We should stretch ourselves to hear him in every way. When we use the term ‘Seer’ we are describing one type, or strand of the prophetic gift and ministry. In the case of legitimate prophetic ministries, the prophecy teacher’s gonna be a prophet. That’s right: This isn’t open-source, use-as-you-please material. There is also evidence that it is simply a matter of choice of words. So, he was given an assistant to actually voice the words of the Lord. He’s not limited to only one means or style of communication, y’know. If they’re not mature enough as a Christian, they might get the false idea this is the only way God messages them—worse, the only way God can message them—and they’ll stop listening for God’s many and various other methods. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest denomination of the movement, and it currently applies the terms to the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. But Ammon says that Certain prophets have visions; certain prophets deduce human motives and prophesy about them; certain prophets see spiritual forces and prophesy about them. God talks to everybody. These are the clever-sounding things they “discovered” about the different ways God messages his people. And only a few in history that we know of have had one. Answer: A seer is a person who “sees.”. Both mean “seer.” Two Bible verses will fully explain the difference in these two words: Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was before time called a Seer. But although the term "seer" may more strongly imply that the person has been given visions than a "prophet" implies (who might receive only a message rather than a vision), it seems to me that the two terms are pretty synonymous in the scriptures. It’s like the kid who’d rather text than answer phone calls, or the shutterbug who’d rather use Snapchat than Instagram. Sometimes prophecy teachers will even bust out some Hebrew and Greek words and make ’em sound all bibley. What sort of things should a Christian hear, see, or feel when God’s speaking with us? Today that would be President Nelson. Can you help? Supernatural knowledge. In order to make sense of our experiences, humans like to sort things into categories: A prophet does X, might do Y, never does Z, and so forth. The user is a seer (also called clairvoyant, prophet, oracle, or diviner), an individual who can see things hidden from others and also has the ability to predict the future or speak for the gods. The Hebrew Dreams. Instead they’re shown supernatural stuff—and gotta take it from there. The differences between a Seer and a Prophet A quote from The Seer, ‘All seers are prophets but not all prophets are seers.’ The main difference between a prophetic Seer and a Prophet is the avenue in which they receive revelation. One prophecy teacher claims one thing, and another prophecy teacher another. So you gotta decide who gets to set the definitions: These prophecy teachers, or the writer of Samuel. As the writer of Samuel stated, they’re interchangeable terms. Send feedback to mail@TXAB. And the bible says seers are prophets. Others are into dreams, so they pursue dreams. For instance, in about 1000 BC, 1 Samuel 9 records “When a man went to inquire of God, he said, ‘Come, let us go to the seer,’ for today’s prophet was formerly called a seer” (ESV). He was perfectly happy to stay at home and raise his family and live an unremarkable life. But the primary thing that makes a seer a seer, is that they can look through seer stones and gain knowledge of the past, present, and future. Relevance. (If they’re not, they’re usually End Times prognosticators with harebrained theories about the future, instead of valid advice how to share God’s messages.) Some charismatic, some not. If you don’t yet have a Kindle Paperwhite I highly recommend it. He 1.1. Answer Save. But the term “prophet” as used in scriptures is a much more generic word. All of these are valid activities and ministries. A regular prophet gets revelation thisaway, and a seer gets revelation thataway. SEERS SEE. c. Bill Hamon, founder of Christian International made a statement about two prophetic streams in the 1940's-50's that have re-emerged a generation later. Depending on your prophecy teacher, a seer has full-on wide-awake apocalyptic visions, or regularly has prophetic dreams, or tends to see certain things in the real world which others can’t—sorta like the augmented reality of a video game, like Pokémon Go, where you can see pokémon through your phone but others, who don‘t have the app, can’t. This is what happened to them; here’s where it jibes with the bible; and relax, you’re not weird. Simply put, the seer gets the visual messages. Favorite Answer. It appears sixteen times in the Old Testament. I’ve seen this happen: A “dreamer” was given a message from God in the moment—but because they’re only a “dreamer,” the recipient presumed dreamers don’t hear from God any other way, and dismissed the message as “probably not God.” Not smart. Yet, Latter-day Saints use the term “seer” in a very specific way. You can subscribe to our Atom feed here. How can I love a very dysfunctional and toxic family? Those prophecy teachers who try to redefine “seer”: They have lots more vocabulary words. In the Bible, a seer is another name for a prophet (see 1 Samuel 9:9). What’s the difference between a seer and a prophet? 2Ch 16.7-10. It is that generic word that the King Limhi (Mosiah 8:15) was using. Demanding a sign from Jesus, and getting the Jonah... Did Paul write all his letters in the bible? That’s because the definitions vary. If this has been asked before, can you point me in the right direction? They were called prophets because they obeyed God's call to them to speak boldly to the nation. (1 Samuel 9:9). C’est tout. The reason I detect words of knowledge better than the other sorts of prophecy, is ’cause I like to know stuff. 10 Answers. But if you do, do it accurately, in context, with proper attribution, and please link back to this site. It’s not a complicated word. Here it is generally taken to mean “spokesman”. Whereas other prophets just hear stuff or know stuff. Thus, all true seers are prophets, but not all prophets are seers. And these teachers are big on supernatural discernment: Seers are prophets, but while everyone else only sees “in the natural,” meaning the physical word, a seer has the ability to see what happens “in the spiritual,” meaning what’s invisibly going on among spiritual beings and forces. But whereas an ordinary prophet does such-and-so, a seer does this-’n-that. They meditate on it, ask God about it, and deduce out why he’s revealed it to them. Differences between prophets and seers seem to be more clearly distinguished in the Old Testament. In this school, he will be covering the difference between the true and the false as well as covering the biblical protocol and ethics of a person who releases prophetic words. But God wants us to listen to him in every way he talks. In a way, you’re right. The Spirit’s always trying to grow us. Did the Hoffman papers prove a prophet can be led astray? I didn’t put ’em there; Google, Blogger, or Disqus have. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. A: Dave Williams was a pastor for 31 years and had the same encounters. But, more specifically, a seer was a prophet who saw visions—pictures or scenes seen in the mind’s eye, in dreams, or even with one’s natural eye. Because none of ’em are getting their definitions from bible. Sometimes this’ll be any sort of vision. So typically that’s what they teach: Their experiences. The most common redefinition, which sorta makes sense, is that seers see: God gives them visions. In this way, what is the difference between a prophet and seer? In the past, it has also been applied to the Presiding Patriarch of the church and the Assistant President of the Church. Therefore, I believe that 1 Samuel 9:9 implies that Samuel moved from functioning as a seer to functioning as a prophet. A person whose eyeballs work, so they can point ’em at stuff and identify what they’re looking at. The Difference between a Psychic and a Seer/Prophet. There are all sorts of prophecy teachers out there. Seer Versus Prophet The difference between the seer (ra’ah) and the prophet (nabi) is based solely on the seer’s ability to see. What is the difference between Communism and Law of Consecration. And same as the prophets in the bible who saw visions (i.e. ’Cause like all legitimate prophets, seers had the Holy Spirit, who’d show ’em stuff. Credit where credit’s due: Bible translations are linked to Bible Gateway. Therefore, I believe that 1 Samuel 9:9 implies that Samuel moved from functioning as a seer to functioning as a prophet. . Seers can detect spiritual things. 16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God. How do we explain to a person that America is now Zion? There are special terms for all these types of prophets. ’Cause the scriptures have a lot of stuff in there about prophets and prophecy, but they don’t necessarily tell us what a prophet experiences. What is the difference between a prophet and a seer? It limits them. Okeydokey, I gotta remind you: None of these descriptions come from the scriptures. The bible defines what a seer is, not some prophecy teacher who’s trying to sell books and seminars. However, in later times, a prophet is clearly one who prophesies the message of God. Sometimes God, in order to be memorable, gets weird. So since there are prophets today, there are seers today. In fact if you ever find a stand-alone prophetic ministry which never works with churches, likely you’ve got a heretic. Another participial form of the verb "to have a vision" or "to see a vision" is hozeh . Other redefinitions are based on what these seers see. Prophets do not receive a prophetic ministry through the laying on of hands by another prophet (but it certainly may be confirmed by another prophet; that is not the same thing). Indeed, he speaks whatever God wants said! They simply repeated God’s will and commands. A seer usually acts as a guide, whether it be for good or evil depends on the user in question. If you wanna sell it, I want a cut. “What’s God’s secret, evil plan for my life?”. Quoting it without attribution is plagiarism. They count mental images as just another form of data God drops into your brain, and not part of a seer’s unique ability. It’s just these particular ministers choose to call themselves “seers”—and choose to define “seer” by the shape their experience takes. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. Of course, this also means that to fulfill the title/role of a seer, one must have a seer stone. Mature prophets, who know how to listen to God. Since I can’t think of really much of any message to leave people with—I wanted to show the difference between biblical prophets/seers and psychics. What is the distinction between a prophet, seer and fortune teller? And depending on prophecy teachers’ personal experiences as “seers,” or depending on how they’ve seen self-proclaimed “seers” work, or depending on how they choose to define “seer,” they claim a seer is a distinct sort of prophet who works a certain way. Might be a mental picture, which they “see” in their head. Block them all you wish; all I care about is whether you read the blog. And be wary of Christians who limit him—whether unintentionally, and especially if it’s intentional. I use various translations, and anything marked KWL means I translated it myself from various original texts; the Biblia Hebraica, Rahlf’s Septuagint, the Textus Receptus, the Nestle-Aland 28 or UBS 5, the Tyndale House NT, the Codex Sinaiticus or Vaticanus; yep I have a lot of Accordance modules. This is what these particular prophecy teachers do, as prophets. 1 decade ago. And of course let’s not forget Blogger, our webhost. “to see.” It means what we mean by “seer”: A person who can see. This website is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). רָאָה/raháh, It was a man who prophesied. As we were studying the Come, Follow Me lesson in Mosiah about Seers, we began to wonder if there is a difference between a prophet and seer. According to Strong’s Concordance, the Old Testament uses two words primarily to refer to a seer… Sometimes with visions. 1Sa 9:9 (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) These teachers are big on intellectual discernment. In 2 Kings 17:13 seer is used in parallelism with prophet, thus also showing the equation of the two terms. Some Christians think visions are cool, so they seek visions. Why aren’t talks by General Authorities incorporated into the scriptures? In today’s Church, the title of “Prophet” is generally reserved for the President of the Church. Additionally, other uses of the word “prophet” have been used in scriptures. [1] We are describing those who have prophetic gifts and ministries, or who are prophets, who operate primarily in the realm of seeing—that is, in visions, pictures and visual impressions, and even dreams, from the Holy Spirit. In the bible, a seer is a prophet is a seer is a prophet. even though they are distinctly different titles. The prophet was, and is, a forth teller as well as a foreteller. No harm no foul. (Not the ones you call biscuits.) Some teachers claim seers aren’t given God’s messages to other people, like other prophets (i.e. He wants every Christian to hear him, and he speaks to his kids in all sorts of ways. So where’re these guys getting these definitions? (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) Lots of terms they sort prophets into. A prophet and a Seer is one and the same,tells of things to come,a Fortune teller is a fraud. They can see angels and demons. 17 But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known. donnacha. A prophet can be a non-seeing prophet or a seer. And in a way you’re missing something. Burning bushes. But whereas an ordinary prophet does such-and-so, a seer does this-’n-that. Originally Answered: What's the difference between a seer and a prophet? In case you’re the sort of person who skips titles (a phenomenon I’ve seen a bunch of times, and still don’t get), I remind you this article is called “What’s the difference between a seer and a prophet?”. European readers (and anyone else who cares): This website uses cookies. It was not the earthly head of the Lord’s Kingdom. (Exodus 7:1). A regular prophet gets revelation thisaway, and a seer gets revelation thataway. Are there different kinds of prophets? Period. Original-language words link to the dictionaries at Blue Letter Bible. However, the lack of distinction in the New Testament does not necessarily indicate they are the same. So don’t limit God. I don’t deny they have these experiences. If you wanna republish it, ask permission. I say unto you, Nay; for if ye had, the Lord would not have caused me to come forth and to prophesy evil concerning this people. Because these teachers believe spiritual things trigger physical things, they believe the seer’s ability to know the future comes from the fact they can see spirits getting ready to do big things. So, it seems that there are “lesser prophets”, and there are “greater prophets” known as “seers.”. the verse says in the old days, a seer is synonymous with a prophet. But don’t forget to peek at the feedback policy first. (1 Samuel 9:9 AKJV) This “seer” is ro’eh and was used at this point in the The Seer by James W. Goll is the first book I read about Seers–back in 2007. How do you know you’re really hearing the Holy Spirit, and not just suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia? They put their personal definition upon “seer,” claim it’s what all seers are like, and teach it to others. Prophets are not called by a denomination or installed by men. “The duty of the President of the office of the High Priesthood," 1 the Lord revealed, "is to preside over the whole church, and to be like unto Moses . But some prophecy teachers (not to be confused with “prophecy scholars”) claim there are different kinds of prophets, and there is so a difference between a prophet and a seer. Yeah, I didn’t tell you just how they’re different. This word can also be translated "seer" or "visionary." And if we’re not mature enough as a Christian, we might get the false idea that if God speaks to them any other way than through their particular field of expertise, they’re speaking outside of it—so we can ignore them. For the official Church websites, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org. Daniel, Zachariah, John) there’s absolutely no reason God can’t simultaneously provide a message. When it comes to prophetic revelation, a prophet is primarily an inspired hearer and then speaker, while a seer is primarily visual. Yet, Latter-day Saints use the term “seer” in a very specific way. Might be a dream, whether asleep or awake. When it comes to prophetic revelation, a prophet is primarily an inspired hearer and then speaker, while a seer is primarily visual. Etcetera. It’s one of the most well-known books on the topic. Well, prophets know from experience. They see what’s going on in the world today, and they recognize what God has to say about it, whether for or against. A Prophet (Nabi) in the ancient Hebrew and classical sense is a unique person/Being on earth with a more direct link to God and guidance from God. Sometimes we can; sometimes not; it all depends on what the Holy Spirit feels it’d be useful for us to see. In summary: A prophet is a teacher of known truth; a seer is a perceiver of hidden truth, a revelator is a bearer of new truth. Or, more likely that Samuel fulfilled both the functions of a seer and a prophet! The Difference between a Psychic and a Seer/Prophet. Instead, it may simply indicate the writers did not distinguish between prophets and seers, which may reflect a difference between the Hebrew and… Every prophet is a seer. Prophet, seer, and revelator is an ecclesiastical title used in the Latter Day Saint movement. SEERS WATCH OUT. These teachers insist there are two categories of prophetic messages God hands us: Messages we hear, and messages we see. Might be a visual picture: They see an image in the room, or projected on someone, exactly like augmented-reality goggles. In addition, there seems to be a difference even between those who functioned as “seers”. Like prophets, some are mature, some are immature, and some fake. This is THE CHRIST ALMIGHTY BLOG (for short, TXAB), and it’s copyright 2015-2021 K.W. Might be a full-on vision, where the Holy Spirit picks you up and takes you to heaven, or anywhere else. In the histories of the ancient Hebrews, seers are mentioned often. b. They watch out for moral integrity and truth. I know what these three terms mean, but I need to find out the difference between them. I can’t really find a distinction in duties (abilities?) רֹאֶה/rohéh, In Scripture, it says to test the spirits or weigh the spoken word (1 John 4:1-2). (Mosiah 13:25-26). A prophet is one who prophesies and a seer is one who “sees” in a very special way. How can water be divided by water as recorded in the Bible? The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. Other prophecy teachers insist it must only be the visual pictures and visions. With these definitions now in place, the distinction between a prophet (nabiy') and a seer (ra'ah or chozeh) becomes a little clearer. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress. And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. They’re making ’em up. Firstly, let me say this: just because a prophet may “miss the mark” or get something wrong, it does not mean he/she is a false prophet. So, some who could very well be seers, have that ability inactive until they are given a seer stone. They’re based on prophets’ experiences. The problem with giving each of these types of prophets their very own title, is it pigeonholes people. “seer,” is the noun-form of the verb 0 0. Y’see, a seer is still a prophet. The Seer Gift and Ministry. Not only will pastors be encouraged by the genuine prophetic people, but they will want more of them! A seer is one […] Personal experience. And it came to pass that after Abinadi had made an end of these sayings that he said unto them: Have ye taught this people that they should observe to do all these things for to keep these commandments? Yeah, I didn’t tell you just … Nowadays, there are Christians who like to differentiate between kinds of prophets. The "Seer" is the receptive dimension and the "Prophet" is the communicative dimension. That’s all. The audible voice. Other sects and denominations of the movement also use these terms. The utterance should be tested by the Spirit. . They make sure to not fall for the latest Christian fads and popular culture: They keep their eyes on God, as well as serve as his watchmen. The end result? God spoke to His people through prophets in different ways, and one way was through visions. Sometimes dropping ideas in our heads. The authentic prophet is also very well aware of the fact that Satan can and does “predict” the future through the lips of “false prophets” such as clairvoyants and mediums which is why they will always “test the spirits” to determine if their information is coming from God, themselves, or the devil. “Khanani the seer” was sent to correct King Asa ben Abijah—who jailed him for it. Talking donkeys. But he certainly wasn’t the earthly leader of the Church. The fakes try to teach some really pagan things, so they understandably tend to be barred from churches. Me, I’m going with Samuel. We can see quite often that prophets of scriptures didn’t actually foretell future events. He was a prophet. And most of what he said was simply repeating the commandments of God and calling others to repentance. And since the scriptures make no distinction between one seer and another (same as there’s no distinction between one prophet and another—well, other than mature, immature, and fake) I ignore them. The prophet speaks more and the seer sees more—this is the only distinction between the two functions of prophet and seer. I usually link books and videos to Amazon.com. Leslie. Again, none of these terms come from the scriptures. When I see rainbows, I’m a seer of rainbows. As a verb oracle is (obsolete) to utter oracles or prophecies. In fact, Samuel was called a seer several times. Quotes of other bible texts are all copywritten by their respective owners. Not just our favorite ways. The word seer describes a particular type of prophet who receives a particular type of prophetic revelation or impartation. Moses was “slow of speech” (Exodus 4:10). We tend to notice his messages in one particular format, because we get comfortable with that way. I whittled all the different definitions of “seer” down to three general groups. But because of the wickedness of the king, he was called to die for the word of God. Dreams too: They figure the prophets who do dreams are “dreamers,” but not necessarily seers unless they actually see visions. SEERS SEE THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. Should my son take off his black nail polish while passing the Sacrament? Yep, I too have decided to sort things into categories. He breaks down what a seer is compared to the other streams in the prophetic. With these definitions now in place, the distinction between a prophet (nabiy') and a seer (ra'ah or chozeh) becomes a little clearer. As nouns the difference between oracle and seer is that oracle is a shrine dedicated to some prophetic deity while seer is agent noun of see; one who sees something; an eyewitness or seer can be . In addition, there seems to be a difference even between those who functioned as “seers”. You do not judge the prophet personally, only the word he/she has delivered. But when they used this word in the bible they obviously had an attached idea that a seer saw something more than others could. It’s a term which didn’t entirely die out “in the past,” because we find it in the late-biblical-Hebrew book Chronicles. A ra’ah is a seer and the nabi is a speaker. He’s infinitely creative. Many, various, and sometimes inconsistent definitions of “seers.”. Abinadi is one of the more famous figures in the Book of Mormon. Seers are prophets; but seers particularly pay attention to people’s motives and intentions. Not that you can’t quote it! Good stuff or evil stuff; seers can detect it, and warn us of it. Duh. Y’see, a seer is still a prophet. Why was the tabernacle so elaborately decorated for Brigham Young’s funeral? A prophet is one who prophesies and a seer is one who “sees” in a very special way. Samuel and Khanani). Sure: But some prophecy teachers (not to be confused with “prophecy scholars”) claim there are different kinds of prophets, and there is so a difference between a prophet and a seer. And really that is what most prophets are supposed to be — a man who repeats the words of God to the public. As nouns the difference between prophet and seer is that prophet is someone who speaks by divine inspiration while seer is agent noun of see; one who sees something; an eyewitness or seer can be . The Holy Spirit can and will speak to us in any way he chooses. (Deut 18:20). Or, more likely that Samuel fulfilled both the functions of a seer and a prophet.