Eph 5:11:"…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”.
Amos 3:7 “…God will do nothing, but He revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
Why this post?
To provide Biblical discernment on what is prophecy and what it’s not.
What is prophecy?
How does one define a prophet? What are the characteristics?
I often see the abuse of speaking in tongues. Paul was clear in 1 Cor 14 that speaking in tongues holds no benefit if there is no one to interpret it. In vain mumbling means nothing to no one.
In verse 19 : “Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.”
I fear the same thing happens when a preacher slings a prophetic word from the pulpit. How is one to know whether it is true or not?
There is no reason why the definition of a prophet should be vague. Let’s turn to Bible to understand how it characterises a true prophet.
Has the gift of prophecy ceased?
Before the 15 tests, an objection. Many modern Protestants will say the gift of prophecy ceased with the apostles in the first century. Why are we even testing? The category is closed. This view — cessationism — is widely taught in evangelical circles and is the reason most pews aren’t equipped to recognise a true prophet, let alone a false one.
The Bible says the opposite. Joel 2:28-29 — “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” That is a promise for the latter days.
Peter at Pentecost reads this passage as fulfilment-in-progress. Acts 2:17-18 — “this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” Note the present tense. The gift was being poured out then, in his lifetime — and Joel’s afterward covers the entire span until the Second Coming. The Pentecost-era gift is therefore expected through the church age until Christ returns.
Paul confirms it. 1 Corinthians 12:28 — “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets…” The gift is listed alongside teachers, miracles, and helps — none of which Protestants claim ended at the apostles. Ephesians 4:11-13 explicitly says these gifts continue “till we all come in the unity of the faith… unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Have we arrived there? No. Therefore the gifts continue.
So the question is not whether prophets continue. The Bible says they do. The question is which ones are real — which is exactly what the 15 tests are for.
15 prophetic characteristics
Deuteronomy 18:21-22, "…When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follows not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
FAIL: If the Prophet's predictions fail, they are exposed as NOT of God.
Numbers 12:6, "…I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream."
VISION: The true Prophet of the Lord will receive visions or dreams from the Lord.
Numbers 24:4 "…which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:" (Repeated in verse 16).
OPEN EYES: When in "vision" they fall into a trance, but eyes remain open.
Daniel 10:17, "…straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me."
NO STRENGTH: The true Prophet will collapse with absolutely no strength in him/her.
NO BREATH: When in "vision" a true Prophet will NOT breathe. "Inspiration" = God Breathed, Therefore, since the Almighty is breathing through the Prophet communicating His Truth, the Prophet has no need to breath.
Daniel 10:18, "…and He strengthened me,"
SUPERNATURAL: Once "touched in the "vision" the Prophet receives supernatural strength.
Jeremiah 28:9, "…when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him."
NO ERROR: A true Prophet will be 100% accurate. there is absolutely no margin for error.
2 Peter 1:20, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation."
NOT OPINION: A true Prophet NEVER gives his private interpretation. He only shares what the Lord reveals. Scripture defines Scripture, not man.
2 Peter 1:21, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
GOD’s GLORY: A true Prophet only prophecies in the name of the Lord. He only seeks to glorify the Lord. He will never seek glory to himself. NEVER!
1 Corinthians 14:3-4, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church."
UPLIFT & EXHORT CHURCH: A true Prophet will look to edify, comfort, and uplift the Church body by his testimony as well as exhort them.
Isaiah 8:20, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
AGREE WITH LAW & PROPHETS: A true Prophet keeps God's Law and abides by the testimony of the Bible Prophets as well. If a Prophet does not agree with the Bible Prophets or does not keep God's Ten Commandments, he is a false Prophet.
1 John 4:1-3, "…Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God...."
JESUS: A true Prophet believes and preaches Jesus Christ. He will preach Jesus as God who came to Earth and put on humanity in order to redeem us all.
13. Matthew 7:15-20, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits..."
GOOD WORKS: A true Prophet will show good works and have identifiable fruits of a Christian.
Exodus 15:20, "And Miriam the prophetess...". Judges 4:4, "And Deborah, a prophetess...". 2 Chronicles 34:22, "And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess.". Luke 2:36, "And there was one Anna, a prophetess…". Acts 21:8-9, "…And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy."
GENDER AGNOSTIC: Gender makes no difference. Women can and have been prophets.
Acts 2:17-18, "…and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…"
AGE AGNOSTIC: Age makes NO difference in being a prophet.
Matthew 24:24-25, "…and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before."
MIRACLES MEANS NOTHING: Performing miracles proves nothing.
The nature of it
The Holy Spirit is the one doing the work and the body is just a vessel. The Holy Spirit does not change and thus all actions and words will remain aligned over time. It does not matter through whom it speaks over centuries. It will acknowledge Jesus and all the Words He spoke. They are a unity. It will also be supernatural and breathless for it is not human.
You think these are my thoughts? This is what Peter said:
Link between prophecy and the commandments
There is also an interesting pattern from the Bible in that each time the people turned away, and the law was done away with, the prophets were few.
Lamentations 2:9, "Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD."
Ezekiel 7:26 we find that, "Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients."
Modern prophets
Are there any modern prophets?
We know how to measure them.
I’ve watched a few interviews with self-declared prophet Bo Polny. In my mind, he does not measure up. He’s been spewing reams of events that does not come true. Just try to listen to his excessive rambling dialogue.
There is another that I elaborate here.
And the Bible notes that He’ll send his prophets so that we may know it’s Him.
Case study — Joseph Smith
Apply the 15 criteria to Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of Mormonism — the second-most-famous claimed prophet in American history.
Test 1 (Deut 18:21-22) — failed predictions = not from God. Joseph Smith’s documented failed prophecies fill multiple historical volumes. He prophesied that the temple in Independence, Missouri, would be built “in this generation” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:4-5, 1832). It was not. He prophesied that within fifty years (by 1891) the whole earth would be in “such great tribulation” that the Saints would be “the only people that shall not be at war one with another” (Doctrine and Covenants 87, 1832). It was not. He named specific dates and specific events. They did not happen as predicted. Test 1 alone is a disqualifying failure.
Test 6 (Jer 28:9) — no error. “When the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.” The threshold is 100%. Joseph Smith fails by his own test, on his own published predictions.
Test 10 (Isa 8:20) — agree with the law and the prophets. Smith introduced doctrines that contradict the closed canon — eternal progression to godhood (man becomes God), polygamy in opposition to the New Testament, and a distinct second body of scripture (the Book of Mormon) which the Bible’s own warning against adding (Revelation 22:18) explicitly forecloses. Failure on test 10 alone is structural.
Three disqualifying failures of the 15. The remaining 12 don’t need to be applied. Joseph Smith is not a prophet by the Bible’s own definition. The fact that 17 million people today follow him anyway is a test of the audience, not of the standard.
Case study — the papal ex cathedra claim
Apply the same 15 criteria to a different category: the Roman Catholic claim that the Pope speaks infallibly ex cathedra when defining doctrine on faith and morals (Vatican I, 1870). This is not framed as prophecy in the modern charismatic sense — but it is a claim to infallible utterance from God through a man, which is exactly the category the 15 tests cover.
Test 10 (Isa 8:20) — agree with the law and the prophets. The institution that claims ex cathedra infallibility teaches that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to the first by its own authority — documented in its own catechisms and from its own prelates (see the post on the first beast, criterion 18). Isaiah 8:20 says “to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Authority that changes God’s law fails the very first criterion of speaking according to it.
Test 13 (Matt 7:15-20) — known by their fruits. The institutional history runs through the persecution of the Waldenses, the Inquisition, the Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, and the Counter-Reformation persecutions catalogued in the post on Daniel 11. Whatever ex cathedra infallibility produces, it does not produce the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) at the institutional level over the long arc.
The 15 tests apply to the papal claim as cleanly as they apply to any claimed prophet. The institution fails them. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) — prove means test. The test is in the Bible. The result is in the record.
(The test is on the institutional doctrine, not on individual souls.)
Sharpening: the wedge
One sharper point on Isaiah 8:20. A “prophet” who teaches that the law was abolished — that the Ten Commandments don’t apply, that Sabbath-keeping is legalistic, that we are “under grace, not law” — automatically fails test #10. Not as a small failure. As a disqualifying one. The verse is unambiguous: “to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Anyone whose teaching does not line up with the law is not from God, by the Bible’s own statement. That is most of modern charismatic-prophetic ministry. That is most of modern dispensational pulpit-prophecy. The wedge is sharp on purpose.
Test all things
Paul was pragmatic and realistic and specifically wrote on how we should test things to filter out the bad and keep what is good:
1 Thessalonians 5:21 - Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
The standard you test against has to be preserved
One closing thought on the testing process. To apply the 15 tests, you need a stable Bible against which to test. If the standard against which you measure has been edited — verses removed, the law softened, the deity of Christ blurred — the tests still work, but they’re working against a moved goalpost. See the post on which Bible for the textual-transmission detail. The 15 tests are most clearly applied against the Textus Receptus / King James lineage, because it is the lineage that preserved the texts the tests themselves cite. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) presupposes a thing worth proving. The thing is the preserved Word.
whydoneit?
Why did God send his prophets?
From what I have read, there seems to be mainly two reasons:
To warn us when we turn away from Him and His commandments; and
He tells us of what is to come (so that we may know it is Him).
He made it clear from my previous post that:
John 13:19 - “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He.”