A thought on prophecy if you’ve a few minutes!
When prophets prophesy their prophecies for profit, we have a problem.
There’s quite a lot of material to work with if you want to get a comprehensive overview of what a prophet is in the context of the bible. After all, “Nevi’im” is the middle N of TaNaKh (that is, the Hebrew Bible — what we call the Old Testament), translated “The Prophets”.
But for now, I think it might be helpful to just distinguish between three types of prophets that are presented in the bible. This is certainly not a comprehensive overview of what a prophet is or isn’t, but it helps to show that there’s… nuance required when we talk about ‘prophecy’ — words can mean lots of things, as we know.
The False Prophet
There a number of passages in Ezekiel that shed some light on this concept. Here’s just a few.
“The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’"" — Ezekiel 13:1–2 (REV)
“They have seen falsehoods and divinations that are lies. They say, ‘Yahweh says,’ but Yahweh has not sent them, and yet they cause others to hope that their word will be fulfilled.” — Ezekiel 13:6 (REV)
“You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.” — Ezekiel 13:19 (REV)
This kind is what we might think of as a false prophet. In Ezekiel this type of prophet is associated with practicing ‘divination’, telling the future and hoping it’s fulfilled, having dreams and visions and essentially playing on people’s superstitions to make money through their practices. The modern equivalents are the tea readers, the palm readers, any number of new-age types of superstitions. It may also include Christian equivalents; I have heard of some ‘prophets’ who travel around spruiking their gifts as an empowered prophet, giving people generic banalities and claiming it as a word from God, or even stalking people on Facebook beforehand to mine for “words of insight”, telling people that they’re called to marry this person or pursue this job, with no regard for what God is or isn’t actually saying.
The Sinful Prophet
This is perhaps the more surprising one, and the one I want to bring to your attention.
“But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is better for you to have one man die for the People, and not that the whole nation should perish.” (Now he did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.) So from that day on they made plans to kill him.” — John 11:49–53 (REV)
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are destructive, greedy wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot produce bad fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’"" — Matthew 7:15–23 (REV)
Interestingly, Caiaphas’ prediction was TRUE.
There are people… many people… who claim to be Christians, who may even prophesy, who may even help some people, who may even work many miracles, who are nonetheless apart from communion with God through Jesus. I don’t know about you, but boy, I find that deeply uncomfortable. And perhaps this is why it’s so important to heed Jesus’ advice. Recognise them by their fruit. But what is that fruit? It’s obedience to God! “Workers of lawlessness” is what they’re called. But when we consider this, there’s a few things I’d encourage us to keep in mind. 1. Carefully meditate on the parable of the tares and the wheat. 2. “This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 (REV)) 3. There are limited examples of what the church should consider worth excommunicating someone for. Hint: it’s essentially bad behaviour. 4. The bible explicitly tells us what is essential and what is fatal. Let’s let the rest be exactly as ambiguous as the bible lets it, and remember: we’re planning to spend eternity together. All will be made clear in the end.
The True Prophet
This is Jesus, obviously.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. You must listen to him.” — Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV)
“This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” — Luke 9:35 (REV)
Jesus does not merely give God’s word; he is God’s Word made flesh (John 1:14).
Unlike the false prophet, Jesus never speaks from his own imagination. Unlike the sinful prophet, there is no disconnect between his words and his life. Everything he says is true, everything he does is righteous, and everything he reveals perfectly represents the Father.
“For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me, he has given me a command as to what to say and what to speak.” — John 12:49 (REV)
“Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’"" — John 8:54 (REV)
When we think of prophecy, we often think primarily of prediction. Yet much of biblical prophecy is not about foretelling the future at all. The prophets called people back to covenant faithfulness. They exposed sin, confronted injustice, encouraged the faithful, warned the complacent, and reminded people of God’s promises. In that sense, Jesus is the ultimate prophet because he perfectly reveals God and perfectly calls people back to him. And this is why I think many modern discussions about prophecy can become distracted. We become fascinated with hidden knowledge, secret revelations, future events, and personal predictions. Yet the overwhelming focus of the biblical prophets was to turn people toward God, not toward themselves. A useful question is therefore not, “Was the prediction impressive?” but rather, “Did this message lead people toward greater faithfulness, obedience, love, humility, and trust in Christ?”
The True Prophet Points Beyond Themselves
The true prophet points beyond themselves. The false prophet points to themselves.
The sinful prophet may occasionally speak truth, but their life ultimately contradicts the God they claim to represent.
Jesus alone perfectly embodies both the message and the messenger.
If someone claims prophetic authority, don’t ask first whether they seem gifted, charismatic, influential, or accurate. Ask whether their life bears the fruit of obedience, humility, love, and faithfulness to God. Ask whether they magnify Christ or themselves. Ask whether they create dependence on God’s Word or dependence on their own special insights.
Likewise, if God uses you to encourage, teach, exhort, or speak truth to others, resist the temptation to build an identity around being “prophetic”. The safest place for any Christian is not to be known as a prophet, but to be known as a disciple. We do not need to fear being deceived if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. False prophets come and go. Sinful prophets rise and fall. Christ remains.
So test every message, examine every teacher, hold fast to what is good, extend grace where Scripture extends grace, and remember that the clearest word God has ever spoken is not a prediction about the future, but a person: Jesus Christ.
What Prophecy is For is the first episode of a Bible Project podcast series about the prophets. I recommend it, obviously.