Hosea 12:13 ... And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
Exhortation: (Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet)
God gave me the above scripture to show me the primary way HE uses prophet in both the OT and NT church.
Egypt is a symbol of bondage and affliction.
Often a person is trapped in something and needs to be freed and can't seem to see. When this is the case, God might choose to send a prophet to help that person get free. This happened recently in a very twisted trap that Pam Padgett was entangled in concerning a sound processor.
Pam had purchased a 502 processor which turned out to be defective in transporting a picture to her video screen. The dealer offered to move her up to another high end brand for $4600 and to let Pam trade her 505 for the other brand. This was a way of escape. But Pam wasn't moving on this way of escape. I began to be troubled. I called her immediately. She had become paralyzed and couldn't move. As I spoke with her she finally awoke and got her checkbook and ordered the other brand freeing herself. This is one way God uses prophets.
God sounds warnings to the church through the mouth of HIS prophets ...Prophets are used by God to help people to get out of traps and also to warn the people of God so they will not fall into a trap. The current warning trumpet being sounded concerns deception in the church. This is part of the end time signs.
Please read: What is the sign of the second coming of Jesus?