On the subject of prophecy

[JohnD]

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NIV)

1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV)

20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.

21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

We humans make too much to do about the prophet who is only a mouth piece for God.

And what prophecy is, is the word of God. Sometimes it addresses the future, sometimes the present, sometimes the past. God is an omniscient being. He knows all things past, present, and future AND all the variables caused by granting angels and men limited sovereignty or sovereignty within our limited abilities and locale.

The fuss should be all about God and God's word. Nothing else.

We can prophesy by reading the Bible to ourselves or others since the scriptures are complete.

So how can prophecy cease or have ceased?

[AlexanderJ]

I think you're right in saying that we should care much more about God's words and man's words. However, I think the issue is how to determine which are God's words and which are man's. Of course, the Bible is the largest collection of God's words, but there are some who claim to receive revelations from God nowadays.

In my opinion, the best way to do this is to cross-check modern prophecies and revelations with the Bible to see if they fall within the parameters found therein. If they do, then there's a good possibility that the prophecies are true, and if not, we know where they come from--Satan, the Father of Lies.

Edited December 20, 2012 by AlexanderJ

[JohnD]

Simple enough formula...

1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV)

21 Test everything. Hold on to the good.

1 John 4:1 (NIV)

1 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.

Acts 17:11 (NIV)

11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV)

20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.

21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

15 Do your best ('study" KJV) to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

[AlexanderJ]

Simple enough formula...

1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV)

21 Test everything. Hold on to the good.

1 John 4:1 (NIV)

1 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.

Acts 17:11 (NIV)

11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV)

20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.

21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

15 Do your best ('study" KJV) to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Nothing beats God's word for enlightenment on a subject!

[Peacemaker2012]

Thank You for sharing those amazing scriptures, hope you don't mind if I add one of my favorites:

Deuteronomy 13

English Standard Version (ESV)

13 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil^[a] from your midst.

I found this scripture to be very helpful in learning to test to the spirits and those who claim to be prophets or who preform miracles in the name of Christ and then have some false doctrine contrary to Gods truth that they try to sell along with it. If they teach anything contrary to the Word of God and call us to sway in any way from the Truth of God's Word or to distort the true character of God as revealed in scripture, they are calling us to go after other gods that are NOT gods.

Of course, in the new covenant, we would not put this person to death, but we are called to turn away, not to listen. God will deal with them according thier works.

The Bible says that in the last days, many will be decieved by signs and lying wonder's and false prophets who come in the name of Christ so.........Thank You again for posting these scriptures, these are one's we all need to know.

God Bless

[kevinsball]

but there are some who claim to receive revelations from God nowadays.

True. My wife and I are two who claim this, yet we do not claim to be "prophets".

In my opinion, the best way to do this is to cross-check modern prophecies and revelations with the Bible to see if they fall within the parameters found therein.

Please do. The major premise that we teach is the doctrinal adjustment of the ordering of the unholy trinity. We do not understand why God has chose to reveal this to us. We are both the least in our father's house. We are not by any means the "best example" of Christians. We know of ONLY One: Yeshua our LORD and God.

For Satan to be "like" God, he MUST imitate the Father, Son, and Spirit Godhead. (Isaiah 14:14)

The word "like" in this passage, is the Hebrew word (damah - H1819) which means:

"To compare, to resemble, to liken, to be like, to use similitudes."

Jehovah is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (

1 John 5:7)

The False Prophet will be the earthly father of the Antichrist. In (

Hebrews 1:6) Jehovah tells all of His angels to worship His firstborn Son Jesus; likewise the False Prophet will demand everyone to worship his firstborn son, the Antichrist or be killed. (Revelation 13:12, 15) Since the Antichrist is a prince who becomes king, then his father is either a prince or a king also.

Growing up, I heard and still hear that Satan represents the unholy father, the Antichrist represents the unholy son and the False Prophet represents the unholy spirit. Really? If you logically think about this, you would then be looking for a man (the Antichrist) and a spirit (the False Prophet) - even though normally we can't see the spirit world.

As

Sir Robert Anderson tell us in his book, The Coming Prince .pdf: "The mystery of the Godhead will thus be parodied by the mystery of iniquity, and the Father, the Son, and the Spirit will have their counterpart in the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet" (pg. 137).

This teaching is thoroughly taught throughout the Church, as

Got Questions?.org validates.

However, ONLY Satan out of these three is a spirit. Satan himself does not have a body. ONLY the Antichrist and the False Prophet have a body. By the process of elimination we can create a clearer and more complete concept. Since Satan is a spirit, he properly represents the unholy spirit, the Antichrist represents the unholy son and the False Prophet represents the unholy father.

This is the main reason why no one can tell you who these two Beasts are, because no one understands the correct relationship between them.

We pray that the Church (including Pastors, Bible Prophecy teachers, Seminary professors, scholars and theologians) will one day take a stand and correct this teaching.

father - The False Prophet - (The Beast out of the Earth) - Isa

son - The Antichrist - (The Beast out of the Sea) - Mahdi

spirit - The Dragon - (Satan)

[JohnD]

2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 (KJV)

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

John 17:12 (KJV)

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Luke 22:3 (KJV)

3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

John 13:26-27 (KJV)

26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Acts 1:25 (KJV)

25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

A man coming on the scene claiming to be raised from the dead and able to back his claims through scientific evidence (DNA / contents of his blood dating back two thousand years) will convince the firmest of skeptic and atheist that there's something supernatural about him.

Revelation 13:1-5 (KJV)

1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

No prophetic hoorahs just Bible passages quoted. Real prophecy.

[BrianCade]

I've always taken a highly skeptical approach to those who claim to have revelations from God. It is possible that God may choose to send a word through someone in our time but it is highly doubtful. The single biggest reason I tend to blow such people off is that presuming to speak for God tends to cheapen/trivialize what already has been revealed.

Edited December 26, 2012 by BrianCade

[JohnD]

Agreed.

Note my "prophesying" was merely quoting what God already said in his word.

There is enough in the Bible already to solve all things answer all things prophesy all things to the end of this realm.

There needs nothing new to proclaim other than the scripture we are unaware of already canonized.

[JohnD]

From what I gather in the Bible, demon possession is both a possession and a trap for the demon.

That the fate of the individual it or they inhabit determines when they go into the abyss.

I realize there is a passage about demons apparently able to wander freely (Luke 11:24-26) which may refer to an exorcism and a repossession? Point being the man is cleansed but he does not become indwelled by the Holy Spirit which prevents all others from possessing him.

Anyway... it otherwise appears that demons who depart human bodies go to the abyss.

I cannot determine why there are some in the abyss and not all if leaving their first estate refers to anything other than possession.

If true, then Satan making the move into Judas was a very big deal (go for broke time). Only to find in the process getting Jesus executed was God's plan all along.... which is why the so-called remorseful Judas tried to stop the thing.

The implications of a devil in the abyss since 30 CE are intense. All the evil since then has been by the hands of men and the fallen angels other than the father of lies and of murder.

To be released for the short while we know as Daniel's 70th Week.