What is prophecy?
In short, prophecy is God speaking as we listen and then share what we hear with others. Now let’s take a moment and define what we mean by God speaking. We hear his voice through the pages of the bible, as it is read, meditated upon, and preached. He speaks to us directly through His Spirit to our inner selves; he also speaks in the form of pictures or visions such as John the Apostle seeing Jesus in Revelation chapter one; or as a feeling, sense, or an impression as Isaiah receiving the “burden of the Lord,” throughout the book of Isaiah. God’s words can bubble up inside of us like a flow of spontaneous thoughts that may develop further as we speak out what we hear. In fact that is what the Hebrew word for prophecy means – to bubble and flow. The disciples in Acts 19:6 when “the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied,” could be just such an example. Of course let’s not forget the prophecy that Daniel spoke to the King as the result of a dream recorded in Daniel chapter seven. The forms that prophecy can take are probably endless but prophecy always has the same purpose: that we would know God better. This is Paul’s statement about the purpose of “revelation” given in Ephesians 1:17.[2]
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:17)
To get a better understanding of what Paul means when he says that revelation is for the purpose of knowing God better, we need to look at the difference between prophecy in the Old Testament and compare what we find to prophecy in the New Testament. In both testaments, it is the same gift of God speaking even though this gift is applied very differently.
Old Covenant
In the Old Testament we find the gift of prophecy is given to a select group of people who spoke on God’s behalf. Finding these people in the Old Testament is not hard to do, as most books are named after the prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, just to name a few. In Old Testament times, if someone wanted to know God’s will, they would not go to God, but rather they would go to the prophet who would listen to God on their behalf and then inform them of what he heard. We find such an instance in 1 Samuel 9:6-9. Saul and his servant were looking for their lost donkeys and decided to consult the prophet Samuel to see if God would tell them where the donkeys were. But
herein lies the mystery: Why wouldn’t the people just go to God themselves? Let’s let the children of Israel explain this for us as they come to the mountain of God with Moses:
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:18-19)
Upon seeing the Lord in Isaiah 6:5, the Prophet Isaiah expressed a similar view when he lamented, “I am ruined.”
Because of the sin of the people and the holiness of God, man needed intermediaries to stand before God, and so priests and prophets came into the picture. Priests made sacrifices on behalf of the people for the remission of sins, and the prophets would listen to the voice of the Lord for the people.
“Listen to my words: “When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. (Numbers 12:6)
Things, however, were going to change:
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-30) (italics added)
This is an astounding prophecy by Joel. Suddenly this prophetic language of the very few, who were set aside for God’s intermediary prophets, is now promised to everyone. God wants everyone to hear His voice and share it with all people!
Eight centuries later, after Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus[3] poured out the Holy Spirit on everyone, just as Joel prophesied (Acts 2:1-4). The need for an intermediary to hear God on our behalf was gone. The language God has used to speak throughout history to the select few has been passed on to all believers. Upon the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts two, Peter quoted Joel’s prophecy, word for word, explaining to all who were present what they were witnessing. People were prophesying what God was saying in their own languages at that very moment! In fact in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Paul the Apostle picked up this theme that “everyone can hear God speak”:
But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be
laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (Italics added)
Paul continues this line of thinking in verse 31 where he proclaims that we can “all prophecy in turn.”
Only The Beginning
This shift in the prophetic language of the O.T. Prophet to become the language of the New Covenant Christian is just the tip of the iceberg. This new ability that we have to hear God’s voice in the same way as did the O.T. prophets also declares who we are in God and our value to the Father. In 1 Peter 2:9 Peter describes the church as being gifted with a great new paradigm associated with this New Covenant.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
We don’t need priests as intermediaries anymore because we are the “priesthood” of believers. We have become so much more through Jesus’ death, resurrection, and His filling us with the Holy Spirit. But if we don’t need priests as intermediaries in the New Covenant, what about prophets? Do we still need them as intermediaries, or have all Christians now taken on that role? Jesus discusses this in Matthew 11:11:
I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
It is easy to see why John the Baptist could be “the greatest born of women” being a prophet in the Spirit of Elijah,[4] but how could the least in the kingdom of heaven be greater than John the Baptist? Because John the Baptist was still a prophet of the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit could only come upon him as He did on Moses’ elders when they prophesied in Numbers 11:17 and 25. John the Baptist was not filled with the Holy Spirit.[5] Jesus views the average New Testament Christian as someone filled with the Holy Spirit – that includes your neighbour George down the road, Randy the repairman, Susan the housewife – they are all greater than the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because they are New Covenant people, full of the Holy Spirit who is the very person of God.[6]
Let’s also take a look at how James the Apostle viewed the average Christian compared to how he saw the Prophet Elijah.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5:16-18)
When I read this passage as a young man I concluded that James must be saying we can be like Elijah by praying fervently. Years later I realized that that is not what James is saying in this passage. James is not comparing us to the prophet. James is comparing the prophet to “us.” Let me put it another way. When we think of a great athlete we all admire, a true legend like Michael Jordan in basketball or Jack Nicklaus in golf, we might imagine ourselves doing a few things they could do. We could possibly shoot a few hoops or drive some golf balls right onto the green. In that way, we might be a little like Michael Jordan or Jack Nicklaus.
Now let’s apply the comparison in the way that James does with the average Christian and Elijah. How could Jack Nicklaus or Michael Jordan be like us ordinary Joe’s? That is James’ point. James takes the greatest prophet of the Old Testament and declares that this great prophet is just like the average Christian. How can that be? It is because the New Testament Christian is something that an Old Testament prophet could never be – a temple for the Holy Spirit.[7]
The New Testament View of Prophecy
The direct result of what Jesus did on the cross and his outpouring of the Holy Spirit is that we have been made a new creation. Now we all do the work of priests, for example, by leading people to Jesus and praying with them that they would be forgiven. Because of this, we take part in the marvellous work of salvation. The role of the priest has become our role. And so has the role of the prophet. We can all prophecy because we have become those who hear the voice of God. Now is this to say that we do not need prophets in the New Testament? Not at all. We do need prophets — but the role has changed. We do not need prophets to be the intermediaries between us and the Lord, because we can all hear God speak for ourselves. But we do need the prophets, those with developed hearing accuracy and maturity, to train and equip all Christians[8] to hear God’s voice and to learn all the ways God reveals himself to us so that we can become mature.[9] This is an important and God ordained assignement. Nevertheless we must remember the purpose: God gives revelation so that we can all come to realize what God has done for us through Christ and then release God’s love and life to one another. To prophesy is to allow God to speak through us about how He sees people, to encourage them, and to enable Him to be with them in their daily affairs. This is why
Paul defines prophecy this way in 1 Corinthians 14:3:
But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.
Prophecy is About the Glorious Father
This brings us back to where this article began. Revelation is about knowing the glorious Father as Paul said in Ephesians 1:17. The word “revelation” indicates that God has things that he wants to “reveal to us,” or to show us and tell us by the Holy Spirit. But what exactly does God want reveal to us? Let’s go back and explore Paul’s comment about “knowing the glorious Father” in a bit more detail:
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:15-17) (Italics added)
Paul begins his thought here with the mysterious phrase For this reason. One of the first things I was taught in Bible school was that when I saw the words for this reason or the word therefore (as in the NKJ version) I needed to go back and see what the words were there for. To understand the purpose of revelation and knowing the Father, we will need to go back to the previous verses in which Paul has explained why we are going to need the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and revelation.
Blessed with every spiritual blessing (vs. 3) Chosen (vs. 4)
Predestined (vs. 5)
Adopted by His pleasure (vs. 5)
Redeemed (vs. 7)
Forgiven (vs. 7)
Lavished with grace (vs. 7-8) Sealed with the Holy Spirit (vs. 13) Heirs with Christ (vs. 14)
It is after these deep, astounding, New Covenant declarations about our inheritance because of what Jesus did on the cross, that Paul declares:
For this reason…I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:15-17) (Italics added)
As any parent wants to be heard, understood, and known by their children, so it is with our glorious Father. God wants us to know what He has done for us, how He sees us and how we should see ourselves. God wants to talk to us about these things through His Spirit by wisdom and revelation. God wants to reveal Himself through all of the different ways He speaks so that we may know Him, the glorious Father, and also make Him known to others. Now we have discovered the reason for Paul’s great command to every Christian in 1 Corinthians 14:1:
“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
Boots on the Ground
To really understand that revelation is for the purpose of knowing the glorious Father and what He has done for us, I would like to share an event that happened a few years ago. We had planned to do a prophetic outreach at a local coffee shop owned by a couple in our church. This couple had convinced their employees to let us come out and practice hearing God with them. These employees were not very excited about it. In fact some of them were frightened and others were angry. When they thought of prophecy they thought of an angry God revealing their sins. These coffee-shop baristas had no concept that what was going to happen would demonstrate for them the glorious Father. The Father wanted to come and reveal to them His love by speaking encouragement, comfort, and strengthening through prophecy.[10]
Coffee Shop Prophecy
Ten of us arrived to prophesy that morning and we were met by a somewhat resistant crowd. A little unnerved, we began to set up. We chose one table in the front of the coffee-shop and another far to the back so that neither of the two prophetic groups could hear what the other was prophesying.
To begin, two girls in their late teens/early twenties sat down. One young lady, Cindy,1 was visibly agitated. She kept the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and face, hid her hands in her sleeves and held her arms crossed. One of the fellows on the prophetic team began to prophesy, speaking out what he was receiving by revelation from the Holy Spirit: “Cindy, I see a picture of you as a little girl. You used to dance, and God loved your dance, as a proud Father would. He enjoyed your twirling, spinning, and your laughter. God made you to laugh, to be able to move so gracefully. He loves it when you feel so free to express yourself.” Cindy’s jaw dropped as she heard the words that the glorious Father had spoken through His servant. Meanwhile Cindy’s friend had been glancing at her, wondering what was going on. Cindy’s friend finally burst out, “You never told me you danced!” “I did,” said Cindy, “When I was young, just like he said.”
Visibly shaken Cindy and her friend got up from the table, only to be asked by the second group to come with them to the back table to receive another prophetic word.
It started all over again. “Cindy,” one of the group members said, “I have this impression of you as a little girl when you used to dance.” By now Cindy’s mouth had hit the floor a second time. “God made you to dance, to love life, and to laugh,” the person continued. “God wants you to know that your life, laughter, and the ability to dance are still there and He is going to help you bring it all to life again!” At this moment Cindy jumped up and ran out of the building. She was shocked, stunned. We later found out why – Cindy’s stepfather, who declared himself to be a Christian even though he was an angry, blame- filled, bitter man, only told Cindy of her faults. How could the heavenly Father be so different? And how did these people know about her dancing? She hadn’t even told her closest friends, because it was just too painful for her to look at something that had brought so much joy as a little child when her family was together. And why did this God care if she was happy, or care that she could dance? When Cindy had worked it all through, she came to the church, became a Christian and met her glorious heavenly Father personally. How could she not? He knew her so well.
However that is not the end of the story. Two weeks later, Cindy was in church during a meeting, standing in the back with her friend who had been with her at that short prophetic time at the coffee-shop. Suddenly Cindy declared, “I’ve got it!” and off she ran to the front of the church to prophesy over someone else in the congregation during the ministry time.2
Afterwards Cindy’s friend asked her what that was all about. “Oh,” Cindy said, “God gave me a prophetic word for that person and I wanted to tell them what God had revealed to me.” Then Cindy turned to her friend and said, “Why do you ask — don’t all Christians do this?”
The answer to Cindy’s question is “yes” — they can — if they believe that God wants to speak today to reveal that He is our glorious Father. This leads me to my final declaration, that we New Testament Christians are a different people – a royal priesthood. Filled with the Holy Spirit, gifted to hear the glorious Father, we are equipped “to declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” we are equipped (I Peter 2:9). This is what prophecy is all about; this is the glorious exciting journey to which we are all called.
- 1 Not her real name
- 2 Cindy was not on the ministry team so was probably not released to pray for anyone – but she was new to church and didn’t know any better.
[1] see Isaiah 17:1 NKJ as an example
[2] When thinking of the connection of “revelation” and “prophecy” the best place to see that connection is in the book of Revelation – the prophecy book.
- [3] Acts 2:32-33
- [4] See Matthew 11:14
- [5] For another reference of how God’s Spirit would use the O.T. Prophets see 2 Kings 3:19.
- [6] Keep in mind we are talking about how Christ sees us and what we are capable of if we choose to
pick up our cross and follow Him. Romans 8:17
- [7] 1 Corinthian 6:19
- [8] 1 Corinthian 14:29-32 The prophets also test revelation
- [9] Ephesians 4:11-13
- [10] 1 Corinthians 14:3