The second issue is that we often take the model of a prophet from the Old Testament. God always wants communication with His people, the covenant of the Old Testament was with the Jews. God choose certain individuals to be His voice among His people. It is clear that the prophets of old did not have the Holy Spirit living in them, but the Holy Spirit of God was “upon” or “on” them. People of the Old Testament went to Prophets and Priest to hear from God.
Another important point is that Old Testament Prophets were primarily used by God to give direction to the rulers or kings of the Old Covenant.
Prophecy and Prophets were very important to Israel. The evidence of their importance is in the fact that 17 of the Old Testament books (Major and Minor Prophets) were inspired and written by Prophets. The primary function of these prophets was to warn the people of Israel to the consequences of walking away from Him and worshipping other gods.
As New Covenant believers we don’t see the same emphasis on prophets as in the Old Testament. This can be understood by the fact that as believers in Jesus Christ His Holy Spirit lives in us, not simply upon or on us. God has chosen to speak to us directly about His plans. I am not saying that prophecy is unimportant today, but it has a different function and that is primarily to confirm what God has already said. I need to be careful here, I am not saying that New Testament prophecy is only personal prophecy, God can and does use the prophetic gift to speak to the Church in general.
The New Testament makes it clear that prophecy is a spiritual gift and part of God’s plan to communicate with us: Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 14:1, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Peter 1:19.
In practical terms we can see that prophecy has three parts, revelation, interpretation and application.
1. Revelation– This is the actual impartation from the Holy Spirit, it may be audible, visual, in dreams or visions. In other words, God speaks.
2. Interpretation – Since the Revelation is often symbolic, it requires interpretation. In other words what does it mean?
3. Application – What do you do with the interpretation? This is often the most difficult part because there may be more than one way to interpret and therefore apply.
Genesis 37 gives us an example of having a correct revelation and a correct interpretation of a prophetic dream by Joseph. Joseph’s brothers interpreted his dreams accurately, but they came up with their own application… they got rid of him!
We see another example in Acts 21, a prophet by the name of Agabus meets with the Apostle Paul. In very dramatic fashion he takes Paul’s belt and ties his own hands and feet. And says, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
Now when the friends of Paul heard this prophetic word they pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem”. Wrong application!
Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” So, when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”
What is critical to understanding this event is to see that Paul already had a word from the Lord in the previous chapter. Chapter 20 starting at 22, “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.
As you can see, when the prophet Agabus spoke, Paul knew it was of the Lord. That is why he didn’t let the cries of his friends dissuade him from his mission.
When you receive personal prophecy it should not be something that the Lord hasn’t already spoken to you about. Prophecy should be the confirmation of what you know God has said.
