"Was that You, God?" (Or, How to Judge Prophecy.)
So… someone you barely know comes up to you and says, “I believe God wants me to give you a word…” and then proceeds to tell you about what God wants for your life.
A few decades ago we would have thought this was extremely strange, but we’re living in a time when many in the body of Christ sincerely believe God is going them ‘words’ for other people, and who are we to say if it is, or isn’t, a word from God? Interestingly enough, we are precisely the right person to judge if a prophetic word is from God.
1 Corinthians 14:29 says that when someone brings a prophecy, the others are to weigh what has been said. It’s no different if someone gives you a personal ‘word’ from God, we are to weigh it up and consider if it is from God.
Before we talk about how to weigh up prophetic words, it’s worth taking a moment to clarify the types of prophetic gifts that are mentioned in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 12 discusses the different spiritual gifts and amongst those are what might be called ’revelatory’ gifts, the word of knowledge, word of wisdom and discerning of spirits; along with the spoken gifts of prophecy, tongues and tongues with interpretation.
The word of knowledge is an impartation of supernatural knowledge about a situation, from God (1 Cor 12:8). Knowledge that you could not have got by natural means. Likewise, a word of wisdom comes by revelation and concerns what to do or how you should respond in a situation.
These two gifts can be manifest in a variety of ways. For example in Acts 9:10-12 the disciple Ananias received a word of knowledge in a vision about Saul staying in the house of Judas on ‘Straight’ Street. More frequently, the word of knowledge comes through an inward witness. In Mark 2:8 the Bible says that Jesus ‘became aware in his spirit’ of how the scribes were thinking. Finally and less frequently, words of knowledge may come through dreams or angelic appearances. For example, in Acts 10, Peter fell into a trance while praying and had a vision about accepting people from other nations into the Kingdom of God.
It’s important to note that Peter understood the meaning of his vision at the time of his vision, when he heard “what God has cleansed no longer consider unholy”. Precisely how the vision was to be applied in his life also came straight away. It also important to note, that dreams and visions were not the normal way God lead the disciples.
Discerning of spirits is the third revelatory gift of the Holy Spirit. Discerning of spirits concerns understanding of spiritual beings. This can range from simply knowing that an evil spirit needs to be dealt with, as in Acts 16:16-18 when commanded a spirit of divination out of a young girl, through to visions of angels or even visions of God (Exodus 33:20-23, Isa 6:1, Rev 1:1). This is not a ‘gift of discernment’; there is no gift of discernment mentioned in the Bible.
Prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues are the three vocal gifts of the Holy Spirit. They serve a similar function in the body of Christ. In the broadest sense, prophecy includes preaching and teaching where the Holy Spirit has lead the minister to preach or teach.
Prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues are primarily for the purpose of speaking on behalf of God for ‘edification, exhortation and comfort’ (1 Cor 14:1-5).
So how are we to judge ‘prophetic words’? The following are principles we need to consider.
Firstly, the person delivering a ‘word’ is human. Don’t be too literal in interpreting what they’re saying. Try and understand the essence of the message.
On one occasion I know of, a visiting minister called forward a clean cut young teen and started prophesying about how God would raise him up to be a mighty man of God. That’s all very well, except this young ‘man of God’, happened to be a young lady! This doesn’t mean the rest of the message wasn’t what God wanted to say; it just means the vessel was human. We need to be at least as smart as an old cow that has learned to eat the hay and spit out the sticks.
Secondly, it’s OK to ask yourself, “Why is this person speaking to me?” Any message from God will glorify God and not man. Sadly, sometimes people bring ‘words’ as a way of feeling used by God. Be sensitive to this. Generally speaking, when God leads it will be gentle and gracious. 1 Cor 14:32 says the spirit of a prophet is subject to the prophet. God uses earthen vessels and he expects those vessels to behave themselves and act graciously and in order.
Thirdly, check what someone says to you against the Bible. Prophecy is to be accordance with our faith (Rom 12:6). In other words, people have no business prophesying things that aren’t scriptural. This is without doubt the most important step. If what people are saying doesn’t line up the Word of God, politely walk away! And this doesn’t mean that there is some isolated abstract reference to some Biblical concept, taken out of context, where the person digs out some hidden meaning. Make sure you are fully persuaded from the Bible and if you aren't sure, get help from someone mature in the faith.
Finally, we need to check our own hearts to see if what other people are saying lines up with our own hearts. God will lead you by the inner witness (Romans 8:14-16). He will, more than likely, have already been leading you, or speaking to you, along the lines of the prophetic word. If not, don’t try and talk yourself into what someone else has told you. If need be, go away, spend some time meditating of God’s Word and praying. Listen to your inward witness and to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Discerning and judging prophetic words is exactly what God wants you to do. We’re to grow up and learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit, ‘… no longer children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14).