10 Wow, Wild and Wacky Realities of the Prophetic Ministry
Prophecy in the Bible is one of the most powerful spiritual gifts. God gives revelation to people to share His heart, predict or proclaim the future and reveal secrets to us could only be known supernaturally. As Peter Parker learns in Spider-Man, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” The power of prophecy makes it a blessing when its handled properly but a burden or a curse when it is handled poorly or with falsehood. There has been a lot of foolishness in the prophetic community and we need to have a robust understanding of prophecy’s power but also its complexities. We need to help prophetic ministries and those they minister to properly weigh and discern what God is saying. Here are 10 amazing truths about prophecy according to the Word of God.
1. Prophecy ought to ultimately point to Jesus.
”For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 NKJV
The testimony of Jesus, the story and witness of His life is the spirit of prophecy. Some have applied this verse to each testimony of healing, answered prayer or provision as a prophecy. While I believe that can be an application of this verse, its not a good interpretation of it. The NIV says, “For it is the spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” True prophecy points to Jesus. It’s not that every prophecy needs to be specifically about Jesus but it must ultimately point to, exalt and proclaim who He is and the testimony of what He has done. John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets and we see no record of miracles that he performed. What he did do was point people to Jesus saying, “He must become greater; I must become less (John 3:30 NIV).”
2. Prophecy has the power to change the course of lives and nations.
”Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.“ Amos 3:7 NKJV
”But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.“ I Corinthians 14:24-25 NKJV
Prophecy is powerful because it is the communication of God’s revelation about people and nations. This means that prophecy can alter the course of human events and change the course of lives. Prophecy shares the will of God. It can be both forthtelling and foretelling. It can be a deceleration of what God wants to do in a situation or of what God requires of us His people. The word of the Lord through a prophet brings about salvation, repentance and open doors of opportunity.
3. Prophecy brings encouragement, exhortation and comfort.
”But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.“ I Corinthians 14:3 NKJV
Prophecy builds people up and brings great encouragement. Prophecy makes the word of God so personal. When people share by revelation only things that God could have shown them, people feel loved and seen. Those beginning in prophecy ought to stick to prophecy according to these guidelines in 1 Corinthians 14. Those who desire to edify, exhort and comfort others put their heart in a place to hear God for others and share prophetic encouragement.
4. Prophecy can sound true but be false because it comes from the human spirit and not the Lord’s mouth.
”Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the Lord.“ Jeremiah 23:16 NKJV
”“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!“ Ezekiel 13:2 NIV
Prophecy can easily come from one’s own imagination. Prophecies can originate from God’s Spirit, evil spirits and the human spirit. Prophetic people can read certain details by human intuition but we must be careful to discern between someone reading information and what God is actually saying to us. There has been a trend of prophets weighing in on current events and trends. Often prophets are following a party line or specific narrative crafted by the media or a particular interest group. Do you see in Scripture where through the prophets or Jesus Himself, God is speaking what people always want to hear in one particular group or political party? I once heard of a prophet who was asked, “what did God show you about this event?” He wisely replied, “Nothing, I already have an opinion about it.” It is imperative to know they difference between what God is saying and what a prophet picks up themselves by reading people, the media or situations. Even dreams and visions need to be carefully weighed especially if a prophet is dreaming about things they regularly read about in the news and the media. Our imaginations can be influenced by what we input into our mind. We need the pure word of the Lord, not visions that come from a prophet’s own heart.
5. God can allow lies in the mouths of prophets to judge you.
”Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”“ I Kings 22:21-23 NKJV
This is one of the more bizarre realities of the prophetic. God can judge us by allowing a prophet to prophesy lies that we really want to hear. Not only do we see this happen in 1 Kings 22, In Jeremiah 5:31, God says, “the prophets prophesy lies… and my people love it this way (NIV).” I’ve seen Christians run from prophet to prophet to try and get some kind of vague word that they might interpret in such a way that empowers their sinful lifestyle. If we refuse to submit to the simple and clear meaning of Scripture and value prophecy above what we know to be right in God’s eyes, God can give us a word that sounds like it is coming from Him and what we want to hear. So even hearing something that feels confirming to us can actually be judgment against us if refuse to have a heart that is submitted to God.
6. A lack of prophets is a sign of God’s judgement.
”We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.“ Psalms 74:9 NIV
When we don’t have any prophets, this is a sign of God’s judgment as well. If there are no prophets we won’t hear what is on God’s heart. We won’t have a witness that declares to us the way we are to go. Prophets counter the culture and the way we can drift as a people from the ways of the Lord. Having prophets is a blessing. Their absence is a judgment against us. We can overly rely upon them but we can also despise them to our own demise.
7. Prophecy ought to be judged.
”Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.“ I Corinthians 14:29 NKJV
”Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.“ 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NIV
First of all since it is impossible for God to lie and Scripture has a special quality of infallible revelation, all prophecy must line up with Scripture. In other words, it cannot contradict the Scripture. Some Christians don’t believe there is any more revelation after the completion of Scripture, which comes from the teaching of cessationism. I reject cessationism and believe that God still reveals things to us but He reveals nothing to us that is an infallible authority like the Bible. Therefore, we must judge prophecy because it has to line up in content, heart, attitude and tone with the theology of the Word of God. A pastor in our fellowship trains prophetic people by saying, “if you prophesy here, you will be corrected.” No prophets should be expected to be perfect in their gift and so we must judge what is spoken. We must not despise prophecy but they must be tested. Unfortunately, many Christians now believe that judging prophecy is a negative type of religiosity, when it’s a clear instruction of New Testament church life.
8. Prophecy is mysterious and must be interpreted.
“Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”“ Numbers 12:6-8 NIV
”But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,“ Deuteronomy 34:10 NKJV
Prophecy is complex. Life in the Spirit realm is not spelled out to us like a science. The reality of prophecy and hearing the voice of God is all throughout Scripture but the mechanics and specifics are not provided. We have clear boundaries from the Bible but even with all we do have in Scripture we must interpret prophecy. Moses had a special gift where God spoke face to face to him, but the Scriptures themselves say that this was unusual and most prophets receive riddles, visions and dreams that are difficult to discern. Prophetic people can accurately hear God but not always interpret properly. We need to have Biblical knowledge, personal integrity and godly wisdom to rightly discern and interpret what God is saying based off of what we hear.
9. Even the very best true prophecy is partial.
”For we know in part and we prophesy in part,“ 1 Corinthians 13:9 NIV
Prophecy is partial even when it is true and accurate. God speaks to us primarily through Scripture and then to us personally by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers. He also speaks through prophets, through other believers prophesying but that is not all. God speaks through elders and pastors, through circumstances and through those he brings in our lives with special wisdom. Every major decision in our life should have confirmation and agreement of the Bible, wise counsel and agreement of the right voices in our lives. Prophecy should often confirm what God has already been showing you. You need to examine why you might listen to a prophet more than trusted friends, mentors and leaders who give you advice. If you are unclear about a prophecy, get help from pastors and wise believers in your community to help you discern what to do.
10. False prophets should be judged and avoided.
”“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.“ Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NKJV
”Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.“ I John 4:1 NKJV
People have married an abusive partner and had their marriage destroyed due to listening to a so-called prophet. People will move across the country, break off friendships and even get involved in cults of false religion because they get seduced by a false prophet. Sadly, many Christian are more upset at people calling out a false prophet than the false prophet misleading people. The Scriptures warn us of false prophets being those who make inaccurate predictions but also of those who make accurate predictions while leading you to false gods. The test of a false prophet is not primarily accuracy (although I would quit giving ear to these self proclaimed prophets who get over half of their prophecies wrong). It is primarily about them pointing you to Jesus, the Scriptures, the truth and promoting a life that encourages the fear of God and holiness. False prophets must be avoided and judged. Prophecy needs interpretation and no prophet is perfect or prophesying anything that we would treat as Scripture. When they miss it, they should repent and humbly continue to minister what God shows them. When someone is unrepentant for inaccuracies and leading people astray, beware of them.
May God help us to embrace the prophetic ministry with power and purity in a way that encourages people and magnifies Jesus!
This guidance is so needed! Thank you for spelling out what needs to be said so desperately in this hour to the church. This nugget (and the paragraph it appears in) should be common knowledge among believers, requiring great discernment and humility, "Prophecies can originate from God’s Spirit, evil spirits and the human spirit."
Very cool explanation. On one hand we could be hearing nonsense and on the other it could be true revelation from God. I want to be careful not to miss out on true Prophecy by having an overall negative “wait and see” attitude about it. I find it difficult to strike the appropriate balance.