Prophets in the Old Testament often seem to be lone rangers - single solitary figures taking a stand against nations and kings. But they existed in far greater numbers than we usually realise - and frequently worked in groups.

At first sight it would appear that the outstanding characteristic of the Old Testament prophets was their individualism. They stood alone against what they saw to be wrong in the lives of nations, their kings, and secular and religious leaders.

They were remarkable for the courage by which they stood single-handed against the evils of their day. Men such as Samuel, Elijah, Amos and Jeremiah had to conduct their prophetic ministries on their own, without the sympathy and support of other like-minded people.

Paucity of Numbers

Alongside their individualism it might appear to many Bible students that there were apparently only a small number of these people during Israel's history. We know the names of 16 writing prophets (that is, men whose books appear in the Bible) and 21 others. In addition, there are another four whose names are not recorded. Thus a total of 41 prophets proclaimed the word of the Lord between the ministry of Samuel, around 1050 BC, and the rebuilding of the Temple and the ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah sometime about 450 BC.

41 prophets distributed over 600 years does not seem a generous figure. But in fact there were many more, as we see by examining the continuous ministry of prophets during the Old Testament period, from the crossing of the Red Sea until the cessation of prophecy spoken of by the writer of Psalm 74:9.

We know of 41 prophets proclaiming God's word between the ministry of Samuel and that of Ezra and Nehemiah – but there were many more.

Continuous Prophetic Ministry

Jeremiah tells us what the Lord had to say about the continuous ministry of prophets over the span of Israel's history: "From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again, I sent you my servants the prophets" (Jer 7:26). In the confession of the Israelites after their return from exile Nehemiah records, "For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets" (Neh 9:30).

The pity of Yahweh was shown to be the reason for the continued ministry of the prophets throughout Israel's history. "The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again because he had pity on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets..." (2 Chron 36:15,16). The Lord challenged his people through Amos: '"I also raised up prophets from among your sons...is this not true, people of Israel?' declares the Lord. 'But you...commanded the prophets not to prophesy'" (Amos 2:11, 12).

God continually sent prophets to Israel throughout their history, because he took pity on his people.

My Servants the Prophets

In many of the references to the continuous ministry of the prophets they are called 'my servants' by the Lord. They were his men and women, raised up in society to serve his interests. "This is what the Lord says, 'If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, who I have sent to you again and again...then I will make this house like Shiloh'" (Jer 26:4-6). "Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, 'Do not do this detestable thing that I hate! But they did not listen...'" (Jer 44:4).

Daniel in his prayer confessed the disobedience of God's people to the message God's servants had faithfully proclaimed. "We have not listened to your servants the prophets" (Dan 9:6). This is a serious state of affairs that occurred in both Old and New Testament times, and one which found ultimate expression in the killing of God's servants (Matt 23:31, 32, 35). But accounts are kept by their righteous Lord: "I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets" (2 Ki 9:7).

The prophets were God's servants, his men and women raised up in society to serve his interests.

Prophets Urged Obedience to God's Law

The standard which the prophets required of God's people was that of the law of Moses, and they were continually urging them to obey it in its entirety. "Observe my commands and decrees in accordance with the entire law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets" (2 Ki 17:13). But as Daniel also confesses, "We have been wicked and rebelled; we have turned away from your laws and commands" (Dan 9:5).

God showed Amos that the behaviour of his people was to be compared with the plumb-line of his standard (Amos 7:7, 8). Part of the duty of God's people is still to proclaim his law and his standards, which are binding on all peoples universally.

The Prophets Were a Recognised Group

In Old Testament society the prophets formed a recognised group. For example, Jehosaphat, king of Judah, advised that the Lord's counsel should be sought over a particular matter, and the group of prophets was summoned (1 Ki 22:5, 6). When the Book of the Law was discovered during the reign of King Josiah, he called together the elders, the people, the priests and the prophets (2 Ki 23:1, 2), and read it in their hearing. Nehemiah's prayer refers to the hardship that had come upon kings, leaders, priests and prophets (Neh 9:32).

We are dealing here not with important individual prophets but with groups of these gifted people. In one of the instances just noted, the group numbered as many as 400 men.

The prophets urged God's people to obey his law in its entirety, proclaiming its standards in comparison to their behaviour.

Numbers of Prophets

The earliest reference in Scripture to a group of prophets records the descent of the Spirit on to the 70 men chosen to be Moses' assistants (Num 11:25). We read later that Samuel told Saul he would meet a procession of prophets as he entered Gibeah, though we do not know the number involved (1 Sam 10:5, 6).

At the conclusion of Elijah's ministry, we meet with companies of prophets who lived together in various places (2 Ki 2, 3, 5, 7 and 16). A figure of 50 is mentioned twice, and there may well have been hundreds resident in these schools of the prophets.

During the time of Queen Jezebel, a hundred prophets were given food and shelter by Obadiah, who is called "a devout believer in the Lord"; at that time this wicked woman had already killed many of God's servants. Baal's prophets totalled 450 and in addition there were 400 prophets of Asherah who were regularly entertained at the queen's table (1 Ki 18:3, 19).

Elijah was convinced that after the massacre Jezebel had organised he was the only true prophet remaining (1 Ki 19:10, 14). But Yahweh assured him that in fact there remained no fewer than 7,000 people who had not bowed the knee to Baal, though we do not know how many actual prophets were included in this figure. Could the statement mean that they were all prophets? If not, 7,000 seems a small figure for the total number of believers in a nation that by then numbered well over a million.

Groups of False Prophets

On the occasion of Jehosaphat's meeting with Ahab we learn that the two kings consulted 400 prophets as to whether they should attack Ramoth Gilead. Even so, their advice was wrong and only the prophet Micaiah was really hearing from the Lord. For bringing true counsel he was slapped across the face by the false prophet Zedekiah, and on orders from Israel's King Ahab was put in prison, to subsist on bread and water (1 Ki 22:4-6, 23-27). There was clearly no surprise at the appearance of such a large number of prophets but, sadly, all were under the influence of a lying spirit.

These false prophets and others who followed in their footsteps did all in their power at every stage to intimidate the true servants of God. Right at the end of the Old Testament period we find them attacking Nehemiah as he sought to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He cried out, "Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me!" (Neh 6:14).

These false prophets had inspired a lie about Nehemiah. They accused him of planning to be proclaimed king of Jerusalem and claimed that he had gone so far as to arrange for prophets to announce, 'There is a king in Judah!' (Neh 6:6,7). The significance of this account (at least in the context of our subject) is that groups of prophets were still to be found at the close of the Old Testament period.

Despite persecution, massacres and the opposition of large numbers of false prophets, groups of true prophets were still to be found at the close of the Old Testament period.

The True Prophets' Message

As well as declaring the standards specified by God's law and demanding that his people live up to those standards, the prophets repeatedly urged God's men and women to turn from their backsliding (2 Chron 24:19). They called them back also from idolatry: "Again and again I sent all my servants to you. They said, 'Each one of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them'" (Jer 35:15), and again, "Do not do this detestable thing that I hate" (Jer 44:4).

The prophets reproved not only ordinary people but also had the God¬-given courage to accuse monarchs themselves when they did wrong things, as we see for example in the case of Manasseh: "The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 'Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him'" (2 Ki 21:10, 11).

Sadly, the people did not repent, and they refused to listen to the prophetic warnings: "But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry" (Zech 7:11, 12).

The prophets reproved ordinary people but also had the God-given courage to accuse monarchs themselves when they did wrong things.

The Fall of Two Cities

Because it failed to respond to God's warnings through the prophets, Samaria the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel came to ruin. The date was 723 BC. "The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their home into exile in Assyria..." (2 Ki 17:22, 23).

In 587 BC Jerusalem, capital city of the southern kingdom, fell to the Babylonians because the people of Judah refused to repent of the sins of Manasseh: "He sent them to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah...because of the sins of Manasseh" (2 Ki 24:2, 3). "But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets...and there was no remedy...God handed them all over to Nebuchadnezzar" (2 Chron 36:16, 17).

The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets

Whenever the church sings the Te Deum alongside the glorious company of the apostles and the noble army of martyrs, it celebrates the goodly fellowship of the prophets. Our study has hopefully made this description more meaningful. For behind and alongside the great prophets whose names are household words, there were always groups of prophets living and working in fellowship with one another.

Behind and alongside the great prophets who are household names, there were always groups of prophets living and working in fellowship with one another.

We know that in the early days they lived together in the schools or guilds of the prophets. We do not know for certain whether they continued to live in community, but there is a clue in Psalm 74. The psalmist is speaking of the very end of Israel's history, so far as the Bible period is concerned, and it laments the sad situation then prevailing: "We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none knows how long this will be" (Ps 74:9). But in the previous verse there is an intriguing statement: "They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land." This was before the time of the synagogue, and the Authorised Version is anachronistic to use that word.

Perhaps the prophets continued to live together, enjoying the goodly fellowship of which we sing!

First Published in Prophecy Today Vol 5, No 6, November/December 1989.