The gift of Prophecy

  BY Argie Simonis

"Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy." 1Cor. 14:1

The gift of prophecy, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues are included in the group of the utterance gifts. In this message we will focus on the gift of prophecy.

This gift of prophecy is different from the gift of the ministry of a prophet (Ephesians 4:11), just as we said that the gift of faith that Paul mentions in this letter is different from the fruit of faith that he mentions in Galatians 5:22, when he talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

According to 1Corinthians 14:3, this gift of prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort:

"But he that prophesies speaks to men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." 1Cor. 14:3

Certainly there were many prophets whose prophecies did not meet these standards:

------- In 2 Samuel 12:1-14 the prophet Nathan visits King David. He talks to him about the sin he committed and in the following verses announces the judgment of the Lord:

"Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon." 2Sam. 12:9

"Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house; because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Thus said the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun." 2Sam 12:10-11

---------------- In 1Kings 13:1-5, we see the prophet who brought the word of the Lord to King Jeroboam:

"And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus said the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burnt on you.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD has spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out." 1Kings 13:1-3

"And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD." 1 Kings 13:4-5

----------------- In 1 Kings 21:17-21, the prophet Elijah brings the word of the Lord to King Ahab:

"And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying," 1Kings 21:17

"And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus said the LORD, Have you killed, and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus said the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours." 1 Kings. 21:19

-------------- The prophet Agabus prophesies the imprisonment of the apostle Paul:

"And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

And when he was come to us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus said the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that ownes this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Acts 21:10-11

Paul also emphasizes that:

"I would that you all spoke with tongues but rather that you prophesied: for greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." Α'Cor. 14:5

In other words, Paul wants us all to prophesy, but a little further down he says that not everyone is a prophet:

"Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?" 1Cor. 12:29

So how do these two harmonize together?

The gift of prophecy operating in the assembly of the church is limited to the general edification, exhortation, and comfort of the body (1 Corinthians 14:3). If a person begins to give an individual prophecy of personal direction to someone, this falls under the ministry of a prophet and is different from this simple gift of prophecy. The prophet will of course speak edification, exhortation and comfort to the Body of Christ as we are all called to do, but in addition to the ministry of the prophet, it includes direction, rebuke and warning as we have seen in the previous examples.

Someone moved by the gift of prophecy could, for example, give a word like that:

"My children I love you. I am with you and I will never leave you"

Failure to understand the difference between this simple gift of prophecy and the ministry of a prophet has led to abuses and extremes, where strange things are called words for prophecy in many churches and have made people skeptic or even completely negative of prophecy.

Some prepare entire teachings during the week and deliver them as prophecies to the congregation. Others use prophecy as an opportunity to rebuke someone or vent their own prejudices or push their own agenda about what the church should do. Neither of these things is the gift of prophecy that Paul is describing here.

We shall speak more on this topic and also on the order which all these must be exercised in the Church, in future messages. 

In the next message we will deal with the remaining two gifts of utterance, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

To be continued...