By Robert Wurtz II
Prophets:
The office of the Prophet (nagid) was one in which God sovereignly raised a person up to bring HIS message directly to men through man. The power brought God's message in the Power of the Holy Spirit. The Prophet served as God's prosecuting attorneys calling the people back into the covenant that they had made with Him. As Daniel Gruber so eloquently described the plight of the prophet... 'They were independent of, and unsubmitted to, human authority. Usually an outsider, the prophet came alone and unarmed to a fortified, walled city, and commanded it to surrender. Whatever the message (blessing or a curse, encouragement or rebuke), it was not the prophets own choosing, and often not to his liking either. ' Prophets resorted to extreme measures to gain the attention of the people. Some were known to lay on the side for over a year and also cook such vile meals as dung cakes to eat in the presence of a wicked people. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey and did not associate himself with the people. When they came to hear him it was outside the city. They were highly consecrated and devoted to God and God used them in a mighty way. John the Baptist was a Nazarite (one of three Samson, & Samuel) from birth and even his parents followed the Nazarite oath while he was yet unborn. Consecration to God is not an option for a prophet of God.
Neither the Rabbi's nor anyone else believed that the Holy Spirit had departed Israel after the later prophets. What the Rabbis believed is that the Holy Spirit left everyone except them. No one by the Rabbis could prophesy. This is the nature of what was happening with the authority of God. Later when you build a fence around the Law of God (a shield) the people will have no light. First it was the annulment of the authority of the bath kol. Then they sought to stop the mouths of the prophets by declaring only the Rabbis can prophesy. Thirdly was to put a stop to the interpretation of dreams. So the progression went as follows: bath kol, prophesy, and then dreams.
Dreams:
The Talmud makes a remarkable statement, "All dreams follow the mouth (the words of the dream interpreter)." This does not merely mean that different people interpret the same dream differently. It means much more. The Talmud (Berachos 55b-56a) relates a story that could be read on many levels. The jest of the point is that the Rabbi's believed that the interpretation itself is what determined how the dream played out in real life. So that whatever the interpreter says is the interpretation... that will come to pass.
These 3 things essentially eliminated God (in their teachings) from supernaturally intervening in the human condition. This is quite destructive because what happens is that the 'subjective' experience is replaced authoritatively with the filthy imaginations of man's wisdom. It essentially locked the door from God being able to speak to his people in a non-natural way. They would not hear a voice from heaven if it spoke, a prophet if he/she arrived, or a dream if God sent in into the deep watches of the night. They essentially locked God Almighty out and defamed the very access portals into the persons life. This is again why it is so difficult to reach a Rabbinic Jew because the Rabbi's can over rule a bath kol, Prophet, and a dream from God.
