Did prophecy begin with Elijah

Answer 1

No. Prophecy began early in the Old Testament, immediately after man sinned [or failed to obey God's Commandments - see I John 3:4] and the necessity of a Savior was made manifest.

Jesus, the WORD of God [the Almighty Creator God of the Old Testament - see John 1;3], immediately after the man and women hid themselves from Him after they sinned, foretold the future, or "prophesied," regarding the future generations of women, men, and the serpent's future role with both man and Christ's future death [see Gen.3::14-19].

To Satan Jesus prophesied: "...you are singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth... You will grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling on your belly... you and the woman will be enemies [the woman being an allusion to God's church, maybe?], and your offspring and her offspring [the presence of demons on the earth and their influence and/or possession of the future generations of man, which still goes on today, contrary to popular secular belief] will be enemies. He [Christ] will crush your head, and you will strike His heel [see John 13:27]." (Gen.3:14-15 NLT New Living Translation)

We find Abel's blood sacrifices, of which our Creator, Jesus Christ, the WORD, approved above his brother Cain's grain offerings, which prophesied of the Messiah's future blood sacrifice for His creation:

"...Abel [the shepherd] brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his offering, but He did not accept Cain [the farmer] and his offering..." (Gen.4:4-5 NLT).

Jude reveals that Enoch prophesied of Christ's second coming before the flood:

"...Enoch... prophesied about these people. He said, 'Look, the LORD is coming with thousands of His holy ones. He will bring the people of the world to Judgment. He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things they have done in rebellion and of all the insults that godless sinners have spoken against Him." (Jude 1:14-15 NLT)

Prophecy is evident throughout The Bible [nearly one-third of the Bible is prophecy: "...here a little, and there a little..." - Isa.28:10 found in different places]... and it doesn't begin with Elijah.

Answer 2

No. Adam, the first man, spoke with God, as recorded in Genesis ch.3. Others also had prophecy-visions, commands, rebukes, or messages spoken to them by God, such as Cain, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron and Joshua. However, prophecy as we usually think of it, with schools of disciples and great prophets one after the other, began with Samuel.

All of the above lived before Elijah.

See also:

The Israelite prophets

Timeline