Prophet, Seers, Revelators

Parents in the strongest families I know show by personal example the importance of listening when prophets, seers, and revelators speak. Men who are prophets, seers, and revelators have the ability, through the power of God, to know the past, present, and future. Families who want to know what modern-day prophets have to tell us can tune in at lds.org at any time but especially on 2-3 April 2011.

A modern-day prophet has basically the same responsibilities as the Old Testament prophets. The Bible Dictionary tells us: "The work of a Hebrew prophet was to act as God's messenger and make known God's will. The message was usually prefaced with the words `Thus saith Jehovah.' He taught men about God's character, showing the full meaning of his dealings with Israel in the past. It was therefore part of the prophetic office to preserve and edit the records of the nation's history; and such historical books as Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings were known by the Jews as the former Prophets. It was also the prophet's duty to denounce sin and foretell its punishment, and to redress, so far as he could, both public and private wrongs. He was to be, above all, a preacher of righteousness. When the people had fallen away from a true faith in Jehovah, the prophets had to try to restore that faith and remove false views about the character of God and the nature of the Divine requirement. In certain cases prophets predicted future events, e.g., there are the very important prophecies announcing the coming of Messiah's kingdom; but as a rule a prophet was a forthteller rather than a foreteller. In a general sense a prophet is anyone who has a testimony of Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost, as in Numbers 11:25-29; Revelation 19:10."

Modern prophets do not usually say, "Thus saith the Lord," but their words are from the Lord whenever they speak under the influence of the Holy Ghost. I appreciate the opportunity to sit at the feet of prophets, seers, and revelators and listen to the counsel they give for the coming six months. I encourage all of you to tune in to hear the word of God for His children on earth today.