"The Way of G-d"
Part 3: "The Soul, Inspiration, Prophecy, and the Supernatural"
Ch. 4: "The Prophetic Experience"
Paragraph 9
At bottom it comes to the fact that there were near-prophets and
full-prophets -- those in the midst of the process, and those who had
finished it. What set them apart in the end was the sure and unambiguous
sense the full-prophet had that he'd in fact communed with G-d outright.
Know for a certainty, though, that full-prophets were aware of all the
likely pitfalls and did all they could to avoid them; indeed, like
accomplished physicians, they knew all the signs and symptoms of impending
error and just how to solve them. For they were self-aware enough to read
their own inner-nuances perfectly, and self-assured enough to correct
things gone off.
They also passed all that on to the disciples they'd inducted, since one
of the primary tasks of a full-prophet was to ensure the fact that his
disciples would be able to differentiate between true and erroneous
revelation.
But how could individuals who were being trained to transmit G-d's
messages to His people ever be allowed to misread them, given the dangers
of possibly misleading others who depend on prophecy for their service to
G-d? We'll see what lies behind that next time.
This series is dedicated to the memory of Yitzchak Hehrsh ben Daniel z"l,
and Sara Rivka bas Yaakov Dovid, z"l.
Copyright © 2004 by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org.
