particular feast of Pentecost, Joel had prophesied that God was going to do a special work upon His people. He would bestow His Spirit upon man to become the essence of man’s life.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the people would not speak from their own understanding but from divine inspiration. They would prophesy. The words that would come forth from their mouth would be the words of God Himself speaking through the inspired speech of the Holy Spirit. Speaking with a new tongue, a different language, a different way of saying things, would come forth from their mouth. God could and would speak His message to man through the vessel, the medium, the prophet of God.

To introduce this class on the Minor Prophets, let us look at those prophetic words of Peter as recorded by Luke in Acts, Chapter 2.