The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

The wise man and wisdom teachers were also regarded in Israel as the recipients and mediators of a divine gift (Gen. 41.38f.; 2 Sam. 14.20, 17; 16.23; 1 Kings 3.9, 12, 28; von Rad), and they have certain other affinities with the prophet. In later OT and intertestamental writings, wisdom and prophecy manifest increasing affinities with one another and are sometimes involved in what was also a traditional priestly function, the interpretation of the Scriptures. Moreover, they are embodied in the same persons, such as Daniel, the wise teachers ( maskilim ) at Qumran and the equivalent pneumatics ( pneumatikoi ) in the Pauline churches (1 Cor. 2.15; Ellis, Prophecy). When ‘prophecy’ is employed in this broader sense as the revelatory teaching of various types of inspired persons (though the term is not so used by Paul; 1 Cor. 14.6), it may mean the totality of divine revelation (2 Pet. 1.19ff.; cf. Luke 11.50-51; Acts 2.16ff.; James 5.10-11). ~ E. E. Ellis. “Theology of Prophecy.” The New Dictionary of Theology . (electronic ed.). S. B. Ferguson, ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000. pp. 537-538. The varieties of styles and modes of prophecy are important, but of far greater significance is how their divine revelation focused upon and illumined the person of the coming Messiah, whom we now know through the apostolic testimony to be Jesus of Nazareth. The prophetic integrity of the OT points both to the coming of the Messiah, with specific references to who he will be, what he will do, and the nature of his calling and work. Closely connected to this is the promise of his universal ministry among all peoples, not just the Jews alone. Below is a small sampling of numerous OT texts that provide a clue into the universalization of the work of the Lord and his anointed for the salvation of the nations: Ps. 2.8 - Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. Ps. 22.27-28 - All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. [28] For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Ps. 72.8-11 - May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! [9] May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust! [10] May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands