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

The Transition from Old to New

all may experience the prophetic anointing (1 John 2:20,27).Kim Clement comments: "No longer would God selectively communicate to chosen individuals. He would reveal His kingdom in the heart of anyone who would believe." 9 When the era of the Holy Spirit was launched on the Day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter cited the famous prophetic promise of Joel 2:28-32 con cerning a Last Days outpouring of the Holy Spirit.Peter,inspired by the Spirit, quoted these verses with such great enthusiasm that the casual reader misses four words (not found in Joel) inserted into the middle of the quotation-words that capture the very essence of this newly birthed Church andhow hermen,women,sons and daughters will function: "And they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:18,emphasis added). The common Israelite of Old Testament times did not experience the empowerment of the Spirit.This privilege was reserved for special peo ple like prophets, national leaders, kings, wise men or appointed arti sans 10 -and even such encounters were limited.Now,thank God,all His people can become familiar with the blessed Holy Spirit! Bruce Yocum summarizes this thought beautifully: "The difference in the role of the prophets under the old and the new dispensations is the result of a change ...in the relationship between God and his people as a whole.The Old Testament prophet was a man unique among God's people because of the Holy Spirit's action in him.He was in direct communication with the Lord,while the people as a whole were not. But under the new covenant all of God's people receive the Holy Spirit,all of God's people are in direct communication with God himself. In Old Testament Israel the prophet was thoroughly unique; in the 'new Israel' the prophet is one means among many by which God can speak directly to his people." 11 Although "we are provided with one clear line of continuity between the classical prophets of the Old Testament and Christian prophets in the New," 1 2 we must not ignore the obvious: The very nature of a prophecy given to a fervent New Testament church of Spirit-filled people will nec essarily be different from prophecy spoken by a uniquely empowered Old Testament prophet to a lackluster crowd of unspiritual people.In the next chapter,when defining prophecy in the early Church,I will say more along this line. New Testament prophecy was geared for the benefit of the Spirit-filled followers of Jesus-believers who heard God's Word and acted on it.These people received helpful "edification and exhortation and consolation" (1 Corinthians 14:3).The prophetic words were generally more confirming than directive in nature because the Christian was already in communi cation with God.Under the Old Covenant the Spiritless nation of Israel ■ 146