“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” – Deuteronomy 18:21-22
There are a startlingly large number of people in the present day claiming to be Christian “prophets”. The prospect of this sounds quite exciting – a new word from God for today! Many Christians find this compelling, while others find it confusing. What should we say about these prophets??? Christian, Beware!!!
Laying aside the deep, complex, and important theological question of whether prophecy is even going to happen today since the canon of Scripture (i.e. the Bible) was completed, let’s briefly look at this phenomenon from a few perspectives. First, since God perfectly revealed Himself through Jesus Christ and explicitly revealed Himself through Scripture, it seems unlikely that He would also continue to send forth numerous prophets after that was completed. Perhaps a few, but certainly not so many!
Second, we should expect any modern “prophets” to function in a manner consistent with God’s prophets throughout history. The bulk of Old Testament prophecy wasn’t devoted to foretelling the future, but to critiquing the spiritual and moral failures of God’s people (today that would be the church). Because God is a God of order, we should expect the same. True prophets should be expected to devote the bulk of their words to critiquing the church for failures of love, mercy, and justice. That doesn’t generally seem to be the case!
Third, many of these so-called prophets have a track record of error. The Old Testament was clear: if a prophet gave a prophecy that was false, he or she was a false prophet. In those days, they were to be executed. Today, rejecting and ignoring them completely and permanently should be sufficient. Many of these so-called prophets have already made outlandishly false prophecies and should be shunned.
Fourth, prophets of God should always present a message consistent with the Scripture and teaching of God’s character. A prophet inciting Christians to behaviors or attitudes inconsistent with the character of Jesus Christ is a false prophet.
Ultimately, what a “prophet” believes to be a message from God may come from one of three sources: God, Satan, or self. Discerning that source can be tricky, but every Christian must nonetheless be discerning for him or herself. Don’t be fooled into following someone just because you’re attracted to what he or she claims to be revealing from God. Scripture says such false teachers will proliferate in these last days. Christian, beware!