Gerhard Pfandl
After sin entered this world, the gift of prophecy became an important means of communication between God and humanity. From Abraham, the first man to be called a prophet (Gen. 20:7), to Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, there is a long line of faithful messengers of the Lord who guided, counseled, and frequently rebuked and admonished the Israelites and their kings (1 Sam. 13:13, 14; 1 Kings 18:21; Mal. 3:8, 9). Following a four- hundred-year interval, the prophetic gift appeared again within Judaism in New Testament times (Luke 2:25-32, 36-38; Matt. 3:1-3) and later in the Christian church (Acts 13:1; 15:32; 21:9; 1 Cor. 14:29-32). UEGW 228.1