Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

The Reappearance of Prophecy

did anyone realize that this had occurred.Only after a time did realiza tion dawn upon the people." 4 Still, there was apparently no question that prophecy was possible, even if there were no recognized prophets.Green spahn comments: "It is significant that despite numerous references to the holy spirit's departure, rabbinic tradition does not usually claim that prophecy itself had ceased." 5 The belief in an absence of prophecy is based mainly on three uncer tain references in 1 Maccabees (4:46; 9:27; 14:41). 6 A leading scholar, David E.Aune, says: "The opinion is widespread that prophecy ceased in Judaism during the fifth century B.C., only to break forth once again with the rise of Christianity.The evidence [which Aune presents in his chapter 5] ...flatly contradicts that view.Israelite prophecy did not dis appear.Rather, like all religious and social institutions, it underwent a number of far-reaching and even radical changes during the period of the Second Temple (516 B.C.-A.D. 70)." 7 Some believe that prophetic phenomena were still operative in a kind of low-level revelation from God that did not, of course, match the high level prophecy of the Old Testament canon.David Pytches comments: "The fact that God continued to communicate in this way is significant. The rabbis called these revelations 'bat kol'-literally the 'daughter of a voice.' The Jewish Talmuds regarded the 'bat kol' as 'a chance snatch of speech overheard' and interestingly enough some of those who exercise a prophetic ministry today have said that is exactly how their 'words' seem to come to them." 8 Although canonical prophecy was absent during this period, apoca lyptic and religious literature flourished, none of which was classified as canonical and toward which the Palestinian Jews were quite negative. Ernest Best suggests that this apocalypticism probably made its appear ance to fill the vacuum left by the end of prophecy. 9 The Jews were con cerned about their future, naturally, while at the same time they believed God was working out His own purpose for the redemption of Israel. One bright spot, as Freeman points out, was the glorious hope: "It was firmly believed among the Hebrews during the period between the Tes taments that prophecy would be revived in the Messianic age on the basis of such forecasts as contained in Joel 2:28-29...." 10

The Ending of the Long Drought

Joel had by the Spirit seen a new age, the messianic age, in which the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the people of God like rain from a cloudburst. A leading characteristic of this spiritual precipitation: 131 •