He'll be your mouthpeice for God, if you've got the cash.

[Stravinsk]

So for those with a better biblical knowledge than me, I have a simple question:

Is there a single prophet in what we know as the "old testament" who received money from, or a living from (in the form of goods in place of money) simply for being a prophet?

My initial assumption would be 'no', however I'm open to anything I missed. Of course, I'm talking about real prophets, not the ones who are clearly labeled as false.

If you know of any, please quote Book/Chapter/Verse, thanks.

 

[tango]

Didn't Jesus himself say "Freely you have received, charge handsomely for it"?

Oh, wait, maybe that's not quite what he said....

 

[Josiah]

A thought.....

In ancient times, people rarely had big bills.... mortgage payments, car payments, credit card bills, electricity bills, medical insurance bills, etc. They needed food, shelter and clothing. And often very minimally.

There's no indication that Jesus or the Apostles CHARGED for their ministry, but there's also no indication that they had no food or clothing, and although Jesus comments about a lack of home, obviously they did sleep at night somewhere. While it is possible Peter and maybe others had income.... and while some have theorized that Mary and Martha were benefactors.... it seems most likely that people simply practiced HOSPITALITY - a very important ethnic in ancient times. It seems most likely that the good citizens of the area gave (minimal) food and shelter to the prophets of old and the Apostles. Indeed, for a time in the USA, there were great numbers of (minimally trained) Methodist and Baptist evangelists and preachers traveling around the countryside. They had no established church. They were not paid... they had no other job. People gave them food and shelter while they were there. I suspect something similar existed for the evangelists, teachers and prophets in biblical times.


Good to have you back...


- Josiah



.

 

[tango]

A thought.....

In ancient times, people rarely had big bills.... mortgage payments, car payments, credit card bills, electricity bills, medical insurance bills, etc. They needed food, shelter and clothing. And often very minimally.

There's no indication that Jesus or the Apostles CHARGED for their ministry, but there's also no indication that they had no food or clothing, and although Jesus comments about a lack of home, obviously they did sleep at night somewhere. While it is possible Peter and maybe others had income.... and while some have theorized that Mary and Martha were benefactors.... it seems most likely that people simply practiced HOSPITALITY - a very important ethnic in ancient times. It seems most likely that the good citizens of the area gave (minimal) food and shelter to the prophets of old and the Apostles. Indeed, for a time in the USA, there were great numbers of (minimally trained) Methodist and Baptist evangelists and preachers traveling around the countryside. They had no established church. They were not paid... they had no other job. People gave them food and shelter while they were there. I suspect something similar existed for the evangelists, teachers and prophets in biblical times.


Good to have you back...


- Josiah

Good points here, although even in an age where people face real and recurring bills in ways that just didn't happen in Biblical times there's a big difference between meeting someone's needs and providing for them to live in opulence.

There's little value to be gained in endlessly discussing whether small things should be considered a "need" or a "want" - it's easy to look at the way the Amish live and argue that we don't need a motor vehicle at all, we don't need mains electricity at all, we don't need all sorts of things that are regarded as more or less essential to a regular modern life. We might argue that someone doesn't need a fast internet connection at home when a slower connection is $10/month less but that sort of thing misses the point.

There's a big difference between someone who lives supported by a church (whether as a missionary or as one who provides a ministry service for a substantial portion of their time), and someone who makes specific charges for specific ministry services. If a church decides they want their pastor to be available to the church full-time that availability precludes working a regular job, so the church needs to pay the pastor for their service. On the other hand it would seem unusual to make a living purely from a preaching schedule - it seems entirely reasonable that clear out-of-pocket expenses should be covered for a visiting preacher, with maybe an additional gift on top. It seems strange to think that a visiting preacher would have a specific "speaking fee" in the same way that after-dinner speakers would charge a specific fee.

There's also a big difference between a voluntary gift and a required fee. If I preach at your church and you feel very blessed by my words so you check out my ministry and decide to make a generous donation that's entirely up to you. If I refuse to even show up unless you wire me the $50,000 fee beforehand that's a very different situation.

Somewhere there's a happy medium between the concept that the worker is worthy of his wage and Jesus throwing the moneychangers out of the temple.

 

[NewCreation435]

So for those with a better biblical knowledge than me, I have a simple question:

Is there a single prophet in what we know as the "old testament" who received money from, or a living from (in the form of goods in place of money) simply for being a prophet?

My initial assumption would be 'no', however I'm open to anything I missed. Of course, I'm talking about real prophets, not the ones who are clearly labeled as false.

If you know of any, please quote Book/Chapter/Verse, thanks.

In 2 Kings 4:10 a Shunamite woman prepared for Elisha a room where he could stay when he was in the area.