Can We Use It To Test Prophecy?
In my last post I took a look at why one should not use 1 Corinthians 14:29 and 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 as a basis for testing prophecy. In this post, I’ll take a look at Deuteronomy 18:22.
“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
-Deuteronomy 18:22
Many use this as a standard to judge prophecy today. They say any prophecy that doesn’t come true is a false prophecy and the person who gave it is therefore, a false prophet. The problem with this is that one doesn’t know if the prophecy is true until after it happens. If one doesn’t take heed of the prophecy and it does happen, then one is guilty of not listening to the Word of the Lord. The problem is compounded if the prophecy pertains to something far into the future and one may not be able to see whether it comes to pass in their lifetime.
This problem is solved by the use of “signs”. In order to validate what a prophet was saying, a sign was often given. Moses was given the leprous hand and the staff/snake as signs to validate his message. However, sometimes a prophecy of a shorter time frame was used as a “sign” to validate a prophecy of a longer time frame. Isaiah offers a good example:
“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. “‘This is the LORD’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.
-Isaiah 38:6-8
However, the validity of signs was qualified in Deuteronomy:
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
-Deuteronomy 13:1-3
Signs in the New Testament
Signs are never demanded for prophecy in the New Testament except for one prophecy: The message of Jesus. Just like the “Word of the Lord” came to prophets in the Old Testament, so too did Jesus speak the “Word of the Lord” and, in fact, John calls Jesus himself to be the “Word”. And the apostles declared this “Word of the Lord”:
“The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.”
- Acts 13:49
This is why it’s such a big deal that Jesus and the apostles performed signs and wonders. It’s not just a display of God’s power but the validation of the message they were declaring. Jeremiah gives us insight into why the Jews were so opposed to the gospel message. During a showdown with a false prophet, Jeremiah invokes Deuteronomy 18:22 but with one qualifier:
”But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the LORD only if his prediction comes true.”
Jeremiah 28:9
Jeremiah says only the prophet who prophecies peace is subject to Deaut. 18:22. This is exactly what Jesus and the disciples were declaring. Because of certain Old Testament prophecies, the Jews expected that God would destroy the Gentiles, but Jesus and the apostles declared peace and salvation to the Gentiles. That’s why the Jews were so adamant about demanding signs.
“For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom”
- 1 Corinthians 1:22
I think it’s interesting that the Church in the New Testament is never exhorted to use Deaut 18:22 to test prophecy. Is New Testament prophecy somehow different than Old Testament prophecy? Well, we do know there are different types of prophecy in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
Miriam, Deborah, David, Hannah, Mary, and Zechariah give us examples of prophetic songs, which consist of praising God (although some have predictive elements).
Another type of prophecy consist of revealing someone's heart or about their life. I believe this is the type of prophecy that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 13 and we also see Jesus give an example of this type:
The woman answered, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You said well, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
- John 4:17-19
One cannot easily apply Deaut. 18:22 to these types of prophecies, since there are no predictions to confirm. It appears that some prophecies are given without the person realizing they are prophesying:
But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." Now he didn't say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
- John 11:49-52
In my next post, I’ll take a look at one of the characteristics of New Testament prophecies and what I believe is the correct way to test prophecy.
