There are many misconceptions about the ministry of the prophet.  Many feel that the prophetic office ended in the first century, but that’s simply not true.  At the same time many who believe that prophets still walk among us have an unbiblical concept of what the prophet is and does.  In this page I’ll address these issues and provide scripture to support the biblical definition and role of the prophet.

First, let’s discuss the idea that no prophets have emerged since the apostolic age.  Those who reject the prophetic ministry do so on three accounts.

  1. The Bible Says That Prophecies Will Cease.  They interpret this to mean that the ministry of the prophet has ceased, and therefore is invalid today.  Just as is the case with tongues, prophecies will not cease until “that which is perfect” comes, and that’s not talking about the completion of the New Testament canon.  It’s referring to the perfection of heaven when we won’t need supernatural gifts and ministries.  See my page on Cessation and Continuation.
  2. The Ministry Of The Prophet Was Only Given For Foundational Purposes. (Eph. 2:20)  While it’s true that the church’s foundation was laid by the apostles and prophets of the first century, it’s also true that the ministry gifts of apostles and prophets were given to the church along with pastors, teachers, and evangelists. (Eph. 4:8-11)  If you’re going to withdraw the first two you’ll have to withdraw the other three along with them.  Certainly Paul’s prophetic ministry was necessary to provide us with the Pauline revelation, and John’s prophetic ministry was needed to provide us with the book of Revelation.  There’s no need for any more foundational prophets in that sense, but prophets are still among the ministry offices given to the church until Jesus returns.
  3. Church History Doesn’t Record Cases Of Prophetic Ministries.  This is just factually wrong.  There are many recorded instances of prophets during the past 1900 years, but the best evidence is the Didache (did-a-kay) which was written in the late first century.  It goes into depth about how to relate to apostles and prophets.  This document was considered for inclusion in the New Testament canon, and although it was eventually rejected it is still considered to be a product of the apostolic fathers.  The clear implication of the Didache is that the offices of apostles and prophets were to continue.

Now let’s talk about what the prophet’s ministry is.  The prophet’s ministry in the New Testament is not a continuation of the ministry of the Old Testament prophet.  It began along with all of the other ministry gifts given by Jesus after His resurrection and ascension.  Between the Old and New Covenants there were 400 silent years.  The only prophet during that time was John the Baptist, and his ministry consisted almost exclusively of preaching repentance and baptizing the repentant.  He never made any prophecies that we know of other than proclaiming the coming of Messiah.  This signaled a break from the prophet’s ministry under the Old Covenant.

Under the Old Covenant the prophet was the one who spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Under the New Covenant there are pastors, teachers, evangelists, and apostles as well.  Under the Old Covenant people would seek a word from God through the prophet.  Under the New Covenant believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and they can receive direction from Him without going to a prophet.  For those reasons the role of the prophet today is different.

 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words.  (Acts 15:32)

Judas (aka Barsabas) and Silas (who  accompanied Paul on his first two missionary journeys – aka Silvanus in the epistles).   are called prophets here, and yet there is no mention of them prophesying or foretelling anything in this story.  Their purpose in traveling to Antioch was to exhort the brethren, and to deliver the message from the Jerusalem Council that they didn’t have to follow circumcision in order to be saved.  They were just encouraged to “abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

Other prophets mentioned in the New Testament include:

  • Simeon (aka Niger) – In Acts 13:1 Simeon was listed among the prophets and teachers in Antioch.  Little is known about Simeon.  We don’t know if he was a prophet, a teacher, or both.  It is thought by many bible scholars that Simeon was a black man from Africa who had relocated to Antioch.  The reason for this view is his other name “Niger” which means “black”.  Mark 15:21 mentions a man named Simon of Cyrene, which is on the northern coast of Africa.  It’s very possible that this was the same man as the one in Antioch, since Simon and Simeon are just two ways to spell the same name.
  • Lucius who is said to be of Cyrene in Acts 13:1.  The way it’s worded you could either conclude that only Lucius was from Cyrene or that both Simeon and Lucius were from Cyrene.  The latter interpretation would support the view that that Simeon is Simon of Cyrene.  It is believed that Lucius was one of the men from Cyrene who in Acts 11:19,20 were said to have been driven out of Jerusalem by persecution.
  • Manaen who was “brought up with Herod the tetrarch” (Acts 13:1), which many bible scholars believe means that he was raised as Herod’s foster brother or close friend.
  • Barnabas who traveled with Paul until their falling out over John Mark.  Two things distinguish Barnabas from the prophets listed above.  First, his name means “son of encouragement”.  He had compassion on John Mark who had abandoned them on a previous mission, and gave him a second chance.  Second, Barnabas stood with Paul against the Judaizers who insisted that circumcision was required for salvation.

No record is given of any of these men prophesying over anybody, and yet they were listed among the prophets listed in Acts 13:1.  The only things we know for sure is that they helped in preaching the gospel and in exhorting and encouraging believers.  (I Corinthians 14:3 tells us that prophesying is done for exhortation, edification, and comfort.  It’s not necessarily done to predict the future or tell people what to do.)  From this we conclude that the ministry of New Testament prophets largely consists of preaching the gospel and exhorting the church.  Often Charismatics overlook these areas of ministry when they think of the prophetic anointing.  They seem to expect prophets to say “thus sayeth the Lord” every hour or so, but it doesn’t work that way.  When the anointing is there they can minister that way, but when it isn’t (which is usually the case) their ministry should consist of preaching and exhortation.  If a prophet doesn’t follow the biblical description of a New Testament prophet I would question their legitimacy.

The final two prophets mentioned in the New Testament are Agabus and Paul.  We know of Paul’s phenomenal calling which included revelation gifts, evangelism, teaching, church building (which falls into the category of the office of an apostle), and exhortation.  Regarding Agabus however, all we are told of him is that he supernaturally warned the believers in Antioch of a future famine (Acts 11:27,28), and later he warned the Apostle Paul of what awaited him in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-12).  Historical records give us a bit more information, fortunately.  He is said to have preached the gospel and won many people to the Lord prior to being martyred at Antioch, so despite being frequently used to manifest the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and prophecy Agabus was a preacher of the gospel.

A final note about New Testament prophets.  I Corinthians 14:29 says “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”  This tells us a couple of things.  First, it is assumed that there will be prophets in the church, which dispels the idea that the ministry of the prophet has ceased.  Obviously there were prophets at the church in Corinth.  And second, unlike Old Testament prophets who primarily were used in foretelling events and were considered false prophets if they were wrong, the New Testament prophets aren’t used as much to foretell things and are apparently capable of misspeaking.  Thus the need to judge what they say.  There are only two people in the New Testament referred to as false prophets.  The first one was Bar-Jesus (aka Elymas) in Acts 13:6-8, a Jewish sorcerer who resisted Paul and Barnabas.  The other one is the one simply called the false prophet in the book of Revelation.  In addition I John 4:1 tells us that many false prophets have gone out into the world, and that we need to test the spirits to see if they’re of God.

“Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies.  Test all things; hold fast what is good.” (I Thes. 5:19-21)

In early churches like the ones in Corinth and Thessalonica the gifts of the Spirit flowed freely, and sometimes that meant that people got in the flesh and said something that wasn’t of God.  After experiencing that for awhile the natural tendency is to just have meetings where nobody prophesies at all.  But Paul admonishes them not to quench the Spirit.  False or erroneous prophecies will happen, but we’re not supposed to allow that to cause us to despise prophecies.  Instead we should just test or judge everything by the Word of God.  That requires patience and sound teaching on the part of the leadership which many simply aren’t up to, but that’s they’re job.

I’m not saying that accuracy isn’t important with the ministry of the prophet.  I’m just saying that while many Christians are quick to throw out accusations and label people “false prophets”, the teaching of Paul is that prophets and their messages should be judged.  If they’re off they will be corrected, but they shouldn’t be stoned either literally or figuratively.  In the Old Covenant people didn’t have the Holy Spirit and the completed canon of scripture as we do today.  They weren’t able to judge prophets to the degree that we can.  So they were given a very basic means of testing prophets, and a very severe judgment to deliver for false prophets.

Today we can judge prophecies by the Spirit within us and the Word revealed to us.  If somebody misspeaks we shouldn’t condemn them.  We should correct and restore them.  We’re no longer under the Old Covenant, so Old Covenant rules don’t apply anymore.  That applies to circumcision, tithing, and the ministry of the prophet.

In summary, the role of the prophet in the New Covenant is that of preaching the gospel, exhorting the brethren, and as the Spirit of God wills ministering via gifts of the Spirit.  Sometimes prophets also function as teachers, apostles, or evangelists.  But the gospel always comes first.  When you put Spiritual gifts ahead of the gospel you’ve got things out of the biblical order and you’re headed for trouble.