What is word of prophecy

At the opening of this service we heard these words quoted from Psalm 138:2: ‘thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name’. It is a wonder­ful fact that in a certain sense the Word of God has supremacy — a fact that is calculated to be very encouraging and motivating to those whose work it is to spread abroad the Scriptures. The Lord Himself gave the Word, but He uses people to spread it abroad — ‘great was the company of those that published it’, says Psalm 68:11.

In our text, 2 Peter 1:19, we have another motive and encouragement for car­rying out this vitally important work of taking the Word of God to people throughout the world, that is, its certainty: it is the ‘sure word of prophecy’.

Therefore, by the Lord’s help, we shall now consider ‘the sure word of prophecy’. There are three things we shall look at. First, what this word of prophecy is, or its nature as the ‘more sure word of prophecy’; second, what it does, or its effect as ‘a light that shineth in a dark place’; and third, what we are to do with it, or the duty laid upon us by the words, ‘whereunto ye do well that ye take heed’.

The Word of Prophecy: its nature⤒🔗

Strictly speaking, ‘the word of prophecy’ is simply Scripture foretelling future events, and the phrase, as used in this verse, refers especially to the foretelling of events connected with the coming of the Messiah. But we have more than just the prophecies of Scripture in the phrase ‘the word of prophecy’: it is descriptive, I believe, of the whole of Old Testament Scripture. Here we have an example of a part — the prophecy of Old Testament Scripture — being taken for the whole. Although the prophets predicted future events, especially the coming of the Messiah, they also proclaimed all the words given to them by God to proclaim. In other words, the prophets were the immediate human agents of God for communicating His mind and will to men.

Now, with regard to ourselves today, having both the Old and New Testaments, we may take ‘the word of prophecy’ to mean the whole Word of God. In Revelation 22:7 we are exhorted to keep ‘the sayings of the prophecy of this book’ — not just the prophetic parts of The Revelation, nor even the book of The Revelation, but rather the whole of Scripture. The canon of Scripture was brought to a close when John wrote The Revelation, and towards the end we have the solemn warning that there is to be no adding to nor taking away from ‘the words of the prophecy of this book’ (22:18-19), that is, of Scripture. Just as the whole of Scripture is described as ‘the word of this salvation’ (Acts 13:26), ‘the word of life’ (Philippians 2:16), ‘the word of the truth of the gospel’ (Colossians 1:5), and ‘the word of righteousness’ (Hebrews 5:13), so it is described here, we understand, as ‘the word of prophecy’.

Another important aspect of the nature of the ‘word of prophecy’ is that it is ‘the word of Christ’ (Colossians 3:16), not only as it comes from Christ, but especially because it is full of Christ. It is Christ and Him crucified who is the substance of the Word; He is the very kernel of the truth. Christ instructs us to search the Scriptures for they testify of Himself (John 5:39). You will recall that when the two disciples were on their way to Emmaus, the Saviour Himself drew near to them, ‘and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself’ (Luke 24:27). Yes, in all the Scriptures. What was it He set before them from all the Scriptures? Himself as the suffering Saviour. ‘Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?’ (Luke 24:26). How full of Christ is the ‘word of prophecy’.

Of course, the Scriptures are a revelation of the mind and will of God, but God reveals Himself also through the personal Word, Jesus Christ. Of Him we read, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ (John 1:1). It is through Christ especially that God reveals Himself — through Christ the personal Word presented in the written Word.

In a verse previous to our text, Peter says he made known ‘the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (verse 16), but how did he make it known? He did not use cunningly devised fables but the ‘sure word’. And even although he testifies that he and James and John were eyewitnesses of the divine majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ on the holy mount, he goes on to state, ‘We have also a more sure word of prophecy’.

Now when the apostle was speaking of ‘the power … of our Lord Jesus Christ’, he was referring to His divine omnipotence. The apostle was making known that Christ, as the omnipotent One, had power to do what had to be done for the redemption of sinners; power to destroy the works of the devil, power to conquer death, and power to conquer him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and thus power to redeem His people. Christ still exercises His power for the salvation of sinners such as ourselves. He is ‘mighty to save’ (Isaiah 63:1); He ‘is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him’ (Hebrews 7:25).

This, then, is what Peter was making known: ‘the power … of our Lord Jesus Christ’ — and making it known from the ‘sure word’. Yes, he testified to hearing the voice from heaven and to seeing the glory and majesty of the divine Redeemer in the holy mount, but this is what he is underlining: ‘We have also a more sure word of prophecy’.

The apostle was also making known the ‘coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (verse 16); that He came into this world to dwell among men. What a wonder: Emmanuel, God with us! The question of Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the Temple was, ‘But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?’ (2 Chronicles 6:18). Is it possible? Well, this was the great message of the prophets, that the Messiah would come into the world at the set time.

In the days of Moses, and before, there were those who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. They thought of Him as ‘the coming One’. Then John the Baptist, through his disciples, asked the Saviour the question, ‘Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?’ (Matthew 11:3), asking, as it were, ‘Art thou the coming One?’ This is what Godly people in Old Testament times were much taken up with: the coming of the coming One. How much Godly Zacharias and Elisabeth, and Simeon and Anna in the Temple, were looking forward to His coming. Then suddenly the set time came. ‘When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law’ (Galatians 4:4) to save His people from their sins by bearing their iniquities.

But when we think of the ‘coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’, are we not to think also that He shall yet come in the person of His Spirit, to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17)? That prophecy of Joel, of course, had a partial fulfilment on the day of Pentecost, but there shall be a further and greater and worldwide fulfilment of it. All nations shall come unto Him (Psalm 86:9), multitudes from all corners of the earth will flock unto Shiloh, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be (Genesis 49:10). What an amazing prospect that is! The knowledge of His glory shall cover the whole earth ‘as the waters cover the sea’ (Habakkuk 2:14); when there shall be, as Jonathan Edwards calls it, ‘The latter-day glory’.¹

Then Christ shall come finally in person when He shall ‘appear the second time without sin unto salvation’ (Hebrews 9:28). On the great last day He shall come without sin, that is, not to bear the sins of His people, for that He has done already. Instead, He shall come unto salvation, that is, for the completing of their salvation, for the gathering of His saints together unto Him. How glorious shall be His coming! ‘They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). He Himself says, ‘Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh’ (Matthew 24:44).

We see also the nature of the ‘word of prophecy’ in the word ‘sure’. It tells us that the Word of God is certain, true, altogether without error, absolutely infal­lible. It is settled in heaven for ever, as the Psalmist said:

Thy word for ever is, O Lord, in heaven settled fast;
Unto all generations thy faithfulness doth last. Metrical Psalm 119.89

And as the sure and settled Word, it will endure, as Metrical Psalm 33 puts it:

O but the counsel of the Lord doth stand for ever sure;
And of his heart the purposes from age to age endure. verse 11

What is the reason for the Word being sure? The answer is: its Divine origin. In the verses after our text, especially verse 21, we read, ‘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’. Here we have God as the original giver of the Word. ‘The Lord gave the word’ (Psalm 68:11), and each of the Persons of the Godhead was involved in giving the Word. The Word was given by God who cannot lie (Titus 1:.2), by Christ who is the Amen and the faithful and true Witness (Revelation 3:14), by the Spirit who is the Spirit of truth (John 16.13). Therefore the Word cannot be other than sure. Those holy men of old were ‘moved’ or borne along by the Holy Ghost and thus the Word they spoke and wrote was God-breathed; they were used as penmen so that what they inscripturated is the very Word of God. ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God’ (2 Timothy 3:16) and therefore is the ‘sure word’.

When we think of that process of the Holy Spirit working in those holy men, we are confronted by what is deeply mysterious. Who can enter into what was happening in their souls when God the Holy Ghost carried them along, so that they were penmen in His hand? There was no submerging of their personalities, but what they wrote was precisely what God would have them to write.

The mysteriousness of that process is akin to the work of the Spirit of God in bringing sinners from death to life. The Saviour said to Nicodemus about the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth that ‘the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit’ (John 3:8). But the result of the Holy Spirit thus working secretly in the soul becomes evident. So also the mysterious work of the Spirit of God in those holy men of old as they were borne along is wonderfully evident in our having the Scriptures.

However, our text also says that the ‘sure word’ is ‘more sure’, that is, it is more sure than a certain sure thing. It is more sure than the voice that Peter writes of in verse 18, ‘this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount’. How profound were the words uttered by that voice: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him’ (Matthew 17:5). Of course, those words they heard from heaven were sure; there is no question about that for they were words of God who cannot lie. Yet Scripture is ‘a more sure word’.

In what sense is the written Word more sure than the voice from heaven? The voice from heaven was transient — it was heard and it was gone; but Scripture is a fixed and permanent Word. What a great privilege is ours in having this ‘more sure word’! If it were only the voice from heaven we had, where would we be? We would be depending on fallible memories and word of mouth transmission of the words of that voice. So it pleased God, as it says in the Westminster Confession of Faith, ‘for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church … to commit the same wholly unto writing’ (1:1). What an unspeakable mercy it is that God has given us His written Word! Of course, it is in the written Word that we have the record of the voice from heaven and of the glory of Christ being manifested on the Mount of Transfiguration.

A thought-provoking question was posed today in the Society’s Business Report on the work being done in Iran: ‘Can you imagine what it would be like if we had no Bible at all?’ How highly favoured we are in having this ‘more sure word’ — and we must be praising the Most High for it. To others it was said, ‘To you is the word of this salvation sent’ (Acts 13:26), as if to say, ‘A great favour has been bestowed upon you’. How great indeed is our privilege! But what effect does the Word have upon us?

The Word of Prophecy: its effect←⤒🔗

Let us look, in the second place, at the effect of the ‘word of prophecy’. There is one effect indicated by our text: the effect of enlightening. The Word of God is compared to ‘a light that shineth in a dark place’. The dark place that we are to think of especially is this world itself, which has gross spiritual darkness cover­ing it. However much light of knowledge there may be in various academic disciplines or particular professions, the world is enveloped in spiritual dark­ness. When man fell, his understanding was darkened; as Thomas Boston puts it, ‘the understanding, that as a lamp or candle shone brightly, is now enveloped with darkness’.²The soul of man came under the darkness of both ignorance and sin. We by nature are born in spiritual darkness, and if we are not enlight­ened by God in His mercy we will continue doing the works of darkness. The world, then, is covered by dreadful darkness, and something of the dreadfulness of that darkness is indicated by what it culminates in: ‘outer darkness’ and ‘the blackness of darkness’. What a mercy it is that we have the ‘sure word’ as ‘a light that shineth in a dark place’.

Another element in the darkness that covers the world is false religion: Roman Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions of darkness. We heard today already about the spiritual darkness of false religion in our own nation. We also heard that in the prevailing darkness in Iran there are indications that some are looking for more than they can find in Islam. Only the Word of Christ and Christ in the Word will enlighten a poor sinner in his darkness.

But, of course, Satan, the prince of darkness, is constantly working to keep men in darkness. ‘The world lieth in wickedness’ (1 John 5:19), and the evil one is ‘the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience’ (Ephesians 2:2), ‘the god of this world (who) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) shine into their hearts and they be converted. Multitudes upon multitudes in our own and other lands are travelling on in darkness to outer darkness. What hope is there for them?

What hope was there for you in the past, child of God? You who have the hope now that you are a child of light must acknowledge that you were brought to hope in God’s Word, the light that shines in the dark place. Light comes into the soul when the Word is applied to it. When the gospel is preached in any place, a certain degree of light comes to that place; but never will there be light in the soul of any person until the Word is divinely applied to it. ‘The entrance of thy words giveth light,’ said the Psalmist (Psalm 119:130). There must be the entering of the Word into the soul if there is to be life and light in it.

That is what happened, for example, in Philippi (Acts 16:23ft). The jailer there was in the greatest darkness but the light of the truth entered his soul when it was presented to him by Paul and Silas, and so he became a child of light. What a remarkable and most profound change occurs when a sinner is translated, or carried across, from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). To the children of light it is said, ‘ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord’ (Ephesians 5:8) — not just brought into light, but made light itself, ‘light in the Lord’.

There must, of course, be the accompanying of the Word by the Spirit of God if the darkness that is in the soul is to be dispelled. A great marvel it was when God, in His work of creation, ‘commanded the light to shine out of darkness’. How much greater a marvel it is, believers must say, that ‘God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:6), that is, in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In thinking of the Word as a light we are to bear in mind that it is Christ in the Word who is especially the light. He declares, ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’ (John 8:12). He is the glorious Light of the world who is graciously calling to us in our darkness to come to Him (if we have not been yet enlightened), and also is calling His enlightened people to trust in Him in their times of darkness. We are to be ever looking to Him, the Light of the world, as He is presented to us in the ‘light that shineth in a dark place’.

It was an amazing effect that the Word had in Thessalonica also. The light of the gospel came in a general way to the people of Thessalonica, but the gospel came to some of them in a very special way — with spiritual light. ‘Our gospel came not unto you in word only’, wrote Paul, ‘but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance’ (1 Thessalonians 1:5). This assurance is not the assurance of faith, but the assurance that the word of the truth of the gospel is the ‘sure word’. Those believers in Thessalonica came to understand that the Word of God was certain, right, inerrant and infallible, the Word that could indeed be the foundation of their salvation. Assurance of the veracity, inerrancy, and infallibility of the Word of God is what the believer has been brought to.

What a blessed people are they who have been made children of light! What is a characteristic of these blessed children? Do you think that they will go on in light constantly without having darkness? It is clear from the Word of God that this is not so. ‘Who is among you that feareth the LORD…that walketh in darkness…?’ (Isaiah 50:10). That is the experience of the believer from time to time. How should he react? ‘Let him trust in the name of the LORD’. Let him turn to the ‘sure word’ of the Lord where he will find light. The Lord will cause light to arise to him in his darkness.

Here then is ‘the light of the world’: Jesus Christ Himself, but Jesus Christ as revealed in the Word. Therefore the Word itself is a light for this lost world, ‘a light that shineth in a dark place’.

We heard today about the Iranian woman who received a copy of The Gospel According to John in her own language, Farsi, and how she was filled with grateful wonder that she should have been so favoured as to have part of the written Word of God in her hands. Greater was her wonder and gratitude when the Word was blessed to her to bring her to faith in Christ and to see Him as the light of the world.

There is no hope for a lost world if the Word be not spread abroad. This is the great need of the nations of the earth; and this is the pressing need of our own nation — that the Word again be proclaimed throughout its length and breadth, in our parishes, towns and cities. Sadly, there is a famine of the pure preaching of the Word in many corners of our land, and also a dreadful apathy on the part of so many with regard to this light that shines in dark places. What is our duty?

The Word of Prophecy: our duty←⤒🔗

Our duty is very clear: ‘whereunto’ — that is, to the ‘sure word of prophecy’ — ‘ye do well that ye take heed’. These words, ‘that ye take heed’, were addressed by the apostle, in the first instance, to the Jewish Christians who were scattered abroad, but we today are also called to heed the ‘sure word’.

In what way are we to take heed to it? By conducting ourselves according to it. ‘This is the light that I must have for my feet; this is the lamp that I must have for my path’, says the believer. ‘It is my desire that I would indeed be, as the apostle John puts it, «walking in truth» (3 John 4). ‘I must have my heart and life conformed to this light.’ The Christian is concerned to take heed by keeping ‘the sayings of the prophecy of this book’ (Revelation 22:7), to be ever diligent in going along the narrow way which it prescribes. He acknowledges that this is the good path, the old path, the narrow way that leads to life eternal; and that he must have God’s Word as his light if he is to progress in the way, endure to the end and arrive in heaven at last. So the ‘sure word’ must be thus heeded if he is to do what is required in verse 10, ‘Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure’.

There is another way in which we are to be heeding the Word: by doing our utmost to convey it to others. Peter’s concern was not only that these Jewish believers would be put in remembrance of the Word that had already been spoken to them (verses 12 and 13), but also that it would be proclaimed to others. How boldly he preached the Word to the multitude on the day of Pentecost. He set before them their sins, and also the crucified One who died and rose again for the remission of sins. The Word had an effect upon them. They anxiously enquired, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ (Acts 2:37). The Word was not only a light to show them their sins, but also a light to show thousands of them ‘the light of the world’, Jesus Christ, to the saving of their souls. This Word, in the hand of the Spirit of God, is the same effective Word today as it was then.

This is encouraging, is it not? When we are concerned about our duty to pub­lish the Word of God among all nations, and when there is much work to be done in translating the Scriptures into the languages of the peoples of the world, what an encouragement it is that the Word is the same now as it was then, the same ‘sure word’, the same light that shines, the same powerful Word which is ‘the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek’ (Romans 1:16). Truly, it is a powerful Word.

This truth is also a motive to do what we can, while we can, so that others would have this precious, sure, enlightening Word in their own hands and hearts. This is the prayerful concern of ministers of the Gospel: that the Word will go forth powerfully to bring multitudes who are in darkness to know the blessed One who is the light of the world. And believers generally, when they consider the blessing they themselves received from the Word, under the work of the Spirit of God, desire that others, especially those near to them, would have the Word as the Word of their salvation. But again we say that there is no possibility of a turn of the tide of iniquity that is rising higher and higher nationally and internationally unless the Word be accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost from heaven.

It is indeed an onerous responsibility that is laid upon the church of Christ, and upon those engaged on behalf of the church, in having to translate and publish faithful versions of the Word of God. The responsibility of transmitting the truth has been laid on the church in all generations. It was given to the church in Old Testament times, as we see in Metrical Psalm 78,

His testimony and his law in Isr’el he did place,
And charg’d our fathers it to show to their succeeding race;
That so the race which was to come might well them learn and know;
And sons unborn, who should arise, might to their sons them show.Psalm 78:5, 6

Today, there is a responsibility laid upon parents to instruct their children in the truth; upon the church to faithfully declare the Word; and upon those involved in the work of this Society to continue, by Divine grace, transmitting the truth by faithful translations of the Scriptures.

One last point needs to be emphasised: our heeding the Word is to continue, as our text says, ‘until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts’. What day is this? We believe that is ultimately the great day when Christ will come to gather all His saints together to Himself. But each saint is first gathered in at the moment of death, when an entrance is given to him into the kingdom above — the kingdom that we read of in verse 11, ‘the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’.

To continue heeding the Word, never turning aside — this is what the child of God is striving to do. The believer is sure that he must not give up, turn aside, nor turn back, but go on in the way. He must run the race that is set before him, having the Word as a light and Christ before his eyes (Hebrews 12:1-2). Then at last he will have the day star arise in his heart. The day star? Is this not Christ Himself? Yes; He is the bright and morning star that will be given to each believer who continues to the end. Christ says, ‘I will give him the morning star’ (Revelation 2:28), as if to say, ‘I, Myself, will be his portion eternally’. At the time of their departure believers shall go to ‘be with Christ; which is far better’ (Philippians 1:23). Then they shall have such a fulness of communion with Christ as they could not have in this world. This is what is in store for them.

‘I will give him the morning star’. To whom shall it be given? To those who ‘hold fast’, ‘to him that overcometh’, and, says Christ, ‘leepeth my works unto the end’ — that is, the works required by Christ of everyone — doing His will and walking in His ways (Revelation 2:25, 26). So the day star shall arise at last in the heart of each believ­er in his having the full enjoying of Christ forever. The church in the Song of Solomon was earnestly desiring that day when she said, ‘Until the day break, and the shadows flee away’ (Song 2:17). Such is the language of believers in this world who long to have more of Christ and fuller communion with Him. Then, at last and forever, they shall have that desired and fullest communion — and all this because of the ‘sure word of prophecy’ being blessed to them in time, bringing them to know Christ as ‘the light of the world’, ‘the bright and morning star’. I have a desire, said Paul, ‘to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better’ (Philippians 1:23). ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (v. 21). Why is it gain to die? The answer must be, ‘I shall be with Him; I shall have Him; I shall have communion with Him forever and ever’.

Finally, who is especially set before us in the ‘sure word of prophecy’? Oh, it is indeed Christ. ‘I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified’, said Paul (1 Corinthians 2:2). This, then, is what we are never to lose sight of about the preaching of the Word: it is essentially preaching Christ. This is what people sitting in darkness need so much: the preaching of the Word, which is the preaching of Christ, so that they will behold Him with the eye of faith, have deliverance from the wrath which is to come and the hope of eternal life. And then, as verse 11 shows, an entrance shall be ministered unto them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a prophet) by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or preternatural knowledge, for example of future events. They can be revealed to the prophet in various ways depending on the religion and the story, such as visions, divination, or direct interaction with divine beings in physical form. Stories of prophetic deeds sometimes receive considerable attention and some have been known to survive for centuries through oral tradition or as religious texts.

Etymology[edit]

The English noun «prophecy», in the sense of «function of a prophet» appeared from about 1225, from Old French profecie (12th century), and from prophetia, Greek propheteia «gift of interpreting the will of God», from Greek prophetes (see prophet). The related meaning, «thing spoken or written by a prophet», dates from c. 1300, while the verb «to prophesy» is recorded by 1377.^[1]

Definitions[edit]

• Maimonides suggested that «prophecy is, in truth and reality, an emanation sent forth by Divine Being through the medium of the Active Intellect, in the first instance to man’s rational faculty, and then to his imaginative faculty».^[2]
• The views of Maimonides closely relate to the definition by Al-Fârâbî, who developed the theory of prophecy in Islam.^[3]
• Much of the activity of Old Testament prophets involved conditional warnings rather than immutable futures.^[4] A summary of a standard Old Testament prophetic formula might run: Repent of sin X and turn to righteousness, otherwise consequence Y will occur.
• Saint Paul emphasizes edification, exhortation and comfort in a definition of prophesying.^[5]
• The Catholic Encyclopedia defines a Christian conception of prophecy as «understood in its strict sense, it means the foreknowledge of future events, though it may sometimes apply to past events of which there is no memory, and to present hidden things which cannot be known by the natural light of reason».^[6]
• According to Western esotericist Rosemary Guiley, clairvoyance has been used^{[by whom?]} as an adjunct to «divination, prophecy, and magic».^[7]
• From a skeptical point of view, a Latin maxim exists: «prophecy written after the fact» (vaticinium ex eventu).^[8] The Jewish Torah already deals with the topic of the false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:2-6, 18:20-22).^[9]

In religion[edit]

Baháʼí Faith[edit]

In 1863, Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, claimed to have been the promised messianic figure of all previous religions, and a Manifestation of God,^[10] a type of prophet in the Baháʼí writings that serves as intermediary between the divine and humanity and who speaks with the voice of a God.^[11] Bahá’u’lláh claimed that, while being imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal in Iran, he underwent a series of mystical experiences including having a vision of the Maid of Heaven who told him of his divine mission, and the promise of divine assistance;^[12] In Baháʼí belief, the Maid of Heaven is a representation of the divine.^[13]

Buddhism[edit]

The Haedong Kosung-jon (Biographies of High Monks) records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him. In the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheung’s «Grand Secretary», Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal. Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, for what would quickly be seen as a forgery. Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhism’s power. Ichadon’s scheme went as planned, and the opposing officials took the bait. When Ichadon was executed on the 15th day of the 9th month in 527, his prophecy was fulfilled; the earth shook, the sun was darkened, beautiful flowers rained from the sky, his severed head flew to the sacred Geumgang mountains, and milk instead of blood sprayed 100 feet in the air from his beheaded corpse. The omen was accepted by the opposing court officials as a manifestation of heaven’s approval, and Buddhism was made the state religion in 527.^[14]

Christianity[edit]

According to Walter Brueggemann, the task of prophetic (Christian) ministry is to nurture, nourish and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture.^[15] A recognized form of Christian prophecy is the «prophetic drama» which Frederick Dillistone describes as a «metaphorical conjunction between present situations and future events».^[16]

Later Christianity[edit]

In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr argued that prophets were no longer among Israel but were in the Church.^[17] The Shepherd of Hermas, written around the mid-2nd century, describes the way prophecy was being used within the church of that time. Irenaeus confirms the existence of such spiritual gifts in his Against Heresies. Although some modern commentators claim that Montanus was rejected because he claimed to be a prophet, a careful examination of history shows that the gift of prophecy was still acknowledged during the time of Montanus, and that he was controversial because of the manner in which he prophesied and the doctrines he propagated.^[18]

Prophecy and other spiritual gifts were somewhat rarely acknowledged throughout church history and there are few examples of the prophetic and certain other gifts until the Scottish Covenanters like Prophet Peden and George Wishart.^{[citation needed]} From 1904 to 1906, the Azusa Street Revival occurred in Los Angeles, California and is sometimes considered the birthplace of Pentecostalism. This revival is well known for the «speaking in tongues» that occurred there. Some participants of the Azusa Street Revival are claimed to have prophesied. Pentecostals believe prophecy and certain other gifts are once again being given to Christians. The Charismatic Movement also accepts spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues and prophecy.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a denomination that traces its history to the Millerite Movement and the Great Disappointment. Seventh-day Adventists «accept the biblical teaching of spiritual gifts and believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church.» The church also believes Ellen G. White to be a prophet and that her writings are divinely inspired.

Since 1972, the neo-Pentecostal Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International has expressed a belief in prophecy. The church claims this gift is manifested by one person (the prophesier) laying their hands on another person, who receives an individual message said by the prophesier. Prophesiers are believed to be used by the Holy Ghost as instruments through whom their God expresses his promises, advice and commandments. The church claims people receive messages about their future, in the form of promises given by their God and expected to be fulfilled by divine action.^[19]

Apostolic-Prophetic Movement[edit]

In the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement, a prophesy is simply a word delivered under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that accurately communicates God’s «thoughts and intention».^[20]

The Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders was a council of prophetic elders co-convened by C. Peter Wagner and Cindy Jacobs that included: Beth Alves, Jim Gool, Chuck Pierce, Mike and Cindy Jacobs, Bart Pierces, John and Paula Sanford, Dutch Sheets, Tommy Tenny, Heckor Torres, Barbara Wentroble, Mike Bickle, Paul Cain, Emanuele Cannistraci, Bill Hamon, Kingsley Fletcher, Ernest Gentile, Jim Laffoon, James Ryle, and Gwen Shaw.^[21]

Latter Day Saint movement[edit]

The Latter Day Saint movement maintains that its first prophet, Joseph Smith, was visited by God and Jesus Christ in 1820. The Latter Day Saints further claims that God communicated directly with Joseph Smith on many subsequent occasions, and that following the death of Joseph Smith God has continued to speak through subsequent prophets. Joseph Smith claims to have been led by an angel to a large hill in upstate New York, where he was shown an ancient manuscript engraved on plates of gold metal. Joseph Smith claimed to have translated this manuscript into modern English under divine inspiration by the gift and power of God, and the publication of this translation are known as the Book of Mormon.

Following Smith’s murder, there was a succession crisis that resulted in a great schism. The majority of Latter-day Saints believing Brigham Young to be the next prophet and following him out to Utah, while a minority returned to Missouri with Emma Smith, believing Joseph Smith Junior’s son, Joseph Smith III, to be the next legitimate prophet (forming the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now the Community of Christ). Since even before the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, there have been numerous separatist Latter Day Saint sects that have splintered from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. To this day, there are an unknown number of organizations within the Latter Day Saint movement, each with their own proposed prophet.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the largest Latter Day Saint body. The current Prophet/President of the LDS Church is Russell M. Nelson. The church has, since Joseph Smith’s death on June 27, 1844, held a belief that the president of their church is also a literal prophet of God. The church also maintains that further revelations claimed to have been given through Joseph Smith are published in the Doctrine and Covenants, one of the Standard Works. Additional revelations and prophecies outside the Standard Works, such as Joseph Smith’s «White Horse Prophecy», concerning a great and final war in the United States before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, can be found in other church published works.

Islam[edit]

The Arabic term for prophecy nubū’ah (Arabic: نُبُوْءَة) stems from the term for prophets, nabī (Arabic: نَبِي; pl. anbiyāʼ from nabā «tidings, announcement») who are lawbringers that Muslims believe were sent by God to every person, bringing God’s message in a language they can understand.^[22][23] But there is also the term rasūl (Arabic: رسول «messenger, apostle») to classify those who bring a divine revelation (Arabic: رسالة risālah «message») via an angel.^[22][24] Knowledge of the Islamic prophets is one of the six articles of the Islamic faith,^[25] and specifically mentioned in the Quran.^[26] Along with Muhammad, many of the prophets in Judaism (such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, etc.) and prophets of Christianity (Adam, Zechariah the priest, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ) are mentioned by name in the Quran.^[22]

In the sense of predicting events, the Quran contains verses believed to have predicted many events years before they happened and that such prophecies are proof of the divine origin of the Qur’an. The Qur’an itself states «For every announcement there is a term, and ye will come to know.» ^{[Quran 6:67]} Muslims also recognize the validity of some prophecies in other sacred texts like in the Bible; however, they believe that, unlike the Qur’an, some parts of the Bible have been corrupted over the years, and as a result, not all of the prophecies and verses in the Bible are accurate.^[27]

Judaism[edit]

The Hebrew term for prophet, Navi (נבוא), literally means «spokesperson»; he speaks to the people as a mouthpiece of their God, and to their god on behalf of the people. «The name prophet, from the Greek meaning «forespeaker» (πρὸ being used in the original local sense), is an equivalent of the Hebrew Navi, which signifies properly a delegate or mouthpiece of another.»^[28]

According to Judaism, authentic Nevuah (נבואה, «Prophecy») got withdrawn from the world after the destruction of the first Jerusalem Temple.^[28] Malachi is acknowledged to have been the last authentic prophet if one accepts the opinion that Nechemyah died in Babylon before 9th Tevet 3448 (313 BCE).^[29]

The Torah contains laws concerning the false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:2-6, 18:20-22). Prophets in Islam like Lot, for example, are false prophets according to Jewish standards.

In the Torah, prophecy often consisted of a conditioned warning by their God of the consequences should the society, specific communities, or their leaders not adhere to Torah’s instructions in the time contemporary with the prophet’s life. Prophecies sometimes included conditioned promises of blessing for obeying their god, and returning to behaviors and laws as written in the Torah. Conditioned warning prophecies feature in all Jewish works of the Tanakh.

Notably Maimonides, philosophically suggested there once were many levels of prophecy, from the highest such as those experienced by Moses, to the lowest where the individuals were able to apprehend the Divine Will, but not respond or even describe this experience to others, citing in example, Shem, Eber and most notably, Noah, who, in biblical narrative, does not issue prophetic declarations.^[30]

Maimonides, in his philosophical work The Guide for the Perplexed, outlines twelve modes of prophecy^[31] from lesser to greater degree of clarity:

1. Inspired actions
2. Inspired words
3. Allegorical dream revelations
4. Auditory dream revelations
5. Audiovisual dream revelations/human speaker
6. Audiovisual dream revelations/angelic speaker
7. Audiovisual dream revelations/Divine speaker
8. Allegorical waking vision
9. Auditory waking revelation
10. Audiovisual waking revelation/human speaker
11. Audiovisual waking revelation/angelic speaker
12. Audiovisual waking revelation/Divine speaker (that refers implicitly to Moses)

The Tanakh contains prophecies from various Hebrew prophets (55 in total) who communicated messages from God to the nation of Israel, and later the population of Judea and elsewhere. Experience of prophecy in the Torah and the rest of Tanakh was not restricted to Jews. Nor was the prophetic experience restricted to the Hebrew language.

Native American prophecy[edit]

There exists a problem in verifying most Native American prophecy, in that they remain primarily an oral tradition, and thus there is no way to cite references of where writings have been committed to paper. In their system, the best reference is an Elder, who acts as a repository of the accumulated wisdom of their tradition.

In another type of example, it is recorded that there are three Dogrib prophets who had claimed to have been divinely inspired to bring the message of Christianity’s God to their people.^[32] This prophecy among the Dogrib involves elements such as dances and trance-like states.^[33]

China[edit]

In ancient Chinese, prophetic texts are known as Chen (谶). The most famous Chinese prophecy is the Tui bei tu (推背圖).

Nostradamus[edit]

Esoteric prophecy has been claimed for, but not by, Michel de Nostredame, popularly referred to as Nostradamus, who claimed to be a converted Christian. It is known that he suffered several tragedies in his life, and was persecuted to some degree for his cryptic esoteric writings about the future, reportedly derived through a use of a crystal ball. Nostradamus was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of foreknowledge of future events. He is best known for his book Les Propheties («The Prophecies»), the first edition of which appeared in 1555. Since Les Propheties was published, Nostradamus has attracted an esoteric following that, along with the popularistic press, credits him with foreseeing world events. His esoteric cryptic foreseeings have in some cases been assimilated to the results of applying the alleged Bible code, as well as to other purported pseudo-prophetic works.

Most reliable academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus’s quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power. Moreover, none of the sources listed offers any evidence that anyone has ever interpreted any of Nostradamus’s pseudo-prophetic works specifically enough to allow a clear identification of any event in advance.^[34]

Explanations[edit]

According to skeptics, many apparently fulfilled prophecies can be explained as coincidences, possibly aided by the prophecy’s own vagueness, and others may have been invented after the fact to match the circumstances of a past event (an act termed «postdiction»).^[35][36][37]

Bill Whitcomb in The Magician’s Companion observes,

One point to remember is that the probability of an event changes as soon as a prophecy (or divination) exists. . . . The accuracy or outcome of any prophecy is altered by the desires and attachments of the seer and those who hear the prophecy.^[38]

Many prophets make a large number of prophecies. This makes the chances of at least one prophecy being correct much higher by sheer weight of numbers.^[39]

Psychology[edit]

The phenomenon of prophecy is not well understood in psychology research literature. Psychiatrist and neurologist Arthur Deikman describes the phenomenon as an «intuitive knowing, a type of perception that bypasses the usual sensory channels and rational intellect.»^[40]

«(P)rophecy can be likened to a bridge between the individual ‘mystical self’ and the communal ‘mystical body’,» writes religious sociologist Margaret Poloma.^[41] Prophecy seems to involve «the free association that occurred through the workings of the right brain.»^[42]

Psychologist Julian Jaynes proposed that this is a temporary accessing of the bicameral mind; that is, a temporary separating of functions, such that the authoritarian part of the mind seems to literally be speaking to the person as if a separate (and external) voice. Jaynes posits that the gods heard as voices in the head were and are organizations of the central nervous system. God speaking through man, according to Jaynes, is a more recent vestige of God speaking to man; the product of a more integrated higher self. When the bicameral mind speaks, there is no introspection. In earlier times, posits Jaynes, there was additionally a visual component, now lost.^[43]

Child development and consciousness author Joseph Chilton Pearce remarked that revelation typically appears in symbolic form and «in a single flash of insight.»^[44] He used the metaphor of lightning striking and suggests that the revelation is «a result of a buildup of resonant potential.»^[45] Pearce compared it to the earth asking a question and the sky answering it. Focus, he said, feeds into «a unified field of like resonance (and becomes) capable of attracting and receiving the field’s answer when it does form.»^[46]

Some cite aspects of cognitive psychology such as pattern forming and attention to the formation of prophecy in modern-day society as well as the declining influence of religion in daily life.^[47]

Poetry and prophecy[edit]

For the ancient Greeks, prediction, prophesy, and poetry were often intertwined.^[48] Prophecies were given in verse, and a word for poet in Latin is “vates” or prophet.^[48] Both poets and oracles claimed to be inspired by forces outside themselves. In ancient China, divination is regarded as the oldest form of occult inquiry and was often expressed in verse.^[49] In contemporary Western cultures, theological revelation and poetry are typically seen as distinct and often even as opposed to each other. Yet the two still are often understood together as symbiotic in their origins, aims, and purposes.^[50]

Middle English poems of a political nature are linked with Latin and vernacular prophecies. Prophecies in this sense are predictions concerning kingdoms or peoples; and these predictions are often eschatological or apocalyptic.^[51] The prophetic tradition in English derives in from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (1136), otherwise called «Prophecies of Merlin;» this work is prelude to numerous books devoted to King Arthur. In 18th century England, prophecy as poetry is revived by William Blake^[52] who wrote: America: A Prophecy (1783) and Europe: A Prophecy (1794).^[51]

Contemporary American poetry is also rich in lyrics about prophesy, including poems entitled Prophecy by Dana Gioia^[53] and Eileen Myles. In 1962, Robert Frost published «The Prophets Really Prophesy as Mystics the Commentators Merely by Statistics».^[54] Other modern poets who write on prophets or prophecy include Carl Dennis, Richard Wilbur,^[55] and Derek Walcott.^[56]

See also[edit]

• Divination
• False prophets
• Oracle
• Revelation
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Vaticinium ex eventu

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Alcalay, Reuben. 1996. The Complete Hebrew – English dictionary, Hemed Books, New York. ISBN 978-965-448-179-3
• Ashe, Geoffrey. 2001. Encyclopedia of Prophecy, Santa Barbara, ABC-Clio.
• Aune, David E. (1983). «Ancient Israelite Prophecy and Prophecy in Early Judaism». Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 81–147. ISBN 978-0-8028-0635-2. OCLC 9555379.
• Jürgen Beyer. 2002. ‘Prophezeiungen’, Enzyklopädie des Märchens: Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung [N.B.: In English renders as «Encyclopedia of the fairy tale: Handy dictionary for historical and comparative tale research»]. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter. In vol. 10, on col. 1419–1432.
• Stacey Campbell. 2008. Ecstatic Prophecy. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Chosen Books/Baker Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8007-9449-1.
• Marcus Tullius Cicero. 1997. De divinatione. Trans. Arthur Stanley Pease. Darmstadt: Wissenschaflliche Buchgesellschaft.
• Dawson, Lorne L. (October 1999). «When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview» (PDF). Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. Berkeley: University of California Press. 3 (1): 60–82. doi:10.1525/nr.1999.3.1.60. ISSN 1092-6690. LCCN 98656716. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
• Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter. (1956). When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 1-59147-727-1
• Christopher Forbes. 1997. Prophecy and Inspired Speech: in Early Christianity and Its Hellenistic Environment. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson. ISBN 1-56563-269-9.
• Clifford S. Hill. 1991. Prophecy, Past and Present: an Exploration of the Prophetic Ministry in the Bible and the Church today. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Vine. ISBN 0-8028-0635-X.
• June Helm. (1994). Prophecy and Power among the Dogrib Indians. University of Nebraska Press.
• Clifford A. Pickover. (2001). Dreaming the Future: The Fantastic Story of Prediction. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-895-X
• James Randi. (1993). The Mask of Nostradamus: Prophecies of the World’s Famous Seer. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-830-9
• H. H. Rowley. 1956. Prophecy and Religion in Ancient China and Israel. New York: Harper & Brothers. vi, 154 p.
• Thomas George Tucker. 1985. Etymological Dictionary of Latin. Ares Publishers. ISBN 978-0-89005-172-6

External links[edit]

• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). «Prophecy» . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Scientific American, «Grimmer’s Prophecy», 4 September 1880, p. 149

«For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.» (2 Peter 1:21)

«…the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.» (1 Corinthians 14:3)

Prophecy Vs. Prophesy

«Prophecy» is the noun, and «to prophesy» is the verb. To prophesy is simply to pronounce prophecy. Prophecy, at its most fundamental meaning, is “a message from God.” Hence, to prophesy is to declare a message from God.

Let’s look at the definition for each for more clarification:

Prophecy: Noun

«a prediction; the faculty, function, or practice of prophesying.»

Prophesy: Verb

«to utter by or as if by divine inspiration; to predict with assurance or on the basis of mystic knowledge.»

In short, we can describe prophecy as the message and prophesy as delivering that message.

Prophesy Bible Meaning

Prophecy or prediction was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a «miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture.»

The great prediction, which runs like a golden thread through the whole contents of the Old Testament, is that regarding the coming and work of the Messiah, the great use of prophecy was to perpetuate faith in His coming and to prepare the world for that event. But there are many subordinate and intermediate prophecies also which hold an essential place in the great chain of events that illustrate God’s sovereignty and all-wise overruling providence.

Then there are many prophecies regarding the Jewish nation, its founder Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), and his posterity, Isaac and Jacob, and their descendants, which have all been fulfilled. The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy contains a series of predictions that are fulfilled even now in the present day. In the writings of the prophets (Isaiah 2:18-21), (Jeremiah 27:3-7), (Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 8), (Daniel 9:26-27), (Hosea 9:17), there are also many prophecies regarding the events which were to befall that people.

The great body of Old Testament prophecy relates directly to the advent of the Messiah, beginning with Genesis 3:15, the first great promise, and extending in ever-increasing fullness and clearness all through to the very close of the canon. The Messianic prophecies are too numerous to be quoted. «To him gave all the prophets witness.» (Compare Micah 5:2; Haggai 2:6-9; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1 Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 60:10-13; Psalms 16:11). [Excerpt from Bible Dictionary]

4 Prophesies Fulfilled in Christ

The Messiah would be born of a virgin.

Old Testament Prophecy — «Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.» (Isaiah 7:14) 

New Testament Fulfillment — «All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: «Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel» (which means, God with us).» (Matthew 1:22-23) 

«In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, «Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!» But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, «Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.» Luke 1:26-31

The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.

Old Testament Prophecy — «The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.» (Genesis 49:10) 

New Testament Fulfillment — «the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah» (Luke 3:33)

«For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.» (Hebrews 7:14)

The Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Old Testament Prophecy — «The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, «You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.» (Psalm 110:4) 

New Testament Fulfillment — «So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, «You are my Son, today I have begotten you»; as he says also in another place, «You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.» (Hebrews 5:5-6)

The Messiah would resurrect from the dead.

Old Testament Prophecy — «For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.» (Psalm 16:10); «But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah» (Psalm 49:15)

New Testament Fulfillment — «Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, «‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ «Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.» (Acts 2:22-32)

Importance of Prophecy Today

«And the angel said to me, «Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.» And he said to me, «These are the true words of God.» Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, «You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.» For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.» (Revelation 19:9-10)

One of the most powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit is the ability of prophecy. Furthermore, we know from the Apostle Paul that humility is the chief characteristic of the spirit of a prophet. This is what attracts the grace of God to him, enabling him to fulfill the two great commandments of love for God and one’s neighbor. He affirms this when he says, ‘the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets’ (1 Corinthians 14:32). The genuine prophet humbly understands how to tame his spirit so that he does not seize the spiritual space of others, including that of the divine Other, the Lord, and that of each of his brethren.

The prophetic authority of those who have been in the living Presence of the Lord has nothing to do with worldly authority. It is a spiritual gift of humble service and love, pulling down the fortifications (2 Corinthians 10:4) of pride which make it so difficult to fulfill the two great commandments of love. Indeed, the genuine prophet has a pure relationship with God and his brethren. His attitude before God is similar to that of the great Prophet John the Baptist, while in his relations with others he is characterized by deep humility, like the Apostle Paul who said, ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief’ (1 Timothy 1:15).

Sources:

Prophetic Life and Authority in the Church — saintgeorgekearney.com

44 Prophecies fulfilled in Christ — parish.rcdow.org.uk

Photo credit: GettyImages/inarik

In this article, I’ll discuss these three spiritual gifts. I’ll explain what they are, why they are helpful and some of the potential pitfalls of each one.

Words Of Knowledge And Wisdom: Challenging A Worldview

I have seen some blog posts which seem to be relatively comfortable with the gift of prophecy, but try to explain away words of knowledge and wisdom.

They say that prophecy is a gift from God, but words of knowledge and wisdom are not prophetic gifts: they are instead related to understanding the bible.

These explanations attempt to alarm the reader by stating that those who say, “I have a word from God for you” are speaking for God in his place. The argument goes that these people are, therefore, not to be trusted.

I understand why some people feel like this. People may be hurt by such words if they are shared inappropriately or in a judgmental way.

In those circumstances, it is natural to avoid them …and to come up with seemingly biblical arguments to justify their position.

However, those arguments could not be further from the truth.

The reality is that:

• words of knowledge and wisdom are indeed prophetic gifts.
• they are part of God’s grace to his church (that means you and me).
• Jesus himself operated in and demonstrated the positive use of these gifts.

Words Of Knowledge And Wisdom As Spiritual Gifts

In the letter to the Corinthians, we find a list of spiritual gifts:

There are various lists of spiritual gifts in the bible, but this is the one that specifically mentions the three we are discussing today.

Note that they are described as the “manifestation of the Spirit”.

The word manifestation does not mean that these gifts are something mysterious or elusive. Neither does it mean they are something understood purely with our minds.

The reality is that these manifestations are concrete applications of the power of God expressed through his Holy Spirit.

The fact that wisdom and knowledge are listed as messages (or words in some bible versions) indicates that they are spoken.

I’ll look at each one in turn and explain:

• What the gift is
• How it’s used in the bible
• How it should be used today

What Is Prophecy?

Prophecy is about speaking God’s heart and intentions to people.

It is sometimes about the future, but it nearly always expresses God’s love in some way.

Prophecy may also be combined with words of knowledge or words of wisdom, in order to increase its impact.

How prophecy is used in the Bible

The bible is replete with prophecy and prophetic words.

Most Christians will be familiar with the books within the Bible which were written by, or about, the prophets of the Covenant.

Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah are the most famous. They predicted many things, including nearly every aspect of Jesus’ life, with incredible accuracy.

Many Christians are comfortable with prophecy as far as the Old Testament is concerned.

What some may not realise is that the gift of prophecy is also present and in use in the New Testament too.

Jesus himself prophesied the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, as well as the trials and tribulations his disciples would face.

And there are several examples in the book of Acts, demonstrating the disciples’ use of prophecy to extend God’s kingdom.

One such is the prophetic dream the Lord gave to the apostle Peter, which opened up the gospel to gentile believers.

How prophecy should be used today

Since prophecy expresses God’s heart, Christians today should seek to use the gift of prophecy to love the world around them and win people to Jesus.

Paul says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Corinthians 4:20).

As one of the spiritual gifts, the gift of prophecy is one way the Lord enables us to show his power to those around us.

The prophets of old often gave dire warnings to God’s people. However, the message of prophecy in the New Covenant is usually to bless people and reveal the truth of the gospel to them.

What Are Words Of Knowledge?

A word of knowledge is where God reveals something about a person or situation that is unknown to the prophet.

It may be simple or complex but will contain specific details that only the person it is shared with could know.

For example, God may reveal to the prophet the name and date of birth of somebody before they have been introduced.

Or, when praying for someone, the Lord might show the prophet a picture of what that person was doing the previous day.

The important thing with this is not the word of knowledge itself, but the effect it has on the person hearing it.

Someone receiving a word of knowledge will find themselves confronted with the reality of God and his knowledge of them. For a Christian, it is a reminder that God knows us and our situation, better than we know ourselves.

How words of knowledge are used in the bible

I’ll use two examples to demonstrate words of knowledge, both from Jesus himself:

Jesus and Nathanael

In the first chapter of John’s gospel, Philip takes Nathanael to meet Jesus.

As they approach, Jesus says that Nathanael is an honest man, with no deceit.

Nathanael becomes curious and asks how Jesus knows him since they have never met. But Jesus reveals that he saw Nathanael “under the fig tree before Philip called you” (John 1:48).

Any doubts we may have about whether or not this was a word of knowledge are dispersed by Nathanael’s response: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Jesus and the Samaritan woman

In John’s gospel, chapter 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.

He strikes up a conversation with her, which is itself unusual for a Jew and a Samaritan, in those times.

However, partway through their conversation, Jesus steps into the supernatural by sharing a word of knowledge with her.

He asks her about her husband and she says she has no husband. Jesus then states that what she said is true: She has had 5 husbands in the past and is now unmarried, but with another man (John 4:17).

This word of knowledge brings revelation to the woman, who realises he is a prophet.

How words of knowledge should be used today

Words of knowledge are specific and require knowledge we don’t possess ourselves.

Therefore, we can only receive words of knowledge directly from God.

However, God is good and loves to give good gifts to his children.

We can ask him for words of knowledge when we are praying for people and practice sharing those words with them.

It’s important to seek feedback, so we know when we have got them right or wrong. Then we can grow this gift into maturity.

What Are Words Of Wisdom?

A word of wisdom is a message from God which brings insight, inspiration and understanding into a situation.

More than that, a word of wisdom will remove confusion and may also bring a sense of peace to those affected.

Words of wisdom are sometimes difficult to pin down, but we can understand them better by contrasting them with prophecy and words of knowledge:

Words of wisdom vs prophecy

Prophecy may speak generally into a person’s life or situation.

A word of wisdom will be more specific and have an “aha!” or “eureka!” feeling about it. It’s as though a lightbulb has just been switched on to illuminate our concerns or worries.

In other words, although a generic prophecy may have similar effects, wisdom is usually more incisive.

Words of wisdom are about God cutting through difficulties with his wisdom and understanding. In some cases, it’s almost like God’s lateral thinking!

A prophecy may speak of the future, but a word of wisdom helps us understand how to get there. It is the application of God’s word to us.

Words of wisdom vs words of knowledge

If a word of knowledge is about the current state of a person or situation, then a word of wisdom helps us know how to change things to bring about blessing.

Our current state may be influenced by the past, perhaps by our parents or some childhood trauma.

A word of knowledge may reveal a truth about that past, but a word of wisdom will tell us how to break through in the present.

How words of wisdom are used in the bible

The best example of a word of wisdom in the bible is that of King Solomon when he had to judge between the two women who argued over a baby:

One woman states that the other woman’s baby died in the night and that they swapped the two babies, while she slept. When she woke up and looked at the infant next to her, she immediately knew it wasn’t hers.

They begin to argue in front of the king, who now has the difficult task of judging between them.

Solomon was already known to be a wise king, but here the Lord gave him a specific insight. He received a word of wisdom, which revealed the truth.

How words of wisdom should be used today

I believe that words of wisdom are different to the general wisdom we receive as part of growing in character in Christ.

We can ask God for wisdom just like Solomon did and the Lord is gracious to us. Wisdom then becomes part of how we express the fruit of the spirit.

However, there is a place for specific, incisive wisdom in the moment which brings about breakthrough and release.

This is where a word of wisdom appears as a spiritual gift, a tool God uses to bless his people.

Abuse Of Words Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Prophecy

Sadly, these gifts can also be abused.

If spoken in a directive way or out of a judgmental heart, they can be used for our own selfish interests. They may even be used to manipulate people into doing what we want.

However, the true gifts are not about manipulation: they are given for the blessing and building up of the church.

It is, therefore, vital that we keep hold of the Father’s heart of love. We must stay humble as we use these gifts and ask people to pray through what they receive, not tell them what to do!

And particularly with words of knowledge and wisdom, we must be willing to learn from our mistakes.

Words Of Knowledge, Wisdom And Prophecy: Conclusion

Words of knowledge, words of wisdom and prophecy are spiritual gifts given to the church.

We can use them to bless those around us and glorify the name of our Lord Jesus.

I hope you have seen how the gifts of knowledge, wisdom and prophecy are related to one another and yet distinct.

Let’s seek more of these gifts, so we can bless God’s people and those around us.

Your Turn

Has this post helped you to understand the difference between these spiritual gifts?

Have you got a story to share about words of knowledge or wisdom?

Let us know in the comments below.