The Gift of Prophesying

Prophesying is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and means to speak forth under the power of God, and in particular, to foretell. The first mention of prophesying in the Old Testament congegation/church is in Numbers, about 1550 B.C.

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.

But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.

And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, "Moses my lord, forbid them!" Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
(Num 11:24-30)

It is interesting that the Lord mentions here that the chosen seventy elders prophesied the first time that the spirit rested upon them, and then never again. It is equally interesting to note that a few members of the congregation that were not selected as leaders began prophesying. Joshua wanted Moses to forbid them, and Moses' response was "Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!".

Then we move 1600 years later, and find the Spirit of God coming once again upon God's congregation after the resurrection and glorification of Christ. Only this time, Christ's followers were filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied in other tongues in fulfillment of Joel the prophet's prophecy (Acts 2:4-11, 17-18), speaking of the wonderful works of God in languages from around the world.

I don't know if there was a Joshua in their midst, asking the apostles to forbid certain of the people, but this time the work of the Spirit was upon so many there wouldn't have been any controlling of it had they wanted to. But in 1 Corinthians 14 we read that there are two types of prophesying. The type of prophesying that is a sign to unbelievers when they hear us miraculously prophesy in a language they understand, but is foreign to us (this is what happened in Pentecost in Acts 2), and the type of prophesying that encourages the church family when we exhort one another in the church gatherings in the language we all understand.

"Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order."

On the one hand, we must desire the outpouring of God's Spirit and the accompanying outpouring of prophesying, but on the other hand we must be careful to follow God's design for our giftings and submit to God's leadership within the assembly in our exercise of our spiritual gifts. Remember your spiritual gifts are to be used to serve and encourage, not to put on a show.

May the Lord bless you with an outpouring of spiritual gifts this Christmas season, and may you use them in an orderly manner to build up the church family God has blessed you with.

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.