THE GIFT OF
PROPHECY
Lesson
23
Page 1 of
2
Coming to terms
The remnant is
identified in Revelation as
keeping the commandments of God
and having the testimony of
Jesus. Revelation 12:17 In
Revelation 19:10 we learn that
the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy. What
is the “spirit of
prophecy?” Knowing
that Satan has obscured the law
of God, should we be surprised to
learn that he has counterfeited
the spirit of prophecy?
For the sake of
definition, the “gift of
prophecy” or the
“spirit of prophecy” is
the gift of knowing the unknown.
Webster says prophecy is, “a
prediction made under divine
influence and direction, or a
discourse made or delivered by a
prophet under divine
direction.”
The Bible
interchanges the idea of
prophesying under divine
influence and the gift or ability
to prophesy. King Saul, for
example, received the ability to
prophesy even though he was not
considered a prophet.
“When they
arrived at Gibeah, a procession
of prophets met him (King Saul);
the Spirit of God came upon him
in power, and he joined in their
prophesying. When all those
who had formerly known him saw
him prophesying with the
prophets, they asked each other,
‘what is this that has
happened to the son of Kish?
Is Saul also among the
prophets?”
A few good
questions
Is the gift of
prophecy in all churches today?
Is this gift prevalent throughout
the world? Is it limited to
Christianity? What
characteristics distinguish those
who speak in God’s behalf?
How can we tell if someone is
truly giving a revelation that
came from God? What
distinguishes a “prophetic
revelation” from a
“sanctified or educated
guess?” These issues
must be studied carefully, for
there is a growing interest in
manifestations of supernatural
power.
Paul speaks about
spiritual gifts
The most eloquent
writer in the Bible on the gifts
of the Spirit is the Apostle
Paul. Perhaps his position
on the subject is appropriately
encompassing because, of all the
writers in the Bible, he is one
of the wealthiest recipients of
spiritual gifts. Few would
contest that Paul stands head and
shoulders above his
contemporaries due to his
combination of natural ability
and spiritual gifts. He
influenced the theology of
Christianity more than any of his
peers.
Paul points out
there are several different gifts
of the Spirit. These
include wisdom, knowledge, faith,
healing, miraculous powers,
discernment of spirits, speaking
in tongues, interpretation of
tongues and prophesying. He
stresses that the gifts have a
direct purpose. They bring
growth and harmony to the Church
instead of chaos. Notice
some of his comments:
1.
Paul says the gift of prophecy is
for believers. This is in
direct contrast to the gift of
tongues that is for unbelievers.
I Corinthians 14:22 Paul also
points out that there many be an
ecstatic experience of joy in the
Lord, where a person may speak in
a language beyond words; however,
he emphasizes such experiences
are to be private and not public.
I Corinthians 14:2, 9-17
2.
Paul says that the manifestation
of spiritual gifts is given for
the common good of all. I
Corinthians 12:7 This text does
not imply that every believer
receives the manifestation of
some spiritual gift. Rather,
the manifestation of spiritual
gifts occurs for the common good
of all mankind – believers
and non-believers alike. Paul
recognized the value of spiritual
gifts and clearly encouraged the
church to seek for them,
especially the gift of prophecy.
I Corinthians 14:1 But, desiring
a gift does not mandate the
receipt of the gift.
3.
Paul clearly says the Holy
Spirit determines what gift (if
any) a person receives. I
Corinthians 12:11 He goes to
great lengths in Chapter 12 to
point out that the body is made
up of many parts. Since the
body of Christ has many members,
we all benefit in the
administration of the gifts to
those upon whom the gifts have
been granted. I Corinthians
12:27-30 He clearly points out
that God has not appointed
everyone to be an apostle,
prophet, miracle worker, teacher.
4.
Paul stresses there are something
more important than the gifts of
the Spirit. It is the grace of
the Spirit. Paul says,
“Desire the greater gifts,
faith, hope and love.”
I Corinthians 12:31, 13:13 The
gifts are temporal, while the
graces of the Spirit are eternal.
Paul points out that if we speak
with the tongues of gifted men or
even angels and have not love, it
is nothing. {13:1} If we
have the gift of prophecy and the
gift of faith and have no love,
it is nothing. {13:2} If we
give all we have to the poor and
die a martyr’s death and
have no love, it is nothing.
{13:3} Love, agape love (love
that is God like), is more
important than all other gifts.
In fact, the gift of tongues,
knowledge and prophecy will pass
away {13:8-10} but love
will never cease. {13:8}
A brief survey on
the gift of prophecy
The Bible does not
provide a clear definition of
what it takes to become a
prophet. A job description is
also missing. Apparently,
the post or job of being a
prophet is an
“appointment” rather
than the achievement of a
sanctified state. And each
appointment within the scriptures
appears to be unique to the
circumstances of time and place.
For example, the boy Samuel was
called to be a prophet during the
time of the judges of Israel. The
physician Luke was called to be a
prophet during the time of
Christ. Anna and the four
daughters of Phillip were also
called to be prophets too! Luke
2:36; Acts 21:9 Prophets are
human beings and have failings
too. Remember Jonah and the
whale? Did you ever hear about
the infamous Balaam? See
Numbers 22:23. Notice the
following points about the office
of prophet:
1.
Abraham, the venerable father of
Israel, was not perfect even
though he was a prophet! In fact,
the first time mention of the
term prophet in the Bible is in
Genesis and it applies to
Abraham. “Now Abraham moved
on from there in to the region of
the Negev and lived between
Kadesh and Shur. {2} And there
Abraham said of his wife Sarah,
‘She is my sister.’
Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent
for Sarah and took her. {3} But
God came to Abimelech in a dream
on night and said to him,
‘You are as good as dead
because of the woman you have
taken; she is a married
woman.’ {4} Now Abimelech
had not gone near her, so he
said, ‘Lord, will you
destroy an innocent nation? {5}
Did he not say to me, ‘She
is my sister,’ and
didn’t she also say,
‘He is my brother’? I
have done this with a clear
conscience and clean hands.’
{6} Then God said to him in the
dream, ‘Yes, I know you did
this with a clear conscience, and
so I have kept you from sinning
against me. That is why I
did not let you touch her. {7}
Now return the man’s wife,
for he is a prophet, and he will
pray for you and you will live.
But if you do not return her, you
may be sure that you and all
yours will die.’”
Genesis 20:1-7
Abraham is called
a prophet because God directly
communicated through him. Abraham
prayed for Abimelech and God
spared his life. Jesus spoke to
Abraham from time to time and
those who came to know Abraham
recognized the relationship
between them. (This scripture
reveals the fact that prophets
can make serious mistakes. Even
though Sarah was Abraham’s
half sister, she was his wife.
The prophet intentionally
misleads Abimelech on this matter
for fear that Abimelech would
kill him and take his beautiful
wife.
2.
The Bible treats the office of
prophet as a divine appointment.
When God has a spokesman, He
speaks through that person.
“He (the Lord) said,
‘Listen to my words: When a
prophet of the Lord is among you,
I reveal myself to him in
visions, I speak to him in
dreams.’” Numbers 12:6
3.
God warned Israel that no one
should imitate the office of
prophet. If anyone claimed to be
a prophet and in reality, they
had not been appointed as such,
the consequences were to be
fatal. Even more, if the
testimony of a former prophet
leads people to stray from the
commands of God, he was to be put
to death. Jesus said, “If a
prophet, or one who foretells by
dreams, appears among you and
announces to you a miraculous
sign or wonder, {2} and if the
sign or wonder of which he has
spoken takes place, and he says,
‘Let us follow other gods
(gods you have not known)
‘and let us worship
them,’{3} you must not
listen to the words of that
prophet or dreamer. The Lord your
God is testing you to find out
whether you love him with all
your heart and with all your
soul. {4} It is the Lord your God
you must follow, and him you must
revere. Keep his commands and
obey him; serve him and hold fast
to him. {5} That prophet or
dreamer must be put to death,
because he preached rebellion
against the Lord your God, who
brought you out of Egypt and
redeemed you from the land of
slavery; he has tried to turn you
from the way of the Lord your God
commanded you to follow. You must
purge the evil from among
you.” Deuteronomy 13:1-5
4.
When God speaks through a
prophet, the situation is
unavoidably difficult for two
reasons. First, if a person
rejects the words of a prophet,
God will hold the person
accountable. Secondly, and more
importantly, if the prophet has
spoken presumptuously, he must be
put to death. The litmus test of
a prophet is accuracy in
prediction. “If anyone does
not listen to my words that the
prophet speaks in my name, I
myself will call him to account.
But a prophet who presumes to
speak in my name anything I have
not commanded him to say, or a
prophet who speaks in the name of
other gods, must be put to death!
You may say to yourselves,
‘How can we know when a
message has not been spoken by
the Lord?’ If what a prophet
proclaims in the name of the Lord
does not take place or come true,
that is a message the Lord has
not spoken. That prophet has
spoken presumptuously. Do not be
afraid of him.” Deuteronomy
18:19-22
5.
When God gives someone the
ability to prophesy, people
recognize the power of God is
uniquely upon that person.
Remember the text about King
Saul? Notice this one about
Samuel: “And all Israel from
Dan to Beersheba recognized that
Samuel was attested as a prophet
of the Lord.” I Samuel 3:20
6.
A prophet cannot obey the words
of another prophet if they are
contrary to what he has been
told. Notice the story: “Now
there was a certain old prophet
living in Bethel, whose sons came
and told him all that the man of
God had done there that day. {13}
So he said to his sons,
‘Saddle the donkey for
me.’ And when they had
saddled the donkey for him, he
mounted it. {14} And rode after
the man of God. He found him
sitting under an oak tree and
asked, ‘Are you the man of
God who came from Judah?’
‘I am,’ he replied.
{15} So the prophet said unto him
‘Come home with me and
eat.’ {16} The man of God
said, ‘I cannot turn back
and go with you, nor can I eat
bread or drink water with you in
this place. {17} I have been told
by the word of the Lord:
‘You must not eat bread or
drink water there or return by
the way you came.’ {18} The
old prophet answered, ‘I too
am a prophet, as you are. And an
angel said to me by the way of
the Lord: ‘Bring him back
with you to your house so that he
may eat bread and drink
water.’ (But he was lying to
him.) {19} So the man of God
returned with him and ate and
drank in his house. {20} While
they were sitting at the table,
the word of the Lord came to the
old prophet who had brought him
back. He cried out to the man of
God, who had come from Judah,
‘This is what the Lord says:
‘You have defiled the word
of the Lord and have not kept the
command the Lord your God gave
you. {22} You came back and ate
bread and drank water in the
place where he told you not to
eat or drink. Therefore your body
will not be buried in the tomb of
your fathers.’ {23} When the
man of God had finished eating
and drinking, the prophet who had
brought him back saddled his
donkey for him. {24} As they went
on his way, a lion met him on the
road and killed him, and his body
was thrown down on the road, with
both the donkey and the lion
standing beside it. {25} Some
people who passed by saw the body
thrown down there, with the lion
standing beside the body, and
they went and reported it in the
city where the old prophet lived.
{26} When the prophet who had
brought him back from the journey
heard of it, he said, ‘It is
the man of God who defiled the
word of the Lord. The Lord has
given him over to the lion, which
mauled him and killed him, as the
word of the Lord had warned
him.’ {27} The prophet said
to his sons, ‘Saddle the
donkey for me,’ and they did
so. {28} Then he went out and
found the body thrown down on the
road, with the donkey and the
lion standing beside it. The lion
had neither eaten the body nor
mauled the donkey. {29} So the
prophet picked up the body of the
man of God, laid it on the
donkey, and brought it back to
his own city to mourn for him and
bury him. {30} Then he laid the
body in his own tomb, and they
mourned over him and said,
‘Oh my brother!’”
I Kings 13:11-30
7.
The prophet cannot of his own
power prove his divine
appointment as spokesman for God.
Only God can confirm or
demonstrate the appointment.
Notice how this happened to
Elijah. “At the time
of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah
stepped forward and prayed:
‘O Lord, God of Abraham,
Isaac and Israel, let it be known
today that you are God in Israel
and that I am your servant and
have done all these things at
your command.’ I Kings 18:36
8.
The decision to become a prophet
is not made by man, neither is
the office hereditary. God
chooses or appoints prophets. He
told Elijah, “Also, anoint
Jehu son of Nimshi king over
Israel, and anoint Elisha son of
Shaphat from Abel Mehoiah to
succeed you as prophet.” I
Kings 19:16
9.
When people refuse to heed the
words of God’s prophets, God
sends them a delusion that they
might be damned. See II
Thessalonians 2:11,12 Notice this
incredible story in the Old
Testament from which Paul took
special insight: “But
Jehoshaphat also said to the king
of Israel, ‘First seek the
counsel of the Lord.’{6} So
the king of Israel brought
together the prophets –
about four hundred men – and
asked them, ‘Shall I go to
war against Ramoth Gilead, or
shall I refrain?’ ‘Go,
they answered, ‘for the Lord
will give it into the king’s
hand.’ {7} But Jehoshaphat
asked, ‘Is there not a
prophet of the Lord here whom we
can inquire of?’ {8} The
king of Israel answered
Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still
one man through whom we can
inquire of the Lord, but I hate
him because he never prophesies
anything good about me, but
always bad. He is Micaiah son of
Imiah.’ ‘The king of
Israel called one of his
officials and said, ‘Bring
Micaiah son of Imiah at
once.’ {10} Dressed in their
royal robes, the king of Israel
and Jehoshaphat king of Judah
were sitting on their thrones at
the threshing floor by the
entrance of the gate of Samaria,
with all the prophets prophesying
before them. {11} Now Zedekiah
son of Kenaanah (a false prophet)
had made iron horns and he
declared, ‘This is what the
Lord says: ‘With these you
will gore the Arameans until they
are destroyed.’ {12} All the
other prophets were prophesying
the same thing. ‘Attack
Ramoth Gilead and be
victorious,’ they said,
‘for the Lord will give it
into the king’s hand.’
{13} The messenger who had gone
to summon Micaiah said to him,
‘Look, as one man the other
prophets are predicting success
for the king. Let your word agree
with theirs, and speak
favorably.’ ‘But
Micaiah said, ‘As surely as
the Lord lives, I can tell him
only what the Lord tells
me.’ {15} When he arrived,
the king asked him,
‘Micaiah, shall we go to war
against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I
refrain?’ ‘Attack and
be victorious,’ he answered,
‘for the Lord will give it
into the king’s hand.’
{16} The king said unto him,
‘How many times must I make
you swear to me nothing but the
truth in the name of the
Lord?’ {17} Then Micaiah
answered, ‘I saw all Israel
scattered on the hills like sheep
without a shepherd and the Lord
said, ‘These people have no
master. Let each one go home in
peace.’ {18} The king of
Israel said to Jehoshaphat,
‘Didn’t I tell you that
he never prophesies anything good
about me, but only bad?’
{19} Micaiah continued,
‘Therefore hear the word of
the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting
on his throne with all the host
of heaven standing around him on
his right and on his left. {20}
And the Lord said, ‘Who will
entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth
Gilead and going to his death
there?’ ‘One suggested
this, and another that.’
Finally, a spirit came forward,
stood before the Lord and said,
‘I will entice him.’
{22} ‘By what means?’
the Lord asked. ‘I will go
out and be a lying spirit in the
mouths of all his prophets,’
he said. ‘You will succeed
in enticing him, ‘said the
Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
{23} So now the Lord has put a
lying spirit in the mouths of all
these prophets of yours. The Lord
has decreed disaster for
you.’” I Kings 22:5-23
10. God is
very protective about the way His
name is honored or dishonored by
prophets. The story of Naaman and
greedy Gehazi confirms this
point. Speaking to Naaman, Elisha
said, “ ‘go in
peace.’ After Naaman had
traveled some distance, {20}
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the
man of God, said to himself,
‘My master was too easy on
Naaman, this Aramean, by not
accepting from him what he
brought. As surely as the Lord
lives, I will run after him and
get something from him.’
{21} So Gehazi hurried after
Naaman. When Naaman saw him
running toward him, he got down
from the chariot to meet him.
‘Is everything all
right,’ Gehazi answered.
‘My master sent me to say,
‘Two young men from the
company of the prophets has just
come to me from the hill country
of Ephraim. Please give them a
talent of silver and two sets of
clothing.’’ {23}
‘By all means, take two
talents,’ said Naaman. He
urged Gehazi to accept them, and
then tied up the two talents of
silver in two bags, with two sets
of clothing. He gave them to two
of his servants, and they carried
them ahead of Gehazi. {24} When
Gehazi came to the hill, he took
the things from the servants and
put them away in the house. He
sent the men away and they left.
{25} Then he went in and stood
before his master Elisha. Where
have you been, Gehazi?’
Elisha asked. ‘Your servant
didn’t go anywhere,’
Gehazi answered. {26} But Elisha
said to him, ‘was not my
spirit with you when the man got
down from his chariot to meet
you? Is this the time to take
money, or accept clothes, olive
groves, vineyards, flocks, herds,
or menservants and maidservants?
{27} Naaman’s leprosy will
cling to you and to your
descendants forever.’ The
Gehazi went from Elisha’s
presence and he was leprous, as
white as snow.” 2 Kings
5:19-27
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