Prophets

"Truly there lived among us in these last days a prophet of the Lord; and although now he has passed from human sight, his works remain an enduring witness to his wisdom and his faithfulness!"

"Whom has God actually used as his prophet?...Jehovah's witnesses are deeply grateful today that the plain facts show that God has been pleased to use them."

"As Jehovah revealed his truths by means of the first-century Christian congregation so he does today by means of the present-day Christian congregation. Through this agency he is having carried out prophesying on an intensified and unparalleled scale."

"Ezekiel was not raising himself up as a prophet and presuming to speak in the divine name. He was really a prophet sent by the Most High God...Not alone were the inspired words of Ezekiel prophetic, but he himself was a prophetic figure in his action, as is later shown on occasions. (Ezekiel 24:24) Since Ezekiel himself was a 'portent,' or 'sign' (AV), of someone to come, and since he was not a type or prophetic figure of Jesus Christ, whom did the prophet Ezekiel typify in carrying out his divine commission?"

"Here, then, since 1914, and particularly since the year 1919, after World War I had ended, we should look for the modern-day counterpart of the prophet Ezekiel. Who is Ezekiel's present-day counterpart, whose message and conduct correspond with that of that ancient prophet of Jehovah? Of whom today was he a 'sign' or 'portent'? Not of some individual man, but of a group of people. Being made up of a unified company of persons, the modern Ezekiel is a composite personage, made up of many members, just the same as the human body is."

"So it is with the modern-day counterpart of Ezekiel: it is, not one person's body, but a composite body, made up of many members. All the members were together to do the will of Jehovah, who is the Creator of this modern 'Ezekiel.' Who, then, are the group of persons who, toward the beginning of this 'time of the end,' were commissioned to serve as the mouthpiece and active agent of Jehovah? In order to determine this, check the history of 1919, the first postwar year after the first world war."

"They were a small minority group of men and women who had dedicated themselves to Jehovah as God by following in the footsteps of his Son Jesus Christ. To give public evidence of this dedication to Jehovah, they had undergone water baptism just as their Leader Jesus Christ had done when he was immersed in the Jordan river by John the Baptist."

"At the time, they might not view or appreciate him as a prophet of Jehovah. But whether they heard him as such or refrained from hearing and paying attention to him, the occasion was to come when these rebellious people would 'know also that a prophet himself happened to be in the midst of them.' Jehovah would confirm him as a prophet before them by causing what Ezekiel prophesied to come true...Likewise it was a trying mission upon which the modern Ezekiel class was sent, to religious people of the same type as those in Ezekiel's day.

But regardless of how Christendom views or regards this group of anointed witnesses of Jehovah, the time must come, and that shortly, when those making up Christendom will know that really a 'prophet' of Jehovah was among them...Since the year 1919 C.E. the anointed remnant of Jehovah's witnesses have found it to be just like that as they have spoken fearlessly the word of Jehovah in the midst of Christendom."

"More accurately, was there any group on whom Jehovah would be willing to bestow the commission to speak as a 'prophet' in His name, as was done toward Ezekiel..."

"So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come?...These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?...This 'prophet' was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian witnesses...Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a 'prophet' of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show?"

"The holy spirit, which Jehovah prophesied that he would pour out in the last days, has not ceased to operate, for the remnant are still baptizing disciples of Christ in the name of that spirit...The announced purpose behind God's pouring out of his spirit upon all sorts of flesh was that the recipients thereof might prophesy. The facts substantiate that the remnant of Christ's anointed disciples have been doing that prophesying to all the nations for a witness in favor of God's kingdom."