Hebrew wander wrote:
@Uri

Besides pslams 74:9 what other arguments could a person use against the idea of John the Baptist being a prophet?
I'm not Uri -- but two points:
  1. Prophecy had been gone for hundreds of years
  2. Ensure you understand the meaning of prophecy
The Nature of Prophecy

This article from OHR is a good place to begin  Prophecy:
There are four nuances of navua (prophecy) that give us a composite picture of what prophecy means in the Torah.

1] Navi is related to niv, which indicates speech as in the verse, ?He created the fruit (niv) of the lips? (Is. 57:19). In this context, a navi is a spokesman.

2] Another nuance of navua is from bo, meaning come. This expresses the idea that the navi enables the word of G-d to come forth.

3] It is also related to nava, which means flow. Here Divine influence flows forth from the prophet as from a spring or fountain.

4] Last, navi is connected to navuv, meaning hollow. This implies the process of emptying oneself of ego, becoming channel or conduit for Divine inspiration.  (the article explains divine inspiration)

Accordingly, Avraham and Aaron are each referred to as navi because they spoke of, brought forth, caused to flow and channeled Divine energy to achieve a goal. In Avraham?s case it brought forth a cure; regarding Aaron, it refers to his initiating the first of the plagues. Prophesizing the future, then, is only one limited manifestation or expression of navua.
Moses communicated directly with G-d.  All other prophets communicated via dreams and visions.   We are not speaking of telling the future -- but rather communicating with G-d Himself and then communicating what He tells us to our own generation.   

When prophecy did include things that might happen in the future the message was normally given as a warning --  negative prophecy could be avoided and that was one reason that some of the prophets (e.g. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel to name three) tried to warn the Jews of how to avoid the possible future through teshuva. 


סופי

And everything that Sarah tells you, listen to her voice. Bereshit (Genesis) 21:12
Last Edited By: Sophiee1 Tue, 20-Aug-13 05:38:36. Edited 1 times.