Old and New Testament Prophets – Their Signs and Functions

When it comes to a prophet of God we need to know who they are and what is their function. The best way to identify a true prophet of God is to use the Word of God alone to do so. The fact is that if a prophet is sent by the Christian God, Who inspired the Bible to be soundly written, then common sense would be to identify those prophets from God’s Word, the Bible.

In the Hebrew portions of the Bible there were three words used for a prophet, all which are used in 1 Chonicles 29:29: “… in the book of Samuel the seer (Hebrew: ro’eh), and in the book of Nathan the prophet (nabi’), and in the book of Gad the seer (hozeh).”  A fourth term (kosem) “to divine” is used in Joshua 3:22 “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer” is used only of a false prophet. Old Testament (OT) prophets were marked by the forthtelling of current events and God-given truth e.g. Samuel, Nathan and Jonah and the foretelling of future events e.g. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.

Even though all the writings of the prophets, were the Word of God for the time, only such portions as the Spirit of God determined became part of Scripture.  There were sixteen of the OT prophets, whose prophecies formed part of the inspired Bible. These are divided into four groups:

1. The prophets of the northern kingdom (Israel): Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah.
2. The prophets of southern kingdom (Judah): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah.
3. The prophets of the Captivity: Ezekiel and Daniel.
4. The prophets of the Restoration: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Old Testament – True Prophet

How can the difference between the true and false prophets be discerned? Some of the prophet’s functions and directions were given in Deuteronomy 18:15-22 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ – when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” This is summarised as below:

1. They were raised up of God. 18:15  “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet”

(repeated in 18:18  “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren.”)

The OT prophet would obviously have believed in God, and their future Messiah, and the New Testament (NT) prophet in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They would be those with whom God could communicate and they would be obedient to His Word. God would also have gifted them to pass on His Word to the people. The commission of the prophet to speak for God and the requirement of the people to hear is stated in Israel’s constituted law. No doubt, this passage, as many another, has it final prophetic fulfilment in the prophetic teaching of Christ.

2. They would be Jews and stand between God and the people 18:15 “like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,”

The prophet would be a Jew and would stand between the people and God in His transcendence and he would also be in touch with current needs and conditions.  “Like me” (repeated in 18:18 “like you”) is in the sense of being like Moses who was raised up by God.

3. 18:18 “and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”

God would instruct him about what to say which would reveal Himself and His will to him. He will   faithfully fulfil his appointment and the trust God had committed to him by speaking by Divine commandment.

“So they said, ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?’ And the LORD heard it.” (Numbers 12:2)

“And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, …” (Isaiah 51:16)

“Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.’” (Jeremiah 1:9)

“Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8)

“Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, …” (Haggai 1:3)

4. 18:19 “And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.”

The true prophet’s message has to be received and heeded by the whole house of Israel from the king on the throne to the least in the kingdom. The true prophet could verify his own message and demonstrate its authority by signs or supernatural evidence e.g. when Samuel confirmed to Saul that he would be Israel’s king (1 Samuel 10:1-13).

5. 18:21-22   “And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ – when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

This was a reasonable question as we need to take care that we do not listen to falsehood but be attentive to God’s truth. So the true prophet of the Lord prophecies that which does come to pass. However if the prophet’s predictions fail, they are exposed as a false prophet and so not of God. This “prophet” has spoken presumptuously i.e. from arrogance, that his empty and lying fancies are God’s truth. People are not to be afraid of his predictions or threatenings, but fulfil the commandments of God. This is confirmed in:

“As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent.” (Jeremiah 28:9)

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). So the OT true prophets never spoke or wrote their own private interpretation when they wrote God’s Word. He only gave what the Lord revealed.

“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 1:21) A true prophet only prophecies in the name of the Lord and he only seeks to glorify God and not himself.

“To the law and to the testimony! {because it is a witness from God to man of God’s mind and will}: If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

A true prophet keeps God’s Law and so stands by the testimony of God in His Word, the Bible. If a prophet does not keep God’s commandments and does agree with God’s testimony in His Word, the Bible, then he is a false prophet.

6. A true prophet would glorify Christ

The Lord Jesus gave the example of this in Luke 24:15, 25-27 “So it was, while they {Cleopas and a friend v18} conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. … Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Later the Lord Jesus added in Luke 24:44 “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’”

This is confirmed by Peter in Acts 10:34, 38, 43 “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. … how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. … To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

This is further established in 1 Peter 1:10-11  “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

CLOSING OF THE OT PROPHETS

“‘For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.’” (Matthew 11:13) shows that the OT prophets were to continue until John the Baptist. This termination reveals a change in the Divine plan regarding the writing of the New Testament. The writers of this section of the Bible had received their commissions from the One Whom John would announce which was the Lord Jesus Christ and Who brought in a far greater revelation of God. Malachi closes his book with a look on to the prophetic ministry which John in part fulfilled. Malachi 4:5 wrote of John the Baptist “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Christ said of him, in Matthew 11:14 “And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” Therefore the OT writings remained open until John.

NEW TESTAMENT True Prophet

The same principles apply to true NT prophets.

1. They were raised up of God

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given … through the Spirit … to another prophecy …” (1 Corinthians 12:7, 8a, 10b).

“And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

2. They would be Christians and speak God’s mind to the people.

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:1-3)

“But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:3-4)

3. He would speak the Word that God gave him to speak.

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.” (1 Corinthians 14:29-30)

“Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.” (Acts 11:28)

“And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” (Acts 21:10-11)

With the OT prophets their messages were largely the proclaiming of God’s purposes of salvation and glory to be accomplished in the future. However the NT prophets prophesied largely about the fulfilment of God’s plans of grace already fulfilled through Christ and the fore-telling of the purposes of God in the future.  “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).

4. The local church/assembly was to obey prophesies.

“Do not despise prophecies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20).

5. The genuineness of the prophet would be because His word came true and in the local church/assembly meetings could be confirmed by other prophets.

“Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.” (Acts 11:28)

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” (1 Corinthians 14:29-32).

6. A true prophet would glorify Christ

6.1 These prophets will preach Jesus Christ, being God, came to Earth and became a Man so as to save all that believe in Him.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” (1 John 4:1-2)  “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)

6.2  A true Prophet will also show good works, and have the identifiable fruits of a Christian. They will not feed themselves from the people of God.

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-18) True prophets will be displaying the fruits of the Spirit as in Galatians 5:22-23a “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance ….”

Examples of the gift of Prophecy

The prophetic gift is mentioned in all four New Testament lists of church gifts: Romans 12:6-8 in v6; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 in v10; 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 in v29 and in Ephesians 4:11. However only a few New Testament prophets are mentioned.

• (a) Acts 13:1 says, “Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” The verse does it say which men were prophets or which were teachers and no further details are given.
• (b) Judas and Silas are called prophets in Acts 15:32 “Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words.” but their prophetic activity is not mentioned.
• (c) Agabus had the gift and in Acts 11:27-28 he predicted a famine (v28 “which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar”). In Acts 21:10-11 he also predicted Paul’s coming sufferings which came to pass in Acts 12:30-34. From this example it is clear that the gift of prophecy involved the ability to foretell as well as merely forth tell.
• (d) We learn from Acts 21:9 “Now this man {Philip the evangelist v8} had four virgin daughters who prophesied” but again no details are given. In view of 1 Corinthians c11 this would have been done outside of the local church/assembly gatherings.
• (e) Paul, e.g. Acts 27:23-26, and perhaps the other apostles, had this gift as well.

The Lord Jesus Christ is also called both Messiah and a Prophet

Christ is a Messiah

In the NT the original Greek word for Christ is “Christos”. The equivalent Hebrew word in the OT is “Mashiyach”, meaning “Messiah.” The literal translation of both the Greek and Hebrew words is “the anointed one.” It is the title and identity which Jesus assumed during His ministry on Earth.  “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” (John 4:25, 26).

Matthew 11:3-6 “And said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’”

This is a fulfilment of Isaiah 35:5-6 where the Messiah is revealed as doing miracles:  “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.” By fulfilling these OT Scriptures the Lord Jesus confirmed to John that He was the Messiah.

Christ is the Greatest Prophet

As mentioned above, God had told Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18 “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” Jesus Christ fulfilled that prophecy as seen in “and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.’”  (Acts 3:20-22)

Also as Jesus Christ was a spokesman for God, other verses show that He clearly fulfilled the role of a prophet. “Jesus answered them and said, ‘My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me”’ (John 7:16). “Then Jesus said to them, ‘… but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things’” (John 8:28). In the Lord Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer to His Father He said, “For I have given to them the words which You have given Me …” (John 17:8).

The Lord Jesus also prophesied future events. Examples are when He predicted His own death, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (Matthew 16:21). There are a number of other verses as e.g. Matthew 20:17-19 and Luke 24:6-7 “He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” These prophecies were recorded as being fulfilled in all four Gospel accounts (Matthew c27-28; Mark c15-16; Luke c22-24 and John c18-20).

The Lord Jesus prophesied about the church e.g.  Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock {that is what Peter said in v16} I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” and the amazing events that will happen at the end of the age just before to His Second Coming to the earth (see Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, Luke 17:20-37, 21:5-36).

NEW TESTAMENT False Prophet

The NT provides the following as criteria to determine a false prophet:

1. Erroneous Doctrine. These false prophets will bring in error and not the truth of God, Christ and salvation and the right way to live.  

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”  (1 John 4:1-3)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”  (2 Peter 2:1-2)

“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.   Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”  (1 John 2:22-23)

While false prophets profess to be servants of truth and right ways, they secretly bring in soul-destroying heresies alongside Bible doctrine. Superficially they may teach what seems Biblical and correct but a proper scrutiny will reveal false doctrine which will lead to hell and not to godly living and to heaven. For example they will teach that Jesus Christ is not God or Divine, or that He did not become a man or that He did not really die on the cross or that His death and resurrection was not sufficient for the forgiveness of all a person’s sins. The false prophets will preach a fictitious Jesus from their human imaginations and erroneous thinking. Consequently their gospel is a different gospel and not the gospel preached by the true apostles in the Bible. It will always ultimately depend on the foundation of man’s works and in man’s own power. The false prophets’ teaching does not properly tackle the subjects of sin and judgment with the need for repentance and faith in Christ.

Unfortunately, they will attract to themselves people who have the same superficial, self-centred, self-indulgent and unscriptural attitudes and ways as they do. Many will be deceived into following the wrong Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 says: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!”

Also: “And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”  (2 Peter 2:2) “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers.”  (2 Timothy 4:3)

2. False Prophets will, eventually, show evil works. They will feed themselves from the people of God.

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”  (Matthew 7:17-20)

• 1 For the true believer in Christ Titus 3:8 encourages them, “… that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.” However Titus 1:10-11  speaks about “false prophets”, although there they are not so called there, “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.” So such will make a wrong material gain out of the people of God.
• 2 The true Christian’s position is “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”  (2 Peter 1:4). Yet Peter describes the counterfeit prophet, “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”  (2 Peter 2:19). The true believer is, amazingly, a partaker of the Divine nature, from which comes holiness, and so with Divine strength, and there is no other way, is escaping the world’s corruption. On the other hand the counterfeit prophet is mastered by it.
• 3 The true believer would give diligence to cultivate the nature of God within him\her. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”  (2 Peter 1:5-7). Concerning the fake prophets they “… despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries” (2 Peter 2:10). They are marked by arrogance and slander. Also “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children” (2 Peter 2:14). Their “eyes are full of adultery” and they are “experts in greed”.
• 4 The true believer seeks to be progressive and effective in their knowledge of Jesus Christ “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:8). The false prophets “are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever” (2 Peter 2:17). They are like a spring without water because they promise much but produce little.

3. Satan is behind these false apostles, prophets and christs

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”  (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). These false apostles, prophets and christs masquerade as “apostles of Christ” and “servants of righteousness,” just as their master, satan, masquerades as an angel of light.

4. False Prophets will have a Different End to the True Believer

The false prophet’s final end is disturbingly different to the true believer for whom “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:11) but “… false teachers among you … and bring on themselves swift destruction.”  (2 Peter 2:1). They shall hasten their life’s own destruction in this world, and are sadly certain of God’s eternal judgment in the next. (See also 2 Peter 2:3).

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said that there will be many who have been involved in Christian service to whom He will say: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you {i.e. there was no spiritual relationship with Him}; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

CLOSING OF THE NT PROPHETS

1. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”  (2 Peter 2:1) This indicates that the prophets have ceased to exist and have now been taken over by teachers.
2. As previously referred to, Ephesians 2:19-20 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets {that is what they said}, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” In a building one does not expect to see foundation stones appearing again near the roof. They are for the start of the building. So while the spiritual gifts of evangelists, pastors {i.e. shepherds of God’s people} and teachers (Ephesians 4:11) exist today the apostles and prophets were for the beginning of the church and so do not exist now i.e. about 2,000 years later.
3. In the context of knowledge 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 says, “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are {gifts of} tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge {meaning the gift of knowledge}, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect {meaning complete} has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” The prophets etc. with their direct revelations, met a unique need of the first century church which was before the complete revelation was available. So as no one can add a verse to Scripture therefore no one is receiving new truth. We do not need any prophets to give new revelation of God’s Word but we do need preachers and teachers to explain it.
4. Additionally “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). “The faith” is the teaching of God which is the object of faith. It was delivered “once for all” by all the apostles as the only unchangeable Word from God that brought salvation and governed their subsequent lives. Nothing was to be added to it and nothing was to be taken away from it. It was “delivered unto the saints” by God and not invented by men. Near the beginning of the Bible (Deuteronomy 4:2), in its heart (Proverbs 30:6) and on the last page (Revelation 22:18) we find warnings against attempting to add to God’s revelation.

The last apostle was John who, historians say, wrote his epistles and the Revelation in AD 90. Consequently the Word of God would have been completed in the first century AD. So from the end of the first century until now there were nor are no more true prophets to be expected.

NEW TESTAMENT Future False Christs and False Prophets

Shortly before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus gave His great prophecies regarding momentous events that would occur at the end of the age just prior to His Second Coming (see Matthew 24:3-4, 15, 21, 27 and closing that period with the Lord Jesus’ (called the “Son of Man”) returning to the earth Matthew 25:31-46). He included warnings of great deception in Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 23-25, “And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. … Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.’”

The Lord Jesus emphasized that these false christs and prophets will perform great signs and miracles which will be done so well that they would deceive many, even those who sincerely believed in Christ’s return. Therefore these performances of miracles will not prove that they are really of God. In fact the last mention of miracles in the Bible are those done by the devil’s men through the devil’s power, in Revelation 19:20, “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

Summary

Prophecy was an important gift to the church and met a unique need in the early church, but it is no longer needed or given. Its “partial” messages (1 Corinthians 13:9) have been replaced by the complete revelation of the God’s Word, the Bible. So the church today stands at a great advantage with all of God’s Word and without that gift.