Discussion on Prophecy

A Little Bit Discussion on Prophecy
By Patrick Chu

The prophetic gift existed long before the prophetic office was instituted. Thus Enoch had the former (Jude 14); so Abraham is called a prophet (Ge 20:7) as are also the patriarchs (Ps 105:15). The office was first instituted under the Mosaic economy; but even then the gift was not always connected with the office; for example, Daniel was endowed largely with the gift, but was never called to the office, as living in a heathen court where he could not have exercised it. So David (Mt 13:35; 27:35). Hence the writings of both are classed with the Hagiographa, not with the prophets. Moreover, though the office ceased with the close of the Old Testament dispensation, the gift continued, and was among the leading charisms of the New Testament Church. "Prophet" (in Hebrew, from a root, "to gush out like a fountain") meant one acting as spokesman for another (Ex 7:1); so, one speaking authoritatively for God as interpreter of His will. "Seer" was the more ancient term (1Sa 9:9), implying that he spake by a divine communication presented either to his senses or his mind: as "prophet" indicated his authority as speaking for God.

Christ was the only fountain of prophecy (1Pe 1:11; Re 19:10; also Ac 16:7, the oldest reading, "the Spirit of Jesus"), and declared God's will to men by His Holy Spirit acting on the minds of the prophets. Thus the history of the Church is the history of God's revelations of Himself in His Son to man. The three divisions of this history, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the Christian dispensations, are characterized each by a distinct mode of God's manifestations- that is, by a distinct form of the prophetic gift. (1) The theophanic mode characterizes the Patriarchal dispensation: God revealing Himself in visible appearances, or theophanies. (2) The theopneustic mode, the Mosaic: God revealing Himself through God-inspired men. (3) The theologic mode, the Christian: God revealing Himself, not merely at intervals as before, but permanently by inspired writings ("the oracles of God," 1Pe 4:11).