THE PROPHET AS A TEACHER IN ANCIENT ISRAEL AND THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

The Prophets are regarded as God’s mouth-pieces or oracles because they proclaim divine words in that right. They declare the total counsel of God to their audience as they are moved by the Holy Spirit. The Prophets will either fore-tell, that is predict future events or forth-tell, that is, address current lapses in human society that are capable of destroying the relationship between God and humans. Previous studies on Prophets have paid little or no attention to the teaching role of the Prophets. The thrust of this paper is to examine the role of the Prophet as a teacher in ancient Israel and the Nigerian society. The paper adopted the historical method. It was discovered that Prophets in ancient Israel were great Teachers. Most the times their audience listened to them because their oracles are from God. The Prophets are expected to carefully explain their message so that the audience will understand it. In the Nigerian society Prophets play the role of Teachers by taken time to explain the oracle received from God and appealing to their audience to give the right response to the message they delivered to them. Some Prophets in Nigeria lack the courage to deliver divine oracles because of the fear of being molested or attacked by those in the corridor of power. The Prophets in Nigeria need to be firm, courageous, fearless and truthful in declaring the counsel of God that is able to cause socio-economic and religious revival in our nation today. The Prophets in Nigeria must exemplify their teaching both in the private and public domains; they must be in the forefront praying, exhorting and interceding for the country.