Deuteronomy 18:19-20 “If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.”

Well, this puts the bar pretty high, both for the prophet and for those to whom he prophesies! Prophecy is serious business, and is not to be done lightly. Paul tells us to “eagerly desire the gift of prophecy,” (1 Corinthians 14:1) but far too many want it either as a merit badge or as a cudgel with which to beat people up. It is neither! Prophecy is simply speaking out what we hear God saying. It may or it may not have predictive elements in it. Even when it does, those predictive elements may well be conditional, coming true if the hearers respond one way and not if they respond another. Jonah’s prophecy to Nineveh comes to mind as an example. The central point of what the Lord is saying in this passage is that prophecy must be in obedience to Him, and not at the whim of the prophet. It especially must not be in the name of any other deity, because that would actively lead people away from the only true God. In ancient days there were prophets in many religions, as in the prophets of Baal mentioned in 1 Kings 18. Those got slaughtered, and rightly so, after God made Himself clear through Elijah. Prophecy has been restored to the Church since the beginning of the Pentecostal Movement in 1900, but there have been many “prophets” since then who have failed the tests the Lord mentions in this passage. Some have honestly misheard, and I don’t fault them for that. Some have given conditional prophecies that were misunderstood, and that’s not the fault of the prophet. Sadly, some have tacked “Thus sayeth the Lord” onto whatever they wanted to say, for whatever reason. It is the last group that runs afoul of what the Lord says in this passage. I don’t think we are to run around trying to execute such people; God can take care of that. However, we are to be discerning as we hear prophecy, whether it is conditional, or whether the Holy Spirit in our own hearts says “Amen” to what our ears hear. If we get that internal confirmation, we had better follow through, because God says He will hold us accountable!

I was discussing prophecy with a member of this church just recently. Most of the prophesying I have done has been in other locations, rather than here. I’m not entirely sure of the reason, but I do desire and pray that every message I speak, here or elsewhere, would be prophetic, in that it would be an accurate expression of what God is saying. I have delivered some somewhat strange prophecies, that were fulfilled in ways neither the recipients nor I could have imagined, and at times I have prophesied without being consciously aware of doing so at the time. I am not an “Ephesians 4 Prophet,” but I am not to hold back when I feel the Lord would have me say something. I am not to be personally proud of prophesying, because such pride is a very big snare. Rather, I am to be grateful for the privilege of expressing what God is saying, for the benefit of my hearers and for His glory. It is a testimony of His grace that He would ever speak through such a one as I am!

Father, I don’t know if You are preparing me for a period of more active prophecy. I’m going to be traveling a good bit between now and the end of the year, and to this point You have used me more often in prophecy when I was away from this church. Help me be fully sensitive and obedient to You, but never presumptive, so that Your Word may go forth through me in Your way in Your timing to accomplish Your will, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!