This article is derived from the soon-to-be-published book
by Eddie & Susan Hyatt entitled The Spirits of the Prophets.
by Eddie & Susan Hyatt entitled The Spirits of the Prophets.
To
even the casual student of Scripture it is obvious that a momentous shift
occurred from how the prophetic gift functioned in the Old Testament to how it functions
in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the work of the Holy Spirit was limited
and confined to only a few select prophets, judges and kings. This changed,
however, with the coming of the Messiah and His redemptive work for the human
race.
With the coming of Jesus and the promised outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on all flesh, a new era
dawned. The ministry of the prophet was not ended, but rather expanded to
include the entire believing community. This is what Dr. Roger Stronstad calls
“the prophethood of all believers.”
Old Testament prophets spoke of this wonderful time when
prophetic ministry would be expanded to include all the people of God. This was
the prediction of the Old Testament prophet Joel who declared;
And it
shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your
young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in
those days (Joel 2:28-29).
In Jewish/rabbinic tradition, this passage was associated with
the coming of the Messiah and the messianic age, also known as “the last days.”
The messianic age would be a time when the Holy Spirit would be poured out on
all of God’s people, not just a few prophets and kings. Gender would not be an
issue as both sons and daughters would prophesy. Age would not matter and even
the very lowest of society—the menservants and maidservants—would experience
this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The limitations known under the Old
Covenant would all be removed with the dawn of the New Covenant and the
appearance of the Messiah.
On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was being poured
out and the disciples were speaking in other tongues, Peter explained to
questioning onlookers what was happening by quoting Joel’s prophecy. Peter made
it clear that the messianic blessing for which they were looking had arrived.
He did this by pointing out that this is
that; in other words, this that
you see happening here today is that
which Joel prophesied would come to pass.
Peter further made his point by substituting Joel’s it shall come to pass afterwards with it shall
come to pass in the last days.
As far as Peter was concerned, the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus
had ushered in the promised era. The last
days had dawned and the Spirit of
prophecy was now being made available to all who would receive Jesus, the risen
Savior and Lord (Acts 2:14-18).
Moses Anticipated the Prophethood of All
Believers
Moses also spoke of this wonderful era when God’s Spirit and
prophecy would be made available to all of God’s people. When a young Joshua
wanted him to stop two elders from prophesying in the camp, Moses passionately
replied, Are you jealous for my sake?
He then earnestly declared his heart’s desire, Oh, that
all the LORD'S people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon
them (Numbers 11:29).
Moses was, no doubt, expressing God’s heart when he expressed
his own desire that all of God’s people were prophets. This earnest desire
began to be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost with the outpouring of God’s
Spirit on all flesh. Stronstad says
that Luke, in recording the events that occurred on the Day of Pentecost, “Has
thus reported the actual historical fulfillment of Moses’s earnest desire: Would that all the Lord’s people were
prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”
What a change from former times when the masses would have to
seek out a “prophet” to hear from God. Now the prophetic Spirit is resting on
all of God’s people, and the gift of prophecy is potentially available to all.
Prophecy is no longer the province of an individual, but now belongs to the
entire believing community. This is why Stronstad says, “Here in Luke’s
narrative, for the first time ever in the redemptive history of God’s people,
those people truly function as a nation of prophets—the prophethood of all believers.”
Jesus Speaks of this Unlimited Offering of the
Spirit
This is the context for understanding the words of John in John
7:39 where he says that the Holy Spirit was
not yet given. John spoke this when quoting the words of Jesus during the
Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem when He cried out, Whoever is thirsty let him come to Me and drink; as the Scripture has
said, “Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.
Commenting on these words of Jesus, John said that He was
speaking of the Holy Spirit whom those
who believe on Him should receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given. At that time the Holy Spirit had not yet been
given in the universal sense as predicted by Joel and anticipated by Moses.
Jesus, however, is anticipating that time in the near future, when after His
passion, resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit will be given to all who
will come to Him in faith and receive.
That time arrived on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit
was given and they all were filled
with the Holy Spirit and all began to
speak prophetically as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). What happened
on the Day of Pentecost is a repeatable experience as is demonstrated by the
fact that we continue to see individuals throughout the book Acts receiving
this gift of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues and prophesying. This gift
is still available today for as Peter explained to the wondering crowd in
Jerusalem that day, For the
promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as
the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:39).What an incredible time in which we
live!
No Elite Company of Prophets in the
New Testament Church
Neither
Jesus, Paul nor any New Testament writer ever instructed their audience to seek
out a “prophet” in order to hear what God is saying. There is no example in
Acts of any believer seeking out a prophet in order to hear from God. That is
because they are very aware that a new era has dawned and prophecy now belongs
to the community. It is no longer the province of certain individuals.
As
pointed out in an earlier chapter, when Paul in I Corinthians 14:29 says, Let two or three prophets speak, and let the
others judge, he is not referring to a special, identifiable group of
prophets within the church at Corinth. Fee has rightly pointed out that the
language is functional meaning, “the one prophesying,” which could be any
member of the Christian community. The “others” would be the other believers
who are present.
This
is confirmed by the inclusive language that Paul uses in this passage and,
indeed, throughout the letter. The letter is addressed, not to a prophet,
apostle, bishop or pastor. Paul, instead, addresses the letter;
To the
church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be to
be saints, with all who in
every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
The
letter throughout is addressed to the entire body of believers and the
implication is that “all” are involved in the proceedings of their gatherings,
which would have been primarily in homes. In 14:26, for example, Paul says;
How is
it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a
revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
Verse
29 then follows very naturally with Paul saying, Let the ones prophesying speak two or three at a time, and let the
others judge (author’s translation). The open unlimited nature of his
instructions is confirmed by verse 31 where he says, For you can all prophesy one
by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. It seems
obvious that the Corinthian church, in spite of its shortcomings, was
functioning according to the New Covenant ideal of a “prophethood of all
believers.”
No Office of Prophet in New Testament
The
contemporary talk of God restoring the “office” of prophet to the church is Old
Testament thinking, and ignores the reality ushered in by the coming of Jesus and
the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. Neither Jesus nor the twelve set up
church offices. In fact, the word “office” is not found in the Greek New
Testament. Although the English word “office’ is used in I Timothy 3:1, it was added
by the translators and is not found in the Greek New Testament. The passage
literally reads, If anyone desires
oversight, he desires a good work. The language is obviously functional,
not official.
Words
used to describe leaders in the New Testament, such as apostle, prophet, bishop,
etc., are functional in nature describing the leaders’ task, rather than
official describing their status. In fact, there is not a single example in the
New Testament of a leader having a title in front of his name.
This
is the case with people like Agabus and Silas who are called prophets, probably
because they merely prophesy more than other members of the prophetic
community. They are never called “Prophet Agabus” or “Prophet Silas.”
This obvious avoidance of titles is understandable in light of the words of Jesus in Matt. 23:6-12
where He warned His disciples about adopting titles that would set themselves
apart from other believers.
But you, do not be called “Rabbi”; for One is your
Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your
father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called
teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you
shall be your servant.
It
is obvious that Jesus saw His church as a community of brothers and sisters
without the need of a mediating, hierarchical leadership. By the way, the Greek
word, adelphoi, that is translated
“brethren,” is gender inclusive, which is why some of the newer translations
such as the NRSV and NLT translate it as “brothers and sisters.” The church is to
be a prophetic community of brothers and sisters.
This
Biblical evidence is why Rudolph Bultman, a liberal theologian but an astute
historian, said, “Neither in the earliest
Palestinian congregation nor in earliest Hellenistic Christianity was there
originally any thought of establishing church regulations and offices.” And In
his classic work, The Primitive Church,
Professor Burnett Streeter says;
Whatever else is disputable, there is, I submit, one
result from which there is no escape. In the primitive church there was no
single system of church order laid down by the apostles. During the first
hundred years of Christianity, the Church was an organism alive and
growing—changing its organization to meet changing needs. Uniformity was a
later development.
Conclusion
An
exciting new era, predicted by the Old Testament, was ushered in by the coming
of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The Old
Testament ministry of the prophet was not ended but expanded to include the
entire believing community. The possibilities now available to every believer because
of this universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit are endless and unlimited.
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