The Bible’s View of Prophecy

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Pexels.com

In the church, we hear people talk about prophecy all the time. Sometimes God is telling us to prophesy, but we have questions. What is prophecy? Why do we prophesy? What does the bible say about prophecy?

What is prophecy?

Let’s look at 2 Peter 1:20-21, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 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.” 

So, prophecy is from God. It is not us speaking, but hearing. God uses us, his children, to reflect his words to people around us. We are like God’s mirrors. We are just like God’s prophets who wrote the bible. It says in the verse “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.” That means that Paul, Peter, John, Mark, everyone who wrote the bible were all speaking what they were hearing from God. They were reflecting his words. We can follow that example because we are God’s prophets too.

Take a look at 1 Corinthians 14:3, “On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.” That’s what prophecy is. God uses us to encourage people and build them up. First we hear God, then we speak what he says to people around us who God wants us to encourage or build up. 

I think of prophecy as a message inspired by God, a divine revelation from God that you can share and use to encourage others. Prophecy is always speaking truth from God. It says in 1 Corinthians 12:10 that prophecy is a spiritual gift from The Holy Spirit. God gives us the gift of prophecy so that we can then help others around us and make them feel encouraged.

There are different types of prophecies. The gift of prophecy is for edification, encouragement, words of knowledge, and words of wisdom. However, there is another type of prophecy, the foretelling of the future. This kind of prophecy is already in the scriptures, so it is already done. In Revelation it says that we shouldn’t add to the word of God, so the foretelling is already done in the bible.

God sometimes gives people glimpses of the future, but if someone says that God gave them a prophecy about the future that doesn’t mean we should bank off of it when making decisions. God always speaks clearly, so I’m not trying to say that we shouldn’t always listen to what God says. Even though God always speaks clearly, that doesn’t mean that we always hear clearly. So, although God may give us a prophecy about the future, that doesn’t mean we should always go with something if people think that it was from God, because God may have been saying something else and we just misinterpreted it.

Why should we prophesy?

Well, does the bible say we should prophesy? Why is it good to prophesy? Who should prophesy? Take a look at Acts 2:17-18 in part of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”

We all have the gift of prophecy. Some of us walk in that gift more, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t all called to prophesy. Everyone should prophesy. In this verse, it’s not saying that only the “prophets” should prophesy, it says for everyone to prophesy. We are all prophets made in God’s image to reflect his words. It says in Proverbs “I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; and I will not forget your word.” We’re living that out. Not only are we living it out but we, as God’s prophets are showing it to other people and reflecting it. We are setting an example, no matter how old you are. You’re not too young. Remember the verse in 1st Timothy? Don’t let anyone let down on you for your youth; set an example!

How do we prophesy?

Deuteronomy 29:29 says this, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” What God is telling us is being revealed. It’s revelation. Prophecy is what God is revealing to us, so that we can use it for edification. As prophets, we can use what God is revealing to us, and prophesy it to people around us.

Prophecy is revelation from God. To prophesy is to speak and edify to others what the Lord is telling you. If prophecy is meant to build each other up and encourage each other, then if we’re not being encouraging then we know we’re not doing it right. Or if it goes against God’s word then we’re not doing it right. Since prophecy is revelation from God, then it can’t be against his word.

We need to believe that what we are hearing is from God, we need to BELIEVE that we can hear God and prophesy his words of revelation. You can’t just use the fact that you don’t know for sure that it’s from God as an excuse. As long as it’s not against God’s word then go for it! Even if God didn’t tell you to prophesy for someone, you still got to encourage somebody. If God did tell you to though, and you didn’t listen because you thought it might not be from him, that means you disobeyed God. My main point here is this: Don’t not do it just because it might not be God.

One of my favorite quotes is by a guy named Joe Ewin, “Practice makes prophetic.” So, we can practice speaking God’s words over people in our lives, and that is prophecy. We never fail. We may have felt like what we say didn’t affect them at all, but sometimes we can make an impact by our encouragements even when we don’t know it. Even if you feel like you get rejected, you still get to step out in faith and boldness, and you get practice; and practice makes prophetic. 

I encourage you to prophesy. Even in this hard time, think of a way you can prophesy. Build people up, encourage them, because that’s what they need right now.

That about wraps up the post. Thank so much for reading! I hope this post was really helpful for you guys. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

If you haven’t noticed, I put up some social media buttons on the sidebar. So, if you would then please go like my Facebook page and follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Instagram and Twitter haven’t been working well for me when I click on the button, so try and click on the buttons on the sidebar, and let me know whether or not it works for you. I probably won’t be doing very much on social media, it’s mostly just for more traffic, but all my new posts will show up on there if you want to give me some likes.

Keep an eye out for upcoming posts. Kaelyn and I have a really fun collab coming up soon, so be on the look-out! Speaking of Kaelyn… It’s her birthday today! So, pop down in the comments and tell her happy birthday! Happy Birthday, Kaelyn!!! You’re awesome! I pray that you have an amazing year! 😀

Thanks again for reading! If you liked this post, then be sure to smash that follow button, so you don’t miss out on any new ones. TTYL! -Ezra