Prophecy in the New Testament

I grew up in charismatic churches so listening to prophetic messages was not uncommon for me. Usually, during the singing or in between songs, someone would raise their voice and address the congregation. Frequently, their exhortation would begin with, “the Lord says” then continue with quotations from the Bible.

Occasionally someone would give a prophecy to an individual regarding their life or future. During my last year in Bible college, I was attending a prayer meeting with about 30-40 students when the teacher called me to the front of the room. He said a fellow student had a message for me. In essence the young man said, “you will teach the Bible overseas.” I wasn’t impressed because that student had asked me about my future plans a day or two earlier and I told him the very thing he told me.

In recent times, there have been many prophecies about presidential elections, many of which have turned out to be wrong: Trump was not re-elected in 2020 as they claimed he would be. But, some object, the election was stolen, so Trump really won. In that case, God revealed that Trump would win the election, but didn’t reveal that Trump would be robbed. What would be the point of that revelation? The most important part was left out.

Let’s move away from contemporary prophecy and focus on what the New Testament says about this activity.

1. Christian prophecy is a message given by a believer, whether male or female, to other believers. 

For example, in his travels with Paul, Luke mentions female prophets and a male prophet named Agabus.

Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. (Acts 21:8-10 NIV)

2. Christian prophecies are not given on demand or under pressure. 

The New Testament does not record anyone prophesying upon request or anyone seeking a prophetic word. For instance, Agabus was known as a prophet, but we have no record of anyone asking him for a prophecy. Prophecies are given freely without coercion. While some people requested the word of the Lord from Old Testament prophets, this practice does not continue after the death and resurrection of Christ. We no longer have to seek God’s Word because it has been given to us in the gospel.

3. Christian prophets remain in control of their normal faculties when giving a prophecy.

When giving a prophecy, prophets do not become divine puppets who are out of control. After instructing people to prophecy in an orderly fashion, Paul teaches,

The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. (1 Cor 14:32-33)

4. Christian prophecies are primarily addressed to the church—the body of believers—for the purpose of edifying all believers. 

• Paul writes, “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified” (1 Cor 14:3-5).
• Paul continues, “For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged” (v. 31).
• In the book of Acts, a prophecy is given to the church in Antioch, leading the believers to take action or build up another group of believers. “During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul” (11:27-30).
• After delivering the apostles’ decision on circumcision, “Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers” (Acts 15:32).
• The entire book of Revelation is a prophecy addressed to churches in Asia Minor: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near” (Rev 1:3).

In the New Testament prophecies are delivered in public to groups of believers. They are not given in one-on-one meetings or through private correspondence.

5. When Christian prophecies are given to individuals, they are given in a public setting with a focus on the advance of the gospel. 

• Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were launched onto their first missionary journey by a message from the Holy Spirit, which most likely came through a human spokesperson.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3)

• Paul tells Timothy that he is authorized to teach doctrine in Ephesus because of the gift he received through prophecy.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. (1 Tim 4:13-14)

• In Caesarea Agabus delivered a public, auditory, and visual message to Paul, who was planning to go to Jerusalem to die “for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13):

Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” (v. 11)

• An unusual example of prophetic judgment is given in Acts 13, leading to a prominent conversion:

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. (vv. 9-12)

Note the communal settings in the examples listed above. At least three people placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul, “the body of elders” laid their hands on Timothy, and several people were present when Agabus used Paul’s belt. These were public events not private communications.

What was the purpose of these exchanges? The episodes in Acts 13:1-3 and 1 Timothy 4:13-14 confirm Barnabas, Saul, and Timothy to specific roles for the advance of the gospel. In Acts 21, the prophecy prepares Paul for his fate in Jerusalem. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles so what happens to him affects the message he is spreading. Finally, the judgment on Elymas in Acts 13 resulted in a prominent conversion. The thread that ties all of them together is the advance of the gospel.

6. Prophecies should be motivated by love.

Paul writes,

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. . . (1 Cor 13:1-12)

7. Prophecies are partial and temporary.

Paul continues,

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Cor 13:8-12)

8. So-called prophecies may be wrong so listeners must use discernment.

It is foolish to immediately accept every ‘prophetic’ word. These messages must be tested. Consider these verses:

• Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. (1 Cor 14:29)
• Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. (1 Thess 5:19-22)
• Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 Jn 4:1)

We must test prophecies because some are false. Jesus gave these warnings:

• Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt 7:15-20)
• For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matt 24:24)

Warnings about false prophets can be found centuries earlier in the Old Testament:

You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed. (Deut 18:21-22)

Jeremiah adds,

Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.” (14:14; cf. Ezek 13)

The people of God have been warned to watch out for false prophecy for at least three thousand years. We must continue to be on guard against lying or self-deluded prophets who claim to speak for the Lord.

Application

Christian prophecies must be filtered through a New Testament grid:

• Was the prophecy requested or given spontaneously?
• Did the person act “out of control” or did he or she indicate that they couldn’t control what they were saying?
• Was it delivered in a public setting, primarily to a group of believers?
• Was it intended to encourage or instruct the entire group?
• Was it intended to direct or assist the spread of the gospel?
• Was it motivated by love?
• Was it tested?

Looking over the New Testament data reveals striking differences with contemporary practice. Today, some, especially in charismatic or Pentecostal churches, think the goal of prophecy is to give personal life advice—marriage, career, finances, relocation, etc. They approach individuals after service in a private setting to give their special oracles. None of this matches what we see in the New Testament.

New Testament prophecies are focused on the edification of the church and the spread of the gospel. If someone, claiming to speak for the Lord, gives you a private communication regarding a decision you need to make or something that will happen in your future, don’t listen to that person. They are probably speaking out of ignorance, pride, or a desire to manipulate.

In addition, we don’t have any NT examples of a believer seeking a prophetic word. These messages are given spontaneously. Hence, we shouldn’t run around seeking prophetic words from so-called prophets. Christian prophecy is not like a seeker visiting a mystic on a mountain to receive a life-changing oracle. That would be far too individualistic and spiritually dangerous. That would elevate a person (the prophet) to a perilous height, driving a wedge between the seeker and Christ, the one true Prophet.

It’s wise to get advice from others, but those who are turning to “prophets” to receive special insight into the present or future are heading in the wrong direction. We don’t have to run around looking for the word of the Lord because it’s right in front of us—the Scriptures, pointing us to Christ, the ultimate Word of God.

Les Bridgeman

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.