But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
For the last several months there have been many prophecies made regarding the outcome of the American election. The end of this election offers believers a wonderful gift: the opportunity to stop, ask questions, and make some important decisions about how to move forward.
One of the most important questions that we should dig into at this time is this: what does God say in His word about prophecy and the office of the prophets?
Prophets in the Old Testament served as the mouthpiece of God. God would appear to them in a dream with a message and they would typically show up at someone’s doorstep in the morning with a thus saith the Lord word.
The appearance of a prophet often equaled judgement, and that judgement allowed God’s children the opportunity to go ‘you’re right, I made a terrible mistake, let me repent and get back into good standing with God.’
Nowadays, it seems prophecy is more fortune-telling, less-judgment telling. There’s a lot of, ‘God told me this’ and ‘I sense that’ and I just wonder: if the office of prophecy in the Old Testament was to bring about repentance, how is it that many of the prophecies declared today skip the judgment part?
We just wanted to write this as a warning to the body of Christ to read the Bible for yourself and take some time to study and understand how God used prophets and the office of prophecy in antiquity.
As you read, search for answers to these questions: what did prophets usually do? How did they usually operate? Because more likely than not, authentic prophets should still operate in the same manner. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:15: Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. We may be in 2021, but God’s word still stands. It does not change. #stillapplicable
Here are a few examples of prophets at work:
- Nathan was sent to convict David of his sin with Bathsheba and pronounced judgement on him. -2 Samuel 12
- Micaiah was despised by King Ahab for always prophesying bad things concerning him. 1 King 22:8
- Elijah, going to deliver a message to King Ahab, was called “a troubler of Israel” by the king. – 1 King 18: 17
- Jonah was sent to Ninevah “to cry out against it for their wickedness had come up before ” – Jonah 1: 2
- The people feared the prophet Samuel and were on the edge when he appeared. – 1 Samuel 16:4
The Bible also says that if a prophet’s prophesy does not come to fruition, that his future prophecies should be ignored (Deuteronomy 18:22).
Watch and pray. And if you follow any prophets that contradict Deuteronomy 18:22 ask yourself if God would want you to follow prophets that preach things which the Lord has not spoken.
Reflection
Do you feel God nudging you to dig deeper into this area?
