Redefining contemporary prophecy

insidious societal decay.
In very astonishing ways, in this society, even the word “burning” assumed an incremental economic meaning that only Zimbabweans could understand at the height of the economic downturn in 2008. But while the word “burning” assumed a new and positive connotative meaning then, there are words and phrases that have been pejoratively turned over the years, they are now cynical, unattractive and used only when one intends to denote negativity.
There are lots of such words and phrases, some nouns, others adjectival phrases, but all used to denote negativity. What immediately comes to mind is the word “Hyundai”. If you own a car by this name in Zimbabwe, especially the model that was once popular with taxi operators in 1995, then you have a monkey on your back especially if you intend on disposing of it.
The other is the “Zim dollar.” It is such a curse people would literally frown at you if you mention that phrase especially if you imply the return to circulation of a currency known by that name. Another phrase is “regime change” whose meaning to some political figures has been so adulterated it only means one thing.
While these are just secular words and phrases whose meanings and values are bound to mutate with the growth and change in lived realities, it is quite amazing to note that the tendency of pejoratively using words has gone beyond the secular linguistic field that there are some naughty elements in our society who have imported this pejorative game into the religious realm and are in the habit of denigrating biblical offices, such as the prophetic, yet their reverence or lack thereof, determine the continuity of life or its demise (Genesis 20:7).
The noun prophet and all its derivatives, like prophecy, the prophetic and prophesying have fallen victim to these peevish bats of esoteric biblical erudition whose characterisation of the office of the prophet has brought nothing but derision to this important facet of the Christian faith. While this denigration and derision happened to prophets like Jeremiah (Jer 20:7,8), the intensity with which it is happening now warrants investigation.
Simply because most of these anti-prophetic exponents have the privilege to shape public perception on social discourse through the media, especially newspapers and radio, society has been inundated by media texts that seek to characterise prophets in completely different ways from what the bible says they are, do and stand for.
Last week, I embarked on a journey which started with a biblical search for proper understanding of prophecy, prophets and the prophetic before it landed me on the door steps of those whose false testimonies against prophets have been elicited to attempt to nail and bring down renowned prophets in the country.
The last leg of the journey, after some excruciating physical chase, landed me in the presence of Prophet Uebert Angel whose personal views around the attacks on prophets were incisive in as much as they were exciting. A lot of people who are anti-prophecy, but purported to be bible fundis, that I spoke to pointed out that in spite of the fact that prophets were vital to God’s purposes in both the Old and New Testaments, the need for them today has been called into question because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in every believer.
Their argument is that on the day of the Pentecost, God began to unveil something He had hidden from mankind and the devil — the administration of God’s grace (Eph. 3:2). They argue that today, in the administration of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ seals, with the holy spirit, every person who gets born again(Eph. 1:13) thus every Christian has the ability to hear from God and prophesy (Acts 2:17 and 18, 1 Cor. 14:5 and 24) hence there is no need for prophets in today’s church. For many people, the immediate reaction to hearing that every Christian can prophesy is to think that prophets are no longer necessary. However, a more detailed study of scripture and indeed, the evidence of the practices of the early church reveal that is not the case.
For example, Ephesians 4:11 says that the Lord has placed prophets in the Church along with the other ministries of apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Surely the Lord would not have specifically placed men and women in the Church with the gift ministry of a prophet if they did not perform a distinctly different role than other Christians who were operating the manifestation of prophecy.
John W Schoenheit, in his book, “Prophecy: Understanding and Utilising the Manifestation of Prophecy” dispels the above argument by positing that, prophets, like evangelists and pastors, still play a pivotal role in today’s church as was in the Old Testament and the Pauline times. He contends that,
“Evangelists still exist in the Church even though every Christian can share his faith, there are still pastors even though every Christian can help people who are hurting and there are still prophets in the Church even though every Christian can manifest prophecy.”
Indeed, the early church had prophets and they played vital roles in cementing the place of the church in the political as well as religious realm. It was the prophet Agabus who graphically portrayed what would happen to Paul in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10 and 11) as well as foretelling that there would be a severe famine in the Roman world during the reign of Claudius Caesar (Acts 11:28).
Prophets were also vital in getting the revelation from the Lord to set apart Paul and Barnabas and send them on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-4) among many referenced contributions that prophecy installed on the early church.
But if the bible is so clear on the importance of prophecy in the Old as well as New Testament, why does the church today resist prophecy, prophets and the prophetic? My brief interview with Prophet Angel as he made his way into the Zimbabwe International Airport on his way to Israel recently, helped to shade light into my understanding of the real issues around prophecy in the country today.
Reacting to my question on why there seemed to be a lot of resistance to prophecy, prophets and the prophetic in the church in Zimbabwe today, Prophet Angel chose to explain that to be a prophet was a calling from God and that it was natural to find opposition when doing the work of God. He, however, argued that it was partly inaccurate to conclude that there was general resistance to prophecy in the country.
“To be a prophet is election by grace. There is nothing that I have done to deserve it and I didn’t graduate from some spiritual school to become a prophet. A prophet is called by God and like Jeremiah, we were called even before we were born.
“Be that as it may, there are people who are bound to deny that some people, other than themselves, could be called by God to occupy such an important office,” he said adding that mostly, “It is some church leaders and their media accomplices, not their congregants who are in the business of denigrating prophets from the pulpit, on radio and in newspaper articles.”
Expressing some deep concern about the conduct of some supposed church leaders in leading the crusades against prophets, Prophet Angel said that it is quite astounding to note that the most passionate prophetic denialists are other men of God gifted in pastoral ministry and evangelism whom, he says, have elevated their roles in the church to be the be-all of the modern day church.
“One would be forgiven to think that the bible gives evidence prophecy ended with the Old Testament and has no place in the new yet studies of the bible have shown that the word prophet or prophets is mentioned 150 times in the New Testament compared to the 170 times the same words appear in the Old Testament”, he argued. Prophet Angel implored me to check my electronic bible on the number of times words like pastor, evangelist, apostle, bishop or reverend are cited and compare these with the times the words prophet or prophesy are cited in the whole bible.
“Doesn’t it show, by virtue of the number of citations, that prophecy is as important to the church now as it was for the people of Israel in the Old Testament?”, he quizzed rhetorically.
He also argued that through the gift of prophecy and the performance of miracles, signs and wonders by the prophets, there has been demonstration of the power in the Kingdom of God, which is the perfect will of God for his people.
“The bible has more miracles performed by Jesus compared to his sermons. The ministry of Jesus was more of the demonstration of God’s power than the Sermon on the Mount and that is exactly what prophets do–demonstrate the power of God. Doesn’t the bible, in 1 Corinthians 4:20 say the kingdom of God isn’t just talk, it is power?” he asked rhetorically.
Prophet Angel also bemoaned the politics obtaining in churches now and how some church leaders who have found their congregations dwindling in numbers have resorted to dirty games to rubbish those whom God has given rare gifts of prophecy, ministering of the word, deliverance and healing all-in-one.
He argued that as a prophet, he has been subjected to attack for telling people where they lived, their exact addresses, before giving detail on their lives and problems they faced yet Jesus did the same when he prophesied to Nathaniel (John 1:48).
“Some people have problems with this (telling people their addresses) but doesn’t Jesus tell Nathaniel that he saw him under a figure tree even before Phillip came to call him? Didn’t he tell him he was a Jew, a devout one for that matter in whom there was no guile? he quizzed.
Prophet Angel argued that the way he prophesied is exactly how biblical prophets used to and revealed that people flock to his church because he also had the gift to minister the word of God diligently.
“The issue is we are likeable and we give people the word of God. It’s God’s grace. Very few prophets can preach and to find prophets who can preach, minister deliverance as well as prophesying is very rare.”