Does God Speak Through Prophets Today?

   Throughout the Old Covenant dispensation, God spoke to his people Israel, and indirectly to us, through hand picked servants who were called prophets! They played the role of “middleman” and “spokesman” for God! God spoke to them audibly, through dreams or other means with messages and revelations to be relayed to the people in general, or individuals in particular. These communications were usually regarding warnings and pending judgement because of sin, but often included revelation about future events that were to come to pass.

 Today, under the New Covenant dispensation, the title of “prophet” is thrown around rather freely, both within the body of Messiah and with other religious groups and cults. For instance, Islam claims that Mohammed was Allah’s final prophet.  The Mormons regard Joseph Smith as their prophet, and likewise the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Moonies and others believe their founders to also be prophets of God.  All of these so-called prophets claim personal, specific NEW revelations from God, that are not contained in the Bible. And, since their self-proclaimed experiences as so-called prophets cannot be substantiated or proven, their followers must simply take them at their word.

 Within the fabric of the Christian church, there are also many who wear the hat of “prophet”, likewise claiming NEW, personal revelation from God to the world, their congregation or an individual.  These “prophecies” can almost never be verified through scripture. We have seen this happen when these so-called prophets proclaim a date for the world to end, or for the Lord to return!  To my knowledge, neither has yet to occur!  Others make predictions about future events or circumstances in the lives of others. How many times have you heard someone say, “God told me to give you this message . . .”, or “God came to me in a dream and gave me this new revelation”?  It seems like prophets are sprouting up faster than crabgrass in Spring!

 So how is one to know if a prophet is the real deal, or a fraud!  For a definitive answer we need to look at the written Word of God, the ultimate source of all truth. The Apostle Paul wrote this . . . “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds”!  (Hebrews 1; 1-2)

 It is now to be understood that while God used the prophets of old to be his spokesmen during times long past, all truth and revelation now come only through his son, Messiah Jesus. With Jesus, being the living Word of God,  the written Word of God, the scripture, has become the only source of truth and revelation since his sacrificial death on the tree.

 Since scripture is the ultimate and only source of revelation, the gift of prophecy must now be defined within the parameter of this truth. While God spoke directly to the prophets of old audibly, in dreams and the like, the gift of prophecy, in the New Covenant dispensation, must be defined as; God revealing only those truths contained in and that can be substantiated by the scripture. Therefore, one of two tests of a true, modern day prophet would be that all prophecy must be contained in and be substantiated by the written Word of God. The gift of prophecy today is discernment and special understanding of the Word of God, which is a spiritual gift of God.

 There is a second test of a true prophet, which was established by God in Mosaic Law, that still holds true today!  We read . . . “When a prophet speaketh in the name  of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22)

 If a person claims to be a prophet of God, then every prophecy that proceeds forth from their lips must come to pass. Not some of them!  Not most of them! Not even 99 out of 100 of them!  All of them!  Why?  Because God, and his Word is infallible and cannot lie. If even one utterance is wrong, this is a false prophet that the scripture says, is worthy of death.

   So let us apply these tests to all would-be, modern day  prophets! Those who claimed to know the date the world would end . . . false prophets! And those who proclaimed to know the date of Messiahs return . . . false prophets! Those who made prophecies saying this would happen, or that would take place, when it did not . . . false prophets! And those who claim NEW revelation not contained in or substantiated by scripture . . . false prophet’s!!

 It is troubling that there are many within the church that claim to be prophets, after the order of the prophets of old. They claim that God speaks directly to them with new messages and revelations to the body of Messiah. However, it should not unexpected!  The Word of God has much to say on this matter . . . “And many false prophets shall rise and deceive many”  (Matt. 24:11), “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt.7:15) , “But there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” (2Peter 2:1) 

 We are currently engaged in spiritual warfare unlike at any time in history, because the imminent return of Messiah Jesus to planet Earth is at hand. No, we do not know the date or the details, but we do believe, based upon prophetic truths contained in scripture, that the time is near. That being the case, the enemy, who is the God of this world,  is waging war with the saints at an unprecedented level. One has only to pick up the newspaper or turn on broadcast news to find countless stories about attacks on our fundamental Christian beliefs and right to express our faith, both here and around the world. Today, Believers are being put to death around the world, because of their faith, at a rate and in numbers greater that ever before in history.

 One major battlefront is within the church itself.  God’s word says that Satan is the “father of lies” and that “there is no truth in him”! That being understood, it is apparent that he is promoting lies within the body of Messiah, especially through false prophets.  God’s Word says this . . .   “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1)

 One of the messianic credentials of Messiah was that he would be “a prophet like unto Moses”!  Messiah Jesus was God’s final prophet in the Old Covenent sense! Don’t be deceived by false prophets! The scripture, the written Word of God, contains all the truth and revelation that God chooses to bestow upon his creation, until Jesus returns.

Ron
Shiloh Ministries