The New Testament is clear about the existence of spiritual gifts among Christians. In Corinthians, Paul writes that though the church was not lacking in those gifts (1 Cor. 4:7), they were like children in bickering over them. Yet, their abuse did not diminish the reality or importance of the gifts. One of the most important spiritual gifts was, and is, the gift of prophecy. The apostle Paul refers to it explicitly in three of his letters. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith” (Rom. 12:6). “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …” (1 Cor. 12:28). “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11).
Prophetic Experience
Numerous people in sacred history have experienced the gift of prophecy, or what has been called “the spirit of prophecy.” It was seen over and over in both the Old Testament (all the prophets, of course, experienced the “gift of prophecy”) and in the New Testament. This prophetic experience was manifested, in a small way, in the case of Anna, a prophetess, who “spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). More broadly, it appeared in the apostle Paul, who referred to the prophetic experiences that were part of his ministry (2 Cor. 12:7). All through the New Testament, the experience of the prophetic gift has been made manifest (Acts 13:1-2; Acts 16:6-10; 1 Cor.14: 2, 4; Eph. 4:14).
True and False Prophets
Of course, not everyone who claims to be a prophet is one. Jesus Himself warned about “false prophets” (Matt. 7:15; 24:11), and so did Peter (2 Pet. 2:1) and John (1 John 4:1). The warning about false prophets implies the potential existence of true ones. How, then, can we know if someone who claims to be a prophet is, or is a fake instead?
First, we must not dismiss the prophetic claim out of hand. Paul wrote: “Do not despise prophecies” (1 Thess. 5:20) but then immediately said to “test everything” (1 Thess. 5:21), which includes claims to the prophetic gift.
Scripture points to a few key tests:
1. Does the message agree with the Bible, the ultimate and absolute test? (See Isa. 8:20). Any “prophetic” message that contradicts the Word of God must be rejected out of hand.
2. If the person claiming the gift makes unconditional predictions about the future (some prophecy is conditional; that is, certain things will come to pass only if certain conditions are met)—the question needs to be asked: Have the unconditional predictions come to pass? “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22; see also Jer. 28:9).
3. Also, does the prophet acknowledge the fleshly incarnation of Jesus Christ? “By this, you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1 John 4:2-3). That is, a true prophet has to acknowledge not just that Jesus came to this world but all the crucial aspects of His life and ministry.
4. The character of the prophet’s life, as seen in Peter’s reference to “the holy men of God” (2 Pet. 1:21), must be considered. None of the people (save Jesus) who had manifested the prophetic gift were perfect; their lives, nevertheless, were mostly following the truths they preached. As Jesus said, a true prophet would be known by his fruits (Matt. 7:15-16).
Perpetuity of the Gift
Some claim that spiritual gifts ended with the death of the earliest disciples and apostles. That position, however, is not biblical for several reasons, the most prominent being that, in the context of the last days, Revelation 12:17 talks about the “testimony of Jesus,” which is later interpreted like this: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (19:10). This verse indicates that the gift is existing even today.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that the gift of prophecy has been made manifest in the life and writings of Ellen G. White, whose ministry from 1844 to her death in 1915 continues to be an “authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction.”
Jesus as Prophet
Of course, no one in history revealed the prophetic gift as did Jesus. Though many of the people in His time, before understanding who He really was (at least those who came to understand who He really was) saw Jesus as a prophet. “Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world’” (John 6:14).
Later on, Peter said, in reference to Jesus: “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people’ ” (Acts 3:22-23).
If prophets were spokesmen (and women) for God, then truly none was greater than Jesus Christ, who not only spoke for God but, indeed, was God.