What is prophecy?

Answer

To prophesy is simply to speak prophecy. Prophecy is the noun, and prophesy is the verb. Prophecy, at its most basic definition, is “a message from God.” So, to prophesy is to proclaim a message from God. The one who does this is, therefore, a prophet. Although foretelling is often associated with prophecy, revealing the future is not a necessary element of prophecy; however, since only God knows the future, any authoritative word about the future must of necessity be a prophecy, that is, a message from God.

In the Old Testament, there were prophets who simply spoke their divine messages to a king or to the people (e.g., Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha). Later, there came a series of “writing prophets” whose messages are preserved in Scripture (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and Malachi). Quite often the prophets would preface their utterances with words such as “thus saith the Lord” (KJV) or “this is what the Lord says” (NIV). The point is that God had communicated something to the prophets, and they were speaking directly for Him. “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” «For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.», (2 Peter 1:21).

According to Deuteronomy 13, there are two signs of a true prophet. First, he must not direct people to follow other gods. Second, whenever the prophet says something about future events, those events must come to pass. If the prophet promotes the worship of false gods, or if his predictions fail to come to pass, then he is a false prophet.

God would often give the prophet a message about something that would happen in the short term to give him credibility on the more lo

Long-term message. For example, Jeremiah informed the leaders of Judah that the nation would be conquered by Babylon. However, another “prophet,” a charlatan named Hananiah, stood up and claimed that the Lord had given him a different message, asserting that Jeremiah was not a true prophet. Jeremiah warned Hananiah that within a year he would die, and indeed, he passed away within that year (Jeremiah 28). Jeremiah’s accurate prediction of the future should have lent more credibility to his other words.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist declares the presence of the Kingdom of God and the Messiah, identifying Jesus as that Messiah. John is commonly referred to as the final Old Testament prophet. Throughout the rest of the New Testament, there is minimal mention of prophets. It appears that the apostles fulfilled the prophetic role by speaking directly and authoritatively for God, and their teachings are now preserved in Scripture. Ephesians 2:20 identifies the apostles and prophets as the foundation of the church, with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. Evidently, before the completion of the Scripture canon, God may have communicated directly with people more frequently. Prophecy is listed as one of the gifts of the Spirit (see Romans 12:6-8).

A topic of current interest is whether the gift of prophecy continues or if it ceased after the foundational period of the church. First Corinthians 12—14 contains the lengthiest New Testament passage concerning prophecy. The church in Corinth was misusing this gift along with the gift of tongues. One issue they faced was that during gatherings, too many prophets were speaking simultaneously, leading to interruptions. Paul advises that at most two or three prophets should speak, taking turns. Others should carefully evaluate or judge what the prophet says (see 1 Corinthians 14:29).

1 Corinthians 14:29-31. Perhaps the most accurate interpretation is that certain individuals in Corinth believed they were receiving a message directly from God, but they could have been mistaken; therefore, it was necessary for them to subject their prophecies to the evaluation of the church. Similar to the Old Testament, if a New Testament prophecy contradicted sound doctrine, it was to be disregarded.

The guidance provided in 1 Corinthians 14 also indicates that one should exercise caution when claiming to speak on behalf of God if the revelation is not found in the Bible. Simply having a “message from God” does not automatically confer authority. The aspiring prophet should humbly present the message to the church leaders for validation. Paul’s instruction implies that the gift of prophecy was already starting to diminish as an authoritative gift by the time 1 Corinthians was penned.

A preacher or pastor today assumes a prophetic role to the extent that he declares and expounds upon the written Word of God. Nevertheless, pastors are never referred to as “prophets” in the New Testament. The pastor can confidently declare, “Thus says the Lord,” if he supports it with the appropriate chapter and verse. Regrettably, some pastors adopt a prophetic persona and make declarations that do not originate from God but from their own imaginations.