Prophesy

This lesson is titled “prophesy” the verb, and not the noun “prophecy”. The focus is on the verb, that you will prophesy. So get ready!

What is prophecy? What do prophets do?

The Lord gives us information about the future, one component of prophecy:

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:8-9

The former things I declared of old;  they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. Isaiah 48:3

Prophecy can be used to convey current information about people to draw them to the Lord:

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all,the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. 1 Corinthians 14:24-26

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. John 4:16-19

Prophets speak messages on behalf of God:

“For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” Amos 3:7-8

The Lord tells Jeremiah He has words for him to speak:

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 9:9-10

Moses acts as an intermediary between the people and God. The people are afraid to approach the Lord and Moses does so in their stead:

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:18-21

How common were prophets?

The following is an attempt to catalog every named prophet (and seer) in the Bible along with a supporting reference. There are more “groups” of prophets but they are not listed here. I’ve also made an attempt to list others which have given prophecies, but I am sure I am still missing some from this group.

The idea is that prophets and prophecies are common in the world of the Bible. Can they be common today too? I believe so.

Named Prophets:
Aaron, Abraham, Agabus, Ahijah the Shilonite, Amos, Anna, Asaph, David, Daniel, Deborah, Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, four daughters of Philip, Gad, Habakkuk, Haggai, Hanani, Heman, Hosea, Huldah, Iddo, Jeduthun, Jehu, Jeremiah, Jesus, Joel, John the Apostle, John the Baptist, Jonah the son of Amittai, Judas Barsabbas, Oded, Malachi, Micah, Micaiah, Miriam, Moses, Nahum, Nathan, Obadiah, Samuel, Shemaiah, Solomon, Silas, Wife of Isaiah, Zechariah, Zadok, Zephaniah.

Unnamed Prophets:
As Israel battles Midian (Judges 6:8), Old prophet of Bethel (1 Kings 13:11), Prophesies to Ahab (1 Kings 20:13), Prophesies to Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:15), Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:10).

Prophesies yet not explicitly named as a prophet:
Azariah the son of Oded, Caiaphas the High Priest, Enoch, David’s Musicians, Daughters of Phillip the evangelist, Eliezer the son of Dodavahu, King Saul, Messengers of Saul (1 Samuel 19:20), Seventy elders with Moses at Sinai, Sons of Jeduthun, Timothy’s council of elders (1 Timothy 4:14), Uriah the son of Shemaiah, Zechariah (father of John the Baptist).

Where does prophecy come from?

Prophecy comes through Holy Spirit.

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21

Peter recites Joel 2:28 after being baptized in the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit will enable many to prophesy:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons andyour daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17

Jesus says Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth) will declare what is to come:

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13

Jesus directly states that the Holy Spirit will speak through us, even if we don’t realize it:

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, … When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:17-20

I don’t have good analysis or understanding of this verse, but it seems important:

Then he [an angel] said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:9-10

My speculation is that all prophecy originates from the Father:

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:36-37

[The Holy Spirit] will glorify me (Jesus), for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 16:14-15

What is our role?

Paul outlines some of the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and names prophecy as one of them:

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, … to another prophecy … 1 Corinthians 12:7-10

But it’s not enough to know about the spiritual gifts; we are to desire them, especially to prophesy:

But earnestly desire the higher gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1

So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:39

“Hearing” from the Lord:

How do you “hear” from the Lord? These are some of the ways that the Lord communicates. Consider that different communication methods are used to convey different types of information. A movie relays information that a song cannot, and vice versa. Similarly, an oil painting communicates information that a written paragraph cannot. So too does the Lord seem to convey different types of information through these various methods.

Also consider that your own personality and way of thinking may influence how you “hear” from the Lord. People can think abstractly, intuitively, visually and many other ways that can also mirror how the Lord speaks to us.

• His written word:
  • All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness… 1 Timothy 3:16
• Audible voice:
  • A voice came from heaven (Mark 1:9, John 12:29)
  • God speaks to Adam (Genesis 3)
• Angels
  • And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10
  •  And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Judges 6:12
• Other people:
  • Moses/Aaron (God spoke to Moses, Moses spoke to Aaron)
  • All of the prophets
• Dreams
  • Daniel: Son of Man, Ancient of Days (Daniel 7)
  • Joseph (father of Jesus): Gabriel in a dream (Matthew 1)
  • Joseph (son of Jacob): Wheat stalks and sun, moon and stars (Genesis 37)
• Vision:
  • Experientially there seems to be a distinction between a vision projected into 3D space and mental images. I am unable to distinguish them from within the text.
  • John the Apostle: Book of Revelation
  • Ezekiel: Glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 1)
  • Paul on road to Damascus (Acts 9)
  • Amos sees a basket of fruit (Amos 8)
  • Jeremiah sees an almond branch (Jeremiah 1)
• Intuition:
  • Jeremiah (and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah)
  • For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. Romans 2:14
• Conscience
  • I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit. Romans 9:1
  • For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 2 Corinthians 2:12
  • So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17

The Lord may also use other methods to convey information. I am not declaring this to be a Biblical truth, I am sharing what I (or others I trust) have experienced:

• Tears
• “Rush” or adrenaline/endorphin through neck and spine
• Heat
• Electricity
• Smells
• Sympathetic pains / “words of knowledge”

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” Luke 8:46.

If Jesus felt power leave Him, did the woman feel the power enter her?

Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 1 Samuel 3:11.

Literal tingle? Symbolic tingle?

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Luke 24:32

Literal burn (or heat)? Or symbolic?

Follow on Reading:

• Larry Randolph, User friendly prophecy
• Emma Stark, Becoming the Voice of God
• Dan McCollam, Love and Prophecy
  

Prophetic Pictures Exercise

We are going to do an exercise on giving prophetic words.

The goals are:

• Get comfortable sharing words with other people & start building boldness
• Get comfortable receiving words form other people & start building discernment
• Learn to trust your instincts when hearing from the Lord, to both transmit and receive
• Provide an immediate feedback loop to show you that you do in fact hear from the Lord

Guidelines:

• As we are learning together, do not declare anything from the Lord during this exercise (ex: “no thus saith the Lord”)
• Believe and trust that the Lord wants to communicate through you to this person.
• Say what is in your head: be it a word, phrases, mental image, etc.
• Do not provide any analysis or interpretation at this time (you can follow up later after the exercise if you want)
  • yes = “I see a mental image of you holding a sword”
  • no = “you are holding a sword which represents … “
• Be encouraging to one another
• Step out in faith!

The exercise:

• On the table are a variety of Christian-themed pictures: people from the Bible, references to bible stories, or similar.
• One by one, walk to the table and select a picture and then place it face down on the pile. It is to be secret which image each person selected. We want a word from the Lord, not our human mind. 
• Pick the picture that is the most meaningful to you or that you are drawn to.
• The idea is that picking the picture is a form of communication to the Lord. The selection of the picture communicates, possibly in a non-articulable way, something that you are seeing the Lord on or need a word from Him on.
• We will then ask the Lord to give us a word to encourage, honor and love that person as a response.
• After everyone selects, the pictures will be randomized and everyone will receive one picture.
• Someone will be selected to start and then we will prophesy in turn within the guidelines. The picture will be passed around the circle to each person and they have the option to give word(s) regarding it.
• You are not required to prophesy over every picture.
• Do not prophesy over your own image.
• The process will repeat until all pictures have been discussed and passed.
• I like the idea of taking an audio recording for each of the pictures separately, but if people are uncomfortable doing so we can skip it.
• At the end we can recap, if there is anything that someone said that jumped out at you, resonates with you, you are welcome to share which will help bless and encourage the one who prophesied.

The images are from Sweet Publishing on freebibleimages.org.