Prophecy is God speaking through a human being by the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament prophecies are God’s perfect and authoritative words. So to hear the Old Testament prophet was to hear God Himself and to refuse to do what he said was to disobey God Himself (Deuteronomy 18:14-22). Some of these prophecies predicted future events (some of which have been fulfilled and some of which are still to be fulfilled), and some spoke to the current situation. But all prophecy had the purpose of calling people to respond to God in faith, to trust Him and obey Him. The New Testament says that the church is built on the foundation of the Prophets and the Apostles (Ephesians 2:20). It also says that prophecy should still be part of the life of the church today (1 Corinthians 14). However, this does not mean that men and women have the same authority as the Old Testament Prophets had. When we prophesy today, we are not able to speak new authoritative words from God, which are perfect and therefore must be obeyed. That is because the need for God’s authoritative word to us has already been met in the Bible. Instead, we prophesy today when we speak the true and authoritative words of God from the Scriptures into the lives of men and women. This kind of prophecy, bringing the Bible to bear on people’s situations, is essential for church life and should be eagerly desired (1 Corinthians 14:1). Each prophetic word spoken today should be respected and not despised (1 Thessalonians 5:20), but it should also be rigorously tested to see if it is indeed from God and is in line with His perfect Word in the Bible (1 John 4:1-3).
