If There Be a Prophet

When King Limhi exuberantly asserted that a seer is greater than a prophet, the visitor Ammon offered a clarification:

Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.
But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.
Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.

Mosiah 8:16-18

Ammon’s statement that a seer is also a prophet squares with this parenthetical explanation in 1 Samuel: “For he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer” (1 Samuel 9:9). His main point — that it is a gift to be a prophet or a seer — reminds us that a prophet is human and that the gifts we receive through the prophet originate from God.

What do prophets do?

As recorded in the book of Numbers, Moses fulfilled the following roles as he led the children of Israel in the wilderness:

1. Bearing burdens. Moses tells the Lord that the burden of hearing his people complain is too great, so the Lord instructs him to call seventy elders to help carry that burden (Numbers 11:10-17).
2. Recognizing and encouraging others’ gifts. When Eldad and Medad prophesy and some people want them to stop, Moses replies, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:26-29).
3. Receiving revelation for all of the people. Moses’s sister Miriam recognized that she had also received revelation, but she failed to understand that the revelation Moses received was unique. “With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches,” the Lord explained, “and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold.” God rebuked her for equating her revelation with Moses’s (Numbers 12:1-9).
4. Praying on behalf of the people. Moses prays for his people at Taberah (Numbers 11:2), after the spies’ report (Numbers 14:19), after Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16:20-22), when the people were attacked by poisonous serpents (Numbers 21:7), and for his sister (Numbers 12:13). Each time, the Lord answers his prayer.
5. Leading the people. Moses recognized the need for a successor at the end of his life “that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd” (Numbers 27:17).
6. Organizing and defining boundaries. Moses allocated land to each of the tribes (Numbers 34).
7. Asking questions and receiving answers on behalf of others. Moses received revelation for the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1-11) and a group of men who couldn’t keep the passover (Numbers 9:6-14).

An important message in the book is Moses’s fallibility. For example, when God instructed him to speak to a rock, he behaved more dramatically, crying, “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” and then smiting the rock with his rod. God still honored Moses’s authority. “The water came out abundantly.” But He also rebuked Moses for failing to acknowledge the source of his power (Numbers 20:7-13).

Another important message is the importance of respecting God’s prophet. When Miriam challenged his authority, she was temporarily afflicted with leprosy (Numbers 12:9-10). When Korah mounts a larger scale rebellion, many Israelites die in an earthquake, a fire, and a plague (Numbers 16). The prophet may be human, but he represents God, and our response to him represents our orientation toward God.

Today, I will thank God for prophets. I will be grateful for the burdens they bear, the guidance and revelation they receive and the leadership and organization they provide.