WHAT DO YOU MEAN - A PROPHET?
By Richard Burkard
For several years as time permitted, we've kept an online "Prophecy Scoreboard." It was set up to provide accountability for ministers in Church of God groups, who tend to have prophetic leanings in their messages. Since COG's like to declare they have "a more sure word of prophecy," based on II Peter 1:19 (KJV) we wanted to see how sure it really is. As time went on, we expanded the scoreboard to include more "mainstream" ministers who also like to emphasize prophecy -- sometimes to their own embarrassment.
We kept this scoreboard quietly, not telling anyone at our church congregations about it to avoid causing internal dissent and turmoil. But nothing on the Internet seems to stay a secret forever -- so perhaps it was no surprise when a minister mentioned on the scoreboard pulled us aside one day for a discussion.
"I've never claimed to be a prophet," the minister said. He wondered "where you're coming from" with the scoreboard - concerned I might be putting him and the congregation in a bad light.
So while many COG ministers may analyze news "in the light of Bible prophecy," they hit the brakes and say they are not prophets themselves. Yet note this definition from the United Church of God booklet You Can Understand Bible Prophecy: "A prophet is one through whom God speaks - one appointed to reveal the will of God to His people." Could that not define in part the duty of a minister or pastor as well?
We decided to study how the words "prophet" and "prophecy" are used in scripture -- focusing primarily on the New Testament, since COG's are in that time today. Was the modern era of the Church started by a prophet? Did he utter and write prophecy? Can there be prophets in the Church today - and how do you spot a true one from a false one?
Latter-Day Leaders
A UCG article in 2005 said of Herbert W. Armstrong: "He did not claim to be a prophet, nor did the church regard him as one."(1)
Officially with that title, maybe not - but many Worldwide Church of God members considered his booklet 1975 in Prophecy more than human speculation. They considered it, as Art Gilmore would say at the start of radio broadcasts, the "prophecies of the world tomorrow." Note two quotes from that booklet, which was left for me years ago by a church roommate:
"What man is bringing on the world is.... such catastrophic and terrifying destruction that human life will be erased from the earth in 25 years unless God Almighty intervenes!" (pg. 3) I write this in 2009 - 34 years after 1975, and even longer after the booklet was published (my tattered copy has no publication date). If God intervened, it was not done by "divine wrath" and the return of Jesus back to earth.
"But the indications of prophesy are that.... drought will be even more devastating.... and that it will strike sooner than 1975 -- probably between 1965 and 1972!" (pg. 10) That didn't really happen, either. Mr. Armstrong and other Church of God writers have used hedge words such as "probably" as escape hatches for their predictions -- which is something Biblical prophets don't do. (In fact, the word "probably" can't be found in the King James or New International Version texts.)
Yet a close look at Mr. Armstrong's Mystery of the Ages shows a potential clash of thoughts, in terms of understanding prophets. He noted Paul's writings of I Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11 that apostles and prophets are the top two positions in the church. But then he stated the prophets "are those of the Old Testament, whose writings were used to form a considerable part of the New Testament.... No prophets are mentioned as having either administrative, executive or preaching functions in the New Testament church."(2)
Of course, that doesn't stop some Church of God ministers from putting that title on themselves. Gerald Flurry of the Philadelphia Church of God has been the most blatant -- declaring himself not simply a prophet, but "that prophet" as in a King James Version phrase. It is not our purpose here to do a detailed review of Mr. Flurry's claim. If you'd like to do that, we suggest beginning with two verses using that phrase - John 6:14 and Acts 3:23.
Original Understanding
A close look at Greek root words shows there's a difference between a prophet and a preacher (or a minister in general), and between prophecy and preaching. Based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, a preacher or minister announces "good news" of the gospel. A prophet foretells events -- or as The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance puts it, he or she is "one who speaks inspired utterances."
An honest examination of many COG ministers today would conclude they take on both titles. They believe the gospel is about a future Kingdom of God. So they not only preach that gospel, but claim their messages are given "under inspiration." Does that mean they're prophetic? The Strongest explains that Greek root as "an inspired message, sometimes encouraging obedience to God, sometimes proclaiming the future as a warning to preparedness and continued obedience."
Yet we dare not overlook Jesus's warning in the Sermon on the Mount: "Many will say to me on the day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name'....Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Mt. 7:22-23) Are churches in general guilty of pointing those words toward other groups and denominations, while not turning the words on themselves as a mirror?
The Phrase That Pays?
The minister who pulled us aside for a discussion added another identifying definition, which prompted this study. He claimed you can tell a prophet or prophecy by their use of the phrase, "Thus saith the Lord...." (Well, maybe not in King James English, but hopefully you get the idea.)
Is that always Biblically true? The Scriptural answer is: in some cases(3) - but not always.
"Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?" Jesus asked a crowd about John the Baptist. The Lord then answered His rhetorical question, "Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet." (Matthew 11:9/Luke 7:26) But review John's words in the gospels and you'll find he never said, "Thus saith the Lord." In fact, he minimized his prophetic prowess in John 1:21 (note especially KJV margin "a prophet").
Consider also a pair of Old Testament prophets. Habakkuk is given that title in the very first verse of the book with his name - yet the words "thus saith the Lord" are never there. And while Daniel received prophetic visions from God (e.g. Dan. 2:28), he also never used that phrase.(4)
Prophets in the Midst
Yet Jesus declared at some point He would send "prophets and wise men and teachers" to a world of Pharisees and "teachers of the law" (Mt. 23:29-34).(5) The passage implies they would come after Jesus departed -- but one actually was alive while Christ walked the earth. John 11:49-52 says Sanhedrin member Caiaphas "as high priest that year.... prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one." All in all, that was accurate.
The only person identified as an "early church" prophet who actually utters prophecies is Agabus. In Acts 11:27-28, he warned a time of "severe famine" was coming on the Roman empire - and a few years later, it happened. Then note what Agabus did in 21:10-11. "Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, 'The Holy Spirit says, "In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles."'"
Agabus was right, as Paul was arrested and bound in verse 33. But did you notice how he started the prophecy? NOT with "thus saith the Lord," but "The Holy Spirit says...." If the Holy Spirit can speak prophetic words, is this not more evidence the Spirit is on a level with God the Father and Christ the Son?
Adding It All Up
What can we learn from all this? Here are the conclusions I draw:
1. If a minister claims to be talking about future events under inspiration from God, he takes on the role of a prophet - even if he doesn't realize it, and even if he never says the "magic words" some people expect prophets to say.
2. Scripture shows when someone makes a short-term prophetic statement in the New Testament, it comes to pass. The tension comes in sorting through what's short-term and what's long-term (as in the second coming of Christ).
3. Based on the principle of allowing the Bible to interpret itself, you should not fear someone whose prophecies or proclamations fail to come true. We quote Deuteronomy 18:22 at the top of our Prophecy Scoreboard - and we suspect most Churches of God would agree that verse still is applicable today.
4. The Holy Spirit can inspire prophetic words, every bit as much as "The Lord" can.
But keep a few additional verses in mind as we conclude. Paul tells a church in I Thessalonians 5:20-21, "Do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good." In other words, don't skeptically dismiss someone simply because he claims to know or speak prophecies. But don't go to the other extreme, by assuming a prophetic speaker automatically is "Mr. Know-It-All."
I John 4:1 reinforces this point. "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God...." Why do that? "....because many false prophets have gone out into the world." That's exactly as Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24 and 7:15. The Lord adds in chapter 7 the fruit of prophets will determine if they're true or false. Paul adds in I Corinthians 14:32, "The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets" - or at least they should be.
After reviewing the New Testament evidence concerning prophets, we concluded there's no reason to delete anything on our Prophecy Scoreboard. Instead, we added two things: a denial by the minister about one statement we cite -- and a link to this explanatory article. We pray our explanation helps you determine what constitutes prophecy in the church, whether a minister is right to draw lines between a "prediction" and a "prophecy" - and perhaps whether you have what some COG ministers call "prediction addiction." If too many predictions fall short, it may be time to tell the addiction to move along.
To reply to this article, e-mail the author directly
© 2009, Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.
1. Treasure Digest section, United News, November 2005.
2. Mystery of the Ages, 1985 ed., pgs. 244-45. The Philadelphia Church of God reportedly revised this section, after gaining the copyright to many Herbert Armstrong writings.
3. One example is Elisha. Called a prophet by Jesus in Luke 4:27, he says "Thus saith the Lord" in II Kings 7:1.
4. Note also Jude 14, which declares Enoch "the seventh from Adam" a prophet. Enoch is never quoted in Genesis at all.
5. Luke 11:49-51 in the NIV can leave the impression Jesus is referring to something which already had happened.