Could You Be a Prophet? || Biblical Examples of Prophetic Diversity

Have you ever wondered if you have a prophetic calling, but counted yourself out because you didn’t look or feel the part? 

Maybe you have had a deep knowing or a prophetic encounter that has confirmed the call on your life, but you still question how this could be true because your circumstances are far from how you have seen the “prophet’s” role play out. 

The truth is there are many prophets and highly prophetic people that walk around aimlessly wandering and hopelessly haunted by the sense they were made for more, but don’t know how to start walking in their prophetic destiny. 

But, the truth is it takes all kinds of prophets to make the world go round. 

Now, I want to take a moment to note the distinction that a prophetic gifting and the office of the prophet are two different things. The gift of prophecy is simply that, it is a gift available to everyone. However, the office of a prophet is a gift to the Church that requires a private encounter with the Lord and a public acknowledgment.

It’s common to see a prophet behind the pulpit and decide that the call fits into some form of a prophetic box. 

I think it's important for us to realize that there are many different types of prophetic models in the Scriptures that are just as vital for the transformation of culture as a prophet commonly seen in the Church. I want to briefly mention six different types that I see in scripture. I know there are many more. I am simply trying to make sure that we don’t put God in a certain “prophet box” and miss the greater revelation of His prophetic nature. Here are a few examples: 



• There was Moses, Eli, Samuel, Deborah, and David who were all prophets or prophetesses that led their countries. They didn’t serve national leaders, they were the leaders of their countries. God is raising up many prophets and prophetesses today to lead their cities, countries, companies, etc. 
• There were the prophets, Daniel and Joseph, who had great relationships with kings and also had a leadership gift to help govern the countries of the leaders they served. 
• There were two prophets named Nathan and Gad who served King David. They both had a great relationship with their king. But for the most part, they only helped to prophetically direct David’s personal life and didn’t assist him in governing their country. There is a stark contrast between these two prophets and Joseph and Daniel. Many prophets and prophetesses are called to disciple political leaders and yet they have no prophetic insight into the governmental realm whatsoever. These prophetic people indirectly have a profound impact on the world even though they may never give their leaders directional words concerning their realm of authority. 
• Elijah and Elisha represent a completely different kind of relationship with world leaders. They stood outside the palace, so to speak (and for the most part), and had an adversarial relationship with the kings of their nation. Unlike Daniel and Joseph, who served unbelieving (Gentile) leaders, or Nathan and Gad, who served a man after God’s heart; these two prophets had a confrontational relationship with the unrighteous kings of their day. Although these types of prophets must still embrace the core values of the New Covenant, they are called to stand against injustice and speak up for the sake of righteousness. This may manifest in protests, demonstrations, or other public or private calls to holiness. Martin Luther King would be a good example of a New Testament Elijah or Elisha. 
• Hosea and Amos are interesting prophetic types in that they seem to have no relationship with their country’s leadership. These two prophets prophesied to the people and had a secondary effect on the leaders of their nations. They were grassroots prophets that had a dramatic impact on the mindset of the Israeli people. These prophets remind me of many leaders in the Jesus People movement. They affected the culture by creating momentum through a righteous prophetic movement of counterculture radicals! 
• Jonah was famous for being an unwilling prophet to the unbelieving country of Nineveh. He was kind of the John the Baptist of his day, calling people to repent for their sins. Of course, Jonah is an Old Testament prophet but he represents prophets and prophetesses with an evangelistic mantle for the lost. In my mind, the late David Wilkerson carried this mantle (although I didn't agree with many of David's negative prophetic declarations over our nation). Yet at the same time, I recognize that David Wilkerson was a prophet to the unsaved.

As you can see I didn't mention many of the major Old Testament prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Malachi, and several more, of whom many would not fit into these six categories that I mentioned above. Again, my goal here is for us to embrace and honor prophetic diversity; especially prophets and prophetesses that carry a different DNA and call than you might have on your life.

If you resonated with this blog today and have questioned the validity of your prophetic calling or not known how to walk out the uniqueness of what you know you are destined for prophetically, I want to invite you to School of the Prophets 2023. You will advance in your prophetic calling, gain tools to step in the uniqueness of your calling and develop relationships with other prophets and highly prophetic people on a similar journey. The exciting part of School of the Prophets happening August 7-11, is that you don’t have to wait to start your prophetic journey — community, connection, and content start now! When you register for School of the Prophets you receive immediate access to the pre-event package that will help prepare you for the live event in August. You can register for both in person and online here .