Prophecy: From God or Made Up?

This weekend at church we heard a message on visions and dreams. Not surprisingly, the word prophecy came up a few times. The following verse was quoted:

^{NLT Jeremiah 23:16} This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to his people:

“Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you,
    filling you with futile hopes.
They are making up everything they say.
    They do not speak for the Lord!

But immediately my thoughts ran to this verse:

^{NLT 2 Peter 1:20} Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, ²¹ or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

So which is right?

Context immediately solves the problem, the Jeremiah passage is dealing with false prophets. (Most Bible discrepancies and apparent contradictions are resolved when context is considered.) If there’s any doubt, God disowns these prophets a few verses later:

²¹ “I have not sent these prophets,
    yet they run around claiming to speak for me.
I have given them no message,
    yet they go on prophesying.

Does that seem like God has lost control over the situation? No, his affirmation of sovereignty and omniscience follows:

²³ Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord.
    “No, I am far away at the same time.
²⁴ Can anyone hide from me in a secret place?
    Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”
    says the Lord.

Similarly, the 2 Peter passage has a context, and that context is recorded prophecy in scripture.  The Bible Panorama commentary notes that, “…there is a surer prophetic Word, the Bible, which guides us into God’s truth. Someone may mistakenly think he has heard a voice from heaven, but the Word of God can readily be seen and examined. God revealed His Word in the Bible by moving holy men, by His Holy Spirit, to record His infallible truth.”

Peter is writing about the prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus (and in a sense, the entire thread of Israel’s history leading up to that point.) The Biblical prophets spoke of things Peter and The Twelve had heard with their own ears and saw with their own eyes.

^{NLT 16} For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes ¹⁷ when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” ¹⁸ We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹ Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place…

The challenge for the Christian in today’s world is that sometimes the lines are blurred. A modern day prophet may well quote scripture. They may speak of things which relate to the overall arc of the Bible story. Then, out of the blue, they might interject something which rings of truth because of everything said to that point, but is actually the starting point for a message that is heading off the rails.

On the weekend at Thinking Out Loud we spoke about discernment, which is key to untangling all of this. We ended with some verses I want to share here which mention this much needed gift. As we said there, in an internet-influenced world, so many voices are talking at once, and we need to be able to discern the difference between prophecy which is of human origin and prophetic words which are from God.

Here’s the first four of 71 verses on discernment from openBible.info:

1 John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Philippians 1:9-10

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

Hebrews 5:14

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.                     (all ESV)

 

Where Does the Old Testament Law Apply in New Testament Times?

We continue with the weekend theme Greg started yesterday; this is from the blog Having Life, written by Robbie in South Africa.  Click the title below to read at source.

Is the Old Testament Law Still Applicable to me as a Christian?

 

I met a Christian the other day on campus and he was speaking about him not needing to keep the law because he’s been saved by grace. “The law is gone right? There’s only the grace of God who saved us.” And didn’t Paul say in Romans 10:4 that “Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Then I thought that there’s the other side where Christians try to keep the law because in Matthew 5:17 the Lord Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” And there’s this urge within us to be really good and to keep a requirement that someone put on us. So that’s why some people try to keep the law given to us.

Then another party may say “well there’s your proof that the bible is fake, the bible contradicts itself clearly in these two verses, the one says the law is over but the other that it needs to be fulfilled”

Just read on. The bible isn’t as black and white as it appears here. This is how I see this situation. So the way God dealt with His people in the Old Testament was according to the law; that was the basis for Him in receiving them. But in the New Testament the principle of how God deals with us is different; it’s by faith. We are believers who have faith in Christ, and that justifies us before God. That’s all He requires from us in the way He deals with us today.

What has ended is the principle of how God deals with people; He does it according to faith, not the law as He used to. Another thing that’s over are the rituals of the law that were meant to be kept, like offering sacrifices at the temple and keeping the Sabbath – so the “ritual law” is over, too. But the commandments of the law haven’t been done away with, in fact they’ve been uplifted to higher standard than they were before. This is seen in Matthew 5 where for example the Lord said not only to not murder someone, but to not even be angry with them in their heart. It’s Impossible right!? So here the Lord definitely didn’t remove the law in the way of “morals”, or the moral law. He actually made it higher and harder to keep. He definitely doesn’t want lawless people in His kingdom.

So when reading Matthew 5 of things like committing adultery not just being the physical act, but actually it being to look at a woman lustfully, what’s your response? Are we going to say “but there’s grace so it’s okay”, or will you say “let me try harder to not do it”? If you have the “it’s impossible, I’m hopeless, I know I’ll fail” response then you’re on the right track.

The Lord knows we aren’t able to keep His very high requirements, so the way we need to read them is not just as requirements but to see them as the capability of His life that is able to meet the demands that He places on us. However high the demand is, that’s how much the Lord can do for us by His divine life in us. Whatever He demands, that’s how much He can do.

Quick recap – Yes God does deal with us by faith through grace. The “ritual law” is over; we don’t need to offer up bulls anymore. But the “moral law” still exists and it’s higher than before, making it impossible for us to keep by trying – so it seems we are in a dilemma.

Okay, so here’s the drum roll verse to put the cherry on top of it all. Romans 8:4 “that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” This is God’s thought here, the law can be fulfilled by us, it is possible, but it’s by those who see their own life as hopeless, they realize they can’t make it, and they choose the Lord’s divine life by walking according to the Spirit.

When we flee to Jesus to walk according to the Spirit then His life can do all that is required to live in His kingdom. So yes, the law is still here, we are not exempt from it, and until we stop trying by our natural life to keep it and learn to walk by the spirit in constant fellowship with God then we’ll keep falling short. The point is to walk according to the Spirit. This is quite an aspiration to have. And surely if you love someone you’ll walk by them.

Responding to Modern-Day Sadducees

Today’s article is taken from a new blog I discovered through the Fellowship of Christian Bloggers. It’s called History for the Christian Faith, and is a companion blog to Science for the Christian Faith.  Rick Habecker is a former TV crime reporter who became a private investigator.

There’s no key verse today, but instead allusions to many, many verses you will recognize. This information is very practical, and I hope you will allow these principles to become part of you so that you can respond to the modern-day Sadducees that we inevitably encounter.  While the text appears below as always, you’re encouraged to click the title to read at source.

Modern Sadducees & Taking the Holy Bible Literally

Even 2000 years ago there were those who declared portions of God’s law shouldn’t be taken literally.  They were the counterparts to today’s Liberal Protestants.  Who were they?  Why they were the infamous Sadducees!

They ran things in the Temple.  They were the money changers, wealthy and corrupt.  They outwardly hated the Romans but secretly cut deals with them.  They had a low view of the Hebrew Bible accepting only the parts of it they watered down.  They questioned or rejected the writings of the prophets.  They had a secret admiration for Greek philosophy.  In short they were the rationalist, liberal theologians of their day.  They didn’t believe in miracles, the virgin birth, the Christ’s resurrection, nor in angels, the Holy Spirit, or Hell.

Like the Sadducees modern day Liberal Protestants, or Pseudo Christians, teach that the bible is filled with myths.  They deny the infallibility of scripture and in effect undercut the authority of the Gospel they say they believe. They reject that Hell is eternal, or that non-believers will go there.  They promote universalism believing there are many ways to paradise which leads to things like abortion and homosexuality.

Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, despised and condemned them then as He will do to all like them now.  Don’t be caught dead siding or following anyone who calls or implies that God is a liar or believing their answer to the question: “Should we take the Holy Bible literally?”

Below are a few of the dominate criticisms to the word of God with all responses from Dr. Curt D. Daniel, pastor of Faith Bible Church, of Springfield, Illinois, faithbibleonline.net

“The Bible contains many errors. It is neither infallible nor inerrant.” But: Jesus said, “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17) and “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).  The Bible testifies of its own essential truth. “The sum of Thy Word is truth” (Psa. 119:160). “Thou art God and Thy Words are truth” (2 Sam. 7:28).  It is the Word of “God who cannot lie” (Tit. 1:2).  Every Word of God is pure (Psa. 12:6), and “Thy Word is very pure” (Psa. 119:140).  It is “the Word of truth” (Psa. 119:43; 2 Cor. 6:7; 2 Tim. 2:15).  “Thy Word is true from the beginning”, that is, from eternity (Psa. 119:160).   It is purer than refined gold (Psa. 18:30, 19:8, 10; 2 Sam. 22:31).  God says of His Bible, “These words are faithful and true” (Rev. 21:5).  It is infallible and inerrant in all areas, earthly as well as spiritual (John 3:12). To deny the inherent truth and inerrancy of Scripture is to call God a liar (I John 5:12). Those who do are the liars.

“The Bible contradicts itself.” But: Truth never contradicts truth. There are many paradoxes and mysteries in Scripture (e.g., Mark 8:35; John 11:25-26), but not a single contradiction, either in doctrine, history or principle. God is a God of order, not confusion (I Cor. 14:33). Contradiction is confusion. Liberals are in mental confusion because they contradict Scripture and imagine contradictions in the Bible.

“The Bible contains myths, sagas, legends and fairy tales.  We need to de-mythologize the Bible”. But Christianity would be the true religion even if all of its teachings were non-historical myths.” But: This is the very heart of Liberalism, what Gordon Clark exposed as “doctrine without facts.” Scripture itself warns against myths (I Tim. 1:4, 4:7; Tit. 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16). Scripture contains no myths or other such lore. It is all historically true. If it were not, then we would be hopelessly lost in our sins (I Cor. 15). Liberalism is the real mythology and we need to remove it from us.

“The Bible is a collection of old campfire stories told by old Jewish nomads,- retold and reshaped for centuries until someone wrote them down in a form vaguely resembling the original story.” But: The Bible nowhere teaches such nonsense. It is a total fabrication and romantic skepticism. The idea of “campfire stories” is that of myths and legends. Scripture also warns against “old wives’ tales” (I Tim. 4:7) – the gender equivalent of old men’s campfire stories. Instead, God spoke through dreams, visions and even angels (Heb. 1:1-2), not through the superstitious ramblings of desert nomads. By contrast, Liberal theories closely resemble those tall tales.

“The use of the Bible as the final authority is bibliolatry (book-worship).” But: All theories are to be tested by Scripture and Scripture alone (I Thess. 5:21). The Bereans were commended for this (Acts 17:11).  Jesus Himself appealed to the Bible as the final authority of truth (Matt 4, 22:29; John 10:35).  There is no higher authority than God.  Since Scripture is the Word of God, it alone is the highest authority to which we can appeal. “Thus saith the Lord” and “It is written” settle a matter.  The Bible is no “paper pope”, as Liberals scoff.  It is the Word of God.

“The Bible contains the Word of God, but is not the Word of God itself.” But: This is not taught in the Bible.  The Bible says that it is the Word of God, not merely contains it.  A cup can contain coffee without being coffee.  The very nature of Scripture is that it is the very Word of God, not the word of Man (cf. I Thess. 2:13).

“The Bible becomes the Word of God when we believe it.” But: Scripture does not say that it “becomes” the Word of God.  It is already the Word of God whether anyone believes in it or not.  We merely need faith and illumination to believe what it already is (cf. Rom. 10:17; Eph. 1:17-18).  But our faith cannot make it what it is not already by nature.

“The Bible bears witness to the Word of God, but is not the Word of God itself.” But: This too is not what Scripture says about itself.  The Bible is God’s Word!  Liberals often say that God’s “saving acts in history” are alone the Word-of God, to which the Bible witnesses.  It is correct that in these special acts and miracles, God communicates to Man. But they are not verbal communication. Scripture alone is the verbal Word of God and takes precedence even over miracles (Luke 16:31).

“Jesus, not the Bible, is the Word of God.” But: It is not a matter of either/or but both/and: Jesus is the personal, incarnate Word of God (John 1:1, 14; Rev. 19:13).  But Jesus Himself also referred to the Bible as the Word of God (Matt. 4:4; John 10:35, 17:17). Jesus testified to Scripture, and in turn Scripture testifies to Jesus (Luke 24:44, 46; Acts 10:43; John 5:46).  Liberals would reject both testimonies.

“The Bible is ‘a Word of God’ together with preaching.” But: Only the inspired preaching of the prophets and apostles could ever be considered ‘a Word of God’ comparable to Scripture, and even then they based their preaching on special divine revelation. We do not receive this direct divine revelation any more (cf. Heb. 1:1-2), and so our preaching is qualitatively different from Scripture. It is used by God only insofar as it is faithful to the message of Scripture. Liberal preaching is not even that.