Prophets of God

The following article is written by Junior deSouza

Original link here:
JDM Prophetic Ministries

8 Differences: Old & New Testament Prophecy

Difference #1: PURPOSE
OT prophets: establish the Old Testament Scriptures
NT prophets: invigorate the church

The Old- Without a doubt, the most crucial difference separating Old and New Testament prophets pertains to their purpose. The purpose of Old prophetic ministry was to receive and speak divine revelation that would be recorded as the Old Testament Scriptures. God was entrusting over half of His Bible to those prophets! The New Testament recognizes and affirms this: Jesus (Mt 22:40), Paul (Ro 1:2, 16:25,26NKJV), Peter (2Pet 1:19-21).

The New -New Testament prophets, on the other hand, have an abruptly different purpose. The purpose of New prophetic ministry is to provide practical, situation-specific messages from God that invigorate the church. Paul is plain about this (1Co 14:3,4,22), as is Luke (Ac 15:32). Through New prophecy, the Holy Spirit comforts (1Co 14:3), strengthens (Ac 15:32), instructs (1Co 14:31), guides (Ac 13:1-3, 1Ti 1:18), corrects (1Co 14:24), foretells (Ac 11:27-30), and even praises (Ac 19:6; see 1Sam 10:5,6, 1Chr 25:1) in amazingly relevant and specific ways. Its role is simply to perceive and communicate God's situational message, and in so doing, recipients are illumined and invigorated God-ward.

New Testament prophecy does not receive or write more Scripture, nor does it replace the existing and complete Scriptures. Paul is stiff on this point (1Co 14:37,38), and John's final words certainly reach farther than just his own book (Rev 22:18,19).

Difference #2: QUALITY
OT prophets: ministered infallibly, with 100% perfection
NT prophets: minister fallibly, with potential error

The Old -Because of their unparalleled responsibility to establish a perfect Old Testament Scripture, God Himself ensured that the quality of Old prophetic ministry was 100% perfect, or infallible. The prophets themselves, as people, were not perfect, but their ministry certainly was. Consider it...how else could we have a perfect Old Testament in our Bibles today?

Deuteronomy 18:20 demands perfection as the standard of Old prophetic ministry. Prophets would be executed not only for prophesying in the name of a false god, or prophesying incorrectly, but also for prophesying anything God Himself did not initiate, even if it was technically correct (Deu 13:1,2)! God would never demand such a ridiculous standard without also providing a miraculous undergirding for His true prophets to fulfill it.

1Samuel 3:19,20 (and 9:6) illustrates this. God Himself ensured that not one of Samuel's prophetic words fell short, and because of his prophetic perfection, all Israel recognized he passed the Deuteronomy 18:20-test. Isaiah 44:26 says the same, that God Himself fulfilled and performed all the prophetic words of His true Old Testament prophets. Jeremiah 1:12 reiterates, saying God personally watched over Jeremiah's prophetic word to fulfill it. Because of their unparalleled purpose (establish Scripture), Old prophets likewise possessed unparalleled ministerial quality (infallibility). God Himself guaranteed this by miraculously undergirding their every word.

The New- New Testament prophets, on the other hand, are not ministerially infallible. Their prophesying might possess partial or total inaccuracies. New Testament Scripture shows us this. The believers at Tyre prophesied to Paul not to go to Jerusalem (Ac 21:4). This was a partially inaccurate word, because Paul himself felt compelled and bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem (20:22NIV), which he in fact did (21:17). Yet Acts 21:4 says they spoke "by the Spirit". How can both be true? The explanation: the Tyrian believers received a genuine revelation from the Spirit concerning Paul's suffering and imprisonment in Jerusalem, yet they misinterpreted and misapplied the insight to say Paul should not go to Jerusalem at all. Genuine revelation...faulty interpretation...faulty application. I'm sure we can all relate.

Agabus also prophesied partially inaccurately in Acts 21:10,11. Paul was indeed arrested, this part was accurate, but he was not arrested by the Jews and handed over to the Romans by them. Verses 32 and 33 (and 23:27) tell us Paul's life had to be forcibly saved by the Roman soldiers, who rescued him from the abusive Jewish mob who would have torn him to shreds and killed him.

Paul joins Luke in his cognizance of New prophecy's potential fallibility. In 1Corinthians 14:29, he tells believers to judge, evaluate carefully, and thoroughly sift (Gk diakrino) prophetic words that are spoken. In 1Thessalonians 5:19-22 he says the same, telling the church to separate the good from the bad in prophecy, while remaining open and positive towards prophetic ministry in general. New prophecy, and all spiritual gifts, can be like a poor reflection in a mirror (1Co 13:2), especially when used by the spiritually non-mature or inexperienced. The good news is, prophetic Christians can develop and advance in their prophetic grace, learning to minimize perceptive dilution to consistently prophesy accurately.

Difference #3: AUTHORITY
OT prophets: possessed absolute authority
NT prophets: possess relative authority

The Old- Because of their unparalleled responsibility to establish the Old Testament Scriptures, God endowed these messengers with absolute authority to ensure nothing or no one would get in the way. Their task was simply too important to God's overall redemptive program.

This absolute authority connoted their prophetic word was the final authority from God in all of Israel--it was to be obeyed without hesitation or question. There were no ifs, ands, buts, whys, howevers, or therefores. There was no personal testing, evaluation, or "praying for confirmation" when a true prophet of Yahweh prophesied. If he/she was attested as a true prophet of the LORD, his every prophesied word was divine law (Deu 18:18,19, Isa 8:20, Jer 6:19). When necessary, these prophets demonstrated superhuman miraculous powers to enforce their authority and protect their mission (Num 16:1-35, 1Sam 12:18, 1Ki 13:1-6, 20:35,36, 2Ki 1:10,12, 5:20-27, Eze 11:13). Check out these specific passages concerning this.

The prophet Moses said if anyone did not fully obey the Old prophet's word, God Himself would hold that person fully accountable (Deu 18:15-19, esp v19). The prophet Samuel said that to disobey the prophet's word was equal to the sin of witchcraft and idolatry (1Sam 15:22,23), both of which were punishable by death (Lev 20:6,27, Deu 13:6-11). An unnamed prophet caused King Jeroboam's hand to instantly wither because he tried to arrest him after he prophesied (1Ki 13:1-6); the same prophet instantly restored the king's hand back to life just moments later. The prophet Elijah's absolute authority is seen by his commanding the people to seize and slaughter eight hundred-fifty false prophets (1Ki 18:40); we also see it by his calling fire from heaven to destroy two companies of soldiers who tried to arrest him while he was praying (2Ki 1:10,12). His prophetic word could literally prohibit or permit rainfall for years on end (1Ki 17:1).

A man was killed by a lion because he disobeyed a simple prophetic request from a prophet (1Ki 20:35,36). Gehazi and all his descendants were sentenced to leprosy forever because he lied to the prophet Elisha (2Ki 5:20-27). An unnamed prophet told King Amaziah that God would destroy him because he ignored his prophetic advice (2Chr 25:15,16). The prophet Isaiah told Israel that merciless divine breaking (judgment) would come to them because they rejected his prophetic word (Isa 30:12-14). The prophet Jeremiah declared that he personally possessed God's wrath to pour out all over Israel (Jer 6:10-12,17-19). The prophet Ezekiel actually killed a person simply by prophesying (Eze 11:13). Now that's absolute authority!

Once again, this absolute authority accompanied the Old prophets to safeguard the establishment of the Old Testament Scriptures. Without such authority, Israel would not recognize and canonize their writings as truly Holy Scripture. With this authority, however, it was undeniable that the Most High God had indeed called them to author His Word.

The New -New Testament prophets, on the other hand, have a lesser and different type of authority: relative authority. New prophecy is not the indisputable final authority, as Old prophecy was. The completed Scripture is now the supreme law of God's people (1Co 14:37,38, 2Pet 3:15,16, Rev 22:18,19). All New prophecy is to be screened and tested by the hearers: tested for divine authenticity (1Co 14:29, 2Th 2:1-3, 1Jn 4:1-6), tested for agreement with Scripture (1Co 14:37,38), and tested for the accurate/good, and if necessary, sifted for the inaccurate/bad (1Th 5:19-22). New prophecy, then, is accountable to Scriptural, personal, and governmental evaluation. Such comprehensive judging of New prophecy signifies its demotion in the area of authority. We no longer see that "do-or-die-without-question" badge the Old prophets wore.

Though New prophecy has divinely-instituted boundaries, it nonetheless possesses a relative authority. This means New prophetic authority is relative to the authenticity and accuracy of the prophesied word, and, possesses authority over its situational target only. In other words, prophecies, or portions of prophecies, that are found to be genuine, possess authority only over the intended recipient (particular person, group, church, nation, organization, etc...). Paul had no obligation to obey the prophetic directive at Tyre since it was tested and found to be partially inaccurate (Ac 21:4,17, 20:22).

The Church is in desperate need of the true prophetic voice of GOD to be brought forth in this last hour. The prophets of GOD are the eyes in the body of Christ. They are the seers who announce to the people the warnings of the LORD. The true prophets have always had the spiritual discernment to understand their times. It was the function of the prophet to admonish, to warn, to reprove and to denounce existing sin. The prophets are also called as Watchmen. They are set upon the walls of Zion to blow the trumpet and to warn of coming danger. The true prophets receive their prophetic office directly from the LORD.

The life of a prophet is of hardship and suffering, loneliness and rejection. The true word of GOD has always been hard to bear, and the true messengers of the LORD have always been rejected by the people. "And the LORD, the GOD of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of GOD, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy." The message of the true prophets will cause men to shun their company, and to speak all manner of evil against them. They are cast out by friends and family, and rejected by the nation at large, but the LORD JESUS CHRIST is faithful to send His warnings to the people time and time again.

GOD has chosen a very hard path for the vessel to be used as His mouthpiece. The life of the messenger with the genuine prophetic call is not immune to the valleys of depression. This is all part of the package. He lives a life that is lonely. The revelation of Christ can only come in the solitary place away from the crowds and noise of the vendors and their religious wares. The prophets are burdened vessels, for they see the vision and the lateness of the hour. They know the night is far spent and the day is at hand. The prophet's character is very likely to be one of shifting moods, unpredictable at times and not likely to be found mingling with the religious. He is serious, sober and not easily persuaded to compromise. His lot is most likely found hidden away on the backside of the desert alone with GOD. He is the one with a heart for justice, righteousness, honor and integrity. His words may come across as harsh and cruel, but to the one with spiritual perception, his words are received to awaken to righteousness. The higher the calling into His purposes, the hotter the fires required to purify the servant. The greater the responsibility, the greater and more intense the fires to perfect. This is the cost of prophetic ministry.

The highest prophetic office is held by those who can hear the LORD'S voice directly, and who have been chosen to speak to the LORD face to face. "Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?" When a man or woman of GOD speaks the true word of the LORD; their ministry and message will always produce hatred and scorn in the minds of their listeners. "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation."

The prophets of GOD are not trained in the religious schools of man, nor are they raised up from among the leadership of the organized Church. None of the prophets of Israel came from the priesthood. They were all called and prepared by GOD alone. The appearance of Elijah is such an example. "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD GOD of Israel liveth, before whom I stand." Elijah's only qualification was that he stood before the LORD GOD of Israel. Nothing more was said of him. He was an ordinary man who knew his GOD. John the Baptist was of similar origins, trained on the backside of the desert wilderness. "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel." John had no university or seminary training. He just appeared as the forerunner of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. GOD'S ways are not man's ways. He still uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Many people have rebuked me for speaking the word of the LORD saying, "By what authority do you speak these words?" My answer: "By the authority of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the GOD of Israel."

THE JUDGMENT OF ANCIENT ISRAEL

GOD judged ancient Israel for departing from the truth, and turning to the worship of idols and for following the GODS of the pagans. The LORD in His mercy always sent His prophets to warn the people to repent, and return to the LORD, or they would be judged and the nation destroyed. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and many others came and preached the word of the Lord, but the people always refused to listen, turning their ears to the false prophets, while rejecting and in many cases, killing the true prophets of the Most High GOD.

Each of the prophets of Israel spoke of the specific judgment that would come in their time, but they also spoke of the Day of the LORD, which is the final judgment upon the whole earth. This is another example of the principal of dualism, where the message of the prophets would be fulfilled twice. First, to the specific people to whom it is addressed and then again, at the end of the age. Jeremiah is one such prophet, who spoke to the children of Israel warning of the destruction of their nation, for the sins of idolatry and immorality, which had filled the land. The prophecies of Jeremiah also speak to the last day's Church in America. The LORD never judges a nation without first sending a warning to His people. Before addressing the word of GOD to our nation, I must first dispel a widely held error in the modern Church. If you fail to discern this error, you will be wide open for deception.

The above is quoted from Benjamin Baruch - Author of "The Day of the LORD is at Hand" - excerpts from the book, pp 74-77. There is a link to the book in the Amazon section below.

The Old Testament Prophets:

The important thing to realize about the Old Testament Prophets is that they were told and shown many things by God that pertained to the end times and the coming "Day of the Lord". There are many prophecies that relate to the kingdoms (nations) that would be in power, the battle of Armageddon, the second coming of Jesus and Gods judgment prior to the return of Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

In addition, as is stated in the article above it is now understood that the Old Testament Prophets and their prophecies represent "the principal of dualism, where the message of the prophets would be fulfilled twice. First, to the specific people to whom it is addressed and then again, at the end of the age. Jeremiah is one such prophet, who spoke to the children of Israel warning of the destruction of their nation, for the sins of idolatry and immorality, which had filled the land. The prophecies of Jeremiah also speak to the last day's Church in America."

Ecclesiastes 1:9 "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun."

Here are just a couple examples of end times prophecies of Old Testament Prophets:

The book of Daniel, the Prophet contains more end time prophecy than all the other Old Testament books put together. If you were to study only one Old Testament Prophet to gain understanding about end times prophecy, this would be the book. Daniel prophesied about the "Kings" that would be on the earth, the anti-Christ and the Great Tribulation. Chapters 11 & 12.

The book of Joel, the Prophet speaks about events leading up to the "Day of the Lord" which is known to be when Jesus returns and God's wrath and judgment is unleashed on the nations and people who have rejected Jesus.

Here are some links to help you study and understand the Old Testament Prophets and what God called for them to do:

Old Testament Prophets - What area God called them to prophesy over

Minor Prophets of the Old Testament

Who wrote the Bible- Time line

Major Old Testament References to End Times

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," (Ephesians 4:11-12)

"For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10)

"Indeed the Sovereign Lord never does anything until He reveals his plans to his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)

Do modern day Prophets exist? Are their messages really from God?

You bet they're real, but NOT All are, So you have to TEST what they say according to Bible scripture. You must be very cautious about believing anyone who claims to be a Prophet because the Bible says that MANY will come in the last days claiming to be from God and will show signs and wonders. I would be especially suspicious of the "pillow prophets" as spoken of by Ezekiel chapter 13. These prophets prophesy peace and prosperity when there is none!

Other words that describe a Prophet; watchman, seer, servant of God, chosen of God, called by God.

Heed these warnings in the Bible:

"and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." (Matthew 24:11 NKJV)

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible." (Matthew 24:24 NKJV)

"And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1: 19-21 NKJV)

What does a Prophet do?

There are many who CLAIM to be Prophets of God and they do play a very important role in the body of Christ today. If you study the true Prophets of God from the Bible, including the greatest Prophet of them all Jesus Christ, you will find that the ministry of the Prophet was and still is primarily to call the people back to the right relationship with God.

When the people went astray, the Prophet was there to expose their apostasy, deliver a sometimes stinging rebuke and call for repentance. God uses his prophets to warn, instruct, teach and minister to His people. They serve and perform very important missions directly from God! The by product of the stinging messages from the Prophet many times causes the people to react with rejection, scorn, hatred and complete unbelief toward the Prophets.

It is very important not to ignore or mock a true prophet of God!

"And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear." (Jeremiah 25:4 NKJV)

When prophecies are revealed and they do not come to pass when told, keep in mind that God does delay judgments so more people can come to repentance.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

As to Prophets who set dates and those prophecies NEVER came to pass, well this is something that many people use to gauge a true Prophet but there are other factors such as "Intercessory prayer" that may have played a part in stopping the fulfillment of a prophecy. Remember that prophecy is given as a warning, so there is always the possibility that a warning is heeded and therefore the prophecy may not come to pass. Look to the book of Jonah for such an example. The people of Nineveh repented and God spared their city.

Know this for sure, God will never change what is already written in the Bible!

How to Judge a False Prophet

Many, many of Gods Prophets have been warning America not to go the way we have gone for dozens of years. They have warned and warned and warned. Well look at us now!

I do not believe that God wants to destroy America with His judgment but what choice does a JUST God have if there is no repentance?! It is important to understand that our creator is a God of justice and righteous judgment as well as a God of Love, mercy and forgiveness. Please read the following scriptures to help you understand the fullness of God: Jeremiah 9:23, 1 Peter 4:17, Isaiah 26:9 and Hebrews chapter 12.

Our Republic was established to be a moral nation. Our nation was at one time divinely blessed because America was founded on a belief in God. The reason our nation and our form of government is so special is because it was established for and by moral and religious people. And the reason this fact is so important is that our form of government only works if there is self control through sound and just morals!

Our national motto's are "One Nation Under God" and "In God We Trust". But now we have ALLOWED God to be taken out of just about everything in our nation. The pledge of allegiance and prayer was taken out of schools. The Ten Commandments are being sandblasted off of our court buildings. God's laws are responsible for the integrity of civilization. Without them, society would have already completely disintegrated. God wants us to repent of our sins, follow His laws and let Him back into our lives. Unfortunately it is now too late for America, the nation; because judgment is upon us- BUT- it's not too late for YOU!

Our Creator is long suffering and patient with us but he will not strive with man forever. God has been warning us since the end of World War II not to go the way we have gone. There is still no repentance and our God is a JUST God and He will not allow the sins of this nation to continue! When you understand God's pattern of judging nations, peoples and societies for rejecting Him and His commandments as recorded in the Bible then it is very apparent that the events that are unfolding in this nation are judgment from our Almighty Creator!

We made money, prosperity and materialism our idol in place of our creator. America is rapidly declining as a nation and the wealth of America has been plundered. Although there may be a short reprieve, the imminent collapse of our economy is coming and a major depression will be the result.

We are experiencing tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires and droughts in our nation year after year in increasing number and intensity causing death, destruction, misery and hardship for many Americans.

We have allowed the erosion of our moral values over the last 30 plus years and we condoned the murder of over 52 million babies by abortion. America is the largest exporter of pornography in the world. I could go on and on with this stuff but I think you know in your heart why these things are happening to our nation.

It is very important to understand that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He does not change and His word does not change. Why would He hold us to any less of a standard than He ever did for any other peoples at any other time as recorded in the Bible? Read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and why God flooded the earth in Noah's time. The Bible says clearly "as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." (Matthew 24:37, Luke 17:26).

Below are prophetic messages about the coming judgment of America because WE HAVE NOT CHANGED OUR WAYS!

These are very important to pay attention to because many of these Prophets have received the same dreams, visions and messages from God about America's judgment. There is reason to believe them because the Bible also prophesies these things.

PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS ABOUT AMERICA:

John W. Johnston Visions & Dreams from God for America and the Church

Prophetic Word from God by Thomas S. Gibson

Dimitru Duduman who is now deceased, received prophetic dreams and visions from God about America. His grandson, Michael Boldea has taken over his ministry and he too receives dreams and visions from God.
READ THOSE PROPHECIES BY CLICKING BELOW!

Read the Message for America



PAY ATTENTION TO THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND THE SECULAR WORLD! God always warns His people, even through the news media and other secular means of impending events!

Newsmax- Bin Laden Plans Hiroshima

Fox News-USGS California Has 99.7 Percent Chance of Big Earthquake in Next 30 years

Ron Paul Speaks the Truth but No one listened!

Ron Paul talks about The Economy Total Collapse

Russian Professor predicts end of US

Many of the best sources for authentic prophecies from God come from people like you and me. Just regular folks who God sends dreams and visions.

Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:"

Acts 2:17 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"


Here are some links for you to check out:

Compilation of Dreams And Visions

Prophecies for Today- Amos Scaggs

Woe to America- Vince Diehl

Prophecies-America Under Judgment

Prophecy-The Light Gate

Harvest Network Prophecies

Prophecy to America- Jonathan Hansen

Prophecy Warnings to America

America Repent- Sherrie Elijah

Prophecies on Repent Now.com

Visions, Dreams, And Prophetic Warnings

The Prophetic Watch- Ronnie McMullen

Guide to Jesus- Robert A. Avila