Should Prophecies Be Discerned and How?
This writer’s mentor in his D.Min program and an authority in (toward) the Biblical Theology and OT Theology, Dr. Walter C. Kaiser Jr., strikes broad strokes on the interpretation of Biblical Prophecies in his succinct, but profound book, Back Toward the Future: Hints for Interpreting Biblical Prophecy. ( Eugene, Oregen: Wipf & Stock, 1989). Reading this book for a fresh body of work of the intention statement of the Author/authors of the NT books, this writer is motivated to write this article, which may also serve as biblical base to Bro. Vijaykumar’s Tamil article in satirical genre, 2011 Prophecy.
Discern Everything:
While Paul sets the functioning of the puffed-up Corinthian church in order on spiritual gifts and ministries, he prefers all to “speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (2 Cor. 14:8). Prophetic ministry should be limited to two or three people, and when one speaks, “... the others should weigh carefully what is said” (verse 29). Though Paul exhorts to “eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy, he equally warns that “The utterance of prophet is not to be given uncritical acceptance, but to be tested by those qualified.” (Leon Morris:1983 p.200). The Greek term, diakrinetsan means, “to judge, pass judgment, discriminate, evaluate, recognize, discern, make a distinction between, and criticize.”
To establish the Thessalonians church, Paul writes about those who walked “out of step” (disorderly) due to wrong teachings on the second coming, political activism to become busybodies, and holiness which are contrary to the gospel he preached. Paul admonishes the church, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Testeverything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22). Paul’s concern is obvious that “the gift (of prophecy) was easily counterfeited, and called for discernment (test everything), especially on the part of the leaders” (NBC, p.1160).
John makes stronger case for exercising spiritual discernment on prophecies: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Please note that Paul and John use the same Greek word (dokimazete), which means, “ to test, examine; interpret, discern, discover; approve; prove, demonstrate.” Christians should not remain babes, living on milk alone. Instead, they should grow matured enough with solid food and constant exercise of their senses trained, so that they are able to distinguish (diakrisin) between good and evil (Hebrews 5:11-14).
Four Signs to Discern Prophecies:
Sympathising on our “helplessness in assessing the predictions in the Bible as we are those which we encounter in everyday life,” Dr. Kaiser assures in the chapter 2, ‘Don’t Believe Everything Everyone Says About the Future’ (pp 29-40), that “Apparently it is possible to distinguish between true and false prophecy,” (p.29) and to identify the false prophets, who are ferocious wolves coming in the costumes of sheep’s hides to whom all should be very alert (Mathew 7:15).
This writer finds the list of tests that Dr. Kaiser suggests is handy to distinguish between true and false prophecies, based on two sets of biblical texts – Jeremiah 23 and Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:14-22. It is a try to internalize the thoughts in own words, while lavishly quoting from Dr. Kaiser’s work. The readers are encouraged to supplement this sketch quoting with more biblical verses without distorting the contexts they were written.
Let us see first from Jeremiah 23, the four signs of False, Lying Prophets. Dr. Kaiser's list of issues (page number is quoted) is reflected further by this writer.
1. Strange Lifestyle: “First of all, the false prophets can be detected by their immoral lifestyle” (p.30). Do you feel the agony of Jeremiah, a true prophet of the LORD (Jeremiah 23: 9 -10)? The reason is the tell-tale-story of the false prophets: “The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly...Both prophets and priest are godless; even in my temple I found their wickedness,” declares the LORD” (23:10b-11). Their acquaintance with Baal (23:13a), the fertility and prosperity god, had brought an adversarial influence on the people to licentiousness: “The land is full of adulterers” (23:10a); they led the people to astray; “I have seen something horrible; They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness" (v 13-14). Jeremiah implies here the spiritual (worshipping other gods and goddesses), ideological (subscribing to other gospels of materialism, secularism etc.) and physical (Baalism) adulteries. Compare Romans 1:29-32, “…they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1: 32b).
When setting the church at Ephesus in order, Paul urges Timothy to safeguard the church from false teachers by teaching the sound teachings. False teachers’ lifestyle stands contrary to the words and works of the apostles (1Timothy 5:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-5). Titus should muzzle the mouth of Cretans pseudo-prophets "who are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons" (Titus 1:10-12, 16).
The exhortation of the author of the Hebrews is quote-worthy: “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:7). The Hebrews Christians are expected to watch closely and reflect upon the way of life – the lifestyle. Jesus gives us a solid clue in Mathew 7:16, “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
Who is a pseudo-prophet? It is he/she whose lifestyle is incompatible to the biblical teachings and lives of Heroes of faith. When he/she prophesies on the coming of famines, draughts, human miseries, floods, Tsunamis, earthquakes, wars, caste clashes, persecutions, sicknesses, epidemic outbreaks and so on, but he/she continues to accumulate money and properties, build luxurious buildings, buy costly cars and things, enjoy over eating, spend on look-at-me costumes, juggle with 2-3 high end cell phones. the mark of Immorality (spiritual, physical and ideological) is self-explanatory.
2. Crowd Pleasers: “The second characteristic is the fact that false prophets are crowd pleasers” (p.30). It is customer-friendly prophetic ministry – to preach what people like to hear. “If the people want to hear, “Peace, peace” (when there is no peace), they will be sure to acquiesce and to say what will grant them favor in the eyes of the masses” (p.30). Jeremiah brings God’s words, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes... They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you’" (Jeremiah 23:16-17). Their blessings prophecies are unconditional – ‘peace’ to those who despise God; ‘no-harm’ to those who are stubborn-hearted. They fill the ears, minds, hearts and souls of the people with false hopes. “...prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:10b-11).
“The majority of the prophecies in the Old Testament, however, were of the conditional type. The great teaching texts that they rested on were Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28” (p.36). Unconditional promises and prophecies should be discerned carefully.
An eye-opening point here is, cyclically, these crowd pleasers should be pleased for further blessings. Micah 3:5 identifies the false prophets. “This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim “peace”, if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him.” Look at the logic they operate: If you feed them, you get blessings; if you don’t feed them, it is not just you have no-blessings, rather, proclamation of war is against you! Good food brings good prophecy and long blessing prayers. Where is the role of revelation of God here? Dr. Kaiser is known for his sense of humors: “False prophets are like after-dinner speakers who know how to humor their audience” (p.30). Is this the reason some prefer to pray after having 'good' dinner?
400 crowd-pleasers led by Zedekiah confronting Micaiah in 1 Kings 22, popular Hanainiah openly challenging Jeremiah in Jeremiah 28 are some incidents which illustrate this point. The readers may find many illustrations in the Bible, and many more in their life-experiences.
3. Messing up God’s Word with their own Imaginations: “In addition to their moral failures and their seeking popularity, false prophets fail to distinguish their own thoughts from God’s revelation” (p.30). The source of their revelation is either Baal, “They prophesied by Baal” (Jeremiah 23:13b), and or by their own, but claiming it is from the Lord. “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ “(23:25). They talk from their own minds (23:26). Building one’s foundation on personal dreams, visions, personal revelations and so on, will never become solid; but the LORD’s word, which is faithfully preached, is like fire and like a hammer (23:28-29). Though God did not send them, but they came on their own and prophesy their prophecies (23:21). “How dare these religious buffoons claim, “This is the oracle of the LORD” (v.34) or say, “I had a dream! I had a dream!” (v.25)?” (p.31).
Paul identifies, “Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (1 Timothy 1:6-7). Their teachings are doctrine of demons from insensitive consciousness, hypocritical hearts, and human regulations (1Timothy 4:1-3).
They understand neither the Word of God . Though revealed in different specific periods of time in different historical contexts, all the prophecies are integrated in the mega-narrative of salvation history. The Biblical events are one big story of salvation. When Jesus showed a panoramic view of salvation history to the dull-headed Emmaus disciples, Luke writes, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). Further, before the accession, Jesus integrates the mega-story: “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). Paul establishes the Ephesians Elders by giving them the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). All prophecies are part and parcel of the mega-story of salvation.
As matured Christians, we should exercise our discernment, which is shaped on the Word of God and sharpened by the Spirit of God, whenever people’s preaching is based on their visions, dreams, and personal revelations, or unfaithful handling of the Word.
4. Thieves of God’s Truth and Glory: Dr. Kaiser’s angry is understandable: “Clearly related to this negative criterion is the fourth: plagiarism. These rascals steal God’s true words and use them as to their own ends” (p.31). “Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me” (Jeremiah 23:30). They distort the word of the living God; copy from one another without understanding; quote from one another out of context; steal from one another without acknowledging – all these amount to stealing that deserves God’s punishment (23: 32-40). Notice the LORD’s repeated warning “I am against the prophets…” in verses 30, 31, and 32.
The crucial sign of true prophesy is to bring people to the LORD and glorify His name. What is the purpose of the prophecy? As noted above, prophecies are integral parts of the mega-story of the salvation history of God. God's acts and words (revelation) are toward one goal - to serve and glorify the one true and living God.
After predicting the things to come, Jesus concludes, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He” (John 13:10). The result of any prophecy should bring glory to “I am He”. Joshua reiterates to Israelites God’s presence among them when prophecies come true: “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you…” (Joshua 3:9-10). All glory of the fulfillment of the prophecies is to the LORD alone. But the false prophets steal the glory of God claiming for themselves on their media – TV, printing, internet, plastic arts and so on. True prophets in the Bible had never prophesied commercially for their glory, name, money, power, politics and popularity.
The study will continue on other two sets of texts from Deuteronomy (13:1-5; 18:14-22) and principles of interpretation, which may help to study any book.
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