Prophecy formed a critical part of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. In fact, the Old Testament prophets played an extremely critical role in the transmission of God's message. The role of prophets changed in the New Testament, because Christ was the fulfillment of most of the prophecies. Furthermore, Christ was widely proclaimed as the last prophet, and the New Testament concentrates on Christ's life, works, and words as the sole means of transmission for Christ's message. Because the importance of prophecy declined dramatically following Christ's death and because many modern Christians emphasize the New Testament, many people fail to understand the importance of prophets and prophecies in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the prophets were the way that God transmitted his message to the people of Israel, the means for the development of Judaism and Christianity, and the proof of the truth of God's word.
             In order to understand the Old Testament prophets, one need to understand that God made a promise to the people of Israel that, if they would forsake false teachings, He would send them guidance through a prophet. The Israelites are admonished, "When you come into the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations." (Deuteronomy 18:9). The passage continues, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren - him you shall heed- just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.'" (Deuteronomy 18:15-16). God says that, "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not g...