Prophesying
“Prophesying” has been a fascinating subject for thousands of years. The very word has an aura and mysticism about it. It conjures up images of out-of-the-ordinary people saying out-of-the-ordinary things. This world has certainly seen its share of “prophets” and “prophetesses,” and the Bible, not surprisingly, has a great deal to say on the subject.
It is good to begin with the Bible’s definition of authentic prophesying. That definition is found in 2 Peter 1:21. According to the verse, prophesying is speaking the very words of God as you are moved by the Holy Spirit. When we study the Bible’s “prophesying” passages, we learn that prophesying isn’t really preaching as we think of preaching. Neither is it merely explaining some portion of God’s written word. To prophesy is to become nothing less than the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit. The words you speak are not your words. Every syllable is the Holy Spirit’s syllable. In the vast majority of the Bible’s instances, prophesying involves a foretelling of some future event.
The Old Testament mentions many, many prophets and even a few prophetesses. Some of these people were true prophets and prophetesses of God. Others of them were false prophets and prophetesses.
Many of the true Old Testament prophets wrote books that are included in the Old Testament. A list of these prophets would be: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Other true Old Testament prophets do not have books in the Old Testament. A partial list of these would be: Nathan, Ahijah, Elijah, Elisha, and Micaiah. Some of the true Old Testament prophets are actually unnamed. Examples of such men can be found in: Judges 6:7-10, 1 Samuel 2:27-36, and 1 Kings 13:1-3.
The Old Testament also mentions some true prophetesses. A list of these would be: Miriam (Exodus 15:20-21), Deborah (Judges chapters 4 and 5), and Huldah (2 Kings 22:11-20). The prophet Isaiah’s wife, though unnamed, was also a true prophetess (Isaiah 8:1-4).
However, not all prophesying in Old Testament days was genuinely of the Lord. Shemaiah was a false prophet (Nehemiah 6:1-13), as were Zedekiah (1 Kings 22:11) and Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:1-17). Unnamed false prophets are also mentioned in passages such as 2 Chronicles 18:1-5; Jeremiah 23:15-40; and Lamentations 2:14. Furthermore, Noadiah was a false prophetess (Nehemiah 6:14), as were other unnamed prophetesses (Ezekiel 13:17-22).
The simple factor in determining whether a prophet or prophetess was really of the Lord was the outcome of their prophecies. If a person’s prophecies always came true, that person was a true prophet or prophetess of God. If, however, even one of the prophecies didn’t come true, that person was a false prophet or prophetess. According to the law that God gave to the Israelites, false prophets and prophetesses were to be put to death (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
Like the Old Testament, the New Testament has a great deal to say about prophesying. This New Testament teaching can be broken down into two separate categories. First, there is prophesying in the pre-church age. Second, there is prophesying in the church age.
As for the New Testament’s pre-church age, John the Baptist stands out among the true prophets and prophetesses. For the most part, he can be described as an Old Testament prophet who lived in New Testament days. The New Testament’s only mention of a true prophetess in the pre-church age is Anna (Luke 2:36-38). The New Testament’s only other instance of a man or woman doing true prophesying in the pre-church age comes from Zecharias, John the Baptist’s father. Luke 1:67-79 records the prophesying that Zecharias did when the Holy Spirit moved him.
But what does the New Testament say about prophesying in the church age (the age in which we live)? Well, the New Testament ties in church-age prophesying with the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of Christians. Prophesying is one of the so-called “spiritual gifts.”
Let me explain how this works. Back in Old Testament days, the Holy Spirit didn’t normally indwell believers. This was also true in the pre-church days of the New Testament. However, in the weeks just before Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, He told His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-26; 15:26; 16:7-8; 16:12-15). He said to them, “The Spirit now dwells with you, but He will be in you.”
And when did the Holy Spirit begin actually indwelling believers in Christ? It happened on the famous Day of Pentecost that is recorded in Acts chapter 2. That day was also the beginning of the church age. So, in this church age, the moment a person puts saving belief in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes into that person’s body and takes up residence there. There are numerous New Testament passages that teach this: Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19;
2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 4:6; and Ephesians 3:14-19.
Now, when the Holy Spirit comes inside the Christian, the Spirit empowers the Christian with at least one “spiritual gift.” A spiritual gift is an ability that enables the Christian to perform a particular ministry in service to Christ. A spiritual gift is not a natural talent the Christian is born having. It is, instead, a skill that he or she only receives with the indwelling Holy Spirit. It’s true that God wants the Christian to use his or her natural talents and abilities in service to Him, but He also wants the Christian to use his or her spiritual gift in service to Him. The indwelling Holy Spirit may bring more than one spiritual gift to some Christians, but He brings at least one to every Christian. The New Testament’s best passages on spiritual gifts are Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, and Ephesians 4:11-16.
The truth is that prophesying is listed as one of the spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10; Ephesians 4:11). It makes perfect sense then that the New Testament would mention certain church-age believers (Christians) who had the spiritual gift of prophesying. Acts 11:27-28 and 21:10-11 mention Agabus and some other unnamed prophets. Acts 13:1 describes Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen as prophets. Acts 21:8-9 says that Philip had four virgin daughters who prophesied. Acts 19:1-6 tells the story of some men who prophesied after their baptisms.
It’s clear that the spiritual gift of prophecy was an important part of the early church. 1 Thessalonians (one of the earliest of Paul’s books) flatly says, “Do not despise prophecies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20). As a matter of fact, prophesying was important enough to have a large portion of an entire New Testament chapter devoted to it. That chapter is 1 Corinthians chapter 14. There, Paul lays down the rules for using the spiritual gift of prophecy. The rules are as follows:
- Prophesying was primarily for the benefit of Christians, not lost people.
(1 Corinthians 14:22) - Prophesying in a church service could benefit a lost person if that person attended the service, recognized the prophesying as being of God, and came under conviction over his lost condition.
(1 Corinthians 14:23-25) - In a church service, Christians with the spiritual gift of prophecy had to do their prophesying one at a time.
(1 Corinthians 14:30-31) - In a church service, the prophecies of Christians with the spiritual gift of prophecy had to be judged by other Christians who had the spiritual gift of prophecy.
(1 Corinthians 14:29,32) - In a church service, no Christian woman with the spiritual gift of prophecy could speak any prophecy.
(1 Corinthians 14:34-38; 1 Timothy 2:11-14) - Christian women who had the spiritual gift of prophecy had to do their praying and prophesying in places other than church services, and they had to cover their heads with a veil when they did it.
(1 Corinthians 11:2-15)
Of course, the question that Christians must deal with today is: Does God still impart the spiritual gift of prophecy to certain Christians? Taking the entirety of the New Testament into account, the answer would seem to be, no. There are at least three pieces of Bible evidence for reaching this conclusion.
First, Ephesians 2:20 says the church was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This probably indicates that the spiritual gifts of apostleship (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11) and prophecy (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10; Ephesians 4:11) were only foundational, temporary gifts that were imparted during the early days of the church age. It is noteworthy that the New Testament often lists these two spiritual gifts one right after the other (Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 4:11). It is also noteworthy that no one could be an apostle who hadn’t actually seen Jesus (Acts 1:15-22; 1 Corinthians 9:1). This explains why no one today is truly exhibiting the “signs of an apostle” (Acts 2:43; Acts 5:12; Acts 14:3-4; Romans 15:18-19; 2 Corinthians 12:12). All of this means that the spiritual gift of apostleship is no longer imparted today. By implication then, the same can probably be said of the gift of prophecy. After all, you only lay a foundation once.
Second, the New Testament does seem to show that some of the spiritual gifts were exclusively for the early days of the church age. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 mentions such spiritual gifts as healing (v.9), the working of miracles (v.10), and speaking in tongues (v.10), and the book of Acts gives examples of Christians having these amazing spiritual gifts. However, Acts and 1 Corinthians were written during the earlier days of the church age, and the fact is, the New Testament books that were written later make no mention of these spiritual gifts. A prime example of the ceasing of some of the spiritual gifts can be seen by studying Paul’s life. Paul was able to heal mightily in the book of Acts (19:11-12), but he could not do the same later in his life (Philippians 2:25-27; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:19).
Third, 2 Peter 2:1 seems to indicate that the role of prophecy in the church was eventually replaced by the role of teaching. Prophesying was important during the earlier years of the church age. These were the days of Acts, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 Corinthians. However, once the pages of the New Testament began to mount up, the need for prophesying gradually faded from the scene. The teaching of the written scriptures became more important that prophesying.
So, in conclusion, it is most likely that the spiritual gift of prophecy went the way of the spiritual gift of apostleship and some of the other more exciting gifts. It’s true that some people today claim to have gifts such as apostleship, prophesying, working miracles, and speaking in tongues. But the outcome of their supposed ministries is severely lacking. Their lives do not show the miraculous signs of a true apostle, and any so-called miracles they work typically don’t hold up under scrutiny. Their speaking in tongues is the speaking of gibberish, not the kind of speaking in tongues described in the Bible (speaking in known, foreign languages). Last, but not least, many of their prophecies simply do not come true. Going by the Bible’s standard, this in itself should disqualify them from being called prophets or a prophetesses.