“And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.” (2Kings 6:6)
The prophets of old had faith. Their faith amazes me. The Holy Spirit did not indwell them, but only came upon them in power and wisdom when the Lord willed. In this Scripture, the disciples of the prophet Elisha were cutting beams when the head of one of the axes came off and went in the water. The disciple was distressed because the axe wasn’t his. He had borrowed it. Elisha merely cut a stick and threw it in the water in the precise area the axe head had fallen and the iron head floated to the top. This was a miracle for sure. Scripture doesn’t tell us that Elisha prayed for the axe head to float, but I’m sure he prayed. The power was not Elisha’s. It was God’s power through Elisha. Those were different days, a different dispensation, and things worked differently. God showed Himself mightily through the prophets. The prophets of those days were called by God. They ministered to the Lord and the Lord ministered to the people through them.
Elisha was plowing when God gave him the calling. Elijah came by him. He was an obedient son, working his family’s land. Scripture is not explicit, but Elijah just didn’t pick Elisha on his own. A Word from God must have come to him from the Lord. Elijah throws his cloak over Elisha as he’s plowing. (1Kings 19:19) Elisha knows immediately what this means. We can be sure this was not the first time he’d had an encounter with God. The cloak was a sign to him to follow the call of God. After completing his responsibilities with his family already sensing he may never see them again, he follows Elijah. (1Kings 19:19-21) After Elijah is taken in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), Elisha takes Elijah’s place and gets the double portion of Elijah’s anointing. It was what Elisha had asked for. (2Kings 2:9-10)
The anointing was usually performed by a priest that concentrated a man for a holy calling. In the New Testament, Jesus is the Anointed One. (Luke 2:16-21) In the New Covenant, the anointed ones are those who have the Holy Spirit living in them. The saved are concentrated, set apart for His holy purpose. “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” (2Corinthians 1:20-22)
John writes in 1John about false teachers and explains that we have the Holy Spirit. We know what’s right and what isn’t. “But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” (1John 2:27) Because we have the Holy Spirit, we’re able to discern what is false and not from God. “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” (1John 2:20)
Are then prophets needed and necessary today? Some denominations say yes and use prophets in some capacity and other denominations say there is no need for them. But what does Scripture say? In Ephesians, Paul speaks about Jesus giving the church gifts. “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” (Ephesians 4:11) Why would Jesus give the believing body prophets if they were not needed and necessary? How do they serve and how should they serve today?
The Scripture continues to explain why Jesus gave the church body these gifts including prophets. “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:12-16) Although we are saved and have the Holy Spirit indwelling, we are not perfect yet. We walk in faith. But we make mistakes, not hearing well from the Holy Spirit or not fully obeying what the Holy Spirit tells us. So, we need these gifts to help us. We know the functions of the gifts, but the church as a whole doesn’t know how to use the prophet.
“But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” (1Corinthians 14:3) Taking this definition into consideration, we can understand that the pastor would be considered a prophet. Paul continues: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” (1Corinthians 14:4-5) Paul is saying that these gifts to the church are for edifying the church. If you speak in tongues, you only edify yourself unless you interpret it so the church can also receive edification. So, in this respect he considers prophesy greater than tongues. The statement that pastors could be considered prophets is viable. They hear from God what He wants the people to hear. They develop a comprehensive message to convey to their congregations what God is wanting them to know for their lives. So yes, I would consider pastors modern day prophets. But you may say, isn’t one of the gifts that Jesus gave, pastors. Pastors fill many roles. When he by faith delivers a sermon, he feels comes from God, he is acting as a prophet. Sometimes, the pastor is teacher, sometimes evangelist and sometimes apostle. But these are lengthy lessons each one separately. Briefly a pastor coordinates the gifts in the church for the edification of the church. He may fill all the roles of the gifts Jesus gave the church. Many do.
So, there is a need for prophets in the church. They may or may not be the pastor. They hear from God and communicate a Word from God to the church, not individuals. In some churches I have been in, I have seen where prophets give a personal Word from God to a person. This doesn’t follow the Scriptural definition for a prophet. It’s for the edification of the church as a whole. We can see there’s a different role of the prophet in the Old Testament from the prophet in the New Testament. But we do need prophets, today.
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