The Bible and Prophecy

A friend recently asked me to send them some short passages that outlined the Bible mandate for prophecy and guidelines for its practice – what it is/looks like, whether it should be pursued today, where and when it might be appropriate etc.. I thought I would write a quick summary of some of the examples that people have shared with me, or that I have found in scripture. This is going to be a very short look at the Biblical foundation for prophecy. Please don’t take this as a particularly authoritative description of prophecy (there may be mistakes in what I write), but similarly do allow it to challenge you and don’t just disregard what’s said if you disagree with it. There are plenty of good books/teachers that have lots more to say than I ever could on the issue, but I thought I would still share a little on the topic.

Jesus:

Before we look into the details of prophecy I thought it would be good to start with two examples of Jesus prophesying. Interestingly, both examples involve someone who was not yet one of his followers:

Jesus and Nathanael – John 1:47-51

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” ⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman – John 4:15-26

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” ¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” ¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” ¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” ²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” ²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

These two examples lead quite well into understanding what prophecy actually is. Most people associate prophecy with the future – usually someone predicting the future in some way. This modern view of prophecy most likely comes from movies and books about witches, magic, ancient mythology etc. (e.g. prophecies in ancient greek myths). This view doesn’t completely differ from Biblical prophecy (Most of the Old Testament prophets were seeing visions of ‘the future’), but it is a limited view. Knowledge of some future event is one example of what prophecy might look like, but it is not what prophecy actually is. The greek word προφητεία (prophecy) carries a wider meaning. Rather than just a prediction of the future, prophecy is the declaration of revealed truth (e.g. declaring God’s purposes, knowledge of past events given by God, teaching divine truth).

In the two examples above, we see Jesus prophesy in a few different ways.

He has knowledge of the past in both situations – something only God could know:

• Jesus ‘saw’ Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip called him, which provoked Nathanael to declare ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.’

• He knew of the Samaritan woman’s past and current relationships (her five husbands and current non-marital partner) which led to the woman saying she could see he was a prophet.

In both passages Jesus also declares that something will happen in the future:

• That Nathanael will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’^[d] the Son of Man.”
• That soon there will be a time when ‘true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.’

It is regularly said by Christians that we must worship God ‘in the Spirit and in truth’ and it is encouraging to know that this prophetic declaration by Jesus will come to pass.

Finally, and this is the best bit, new testament prophecy should lead us to Jesus, to declaring him as Lord as we will see below.

1 John 4:1-3

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

1 Corinthians 12:2-3

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

It is by the Holy Spirit that we are able to acknowledge Jesus’ lordship over our lives and Godly prophecy will ultimately align with this truth. This is exactly what we see in the two passages from John:

• John 1 – After Jesus’ prophecy, Nathanael declares that He is the Son of God and the King of Israel. It’s amazing to hear of just how quickly Nathanael’s eyes are opened to Jesus’ identity.
• John 4:25-26 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” ²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” – What an amazing couple of verses! Jesus ends by revealing a truth that was hidden to so many in parables, that He is the Messiah.

Revelation of the identity of Jesus is deeply entwined with Prophecy, especially when it concerns those who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Big Questions?

Now, I am going to try and answer some of the bigger questions that people often have about prophecy using two passages. The first, from 1 Corinthians 14, is often used to discuss prophecy and is prescriptive in nature. The second, from Acts 22, is less well-known and is a descriptive account of new testament prophecy in practice.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5

 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. ³ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. ⁴ Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

Acts 22:8-13

⁸ Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰ After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” ¹² When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 

Who is the gift of Prophecy for?

Both texts provide a foundation to understanding whether or not prophecy is limited to certain people (e.g. apostles, church leaders, men, women etc.).

Firstly, Paul tells those in Corinth to ‘eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy‘ and then he says that he ‘would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.‘ (I am not going to get into a discussion about tongues, I neither lack the will nor the understanding) Paul clearly doesn’t think the gift of prophecy is limited to certain people, both wanting these people to have the gift, and telling them to pursue it. In fact, he’d rather they prophesy than pray in tongues, and the reason links to the purposes of these two gifts, as we will see.

Acts 21 confirms this view that prophecy is not limited to certain people within the church. Firstly, it mentions Philip the Evangelist’s ‘four unmarried daughters who prophesied.’ (This is the same Philip who, in Acts 8, was sent by an angel of the Lord to a desert road where he met, and eventually baptised, an Ethiopian eunuch) The fact that his daughters are mentioned is fascinating. It is almost answering our questions about who prophesy might be for as we read it. Not only did all four daughter’s prophecy, but they were unmarried women. As 21st century Westerners we might skip over this quickly, but this is quite a big statement about who can have the gift of prophecy in the first century Church. You can maybe imagine a Pharisee shocked at the Early Church for suggesting that the revealed truth of God could be entrusted to common unmarried women. And yet this is exactly what Peter says we should expect, in his sermon after Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. He quotes Joel 2:28-32 which starts:

‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.‘

Acts 21:9 is a fulfilment of this prophecy from Joel. People’s daughters really did prophesy. Peter used this to explain to the crowd some of the wacky stuff going on at Pentecost. He was saying that they were in the ‘last days’ and if we are still in those ‘last days’ now should we not also expect to see men and women, sons and daughters, young and old, prophecy, see visions, dream dreams?

What is its purpose?

Paul seems fairly straightforward in answering this question. Firstly, he says ‘the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.‘ The purpose of prophecy is to strengthen, encourage and comfort. This is really important to remember if you are at all involved in prophecy.

On the face of it, this seems straightforward. But Acts 21, at first sight, complicates the matter a little. We hear that Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, and a Prophet, Agabus, comes up to him, takes his belt from him and ties up his own hands and feet with it. He then tells Paul, ‘The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.” Very encouraging stuff right! Maybe not. At least to our comfortable Western ears it doesn’t seem very encouraging or comforting. However, this is where we misunderstand Paul a little. Paul isn’t just talking about the warm, happy-clappy encouragement that might make us feel good. The Greek word, paráklēsis can literally mean a ‘holy urging’ and ‘is used of the Lord directly motivating and inspiring believers to carry out His plan, delivering His particular message to someone else.’ (Strong’s Greek Concordance(a)) This is talking about the type of encouragement that reminds you that God is with you, emboldening you to go out and obey God’s will. Just look at Paul’s response, ‘I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.‘ For all we know, it was precisely through Agabus’ prophecy that God gave him the strength to go to Jerusalem despite the threats he faced. Don’t we need a bit more of that in our Church!

This is exactly what Paul says, later in 1 Corinthians 14. ‘the one who prophesies edifies the church.’ He expands on the purpose of prophecy – it should build up the church.

Finally, it’s important to remember how he starts this section, ‘follow the way of love‘. Ultimately, the goal of prophecy should be love. As he says in 1 Corinthians 13 just before, ‘If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.‘ Prophecy without love is pointless, and it leaves you with nothing.

What now?

Well, seemingly all followers of Jesus can have the gift of Prophecy; it edifies the Church; it strengthens, comforts and encourages people when used properly; Paul tells us to eagerly desire it. I’ll leave you with two questions:

• Are there members of the Body of Christ that you know that need strengthening in their faith, encouraging in doing God’s will and comforting in the difficulties of Christian life?

• How can you, right now, go about eagerly desiring this gift?

P.S – This is neither a comprehensive nor a conclusive discussion on prophecy. If this is totally new to you, I recognise that this doesn’t provide much practical help on how to go about exploring prophecy for yourself. If you want to eagerly desire it, the first thing to do is to ask God for this gift (be persistent). Maybe approach anyone you might know who already has this gift and ask for their advice and support. I hope to write more articles on various topics exploring prophecy, including what it may look like practically, what we can learn from the Old Testament etc.