It could be that the term ‘man of God’ in this context simply means ‘person belonging to God’: that is, any Christian person. However, the term has a substantial Old Testament pedigree as a name used to refer to God’s appointed leaders of his people and, in particular, those who are sent as authoritative speakers of his word.12 So, for instance, it is used to identify Moses (Deut. 33:1), David (2 Chr. 8:14), Samuel (1 Sam. 9:6, 10), Elijah (1 Kgs 17:18, 24), Elisha (2 Kgs 4:7, 9) and an angelic messenger (Judg. 13:6–8). It can serve as a functional equivalent of the term ‘prophet’ (see esp.
...more
