This Bible Study covers much of the material in the book, Biblical Principles for Covenantal Prophets. It is broken into the following thirteen lessons:
No leader’s guide is provided, as the book covers all of these topics, and in greater depth.
In 1 Corinthians 12 and elsewhere, prophecy is called a spiritual gift. How does this imply prophecy is different from personal powers, skills, or talents?
Since it is a gift, is there any inherent reason why prophecy might not be given to anybody? Fill in the following table of stories about prophetic gifts:
Passage |
What Gave Gift? |
What Received Gift? |
Purpose / Result |
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Num. 11:24–29 |
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Num. 22:26–31 |
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1 Sam. 10:6,9 |
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1 Sam. 19:19–24 |
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1 Kings 22:17–23 |
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John 11:49–53 |
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Rev. 13:11–15 |
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Why might God allow rebellious spirits, even Satan, to give the gift of prophecy (Deut. 13:1–3, Matt. 24:24)?
The rebellious elders of Numbers 11, King Saul, and Caiaphas were not prophets like Elijah and others whose main job it was to prophesy. For what reasons might God have given them prophecies at all? Was it for their faithfulness to their calling from God?
Given the variety of ways and reasons why prophecy can come about, how do you think we might need to deal with prophecies?
In the last lesson, we saw how some people were given prophetic messages because of the calling they were given in God’s kingdom, even though they may not have been particularly faithful to that calling. Here, we examine a particular type of such “positional prophecy.”
Read Psalm 105:8–19. Why does the Lord call the nation of Israel “prophets” when they did not all prophesy? Why do you think Joseph is mentioned? Do you think any Israelite could have expected to prophesy? Why or why not?
Read Exodus 19:5–6. Why does the Lord call the nation of Israel “priests” when only the descendants of Aaron were to be priests (Exo. 28:1)? What prophetic role might Israel have had for the rest of the world?
What evidence can you think of shows that priests could prophesy? Why would prophecy be a natural function for priests?
What reason comes up in both these passages for why God considered Israel to be his prophets / priests? Read Amos 3:1–8. How does prophecy flow naturally from covenant?
What part of a covenant people can hear God’s messages? What part can relay them, like prophets? Why then didn’t all Israelites prophesy (Deut. 18:15–19)?
Do these principles hold under the superior covenant (1 Pet. 2:4–5, Joel 2:28–29, 1 Cor. 14:1)? Why (Rev. 19:10, Rom. 10:14–15)?
What specific purpose is often mentioned for indwelling by the Spirit (John 16:13–15)? Were there many prophets in the early church, as promised through Joel?
How might believers better fulfill their callings if they were to embrace prophecy more?
Deuteronomy 13:1–5
“False prophets” are a serious concern among Christians. According to the passage, is this concern warranted?
Is it the telling of erroneous prophecies that makes a prophet “false?” If not, what does make a prophet “false?”
There is a list of practices in Deut. 18:10–11 that, unlike prophecy, are automatically rebellious. What makes them this way? Are there other spiritual gifts that, like prophecy, are not automatically rebellious (1 Cor. 12:7–10, Acts 8:39–40)?
Why is an accurate and powerful rebellious prophet a good test of faith?
What is the judgment for rebellious prophecy? Is this judgment so harsh because the person is a prophet or because the person is rebellious (Deut. 13:6–11)?
Were there rebellious people in the early church? If so, were they put to death according to Deuteronomy 13? Why or why not?
What miraculous or prophetic things happen in our day that you think are, in fact, rebellious? Use the criteria of Deut. 13 to show how.
It is natural to assume that the messages of a true prophet should always be right. Why might we have that assumption? Even from what we know about the nature of human beings, is the assumption warranted?
According to Deuteronomy 18:20, what things that a prophet might do would deserve punishment? Does this verse cover all errors a prophet might make? If not, what are the conditions under which punishment might not be merited?
Show how these conditions might have applied in the cases of Nathan in 2 Samuel 7 or Micaiah in 1 Kings 22:14–38.
What things might a person make sure of when considering to publicize a message he or she has received?
If the possibility of error in prophecy exists, how should believers treat a prophecy that they receive or hear (1 Thess. 5:21)?
What test of the truth of a prophecy is mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:22?
Why does this test of a message attributed to God work (1 Sam. 3:19–21)?
What limitations might this test have? What does this test say about the prophecies in Revelation 22:20 or Jonah 3:4?
What other ways can you think of to reveal errors in prophecies?
In the last lesson, we looked at one test for determining the veracity of a prophetic message, but it had limitations. In this lesson, we will examine a second test.
According to Matthew 7:15–20, is it valid to examine the prophet behind a message? Is this test unique to prophets?
What do fruit and sheep’s clothing stand for?
Is good fruit symbolic of good deeds (Matt. 7:21–23, 25:44, James 2:18)? How or how not?
Is bad fruit symbolic of sin (1 John 3:6)? How or how not? What are the implications for testing prophets?
Characterize the fruit listed in Galatians 5:22–23. What is their relation to deeds?
How would good fruit show up in the relating of a prophetic message (1 Cor. 14:29–33, 39–40)?
Does the test of character apply to the content of the message or the controversy it may stir up? Consider the example of prophets in the Bible.
What pitfalls may the content of a message present when testing the prophet’s character?
What limitations may this test have, considering how no person is righteous (Ps. 143:2)?
1 John 4:1–6
If the Test of Character was a test of the prophet, what does this passage suggest examining? What about the nature of prophecy makes this a useful test?
In what ways might the existence of false prophets warrant testing spirits?
Can disciples of Christ receive messages from spirits that are not from God (Matt. 16:23)? What does the very existence of this test suggest?
In your own words, what will only spirits from God admit? Why might that be? How are Jesus’ divinity and Christ’s humanity essential to the gospel?
Doesn’t this test constitute a sin if the mediating spirit happens to be the Holy Spirit (Matt. 4:7, Exod. 17:7, Mic. 3:10)?
How would one ask this question of the spirit that is mediating a message? How would one test the spirit after some time has passed since one received the prophetic message?
What should one do if the test indicates erroneous prophecy? What precautions should one take to minimize the impact of this eventuality?
It is remarkable that God distributes gifts through the body of believers, forcing them to work together to accomplish his purposes (1 Cor. 14). What test of prophecy does 1 Corinthians 14:29 propose? Why would this test work?
What do you think the attitude of the prophet with the message would need to be for this test to work? How would you react if your words were tested this way?
What is required of the other prophets for this test to work? What potential pitfalls are there to avoid as they “weigh carefully?”
How many other prophets are required (Matt: 18:16–20)? Can there be too many testing prophets?
What is required of the church for this test to work without causing problems?
What other limitations may this test have? How should a church deal with those limitations?
What other established prophetic witness can be brought to bear (2 Tim. 3:16–17)? Is the canonical Word of God superior to the non-canonical Word of God? If not, what makes scripture such a good witness?
What pitfalls may there be in testing prophecy with a particular interpretation of scripture? How may those pitfalls be avoided? I.e., what parts of scripture would any orthodox believer affirm to be applicable?
In many cultures, prophetic messages are uttered uncontrollably in trances or frenzies. Even nowadays, it is considered improper in some churches to restrain someone who is being moved powerfully by the Spirit. How does 1 Corinthians 14:32 apply to these cases? Does the exercise of discretion over a manifestation of the Spirit necessarily offend God?
Why would God allow prophets discretion over the messages they receive? Doesn’t he risk compromising his word that way?
What internal challenges did the following prophets face?
Miriam in Numbers 12:1–9?
Unnamed prophet in 1 Kings 13?
Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4:14?
Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33:2–9?
Daniel in Daniel 10:7–19?
Jonah in Jonah 4?
Peter in Acts 10–11?
Which of these stories do you think has the most surprising outcome? Why?
What in your personality would provide the greatest obstacle to relaying a message from God?
We’ve noted how God has so distributed gifts that believers must depend on each other in a local body. We now examine how this situation is echoed in believers’ roles.
Read Zechariah 12:12–14. What roles did these various clan patriarchs play? What makes a role different from a spiritual gift? Can a person in one role have supplementary gifts from another role?
Read Ephesians 4:11. Think of various characters from the Bible and see if you can see which of these roles from the two passages they played.
Isn’t it inefficient for people with different roles to have to work together? Why then would God assign people to different roles?
Which roles are responsible for making decisions for the community of believers, including the decision of how to respond to a prophecy? Why might it be particularly important to separate the role of prophecy from these roles?
Read 1 Kings 22. Was Micaiah rebellious toward the king, or did he serve him? Was he wrong to lie initially?
What challenges do you think prophets and leaders would face in working with each other?
Have you ever known godly people to disagree? How should they behave if they do?
In 1 Kings 22, was Micaiah wrong to stick to his message when it appeared to fail the Test by Other Prophets? How was the way he stood behind his message different from how the other prophets stood behind theirs?
How does Jeremiah 23:28–29 say that prophets should treat those who disagree with them? Why doesn’t a prophet need to protect God’s word?
In Jeremiah 28:1–17, how is the way Jeremiah stands behind his prophecy different from how Hananiah stands behind his?
What test does Jeremiah appeal to? Who brings about the fulfillment of his prophecies?
According to 2 Peter 1:20–21, who interprets a prophecy? How is this different from how people interpret dreams or puzzling prophecies?
Describe how the prophecy in Jeremiah 28:13–14 is interpreted. What did Jeremiah have to do?
In Daniel 2, why didn’t Nebuchadnezzar tell his dream? Wouldn’t this have made his prophets’ job easier? How did the interpretation come about?
What practical measures do you think a church could take to make sure prophecy is handled properly?
Prophecy is a great idea on paper, but if people accepted prophecy, how might some try to abuse it?
In Amos 7:10–17, what mistake does Amaziah make? Whose purposes does a true prophet seek to fulfill?
What is the common abuse of prophecy alluded to in Micah 3:5?
What other abuses are mentioned or implied in Nehemiah 6:5–14?
Read Jeremiah 1:9–10. How may the seemingly contradictory activities of his commission be interdependent?
Jeremiah’s prophetic authority extended over nations. What other levels of authority do you think there can be? Does God give even unbelievers prophetic direction (Amos 29:7–12)?
In what ways might Jeremiah’s commission apply to every prophet (Acts 5:1–11, Acts 15:32, 1 Cor. 14)?
What specific functions does prophecy fulfill in the community of believers according to…
Jeremiah 23:22?
Ephesians 4:11–13?
Ephesians 3:4–6?
1 John 4:1–6?
1 Timothy 4:14?
Acts 1:15–26?
What realm was affected through prophecy in Amos 7:1–6? How can one tell one is really acting in that realm? Does it matter if one can’t tell?
What would happen if prophets did not fulfill their purposes (Lam. 4:12–13)?
1 Thessalonians 5:19–21 describes a balance in treating prophetic messages. What forces balance one another? What attitudes toward prophetic messages does this passage suggest are ungodly?
According to Ezekiel 14:10 and Matthew 10:41, what principle is applied to prophets and those who receive them?
How can one tell which prophets should be respected? Is it necessarily so important to be able to tell (2 Sam. 16:5–14)?
In 2 Kings 5:15–27, what factors led Gehazi to hold the prophet in contempt?
In Ezekiel 33:30–33, how was apparent devotion revealed to actually be contempt?
In Mark 6:4–6, how was Jesus the Christ be limited by others’ lack of faith (Matt. 13:12, John 5:19)?
How might lack of faith in the listeners affect a prophet’s ministry, as Jesus intimates?
One would expect, with their important role, that a prophet’s job would be easy. What does Luke 6:22–26 suggest is the actual case?
Why would the reality of how prophets are treated by other “believers” differ so much from what one might expect?
How would you think prophets would be tempted to react in the face of such treatment? How does Jesus instruct them to react?
How was Jeremiah able to persevere in the face of persecution (Jer. 20:7–9)? What was it he was experiencing (Rom. 8:26)?
How else may a prophet find comfort, according to Revelation 16:1–7?
Besides direct human opposition, there are also a number of noxious influences or spirits that target prophets and are named for their foremost scriptural exponents.
What kind of problem does a “Jezebel” pose for prophets (Rev. 2:18–20)? What did the historic Jezebel do to prophets she couldn’t corrupt (1 Kings 18:4)?
Who enabled the historic Jezebel to have so much influence (1 Kings 16:31)? If Jezebel stands for the corruption of the role of prophet, what role did he corrupt? Who corresponds to that role in the passage from Revelation? Why is this a problem for prophets?
What is the particular gift of Satan (John 8:44, Rev. 2:9)? How might his influence cause problems for prophets? Which test would be particularly helpful against his influence (1 John 4:1)?
How does the fault of Balaam undermine prophets (Neh. 13:2, 2 Pet. 2:15, Rev. 2:14)?
Do you think being a prophet is still worth it (Rev. 2:26–29)?
©2001 Michael Richter