41

PROPHETS

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

—EPHESIANS 4:11-12 NKJV

God speaks through prophets today as He did in the past. A prophet is one who speaks for God to man. He does not necessarily have to foretell the future, although that is a valid prophetic ministry. He does foretell a word from God that reveals God’s plans for the church, city, region, people, or territory. Prophets can and do know the voice of God. Oftentimes, if you are not a prophet yourself but have the Holy Spirit, you are able to hear the voice of God speaking through a prophet.

Prophets also have to hear the voice of God for themselves through the Holy Spirit just as Spirit-filled believers should. God uses prophets to give direction and correction to the Body of Christ. According to First Corinthians 14:3, the prophetic gifts are given for edification, exhortation, and comfort to the believer. In other words, prophecy should build up, stir up, and cheer up. Prophecy is one of the ways God speaks to His people and a way we can hear the voice of God. Prophetic words that tear down the body and depress the people are not from God. Prophecy given by a prophet or a prophetic believer should construct not destruct.

The prophet does more than prophesy, but they are relatively associated with prophecy that serves to encourage and strengthen. However, a hard prophetic message, or word of correction, may come forth, such as a call to repentance, but it will always result in establishing, not in destroying. God used a prophetic apostle in the New Testament by the name of Barnabas, who is called “son of encouragement” (other translations say “consolation” or “exhortation”) (Acts 4:36).

He was able to hear God’s voice and speak it forth to exhort or bring consolation. Barnabas had an innate prophetic gift that exhorted the body to purposefully and steadfastly hold on to the Lord (Acts 11:23-24). Moreover, there were New Testament prophets like John the Baptist (Luke 1:76) and Agabus (Acts 11:27-28; 21:10-13) who heard the voice of God and spoke for Him. John was sent forth to speak as a prophet through the tender mercy of God (Luke 1:78). True prophecy will always be tempered with love, mercy, and wisdom.

There are Christians who believe that they have to be a prophet to hear God’s voice, but that’s not biblical. Every child of God can and should hear the voice of God. In addition, every believer can prophesy, even though every believer is not called to be a prophet. My point is that God still speaks today and He will continue to use modern-day prophets to speak for Him. We are not to replace the Holy Spirit with prophets. We call can hear the voice of God for ourselves, but we are not to ignore one of the foundational ministry gifts and offices that God has set in the Body of Christ.

However, there are many false prophets and teachers out there against whom we must safeguard ourselves. But we are also are not to be so turned off by the false that we neglect the true or authentic prophets God is raising up and using. Prophecy is God’s idea and prophets are God’s mouthpieces in His divine plan. In a general sense, a prophet is a person who speaks God’s truth to others. The English word prophet comes from the Greek word prophetes, which can mean “one who speaks forth” or “advocate.” Prophets are also called “seers” because of their spiritual insight or their ability to “see” the future.

In the Word of God, prophets often had a dual teaching and revelatory responsibility, proclaiming God’s truth on contemporary, social, and church issues while also revealing details about the destiny of the Church. Isaiah’s ministry, for example, touched on both the present and the future. He preached boldly against the corruption of his day (Isa. 1:4) and delivered grand visions of the future of Israel (Isa. 25:8).

Prophets had tremendous responsibility to not only hear the voice of God but speak God’s Word to His people. We can hear God’s truth and prosper through the prophesying by the prophets. In Ezra 6:14 it says, “So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.” We can see how powerful it is to hear and respond to the voice of God through prophets.

The Jewish leadership finished rebuilding the temple through the prophetic Word of the Lord. When we obey the voice of the Lord through the Holy Spirit speaking through prophets, we will prosper and be established to complete what God has called us to finish. In addition, prophets were very instrumental in guiding the nation of Israel and establishing the church. God’s household is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20).

The early church also had prophets like Ananias, who was given a prophecy about the apostle Paul’s future (Acts 9:10-18). In addition, there were four daughters of Philip who had the ability to speak for God through the gift of prophesying. We must know that prophecy or the prophetic gift is listed as a spiritual gift in First Corinthians 12 and 14. In the last days, referring to eschatology, the two “witnesses will prophesy from Jerusalem (Rev. 11).

Usually, the prophets God sends are greatly despised, rejected, and prophecies are oftentimes unheeded. I am reminded of the prophet Isaiah who described the nation he was sent to as a “rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. They say to the seers, ‘See no more visions!’ and to the prophets, ‘Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions’” (Isa. 30:9-10). Jesus lamented that Jerusalem had killed the prophets God had sent to them (see Luke 13:34).

A true prophet of God is only committed to speaking God’s truth. He or she will never contradict God’s revealed Word. Like the prophet Micaiah just before his fateful confrontation with Ahab, a modern-day prophet of God will declare, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says” (2 Chron. 18:13).