Apostles and Prophets - Part II
The Greek word for prophet is prophētēs means one speaks forth or openly. Another Greek term is prophēteia which means speaking forth
the mind and counsel of God. The prefix pro
means “forth”, and phēmi,, to
speak. In the N.T. we are talking about the prophet as an office and a gift in the church.
The role of the prophet in the church was to exhort, edify, and comfort those in the
body by speaking God’s revealed word to the congregation. Whatever prophet was
speaking was to be judged by the other prophets in the assembly. Paul
instructed that two or three prophets were allowed to speak in a worship
service (I Cor 14:29). The prophet along
with the apostle received the mystery revelation of the church according to Eph
3:5.
The prophet along with apostle were the foundations of
the church (Eph 2:20). The specific role of the prophet was more pronounced in
the O.T. than in the new. The main prophet during the time of Christ was John
the Baptist who was the forerunner of Jesus; preparing the way for the Messiah
(Matt 3:1-6).
John’s prophetic word was a contemporary prophetic
word. John stated, I baptize with water for repentance, but He who is coming
after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt 3:11).
Of course this prophecy became true on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was sent to those first believers in Acts 2.
The prophet was the direct mouthpiece of God.
Everything they said was 100% true for they were speaking God’s words, not
their own. A clear example of this is the commission of Jeremiah to prophetic
ministry: God told Jeremiah, I have put my
words (italics mine) in your mouth (Jer 1:9b).
So when we read the phrase, “the word of the Lord came
to me saying”, that is the Lord speaking through the prophet. And when the Lord
spoke to the man of God in those days, the words were recorded as holy
scripture. We have to remember that during
the time of Old and New Covenants, scripture was in the process of being
written, so the way that God transmitted His word to man was through direct
revelation. God spoke, and man wrote it down. The prophets and writers of
scripture only wrote what thus saith
the Lord, nothing more. That is why we can trust the biblical record for these
are the actual words of God.
Remember what Paul said in I Cor 14:37, If anyone
thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things
I am writing to you are a command
of the Lord.
Paul was not acting on his own authority but only on
his God given authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Are there any prophets today?
When we consider that scripture
is complete; meaning God’s revelation is finished, it would be safe to say
there is no longer a need for the prophet. When prophets spoke it was actually
God speaking through them. These words were revelatory which comprised the
words that are now in our Bibles. Since no books have been added to the Bible
since the last recorded book, the book of Revelation by the apostle John, we
know God’s prophetic word is finished and there is not a need for anymore
prophets. The prophetic office and gift is no more. What we are dealing with
now are false prophets which scripture clearly tells us would rear their ugly
heads in the last days (Matt 7:15; 24:11;2 Peter 2:1; I John 4:1). What is a
false prophet? One that claims to speak on behalf of God, but what he declares
does not come to pass. God has made it clear that when one speaks falsely in
His name, He has not commissioned that person, and they are worthy of death
(Deut 18:2-22).[1]
So again, are there any prophets
today? No. Why? Because when the Canon (the scripture) was complete, the
prophetic office ceased. Think about it,
if people are still getting words from the Lord like the apostles and prophets
of old did, then there is ongoing revelation, and the Bible is not complete.
Here are three severe warnings
regarding those who would tamper with Holy Scripture:
1) Proverbs 30:6, add not to His
word lest He (God) reprove you and you be found a liar.
2) Galatians 1:8-9, but if we or
an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we
preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say
again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received,
let him be accursed.
3) Revelation 22:18-19, John the
apostle speaking, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this
book: if anyone adds to them (emphasis added), God will add to him the plagues
described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life, and in the
holy city which are described in this book.
A
personal assessment of today’s “Prophets”
From the scriptures, and books I have read and messages I
have heard, today’s “prophets” are not from God. Why do I say this? For several
reasons:
a. Their
“prophecies” are vague, generalities not detailed like the O.T. prophets (Read
Isaiah 45 where the Prophet mentions King Cyrus by name before he is even born.
He also explains what his role will be as king of Persia). The modern prophet will use terms like, “the
Lord told me to tell you”, or “I have a
word from the Lord for you”, followed by some re-hashed language they heard
from somebody else. For instance they will say things like, “the Lord is going
to increase your life with abundant riches, or they may say things like the
Lord is sending you favor on your job”[i],
or people say things like, “someone is being healed of cancer right now!” Well,
if that person were a true prophet of God, God would specifically tell them who
that someone(s) is that’s being healed of cancer. At no time do we read in
scripture where Jesus or the apostles would just blurt out and say, “someone is
being healed right now” arbitrarily. No. Rather they would heal someone on the
spot, and the healing would be instantaneous and permanent.
a1. What these
“prophets” are doing today is more of an encouraging element, its not direct
revelation from God. When the prophets spoke, it was to the nation Israel, to
kings, and foreign nations. They spoke about the nation’s rebellion toward God an
impending judgment. They confronted sin, and predicted Israel’s glorious future,
and the coming of the Messiah. They spoke predictive judgments of doom against Israel’s
and ultimately God’s enemies. Their oracles were specific, detailed regarding
the time in which they lived, and of the future. It was foretelling; it had a
specific predictive element which came to pass exactly as they declared it
because it was the word of the Lord. God does not now have lower-level-prophets who can give prophetic words that
could or could not come to pass.
b. There
is a group called the “Kansas City
Prophets” who will admit that some of their prophecies are wrong. This proves
they are false prophets (just look up Kansas City Prophets on the internet. You
can also search the names of Paul Cain, Mike Bickle, Bob Jones who make up that
heretical group).
c. If
there are prophets today receiving direct revelation from God, who is judging
to see if their prophecies are true (I Cor 14:29)? If these are indeed direct
revelations, why aren’t these words codified in holy scripture? Is the word of
the Lord they are receiving less than the word of the holy apostles and
prophets of old? Why would God cheapen the quality of His revelation to
accommodate these supposed “new jack” prophets?
c1. The answer is obvious. They are not
prophets of God; they are self-made prophets.
What they are speaking is nothing more than modern oral tradition.
Majority of what we are hearing are flat out lies. Since its not important
enough to be included in the canon, then its not authentic revelation.
Be careful of the one who says, “the Lord
told me, or the Holy Spirit told me…”
d. God
will not commission someone whom He has not cleansed and sanctified (set
apart)for ministry (Isa 6; Jeremiah 1). There have been many that claim the
sacred office of Prophet that have lived immoral lives. The men that served as
prophets in the Bible were holy men who lived uncompromisingly righteous in the
face of persecution and death. While everyone was living ungodly, they were
speaking the word of the Lord against the rebellion of their day. Look at a
modern “prophet’s” life to see if they are living a life of godliness. And even
if they are, it does not matter. As I mentioned earlier there is no need today
for the prophetic office.
e. The
scripture says in Hebrews 1:1-2, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God
spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days (italics mine), He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He
appointed heir of all things through whom also He created the world.
e1. Since God is now communicating to us by
Jesus Christ, why would God revert back to given us His word through the prophets again?
Jesus is God incarnate. He’s greater than all the prophets. As a matter of
fact, the prophets predicted his first and second comings. Jesus is the
consummation, the fulfillment of all the prophets holy predictions. Christ is
the living manifestation of all the oracles of the seers of the O.T. Christ is the living word, the logos. He is
the one that speaks to us now. We do not need a prophet to declare the word to
us. We have God’s revelation in its completed form. It is the word of God
that we now hold in our hands. God’s revelation is closed.
e2. Remember
the words of Matthew when Jesus was on the Mountain of Transfiguration and Moses
and Elijah appeared with Him. God the Father declared, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.
Moses and Elijah represent the law and prophets respectively, yet the Father
commanded those that saw this magnificent sight (Peter, James, and John), to
listen to Jesus for He is greater than Moses and Elijah. Jesus fulfilled all
the law and prophets (Matt 17:1-5).
f.
I Corinthians 4:6 commands us not to go beyond what is written.
That command is self explanatory. God’s written word is our final authority.
These are the words that God literally breathed out of His mouth to the
apostles and prophets which they in turn transmitted these truths into Holy
Writ. These are the commands we are to live by. Not some modern “prophecy” from
God. Those whom the Lord called to these specific offices are the ones that He breathed
His word directly into; not to every believer. That was never God’s intent. Only a few were direct conduits of God’s revelation
(Moses, Joshua, the Judges, David, Ezra, Nehemiah, the Prophets, Apostles).
Concluding, we no longer need a
modern prophetic word. For the words of the prophets pointed to Jesus Christ.
God is indeed speaking to people today through the written prophetic word which
is the word of our Lord and Savior.
God is always speaking to us through scripture. Are we opening it and
listening to His truth, or are we listening to a false word by some modern false
prophet so we can get a “break through”?
[1]
The penalty for speaking falsely in the name of the Lord during the
Time of the Mosaic law was death. God did not tolerate
nor does He now
Permit Someone
speaking falsely in his name
[i] We all
receive favor on our jobs. By virtue of the fact that we are
There is favor and a blessing from God. No word of
“knowledge” or
“wisdom” from some
self-proclaimed prophet need to tell us that
Comments