A prophet, in it's simplest definition, is someone who speaks God's words to a person or group of people. A prophet serves as an intermediary between people and God. We usually just think of the prophets of the old covenant (Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the gang), and general words given against a group of people, a nation (usually Israel), or a city. We think of judgement and God's wrath in the Old Testament, though there are many prophesies that are filled with hope, compassion and the general protection of God over His people. Including those which point to Jesus, the Christ, far before the world knew him.
However, we get to the New Testament, and no longer have any prophetic books as we do in the Old. We have Jesus presented as a prophet (among many other things) in the Gospels. But at the point where we reach the book of Acts through Revelation, we only significantly fewer references to prophecy and prophets.
It seems that it is less clear in the New Testament what a prophet is, but we have references to the fact that there are people called prophets and prophetesses and we have references to it as a role in the church and as a spiritual gift and also have instructions concerning prophecy in the Body. Here is a brief page I put together of some of these passages, if you are interested in what they have to say.
But then we take a jump in Church history from the days of Paul to today. In most of our mainstream, evangelical, Jesus loving churches in the United States, we never hear about or experience prophesy as a part of the church in present day Christianity. The passages about orderly worship, for instance, seem to apply in their general theory (God is a God of order, our worship should have some order to it), but not in specific practice ("two or three prophets should speak . . .")These passages seem, generally, to be either skipped over, ignored or just not taught on as the main focus in sermons. Some churches (type-a) believe in prophecy, and other things it is grouped with like healing, tongues etc., but just do not yet practice these things as a local body or know how to go about doing so. (I think that this is a large segment of churches in the United States). Other churches (type-b) live in these practices and gifts as an active part of worship and daily life. And still others (type-c) hold a secessionist theology, declaring that these gifts ended when the first generation of apostles and the Church die, similar to the church between Malachi and the Gospels.
I don't know what your theology is or what your church is like in this area. But I know (and want to share) that I have moved from church type-a mentality and understanding to church type-b in the last year or so (and more intensely in the last 5 months or so). I always believed that God still spoke to His people, and in fact that He spoke with more regularity now than in the days of the Prophets. During college, I gained an even greater intellectual understanding of what it meant that the temple curtain was torn when Jesus died on the cross, and that we no longer need anyone to stand between us and God, because we have full access to the throne room of God! I gradually grew (and continue to grow) to a better understanding of how I hear God speak into my own life and into the lives of those around me. I even, at one point in college, thought that I may have a gift in prophecy, because God has clearly spoken something to me that I believed would come to pass (and it eventually did).
Over time, I gradually came to a point where I actually received prophetic words through other believers, but this was very new to me. I had recieved encouragement, and Christian friends speaking into my life and circumstances. But these words were different, and spoke directly into my life and into things God had and was doing and would do in my life and our life and I knew that they were words from God given through his servants.
And now we are at a church where prophetic words are given (whether to individuals or to the congregation) on a very regular basis, and I (along with Tom and us as a couple) have received some incredibly encouraging words from other believers. I am personally growing in my own ability to hear God (and to recognize when I am hearing God) and have even had many instances (a Scripture passage that I felt God wanted me to give to someone as a specific encouragement or an action that I felt God had told me/prompted me to take) where I thought God was speaking and I "launched" (acted) on these and had affirmation that God had spoken to and/or through me. I am still in the very early stages of learning about prophecy (and other aspects of the Body, such as healing, visions and speaking in tongues) and how this is lived out in my life as a believer, but I have loved the baby steps I've been taking along the way and I love to be in a place where these gifts are being used and practiced in a healthy way that edifies, encourages and builds up. (Because I know there are some churches that abuse these gifts or use deception and call it God). at this church, they aren't prophetic words in the "Thus saith the LORD . . . or you will surely die." They aren't the words of doom and impending destruction that we often (unfortunately, due to false prophets, at times) associate with modern day prophecy. Not that God doesn't still speak in correction and rebuke, in love, to His people, or in judgement upon those who don't turn to Him, but these aren't the general material in prophetic words as they are used in the Body for the building up of one another in love.
Just wanted to share some thoughts on that in a very long blog entry.
However, we get to the New Testament, and no longer have any prophetic books as we do in the Old. We have Jesus presented as a prophet (among many other things) in the Gospels. But at the point where we reach the book of Acts through Revelation, we only significantly fewer references to prophecy and prophets.
It seems that it is less clear in the New Testament what a prophet is, but we have references to the fact that there are people called prophets and prophetesses and we have references to it as a role in the church and as a spiritual gift and also have instructions concerning prophecy in the Body. Here is a brief page I put together of some of these passages, if you are interested in what they have to say.
But then we take a jump in Church history from the days of Paul to today. In most of our mainstream, evangelical, Jesus loving churches in the United States, we never hear about or experience prophesy as a part of the church in present day Christianity. The passages about orderly worship, for instance, seem to apply in their general theory (God is a God of order, our worship should have some order to it), but not in specific practice ("two or three prophets should speak . . .")These passages seem, generally, to be either skipped over, ignored or just not taught on as the main focus in sermons. Some churches (type-a) believe in prophecy, and other things it is grouped with like healing, tongues etc., but just do not yet practice these things as a local body or know how to go about doing so. (I think that this is a large segment of churches in the United States). Other churches (type-b) live in these practices and gifts as an active part of worship and daily life. And still others (type-c) hold a secessionist theology, declaring that these gifts ended when the first generation of apostles and the Church die, similar to the church between Malachi and the Gospels.
I don't know what your theology is or what your church is like in this area. But I know (and want to share) that I have moved from church type-a mentality and understanding to church type-b in the last year or so (and more intensely in the last 5 months or so). I always believed that God still spoke to His people, and in fact that He spoke with more regularity now than in the days of the Prophets. During college, I gained an even greater intellectual understanding of what it meant that the temple curtain was torn when Jesus died on the cross, and that we no longer need anyone to stand between us and God, because we have full access to the throne room of God! I gradually grew (and continue to grow) to a better understanding of how I hear God speak into my own life and into the lives of those around me. I even, at one point in college, thought that I may have a gift in prophecy, because God has clearly spoken something to me that I believed would come to pass (and it eventually did).
Over time, I gradually came to a point where I actually received prophetic words through other believers, but this was very new to me. I had recieved encouragement, and Christian friends speaking into my life and circumstances. But these words were different, and spoke directly into my life and into things God had and was doing and would do in my life and our life and I knew that they were words from God given through his servants.
And now we are at a church where prophetic words are given (whether to individuals or to the congregation) on a very regular basis, and I (along with Tom and us as a couple) have received some incredibly encouraging words from other believers. I am personally growing in my own ability to hear God (and to recognize when I am hearing God) and have even had many instances (a Scripture passage that I felt God wanted me to give to someone as a specific encouragement or an action that I felt God had told me/prompted me to take) where I thought God was speaking and I "launched" (acted) on these and had affirmation that God had spoken to and/or through me. I am still in the very early stages of learning about prophecy (and other aspects of the Body, such as healing, visions and speaking in tongues) and how this is lived out in my life as a believer, but I have loved the baby steps I've been taking along the way and I love to be in a place where these gifts are being used and practiced in a healthy way that edifies, encourages and builds up. (Because I know there are some churches that abuse these gifts or use deception and call it God). at this church, they aren't prophetic words in the "Thus saith the LORD . . . or you will surely die." They aren't the words of doom and impending destruction that we often (unfortunately, due to false prophets, at times) associate with modern day prophecy. Not that God doesn't still speak in correction and rebuke, in love, to His people, or in judgement upon those who don't turn to Him, but these aren't the general material in prophetic words as they are used in the Body for the building up of one another in love.
Just wanted to share some thoughts on that in a very long blog entry.
1 comment:
Thanks for comment, Tim. Good point, first of all, and thank you for helping me think through my thoughts.
Fist off, I think that a prophet does serve as an intermediary, and that this is still a valid definition. However, the difference is that in the Old Testament, the prophet was the only intermediary between God and the people, and the primary source of hearing what God had to say. I would define this as an intermediary who stands in the gap between us and God.The prophet in the Old Testament was the acess point between the people and God. In the New Testament and beyond :), a prophet serves as an intermediary, but in a time where people can (and do) hear from God on their own behalf, as we all have that access to full communion with God. This would be an intermediary who stands with us before God (no gap here). I guess that this is, in some ways similar to the fact that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding before the Father on our behalf, and they serve as in intermediary in that sense. However, that doesn't negate the fact that we can pray on our own behalf, and on the behalf of others.
I realize that I am still using the word intermediary to represennt two slightly different definitions, but I cannot figure out what other word(s) I should use to explain what I mean for a role that is essentially the same, but with a different approach. Any suggestions.
Secondly,I think that there needs to be a distinction between the "office" of prophet (which is out of Ephesians 4: 11-13 - "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ") and the use of prophecy in the Church.
Someone who is called to the office, or role, of a prophet is called to speak to the Body and, in many senses, serves as an intermediary between God and His people. However, this doesn't mean that the people in an given church or region cannot hear from and communicate with God themselves, but it means that God has appointed this person as a prophetic voice over that church or region. Part of the role of a prophet , in fact, is to train believers to hear God's voice for themselves. What the prophet is saying should be a confirmation of (and confirmed by) what God is already saying and doing amongst His people. But at times, a prophet will bring forth words that are new or challenging to the people.
In the second instance (prophecy in the local church, sometimes called personal prophecy), the prophetic words are coming from believers who do not necessarily have the office or calling of prophet. But they are speaking from God into someone's life and circumstances, or possibly into the life of a group of believers. Again, this isn't the only means of someone hearing from God (at least it's not supposed to be) and should be a confirmation of (and confirmed by) what God is already saying and doing in someone's life.
So, prophecy is meant to work alongside of the already in place communion that a believer has with God. It is not the only means of communication with God and is not a substitute for seeking God on your own behalf. But it does serve to edify and build up, as well as to encourage, exhort and direct a believer. It is meant to draw us closer to God and into what God has for us in our lives (individually and corporately).
Let me know if this clears anything up. I appreciate the discussion.
Post a Comment