The Gift of Prophecy: Divine Revelation for the Church

Prophecy represents one of the most significant ways God communicates with His people throughout biblical history. As special revelation, it conveys truth that human reason alone cannot discover, offering insight, correction, and warning alongside predictions of future events. From the earliest prophets to the culmination of Scripture, this gift has served to guide, challenge, and encourage believers in their walk with God.

The Nature and Purpose of Prophecy

Prophecy is proclaiming clear-cut messages from God, giving insight, correction, and warning of what He expects or demands from people, and can include predicting future events. It is special revelation—truth that cannot be discerned by any other means. Through a prophet, God would reveal truth that the people needed to know, and sometimes that truth would be recorded in written form. This ultimately resulted in the Bible, the Word of God, the ultimate special revelation from God (2 Kgs 17:13; 1 Cor 14:3).

Prophecy builds up the church in love

The goal of prophecy is that people will be strengthened, encouraged, and comforted—built up, stirred up, and cheered up—to live rightly before God. God spoke through numerous prophets in the Old Testament, and the prophet Joel declared that in the last days, your sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel 2:28; Act 2:17-18). Paul similarly exhorted believers to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy, so that the church would be edified (1 Cor 14:1,4-5,39). Speaking on God's behalf must always be done with love, remembering that the purpose of all prophecy is to glorify Jesus. Some even told others about Christ, yet because they were not genuine believers themselves would not go to heaven (Mt 7:2,23; 1 Cor 12:4-11,28-29, 13:2; Eph 4:11; Rev 19:10).

Many Old Testament prophecies pointed to Jesus. He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2 and fulfilled Mt 2:1-6) and born of a virgin (Isa 7:14 and fulfilled Mt 1:18-25). Jesus Himself affirmed that the Scriptures are fulfilled in your midst (Isa 61:1-2; Lk 4:17-21). He also predicted several events—some that happened in the lifetime of His hearers, while others that tell about His return are still to happen (Mk 13:1-30).

Discerning Genuine Prophetic Words

We humans are prone to project our human thoughts and desires into the lives of those around us, with the possibility of moving from the spirit to the flesh realm, and consequently speaking out our own soul's desires or imagination. Thus we are told to judge what people say—to see if it is in agreement with Scripture, not contradicting God's Word in any way; it uplifts Jesus and edifies the believers, for many false prophets will speak lies and deceive people (Jer 14:14; Mt 24:24; 1 Cor 14:3-4; 2 Cor 11:3-4; Rev 19:10).

Test every spirit against Scripture

There also must be harmony and order in the exercise of the gift of prophecy (1 Cor 14:29-33,37-40). If a prophecy is considered genuine, it must be acted upon; if false, it must be rejected. We should pray for discernment to know what is from God (Deut 18:19). Scripture commands us, "Do not treat prophecies with contempt [disregard, disrespect]. Test everything. Hold on to the good" (1 Thes 5:20-21). Remember, any human spokesperson is just His mouthpiece and is not to be glorified.

A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a prediction influences a person's behaviour, causing them to act in ways that bring about the very outcome that was foretold. While this psychological phenomenon can sometimes be mistaken for genuine spiritual insight, true prophetic words from God do not manipulate or coerce—they align with Scripture and produce freedom, not bondage.

Receiving Prophecy with Wisdom and Accountability

We can and should regularly encourage and challenge other believers, sharing our experiences of God with them, and maybe suggesting—not telling—what we feel they should do. However, the option is theirs to agree with or decline our suggestion, as it is in counseling. No believer is to force their expectations or agenda onto another with a 'Thus says the Lord…' attitude, as this infers that unless there is compliance, the only other choice would be disobedience; this borders on the area of witchcraft. This is an area where those with strong personalities can fall into deception and, by manipulation, control vulnerable believers. We can, however, point out the commands and principles of Scripture for their consideration, as whatever is from God will conform to the Word of God (Act 17:11).

Accountability protects the community

A believer receiving a personal word of general prophecy from another believer will already know something of this in their spirit through the prior working of the Holy Spirit, and it will merely provide confirmation. We have a personal responsibility to hear from God directly first, and then get others to confirm our impression, submitting ourselves one to another (Eph 5:21). Any specific spiritual direction from another should only be given or received in the presence of others who can witness and judge the content (1 Cor 14:29). This relates particularly to predicting future events.

Some things are naturally predictable because of observations gained over a period with the same pattern emerging (Mt 16:3-4).

Reflection and Application:

How can you cultivate a greater hunger for hearing God's voice through the gift of prophecy while maintaining healthy discernment?
What practical steps can you take to ensure that words spoken in your church community are tested against Scripture and build others up?
In what ways might you be tempted to use spiritual language to manipulate or control others, and how can you guard against this?
How does understanding prophecy as God's special revelation deepen your appreciation for the Bible and its authority in your life?