Understanding the difference between Old Testament and New Testament prophetic ministry is a vital key to flourishing in our gifts of prophecy.
A clearer perception of this in my earlier days would have saved me personally a great deal of heartache and error in church life. [1]
4 Differences Between Old and New Testament Prophetic Ministry
Here are four key points of difference between Old and New Testament prophetic ministry, along with some dangers that can occur when a prophetic person maintains an OT viewpoint in the context of church life.
1. In the Old Testament, a prophet was the mouthpiece of God
Old Testament prophets had the singular role of bringing God’s word—instruction, warnings, prophecies, and so on—directly to His people.
By contrast, in the New Testament, all believers have a relationship with God and can hear Him speaking to them personally. Therefore, prophecy is confirmation of what is already heard through their relationship with Him.
This also relates to leaders in the church today, who hear from God in their leadership capacity.
Prophetic ministry is designed to bring confirmation, clarity, and empowerment to the vision of a church.
Signs of maintaining an Old Testament viewpoint in church life:
- Maintaining they have correctly heard from God (and the leaders are wrong) when there is a point of difference
- Believing that their prophetic insights carry greater weight than the vision or direction of others who may not have a prophetic gift.
2. The Old Testament was an era of law and judgment
In the Old Testament, prophets pronounced warnings and judgments upon people and nations who were in disobedience to God.
The New Testament, however, is an era of God’s grace. [2] New Testament prophecy is for ‘strengthening, encouragement, and comfort.’ (1 Cor 14:3) Here is an example from Acts 15:32:
‘Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.’
New Testament prophecy is consistent with the ministry of Jesus and His revelation of the Father’s nature.
Even if a prophetic word is addressing error, the prophetic motive is redemption—to bring God’s purpose and to transform the situation and its outcome—and the word will be framed that way, presented in love and humility.
Signs of maintaining an OT viewpoint in church life:
- Using prophecy to point out wrongs, being quick to condemn or warn church leaders or other Christian believers
- Using prophecy to call for repentance with an underlying attitude of criticism or judgment [3]
3. In the Old Testament, a prophet could ‘stand alone’ before God (1 Kings 17:1)
In the New Testament, Paul says in 1 Cor 12 that we are many members, with different gifts, in one body.
As with other spiritual gifts, prophecy is not meant to be a stand-alone ministry in the church, rather, it is incomplete without the added value of other gifts in the church body. (1 Cor 12:12)
No one ‘prophetic person’ has all the revelation. He or she also depends upon others with prophetic gifts to supply more ‘pieces of the puzzle’ of God’s revelation (1 Cor 14:29-33).
The person prophesying also needs those who have gifts of discernment, leadership, and wisdom to complete their contribution to the church.
Also, in the New Testament, you see less of the individual prophet and more of prophetic teams – e.g. Acts 15:32, Acts 13:1, Acts 11:27, 1 Cor 14:29, 31-32.
Signs of maintaining an OT viewpoint in church life:
- Isolation, separation from the community
- Believing that they report directly to God only, and are commissioned and trained only by God
- Lack of accountability, i.e. not coming under any form of leadership
4. Old Testament prophets were expected to speak the PERFECT, inspired word of God
If they did not speak a word that proved true, they were condemned as ‘false prophets’ (Jer 14:14-16).
Some prophets were entrusted with the writing of scripture. They also were used by God to convey His specific instruction to Kings, nations, and others. Thus, the accuracy and purity of their words were essential.
In the New Testament church, prophetic words are subject to being weighed up. (1 Cor 14:29, 1 Thess 5:20-22)
New Testament Prophetic ministry needs an environment of humility, cooperation, and grace to operate as Jesus intended it to.
Signs of maintaining an OT viewpoint in church life:
- Believing they have a ‘hotline to God’ that bypasses the input of leadership.
- Resisting having their prophetic words weighed up
- Reacting negatively when prophetic words are not acted upon, or feedback is given that disagrees with their viewpoint
The Fruit of New Testament Prophetic Ministry
‘So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.’ (Eph 4:11-12)
In the New Testament, prophetic ministry is a servant ministry in the church. This is also true of the prophetic office.
As Paul outlines in Ephesians, the role of a leading prophetic ministry is to equip the church. This includes encouraging and empowering Christians to hear from God, as well as releasing others who have prophetic gifts.
One danger of maintaining an Old Testament paradigm of prophetic ministry is that it sends a message of exclusivity (see points 1 and 3 above). It tends to have the opposite effect—intimidating others who have prophetic gifts and creating an unhealthy reliance upon the prophetic minister.
And finally, the fruit of New Testament prophetic ministry is unity. The picture that Paul gives is of a healthy body, each part unique but working and growing together into Christ-likeness.
Notes:
[1] For more on my journey check the ‘About Enliven Blog’ page.
[2] For more detail on this topic, see the post ‘How To Weigh Up What The Prophets Are Saying Pt 2
[3] This is not to say that someone with a prophetic ministry cannot call for repentance. See ‘How To Weigh Up What The Prophets Are Saying Pt 1′
[4] I am aware that many prophetic people have experienced unhealthy or even abusive leadership, at some stage of their journey. Past hurts and difficulties should not stop us honoring and having a Biblical response to our leaders in our current situation where God has placed us. For more information on this, read my e-book Prophetic People In A Changing Church.
Related Post:
Prophetic Ministry In Church Life: 3 Non-Negotiables
© Helen Calder 2011 Enliven Blog
Enliven Ministries: Prophetic Ministry for a revival generation
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
I was greatly blessed by your write up on this topic and it is timely!!! I have some burning questions though with regards to church leadership in the New Covenant!
1. Kindly explain the leadership roles in the church and their relationship vis-a-vis a believer
2. Does 2 Chronicles 20:20b still apply in the New Convenant and in what context!! Mind you a lot of our Pastors,GOs,Prophets here in Africa use this scripture to tell us the congregation that their ‘Word is Law’
3. Do we still have the Levitical priesthood in operation? Or rather Apostle Paul’s ‘tent making’ format?
I will greatly appreciate your insight on the above mentioned questions with their Biblical references
Thanks
Dear Deyemi Ajayi,
Sorry for the delay in replying, it is great that you are seeking out the answer to these very important questions.
1. Kindly explain the leadership roles in the church and their relationship vis-a-vis a believer – this is a great question but one that is very broad. Sorry that I don’t have the time to tackle it here.
2. Does 2 Chronicles 20:20b still apply in the New Convenant and in what context
This verse states: ‘…Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.’ In the Old Testament context, this referred to God’s prophets who had His true and directive word for the leaders and people to obey. Bear in mind, even Kings needed the Prophets to hear God’s instruction.
In the New Testament this only applies having met with some very important conditions: That the prophecy confirms what the recipient (whether leader or individual) is hearing themselves, that it is according to Scriptural principles, and has been prayerfully weighed up and agreed that it is a true word from God (i.e. it is not automatic, even coming from a seasoned Prophet)
3. Do we still have the Levitical priesthood in operation? Or rather Apostle Paul’s ‘tent making’ format?
I have some comments with regard to this from Clayton Coombs, who is a Theologian and ministers on our team:
‘The levitical priesthood is superseded by the priesthood of all believers in the sense of their mediatorial role, however, there is a functional need for leadership.
By way of example, there must be a balance between the teaching gift and office, and the anointing which all believers possess that ‘teaches you all things.’ Part of that is a New Covenant balance “No longer will a man teach his neighbor saying ‘Know the Lord, for they will all know me from the least to the greatest.” So all know him, and the anointing teaches us all things, and yet there is a place for teachers.
In the same way, there is a place for leaders in spite of the principle of the priesthood of all believers. And yet, as Jesus makes clear, it is a radically different type of leadership to the world’s kind and should not be used to prop up existing class distinctions or to promote one above another (“it shall not be this way among you…” and “there is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ).’
I am teaching on the gifts of the Spirit and I am called to the Prophetic ministry, I always know that the was a different between the old and new Prophetic ministry, you made it clearer.
All prophets are prophesiers, but all prophesiers are not prophets.
All prophets have the gift of prophecy, which Silas and Barnabas
functioned in. That is what it the text says, doesn’t it? But it describes ONE aspect of their function. Not all of it.
Error comes in when the prophesier tries to function outside of the grace of their gift.
Yes, all believers hear God. That makes the Church a prophetic organism.
But we all know the ascension gifts function differently than the rest of the church for the sake of equipping us. Jesus just called apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors to Himself. Why doesn’t it say anywhere in the New Testament how these servants need to function, except in love?
Yes, we must serve the Body out of the love of God. But God’s love does not always look like the humanistic nonsense we are sold today. He disciplines those He loves, in love. It don’t very well LOOK like love to us at the time, but it is.
The Old Testament was not just an era of law and judgment. God bestowed plenty grace and love on His people then, too. His outcome then, too, was redemption. The Old and the New Testament is the same thing. The former is just a shadow of the latter.
They are no better than anyone else of God’s children, but prophets exist. And yes, they still are God’s mouthpieces to the church, the government and society. They are very few and far between, rarer than we think. While they will be scattered across congregations (yes, not every one will have one), they WILL be in a fellowship, but still, by virtue, alone.
We cannot apply the gift of prophecy to the ascension gift of the prophet and tell him or her to function only in that manner. We are holding back stupendous national Old Testament miracles in the New Testament dispensation if we do.
One man put it very nicely. ” A true prophet does not charge a fee. He pays a price.”
Hi Ella, I just want to say thanks for the very well thought out response you have shared. Some very good thoughts there, and I love the insight about the redemptive nature of the Old Testament, thank you!
I have a question. What if a portion of the prophetic word is a calling they haven’t recognized yet? For example,the call from pastor to apostle.
Hi Deidra,
Do you mean that the person receiving the word has not recognised the calling, or those in leadership about the person have not acknowledged it? Also, in what context has the prophecy been given – is it in a presbytery, or given by an individual to the pastor? If you can explain a little bit more I may be able to share a response. :-)
Bless you, and thanks for leaving the note!
I have been called to be an apostle within the last 2 months. I also am developing the prophetic more. The Lord has given me this prophetic word for someone that is currently a pastor. I asked for a confirmation and in a dream I saw a picture. I have not given it to him yet. Thank you.
Hi Deidra, we do believe that prophetic insights relating to fivefold ministry callings should be handled with a great deal of care, not brought publicly unless the setting is an appropriate one (e.g. commissioning by oversight) and the leaders have already weighed up the prophecy and its confirmation.
If you feel strongly about it, I believe the best thing is to submit it privately and offer it to him or her to pray about it, and release the word and leave it there.
Some more thoughts that may help you:
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/08/17/is-personal-prophecy-biblical/
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2012/12/04/prophesying-about-the-future-of-your-church/
Hope this helps. Thanks for connecting with us!