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Are you also interested in the prophetic? It’s a topic that has personally captivated me since the very beginning of my faith journey. The Bible also encourages us in this regard, which I find to be a strong prompting. The Apostle Paul states it very directly:

“Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 ESV).

My own experiences with prophecy have been overwhelmingly positive and often crucial for the course of my life. I’m thinking back to the start of my faith and preaching, which began after a prophet spoke a word over me following my baptism by immersion. It was prophesied that I would bring God’s Word and encourage and enlighten all who were in the house. These were significant words, and they certainly gave direction to my life.

But we wanted to be obedient to what God had spoken.

Later choices in our lives involving major changes have also been prompted by prophetic words – words that were so accurate, while we ourselves hadn’t even considered taking that decision. It wasn’t our own choice initially, but guiding words from God that set us on a new path. And we followed that path in obedience. This even meant changing churches so that we could continue our calling, even though it wasn’t always understood by the congregation we came from. But we wanted to be obedient to what God had spoken.

Because God still speaks today, through His prophets:

‘Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.’ (Amos1 3:7 NIV)

That’s why I have a positive attitude towards every word spoken in the name of the Lord, especially when you, as the receiver, sense: ‘This is good, I recognize this.’ But – and this is crucial – the Bible also makes it clear that it’s not just about the speaker. The receiver must also carefully test the word and not blindly follow it.

Personally, I’ve also become familiar with receiving words and dreams. Usually, dreams are simply a process, a psychological processing of the past or present. But some dreams have a different character, a higher purpose. These are the dreams inspired by the Holy Spirit. I’m also familiar with this in the sense that God regularly speaks to me through dreams – a dream or image that I need to do something with; sometimes to share in the church, sometimes with an individual, sometimes giving direction for my own life. I believe these dreams come from God. The Bible also speaks about the elderly having dreams:

‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream² dreams, your young men will see visions.’ (Joel 2:28 NIV)

I can now certainly count myself among the elderly, so this applies to me too. The same goes for receiving words. Sometimes you suddenly get an insight, an image, or a thought ‘from a higher level,’ which you could call prophetic. This doesn’t happen to me very regularly. Unlike some people who hear God speak many times every day, that’s not my experience. I sometimes have my doubts about that. But I have often experienced that God speaks very clearly in specific, extraordinary circumstances.

It has always been my practice to test these words. Sometimes I would share it with someone else: ‘How does this resonate with you? Is there a sense of recognition? Or does it not touch you at all and you don’t recognize anything in it?’ So, even for those who believe they are allowed to pass on something supernatural from God, it’s always essential to test it.

Now, unfortunately, I’ve also seen how things regularly go wrong at this point. I’ve experienced in churches where it was spoken over a sick person that she would be healed, but this woman passed away. I’ve seen words spoken over people that they would go into missions, and it never happened. Relationships have also been prophesied in the past that then fell apart because it wasn’t spoken by the Lord. I don’t want to directly condemn the person who spoke the word, but I do observe that sometimes words are spoken that simply don’t come true, with all the resulting confusion.

The Old Testament is very clear on this

The Old Testament is very clear on thisIf a prophet spoke something in God’s name and it didn’t come to pass, he had not spoken on behalf of God and was not sent by God:

‘I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.’ (Jeremiah 23:21 NIV)

This makes it clear how important it is that when we use the Lord’s name, this prophecy must actually be from Him. Otherwise, it’s better to keep silent.

Can you now say that this is false prophecy? No, I don’t necessarily believe that. But I do believe that it’s inaccurate and can therefore cause damage. We need to be very careful with this. Careful, because the person who speaks these words also gives the impression of being anointed by God, while the outcome of their words is rather doubtful. Therefore, I believe that you must be extremely careful when you say you are speaking in the name of the Lord. The Bible even says, ‘You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.’ In other words, when you say you are speaking in the name of the Lord, you must be very sure of it. Because I have seen that many of these kinds of ‘words’ unfortunately come from one’s own imagination.

Is that the final word? No, thankfully not. There is much that the Lord wants to say to us. Firstly, through His Word, the Bible. Secondly, through people who sometimes, without realizing it, say something that perfectly fits a situation – you could call that prophetic too. And there are certainly also people who, in the name of the Lord, have received and spoken very clear words about national leaders, governments, those in power. Even regarding wars, I have read about prophets who, for example, during the Second World War, had predicted the end of the war, thereby encouraging the churches that an end would come to the tyranny. In this way, prophetic words can also encourage us to expect and trust that a difficult situation in our own lives will come to an end.

In the New Testament, we encounter the prophet Agabus. The first time we meet him in Acts, he prophesies that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world (Acts 11:28). And in the same verse, it is immediately stated that Agabus’s prophetic words actually came true. That is the biblical standard.

Now, a word about the contemporary ‘prophetic movement’: There is a growing interest in the prophetic, and that is good in itself. But I have also seen that people, sometimes without any knowledge or sound biblical teaching, are encouraged to just pass on ‘words, images, or thoughts.’ I have serious doubts about this. I myself have experienced being prophesied over, where someone said something that was completely nonsensical and far from the truth. It was also prophesied over me that I would lead a large campaign in Africa together with someone. The man with whom I was supposed to be on this trip, just like me, recognized nothing in these words, because we both had a completely different calling. And to this day, those words have not come to pass. We therefore disregarded them.

Prophetic words must always be weighed and tested very carefully. And especially now that the prophetic ‘movement’ is so prominent, good knowledge of God’s Word is essential. I see young people who, often with beautiful music in the background, are challenged to ’think about what God wants to say to them.’ These words, thoughts, and images that they receive and pass on are then called ’the speaking of God.’ I find this to come across as very forced. I therefore don’t want to just call it prophetic. It is often people’s own imagination, their own hopes or expectations. It is often a projection of their own inner world, but not the speaking of God.

Throwing out the baby with the bathwater?

Am I throwing out the baby with the bathwater here? No, of course not. I am receptive to good, biblical prophecy. I believe that the Lord primarily always speaks through preaching and, very personally, through reading His Word. Certainly in certain situations, He will also speak to us with a still, small voice in our hearts if we ask Him for wisdom. If the Bible challenges us in Corinthians to eagerly desire prophecy, the Bible also gives the guidelines for this. We must continue to follow these guidelines very carefully and accurately, otherwise it will only become human imagination that causes damage.

The Bible reminds us:

‘Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the very words of God,’ …….and elsewhere: ‘For we know in part and we prophesy in part…For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know5 fully, even as I am fully6 known’ (freely quoted, thought from 1 Peter 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 13:9-12).

Let us be open to what God wants to say to us, but at the same time remain critical and wise. Always check if it aligns with what is written in the Bible.

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@wimvanputten