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INFJs are often compared to the Biblical prophets. Much of the literature Ive read concerning the Prophets does seem to confirm this comparison.
Here's an example of such. Here R. Loren Sandford provides a general overview of the common characteristics found within people who have "prophetic" abilities( Sanford does correctly make a distinction between a 'prophetic' person and an actual Prophet).
You can read the entire piece here:
A Profile of the Prophetic Person by R. Loren Sandford - Vox
Here are some interesting excerpts that I wish to bring attention to.
This sounds very much like something an INFJ could relate to. I know I can. Who else agrees with me?
Here's an example of such. Here R. Loren Sandford provides a general overview of the common characteristics found within people who have "prophetic" abilities( Sanford does correctly make a distinction between a 'prophetic' person and an actual Prophet).
You can read the entire piece here:
A Profile of the Prophetic Person by R. Loren Sandford - Vox
Here are some interesting excerpts that I wish to bring attention to.
Prophetic types are usually eccentric personalities who have experienced more than their share of rejection because they do not think, feel or even act like normal folk. Not only are they misunderstood by others, and even by their families and intimate loved ones, but they are seldom understood even by themselves. Like so many things prophetic people face internally, this lack of self-understanding passes when maturity comes, often with the help of good counselors, but I do not think I know of a prophetic person who has not experienced it.
As eccentrics, we prophetic people ask questions about life and faith that do not seem to matter to others and, in pondering these questions, we often find ourselves off in a dream world somewhere while the rest of the world passes us by. We are looking for answers and seeking the deep meaning of things and we find ourselves incapable of settling for shallow or easy answers. The quest often consumes so much of our awareness that we seem disconnected, even aloof, from other people. Life seems to hold a different set of meanings for us than for regular folk.
Because of this lack of things to hold in common, people sometimes have trouble relating to us as friends and peers. For instance, when all that matters to me is the spiritual significance of the next natural disaster, it can become difficult to join others in their excitement over last Sunday's victory for the local professional football team. Being prophetic can enforce a profound sense of loneliness and isolation. Normal folk do not know how to relate.
It goes further. Prophetic people live as forerunners. They are usually one step ahead of the rest of the body of Christ. When other people are down and out, the prophetic person may already be rejoicing in the blessing to come. Or when others catch up and find the joy and the blessing the prophet saw coming, the prophet has already moved on and now grieves over the failure and apostasy that will form the essence of the coming days.
Prophetic personalities often have little consciousness of what might be seen by others to be weird behavior and they may tend to communicate in ways that neither they nor others fully understand. John the Baptist wore camel skin and ate bugs! Hardly normal behavior! Ezekiel dug holes in the city wall and carried his travel baggage around all day just for people to see (Ezekiel 12). And that was nothing compared to Ezekiel 4 where he built a toy city in the public place, and then laid down by it for the better part of 430 days. If that were not enough, he had himself tied up with ropes. He did all of this just to proclaim the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of the population into exile. "Normal" people would never entertain such instructions as coming from God.
True prophetic people who have not yet fully made peace with the calling and its consequences can therefore seem crusty at times. They can appear to be angry and defensive because they are geared up and prepared in advance for your negative response. They have been lied about, misunderstood and misrepresented and it hurts.
What may seem to be pride can therefore actually be simple defensiveness. What appears to be a hard and arrogant exterior can conceal a gentle and wounded heart of love. Those who would nurture prophetic people must work to see past this defensive and even offensive exterior. My own family has fought a long battle against a pattern of always gearing up for a fight.
Prophetic people are often over-serious about life and themselves and may have real difficulty just laughing and playing. Some discover their calling late in life, having had no inkling beforehand, but many are born with a crushing sense of destiny. From the earliest childhood they live under a sense of urgency.
This sounds very much like something an INFJ could relate to. I know I can. Who else agrees with me?