The spiritual gift of prophecy – What is it?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The spiritual gift of prophecy is primarily about proclaiming God’s Word to encourage, build up, and console the church. While prophecy in the Bible sometimes included predicting the future, its main function was—and still is—declaring God's truth. The New Testament teaches that prophecy should be done in an orderly way and tested by others to avoid confusion or false teachings. While prophets in the Old Testament often spoke of what would happen in the future, many gave warnings about what would happen if the people disobeyed God. Those warnings were more of a forth-telling as the Israelites had been warned about the cost of disobedience when the Mosaic covenant was established (Deuteronomy 28). Today, prophecy is not about new revelations but about clearly communicating God’s already revealed Word. Believers with this gift should use it humbly and wisely to strengthen the faith of others and point them to Scripture.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The Old Testament does not describe prophecy as a spiritual gift given broadly to believers, like in the New Testament. Instead, it speaks of God-appointed prophets—such as Moses (Exodus 3:10–12; Deuteronomy 18:15), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8–9), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4–10), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1–7)—who were uniquely called to speak God's words to His people.
• These prophets often received divine revelations through visions (Ezekiel 1:1), dreams (Daniel 7:1), or direct speech (Numbers 12:6–8).
• While foretelling the future was part of their role (Isaiah 9:6–7; Daniel 2:44–45), their primary task was to call people to repentance and covenant faithfulness (Amos 5:14–15; Micah 6:8). Overall, prophecy in the Old Testament was a calling to declare God’s will, not a general spiritual gift for all believers.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The gift of prophecy is mentioned in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12—14. Prophecy is also mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 5:20; 1 Timothy 1:18; Revelation 1:18; 19:10; 22:10).
• Romans 12:6 teaches, "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith." Prophecy is one of many gifts that some believers would have to varying degrees. Many understand prophecy as speech that predicts the future. However, this is only one aspect of the biblical prophet's work. Prophesying can also mean to proclaim, as a pastor does during a sermon. In this sense, a person can be gifted in prophesying still today.
• In 1 Corinthians 12:10, we read "to another prophecy," a reference to prophecy as one of many spiritual gifts in the church. Prophecy or "prophets" is also mentioned in verse 29.
• First Corinthians 14:3 discusses prophecy in more detail, teaching, "The one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation." First Corinthians 14:5 teaches that the goal of prophecy is "so that the church may be built up."
• When speaking of orderly worship in Corinth, Paul wrote, "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace" (1 Corinthians 14:29–33). This passage notes: 1) only two or three prophets could speak at a worship gathering, 2) the congregation was to consider or reflect upon what was spoken, 3) prophets were to speak one at a time, and 4) prophets could control when they spoke. This fourth aspect is important, since some at Corinth were apparently involved in disorderly worship that may have included emotional or mystical aspects of religion that reflected the pagan religions of their surrounding culture.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

There do not appear to still be people in the church with the ability to regularly tell the future as some did in the Bible. Those who claim to do so were often considered false teachers in the church. In response, 2 Peter 2:1 teaches, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction."

God can still reveal the future through a person today if He chooses to do so. However, it is clear that prophesying was more than just telling the future and that there was much caution concerning how prophets operated in the early church due to the threat of false prophets. First Thessalonians 5:20–21 instructs, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” We should not treat prophecies or any proclamation of truth lightly. We need to examine what we hear based on what God’s Word actually says (cf. Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1). Today, the gift of prophecy may operate in the sense of giftedness in proclaiming God's Word, but no further predictive prophecy is necessary to understand God’s will or teachings (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

If we believe we may have the gift of prophecy, we should focus on how we can clearly and faithfully proclaim God’s Word in ways that build up, encourage, and challenge others toward spiritual growth. This may look like preaching, teaching, or speaking timely truth grounded in Scripture to meet the needs of the church body. We should also be careful to speak in humility, remain accountable to other believers, and always test what we say against the truth of God’s written Word. In a world full of confusion and spiritual noise, prophetic voices rooted in Scripture help the church stay anchored in God’s truth and grace.

UNDERSTAND

• Prophecy primarily means proclaiming God's Word—not predicting the future.
• The goal of the spiritual gift of prophecy is to encourage, build up, and console the church.
• The gift of prophecy continues as a Spirit-enabled ability to speak God's truth clearly and faithfully and is always tested against Scripture, which is our final and sufficient revelation.

REFLECT

• How have you seen God use others to speak timely, Scripture-based truth that encouraged or challenged your faith?
• How are you called to proclaim God's Word in your everyday life, and are you doing so with clarity and humility?
• When you hear someone claim to speak for God, how do you discern whether their message aligns with Scripture?

ENGAGE

• How can we as believers ensure that those who feel called to speak God’s Word are held accountable and remain grounded in Scripture?
• Why is it important to distinguish between foretelling the future and proclaiming biblical truth when talking about prophecy today?
• What practices can we adopt together to encourage the faithful use of the gift of prophecy for building up the church, not causing confusion or division?