1 Kings 18:1-46
Acts 11:1-30
Psalm 135:1-21
Proverbs 17:12-13
1 Kings 18:4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)
I know this story and I know it was 100 prophets that Obadiah had hidden but I never thought about the number. It sounds like a lot of prophets to me. I am surprised that there would be so many. I think about the prophets in the bible that God gave instruction to the nation of Israel through but there are plenty of stories of individual people receiving a message from God from other prophets. So I guess we need to look at what a prophet really is. On got questions the answer to "What is a prophet in the Bible?" it says "In a general sense, a prophet is a person who speaks God’s truth to others. The English word prophet comes from the Greek word prophetes, which can mean “one who speaks forth” or “advocate.” Prophets are also called “seers,” because of their spiritual insight or their ability to “see” the future." Please take a minute to read the rest of the answer for this linked here.
It says that there were more than 133 named prophets in the bible (and to the surprise of many 16 of them are women) as well as many unnamed like the 100 we see here. A prophet is anyone that God uses to speak the truth of His word through. It can be for a time or a lifetime but it is a gift from God even when it doesn't feel like a gift. Like when someone is out to kill you and you have to hide in a cave. And it is for a purpose. And the gift did not end after Jesus. In 1 Corinthians it is listed as a spiritual gift. And prophets will continue until Jesus returns but just as in Old Testament times there will be false prophets. We need to be careful to not believe what someone says without testing them.
1 Kings 18:23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
The false prophets of Baal were about to be tested. I wonder why they thought this was a good idea. Has their god brought down fire in the past. I highly doubt it. I think it was more likely that Elijah had called their hand and they did not have a choice. Had they said no they would be admitting that their god was powerless. So they stood behind their belief and God proved them wrong. There are going to be many false prophets and we need to seek discernment in who is speaking truth. I have commented on this when writing on 2 Chronicles 18:13 in the past and Got Questions restates it here. This is how we know a prophet is a true prophet.
"A true prophet of God will be committed to speaking God’s truth. He or she will never contradict God’s revealed Word. A true prophet will say, with the prophet Micaiah just before his fateful confrontation with Ahab, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says” (2 Chronicles 18:13)."
God's Word is complete so there will not be new revelation but God does still speak to His people through those he gives the gift of prophesy by the power of His Spirit to reveal His truths to the world.
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