The gift of prophecy according to the Bible

Few gifts arouse as much interest and as much confusion as prophecy. Some look for it as if it were a Christian horoscope, wanting someone to tell them what is going to happen. Others, burned by abuses, do not even want to hear the word. The Bible does neither. Paul writes to a church full of problems with the gifts, and still he tells them:

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”
1 Corinthians 14:1

This article is part of the series The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. We will look at what prophesying is according to Scripture, what it was like in the Old Testament, how everything changes with Jesus and with Pentecost, what this gift is for in the church, how to tell the true from the false, and how to desire and exercise it without doing harm. At the end there is a prayer.

What prophesying is

In the Bible, the prophet is not first of all someone who predicts the future, but someone who speaks on God’s behalf. He receives a word and delivers it. Sometimes that word announces what is to come; most of the time it says what God thinks of the present: it denounces sin, calls people back, comforts the suffering, recalls the promises. Scholars sum it up this way: prophesying is more “forth-telling” than “foretelling.”

That is why biblical prophecy has nothing to do with divination, tarot or horoscopes, which the Law sternly forbids. The fortune-teller satisfies curiosity and charges for it; the prophet brings a word that is hardly ever the one you wanted to hear. God describes the office like this: “I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me” (Ezekiel 33:7).

The prophets of the Old Testament

None of them chose to be one. Amos said so bluntly: “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman… And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel” (Amos 7:14-15). Jeremiah wanted to keep silent, and could not: “his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jeremiah 20:9). They spoke to kings and to peoples, almost always at great personal cost.

There were also women prophets: Miriam, the sister of Moses (Exodus 15:20); Deborah, who judged Israel (Judges 4:4); Huldah, whom King Josiah sent to consult (2 Kings 22:14). And of them all Peter says: “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” (2 Peter 1:21). Their word was written down, and it is Scripture. Read Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah.

Jesus, the final Word

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”
Hebrews 1:1-2

Everything the prophets said in parts, God said whole in his Son. Jesus is not one more prophet: he is the Word made flesh. That is why, after him, no prophecy can add anything to the Gospel or correct it. And that is why the book of Revelation gives the key for measuring all later prophecy: “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). True prophecy always leads to Jesus; whatever draws away from him, or puts someone else at the centre, does not come from God.

Pentecost: a people of prophets

Moses had longed for it: “would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets” (Numbers 11:29). Joel announced it, and Peter declared it fulfilled on the day of Pentecost: “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17). What had belonged to a few is opened to sons and daughters, young and old, servants and handmaids. The Spirit no longer rests on an isolated prophet, but on a whole people.

The gift of prophecy in the first churches

The book of Acts shows it in everyday life. At Antioch there were “prophets and teachers.” A prophet named Agabus announced a great famine, and the church responded by organising a collection for the brethren in Judea (Acts 11:27-30): prophecy moved them to solidarity. Years later the same Agabus warned Paul of the chains awaiting him (Acts 21:10-11). Philip “had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy” (Acts 21:9). Judas and Silas, “being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them” (Acts 15:32). And before them all, the aged Anna, a prophetess, who spoke of the child Jesus to all who were looking for redemption (Luke 2:36-38).

What it is for: three words

“But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.”
1 Corinthians 14:3

Edification: it builds, leaving the person and the church firmer than before. Exhortation: it encourages, awakens, calls for a step to be taken. Comfort: it draws near to the one who suffers and speaks to the heart. Those three words are at once the purpose of the gift and its first test. A supposed prophecy that tears down, paralyses with fear or leaves someone humiliated in front of everyone does not resemble the portrait Paul paints.

And he adds a fourth effect, when an unbeliever comes into the meeting: “thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth” (1 Corinthians 14:25). In practice, prophecy is often just this: a word of Scripture, or a simple word, that reaches someone’s situation so exactly that they can only say: “God knows me.”

Prophecy adds nothing to the Bible

We must distinguish carefully. The word of the prophets and apostles that was written down is the rule of faith for the whole Church and for ever. The gift of prophecy spoken of in 1 Corinthians is something else: a word for a moment and a community, partial—“we know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9)—and always subject to testing. No one can bring a “revelation” that changes the Gospel: “though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you… let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). And the prophet Isaiah gave the rule: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

“Prove all things”: how to discern

“Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21

The text corrects two opposite errors. One is to despise all prophecy for fear of being deceived. The other is to swallow everything without testing. The biblical way is the third: listen, weigh, and keep what is good. These questions help:

Does it agree with Scripture? The Bereans “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). God does not contradict himself.
Does it put Jesus at the centre? Or the speaker, a group, an experience?
Does it edify, exhort and comfort? “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
What fruit does the life of the one who brings it bear? “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16): humility, truthfulness, clean hands with money, the way they treat their family.
Does it accept being tested? “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge” (1 Corinthians 14:29). Whoever admits no questions has already answered.
If it announces something, does it come to pass? “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not… the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22).
Is there money or power involved? Micah denounced the prophets who “divine for money” (Micah 3:11), and Peter those who “through covetousness shall… with feigned words make merchandise of you” (2 Peter 2:3).
Does it leave you free? God’s word invites and convinces; it does not threaten in order to obtain obedience to a man.

False prophets and abuses

Jesus gave warning: “many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). And through Jeremiah God says something that is still current: “they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord… I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (Jeremiah 23:16, 21).

Certain warning signs recur: dates for the end of the world, when Jesus said that “of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36); “God told me you are to marry this person”; “sow money and you will receive your miracle”; threats of a curse on anyone who leaves a church; a “thus saith the Lord” used to shut down all conversation and demand obedience. None of that is the gift of prophecy: it is manipulation in religious language.

If someone hurt you by speaking “in God’s name,” your pain is real, and God did not say what they told you. Do not let the abuse of a gift drive you away from the Giver. His true voice can be recognised because it is the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Is this gift still in operation?

Christians answer in different ways, and it is good to know them respectfully. The Catholic tradition recognises prophetic charisms throughout history and teaches that no private revelation adds anything to the faith once received. The Orthodox tradition values the word of spiritual men and women who counsel with discernment. Pentecostal and charismatic churches practise this gift in their meetings and submit it to the testing of the community. Many Reformed and historic evangelical churches hold that the revelatory gifts ceased with the apostles, and see today’s prophecy in the faithful preaching of Scripture. All agree on what is decisive: the Bible is the rule, everything must be tested, and without love nothing is of any use. Read The gifts of the Holy Spirit: what they are and how they work today.

The prophetic calling of the whole Church

Beyond the particular gift, the whole people of God has a prophetic task. It carries it out when it proclaims the Gospel without watering it down; when it defends the poor, the child, the foreigner, as Amos and Micah did; when it speaks the truth in love to someone who is losing their way; when it comforts a weary people. A church that says only what people want to hear has lost its voice.

How to desire and exercise this gift

Begin with love. “Though I have the gift of prophecy… and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). The gift is for serving, not for being admired.
Fill yourself with Scripture. The Spirit speaks above all in the words he himself inspired. Those who know little of the Bible easily confuse his voice with their own.
Speak humbly. Instead of “thus saith the Lord,” say: “I believe the Lord may be saying this; test it.” We prophesy “according to the proportion of faith” (Romans 12:6).
Submit to others. First share what you believe you have received with your pastors or with mature believers.
Keep order. “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32): no one loses self-control. “Let all things be done decently and in order” (14:40).
Do not direct other people’s lives. Avoid words about dates, partners, money, pregnancies or deaths. That is where most harm has been done.
If it does not build up, keep silent. Pray for that person. Not everything that is perceived is meant to be said.

How to receive a word

If someone gives you a word from God, neither despise it nor obey it blindly. Listen to it, write it down, take it to prayer and to Scripture, and talk it over with someone you trust. Do not make major decisions—marrying, moving, leaving a job, handing over money—on the strength of a prophecy alone: God confirms by several paths and is never in a hurry to manipulate you. “Hold fast that which is good,” and leave the rest.

Frequently asked questions

Is prophesying predicting the future? Sometimes it includes an announcement, but its centre is speaking on God’s behalf to edify, exhort and comfort.

Can women prophesy? The Bible shows it from Miriam and Deborah to Anna and Philip’s daughters, and Joel promises it expressly: “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”

Does everyone have this gift? Not everyone receives it as a regular ministry, but Paul encourages the whole church to desire it, and says “ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn” (1 Corinthians 14:31).

What do I do if a prophecy I was given did not come true? Do not carry guilt or fear. Scripture says of such a word that God did not speak it. Return to what is sure: the Bible and the promises of Christ.

Does God speak through dreams? The Bible records dreams from God, and also warns against those who tell dreams of their own. The same rule applies: test them by Scripture and by the counsel of others.

Series “The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit”: Introduction · previous: The working of miracles · next: Divers kinds of tongues.

Prayer

Lord, you still speak, and I often live as though you had fallen silent. Forgive me for looking for fortune-tellers when I had your Word, and forgive me too for closing my ears for fear of being deceived. Your final Word is Jesus; I want no other that would draw me away from him. Come, Holy Spirit, Spirit of prophecy, and open my ear every morning, that I may hear as disciples hear. Give me discernment to test all things and hold fast what is good. Heal those who were wounded by words spoken in your name. And if you wish to use my mouth, put in it a word that builds up, that encourages, that comforts, spoken with love and with trembling. May I never speak so that people look at me. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Amen.