The prophetic ministry as recorded in the holy scripture began well before the patriarch Abraham, it can be traced further back to Noah to whom God revealed the cataclysmic flood of judgement that engulfed and destroyed the world saving only eight souls. A true prophet is a man or woman that genuinely received and communicates divine messages, revelation and/or teaching to the people to whom he was sent. A true prophet is a person to whom God had revealed himself and who serves as an intermediary or conveyor of divine communication to men.

The Calling of the Prophet
The calling into the prophetic ministry was always initiated by the sovereign prerogative of God according to the scripture. The first step in the process is the divine revelation of God to the individual through a supernatural intermediary such as angels or through the medium of dreams and visions and/or through the anointing of an established prophet. What this implies is that an individual cannot be legally a prophet through self-ordination or institutional ordination. The privilege of a true prophet is special access to divinely classified information which is unknown by others.

“And He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision And I will speak to him in a dream”.
Numbers 12:6 (AMP)

“Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born, I consecrated you [to Myself as My own]; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:4-5

The mission of the Prophet
The second step in the calling into prophetic ministry is the revelation of the specific mission to be accomplished through the prophetic mandate. In the book of Exodus God told Moses the divine task which must be accomplished– the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery and oppression in the land of Egypt. The nature of the mission given to prophets are usually daunting and way beyond their natural abilities to accomplish without the support network of heaven.

“The Lord said, “I have in fact seen the affliction (suffering, desolation) of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters (oppressors); for I know their pain and suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land [b]flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and then bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve and worship God at this mountain.”
Exodus 3:7-12

“But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord”.
Jeremiah 1:7-8

Empowerment of Prophets
The third step in the prophetic calling is the promise of divine support and empowerment for the mission through the infilling of the Spirit of wisdom, boldness, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fear of God, and knowledge. In addition, credible supernatural signs are given to the prophet to reassure and dispel any doubt in their mind. Moses in the book of Exodus requests evidence from God to authenticate his calling before the elders of Israel in Egypt, which God gave to him.
“Then Moses answered [the Lord] and said, “What if they will not believe me or take seriously what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” 2 And the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So, Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a [living] serpent [like the royal symbol on the crown of Pharaoh]; and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by the tail.” So, he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 [“You shall do this,” said the Lord,] “so that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has [most certainly] appeared to you.” The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe [where it covers your chest].” So, he put his hand into his robe, and when he took it out, his hand was [a]leprous, as white as snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand into your robe again.” So, he put his hand back into his robe, and when he took it out, it was restored [and was] like the rest of his body. 8 “If they will not believe you or pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9 But if they will not believe these two signs or pay attention to what you say, you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take out of the river will turn into blood on the dry ground.”
Exodus 4:6-9

God empowered Jesus Christ for the mission of salvation by giving him the power and authority to heal diverse diseases without any limitations coupled with the power to raise the dead through his word. These serve as the evidence base for his ministry as well as divine authentication of his ministry. No man, no Bishop, No Apostles, No Prophets, and No Pastor till today has been able to replicate the fullness of the signs that God enabled Jesus Christ to perform seemingly effortlessly.

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with great power; and He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil because God was with Him”.
Acts 10:38

The Words of the Prophet
True prophets are not permitted to declare their own words or personal opinion as the word from the mouth of the Lord. The divine authority must never be ascribed to their own word or else the message will be corrupted by human opinion and desires, which is the case with the false prophets and teachers. However, because of the risk of duplicity and falsehood, the injunction to truth-test every claimant to the office of the prophet was integrated into law and the command to TEST EVERY SPIRIT was stipulated in the New Testament because of the preponderance of false prophets.

“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
John 12:49-50 (AMP)

21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2 Peter 1:21

Sustenance of the Prophet
The prophetic ministry is separated from the institution of the Levitical priesthood in the Old Testament, as they were not involved in temple sacrifices and rituals, as such they were not included in the Levitical payroll. The office of the prophet comes with power, prestige and attracts lots of followership, due essentially to the unique divine services rendered to the people of God by the prophet, which ultimately supplies the needs of the prophet. Jesus Christ told his disciples not to take any money, purse, clothing with them on their missionary journey, but simply said a labourer is worthy of his reward. The special divine healing they were empowered to perform on the sick, will attract the necessary financial support that will meet their needs. In the Old Testament Benhadad the King of Syria was sick and sent his officer to enquire of Elisha whether he will recover,

7 Now Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) was sick; and he was told, “The man of God has come here.” 8 And the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.”
2 Kings 8:7-10

The General Missions of Prophets
The mission of prophets in the Old and the New Testaments are diverse but with a common thread running through. They contend with all form of oppression, moral and spiritual decay, false doctrine, and hypocrisies while simultaneously calling men and nation to repentance.
 To reveal the good plan of God both future and present
 To call men and nations to repentance from wickedness
 They declare unpleasant truth to men and nations.
 To encourage and inspire people to walk in the path of righteousness and truth.
 To warn men and nations of imminent dangers of divine judgement due to disobedience and stubborn resistance to repentance.
 To teach and preach righteousness and reconciliation with God.
 To bring hope and comfort to oppressed people
 To bring healing to the nations, through intercession, teaching and preaching of the word of God.
The personality traits of true prophets as well as their moral characters must be impeccable as people’s acceptance of their message rest on the integrity of their personality. True prophets are humble, truthful, kind-hearted, brave, selfless, non-covetous, honest, perseveres and uphold the truth irrespective of the threat to their well-being.
God through the prophets in the Bible had laid a solid moral and spiritual foundations for the whole world. Their words of inspirations, truth, correction, and revelation are evergreen, drawing our heart closer to God and given us a lively hope and comfort in times of trouble. However, we must not be carried away by the signs and wonders rather our lives should be transformed by the divine message and commandments which was delivered to us from the mouth of the prophet.

Persecution of True Prophets
True prophets in the holy scriptures were most often persecuted, assaulted, and sometimes murdered on account of their messages that condemns, the hypocrisies, idolatry and wickedness of political religious leadership and the general populace. True prophets always raise the flag of the divine standard of righteousness, holiness, and moral uprightness that is expected from the people of God. They watch over the divine covenant and warn the people of the dire consequences of covenant violation. The scriptures are replete with stories of the persecution of prophets, notably Jeremiah was imprisoned. Micaiah was imprisoned for telling Ahab the King that he would lose the war impending war with Syria. John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking out against the unlawful marriage of Herod the King to his brother’s wife Herodias. Jesus Christ was persecuted and killed for his message that exposes the hypocrisies of the religious leaders in Jerusalem and for his unwillingness to engage in militaristic opposition to the Roman occupation of Judea. The true prophets embraced persecution, rejection, threat, and insult from the people to whom they were sent. However, scriptural records showed that the message of the prophets was received by multitudes of people, whose heart was stirred up to reflect on their lives and repent of their sins.

Blessed are you O Lord Our God for sending us your word through your servant the prophets.

Reflective Questions
The question needs to be asked, does God reveal every secret to the true prophets? Do prophets possess all the knowledge of God? Do prophets understand all mystery? Searching through the pages of the holy scriptures shows that prophets do not possess all the knowledge of God, and neither is all the plans of God revealed to them. The nature of the classified information given to the prophets appears to be mission specific and is tailored to the challenges and needs of the people to which the prophet is sent. Equally, the theatre of prophetic operations is generally location specific. For example, Jesus Christ said I was sent to the lost sheep of Israel.