Prophets Come in Pairs? in Maniacs, Prophecy, and Old Friends

I read somewhere that some Christians believe that prophets come in pairs: one that hears the voice of God, and one that interprets his words for the people. Think Moses and Aaron. I’m not sure where I read this or if it is true. Let’s assume for the moment that it is.

Is it possible that people that have the capability of hearing God’s voice clearly are unable to properly interpret it? Perhaps the same quality that makes them close to God (I assume blind faith is highly involved here) also makes it hard for them to relate to people, thus making a “type 2 prophet” necessary.

I would say type 2’s are more common. They are the opposite, questioning everything they are told. Like Simon in the Gospels they will not believe anything without personally witnessing proof. These people are better at discerning contextual meaning, emotional emphasis, they can extrapolate meaning from missing data, and look at things through a variety of paradigms. This makes it easier for them to find the true meaning of words and explain that meaning to others. The best of pastors have this ability. They employ it to create sermons from scripture, annotate the Bible, give advice.

As I was reading the book of Luke I came across an interesting annotation by MacArthur (NIV). It states that Jesus’ ability to read others’ thoughts and respond to them proved to the people that he was a prophet. Generally prophecy refers to the ability to predict the future (premonition). This is what I would consider a type 1 prophet. But the Bible uses the word “prophet” in another way as well. It refers to someone who teaches people about God. Perhaps this is the version that MacArthur is referring to. (Although we know Jesus also predicted the future as he predicted his own death.) So then, perhaps type 1’s make predictions and have strong faith, and type 2’s relate to people, teach them about God, but require proof: proof which is easily provided by type 1’s.

If it is true that prophets come in pairs, one of each type, then what perfect synchronicity they must have. I wonder if I was supposed to be J’s type 2? It’s never too late I suppose. God told him I would be his forever. Maybe that is what he meant. I could think of a million ways that the prediction could be interpreted. I muddle over it regularly, trying to decide which meaning is most true. For those that would like to join me, here were the exact words he told me that day, to the best of my ability:

“God said someday I would save you and then you would be mine forever.”

There are a million different ways to interpret the words “save you” and the words “mine forever”, but naturally J was young and jumped to conclusions. He assumed this meant that he would pray with me to accept Christ and then we would get married. Clearly an inaccurate interpretation. But perhaps not an inaccurate message after all. It’s my personal puzzle. I’m sure the true meaning will reveal itself in time.