Prophecy is one of the many spiritual gifts identified in the New Testament. It is the the gift of speaking divine truth and sometimes that includes events being told before their time. There are often debates about whether or not this gift was for a limited time or is available today.
Unlike the other spiritual gifts, there are quite a number of passages that talk about prophecy. While the usual suspect of 1 Corinthians 12 - 14 is incredibly helpful for understanding the gift of prophecy, so is much of the Old Testament and Revelations. Some argue that the gift of prophecy changed between the Old Testament and New Testament but there are no verses that state such a change.
For those that believe the gift of prophecy speaks today, it can be separated into two broad categories:
Forthtelling - telling forth divine truth as an encouragement to the church.
Foretelling - telling of events that are yet to happen.
How to receive the gift of prophecy?
Scholars agree that the gift of prophecy was a blessing upon the church that accompanied some believers. However, there are no specific passages that instruct believers on how they can receive the gift of prophecy or any other gifts (see my article on spiritual gifts).
What is clear in the Bible is that not all would be blessed with the gift of prophecy. Like all other gifts it is not meant to be for all:
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? (1 Corinthians 12:29)
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12:17-18)
What was the purpose of prophecy?
Throughout the Bible the miraculous gift of prophecy has been used on many occasions to declare God's divine truth to his people. Sometimes that would be through revelation and promise of things to come and in other cases that would be in condemnation of the state that things had become.
While reading through Paul's letter of 1 Corinthians there are several references to prophecy being greater than the gift of tongues. The reason that Paul writes it is better is as such:
On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:3-4)
In this verse it would appear that the primary function of the gift of tongues is to build up the church through encouragement and consolation. This aligns to Paul's message in 1 Corinthians 12 that the gifts are all tied to members of the body and all work to build up the body. These gifts were given by God for the benefit of all.
What does prophecy mean in the New Testament?
Prophecy in the New Testament refers to the gifts of forthtelling and foretelling. Scholars disagree on whether there are any meaningful differences between the New Testament and Old Testament gift of prophecy. However, there are several passages that suggest it is the same and only one that might suggest it is different.
Since there are fewer arguments that the gift of prophecy has changed in a meaningful way, we can address that verse first:
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:9-10)
The argument that prophecy is meaningfully different rests upon this verse. Those that believe it has changed believe that is now partial, whereas in the past it was complete revelation. Put simply, the debate is whether this verse is qualitative or quantitative in nature:
Qualitative - God reveals to us prophecy accurately, but we cannot discern its meaning fully.
Quantitative - God reveals to us prophecy accurately, but we're only being revealed what is necessary.
For those that believe the gift of prophecy is different in the New Testament, they will often cite that it is no longer "Thus says the Lord" and now "I think the Lord is saying". However, there are several scriptural arguments that stand in opposition to this interpretation. Firstly, the prophet Agabus in the New Testament on two occassions declares what is being said according to the Lord:
Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. (Acts 11:27-28)
While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:10-12)
In both examples the prophet Agabus foretold of an event and it came to pass. The people around him, including the apostles, did not consider Agabus to have stepped past his duty as a prophet. There are debates on whether his second prophecy came to pass, but that seems to be confirmed by Paul later in Acts.
The second major opposition to the concept that prophecy is accurate but our discernment is incorrect is Peter's letter:
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. (2 Peter 1:19-20)
This passage would seem to suggest that prophecy is not determined by our interpretation. We are not a limiting factor in God's miraculous gift. If this is true and that there are no differences between New and Old Testament prophets, then modern prophets are still held to the same standards as the Old Testament prophets. That is; if they make a false prophecy then we know they are false prophets and they do not speak on behalf of God.
There are several other passages to consider, but for the sake of brevity will not be covered. For example, in Revelations the story of the Two Witnesses compares two New Testament prophets with miracles that accompanied Old Testament prophets. This would work as further evidence that there are no meaningful differences between the Old and New Testament prophets.
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