Years ago, our church prepared to bring in some prophets who would minister by sharing words from the Holy Spirit with selected individuals in the congregation.
One friend, nervous about the upcoming ministry time, said, “I’m afraid God is going to smite me!”
(“Smite” is KJV English meaning “to strike or afflict suddenly.”)
Our friend’s fear stemmed from a misunderstanding about how the New Testament gift of prophecy functions.
Five factors contribute to the changes between covenants regarding prophecy.[i]
1. The Old Covenant featured prophets, priests, and kings. In the New Covenant, Jesus Christ himself is Prophet, Priest, and King over the people of God. The message shifted from the knowledge of sin to the knowledge of grace and mercy. Christ came as the Prophet, fulfilling the hopes and predictions of Moses and all the prophets (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22).
2. In the Old Testament, the Spirit only came on certain individuals, like prophets, judges or kings, at specific times to address Israel with reminders of the covenant obligations from which they repeatedly strayed as a nation. In the New Testament, the presence of the Holy Spirit abides in every believer. Prophecy changes from directive words to confirming words for Spirit-filled believers in communion with God.
3. The Old Testament Hebrew religion is exchanged in the New Testament for a multi-ethnic church with Christ as head. He welcomes every race and social class, and men and women share equal status in spiritual activities (Gal. 3:28).[ii] Rather than offering national directives, New Testament prophecy concentrates on believers in Christ, offering spiritual encouragement to help them withstand persecution. Its content shifts from warnings to national leaders to the regular building up of all God’s people.
4. The Old Testament ministries of prophet, priest and king now take place in the lives of ordinary people. Members of the church now fulfill God’s desire for a nation of royal priests (Ex. 19:6)—we are all kings and priests with the potential to prophesy (1 Cor.14:31). Because of Jesus Christ, the intermediaries needed in the Old Testament are no longer necessary.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (2 Pet. 1:9-10).”
5. The leadership structure of Old Testament prophet-priest-king shifts to the New Testament apostle-prophet-evangelist-pastor-teacher (Eph. 4:11). Ernest Gentile points to the fivefold leadership ministry of the New Testament (which includes prophets) as the counterpart of the role Old Testament prophets played as spiritual leaders of their times.[iii]
As we move from Old to New Testament prophets and prophecy, we note marked differences in who is empowered by the Spirit to prophesy, to whom prophetic messages are delivered, the nature of the content of prophetic messages, and how to properly respond to a prophetic word.
Rather than reminding God’s people of their covenant obligations to keep the law as in the Old Testament, the content of prophecy in the New Testament centers on the building up of believers. For this reason, New Testament prophecy differs significantly from Old Testament prophecy.
Today’s prophetic messengers must keep these differences in mind, and believers are to evaluate their words. Any alleged prophetic word which emphasizes sin and judgment and causes shame should be rejected (see 1 Thess. 5:19-22).
Don’t worry, God won’t “smite” you!
***
This post is adapted from my upcoming book, Prophesying Daughters: How Prophetic Ministry and Women in Leadership Strengthen the Church, which releases in March , 2024!
[i] This descriptive list is from Ernest Gentile’s Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1999), 144-151.
[ii] See also Rom. 3:22; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 3:11.
[iii] Gentile, 150.
Photo by Andy Henderson on Unsplash
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