Prophesy Class 1 Note · Antioch Institute ST

Prophesy Class 1 Note

SECTION 1

The Spirit of Prophecy

Revelation 19:10 (NKJV)

"And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'"

John receives this encounter while exiled on the island of Patmos. Throughout the book he is brought into Heaven where he encounters angels, elders, living creatures, and the glorified Christ. By the nineteenth chapter John falls at the feet of an angel to worship him. It appears that, for a moment, John mistakes the angel for Jesus.

This is significant because John walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He heard His voice, witnessed His ministry, and knew Him personally. Earlier in Revelation he had already seen Christ in His glorified state.

Revelation 1:1 (NKJV)

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place."

The book tells us from the opening verse what it is about. It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The word revelation means an unveiling. Before we read about beasts, seals, trumpets, or bowls, the purpose of the book has already been established. It is revealing Jesus Christ.

When Christ first appears to John, He identifies Himself this way.

Revelation 1:8 (NKJV)

"'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,' says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'"

Jesus presents Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. The Revelation unveils Christ from beginning to end.

Why then did John mistake the angel for Jesus?

Throughout Scripture angels represent the One they serve. They carry His messages, execute His assignments, and minister on His behalf. John's response suggests that the angel reflected the One who sent him.

The early church appears to have understood this connection.

Acts 12:13–15 (NKJV)

"And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, 'You are beside yourself!' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, 'It is his angel.'"

Whether their conclusion was correct is beside the point. What is noteworthy is that they considered it possible that Peter's angel could be mistaken for Peter. There is an association between heavenly messengers and those they serve.

The angel immediately redirected John's worship.

Revelation 19:10 (NKJV)

"...Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

This statement becomes the foundation for our study of the prophetic. If something is going to be called prophetic, it must testify of Jesus Christ. He is the subject of prophecy.

Because of this, our study of prophecy cannot begin with the New Testament gift. Prophecy existed long before the gifts of the Spirit were given to the Church. If the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, then we have to go back and discover how the prophets were already bearing witness to Christ centuries before His birth.

SECTION 2

The First Prophet

The first human prophet recorded in Scripture is Abel. This often surprises people because Abel is never recorded speaking a prophetic word. Yet Jesus Himself identifies Abel as a prophet. His prophetic ministry was found in his actions before it was found in his words.

Genesis 4:1–2 (NKJV)

"Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, 'I have acquired a man from the LORD.' Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."

Jesus later places Abel at the very beginning of the prophetic lineage.

Matthew 23:34–35 (NKJV)

"Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."

Abel never gave a recorded prophetic utterance, yet Jesus calls him a prophet. His life testified of Christ before his mouth ever did.

After Cain murdered his brother, God spoke to Cain.

Genesis 4:10 (NKJV)

"And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.'"

One of the greatest moments of Abel's prophetic ministry came after his death. His blood continued speaking when his voice could no longer be heard. Abel became a prophetic picture of Jesus Christ. The greatest work of Christ's earthly ministry came through His death, and today His blood still speaks.

Hebrews 12:24 (NKJV)

"...to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel."

Abel's blood cried out from the ground. The blood of Jesus speaks a better word. Long before Christ came into the earth, Abel's life and death were already bearing witness to Him.

Cain and Abel also present a picture of law and grace.

Genesis 4:3–5 (NKJV)

"And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."

Cain brought the fruit of the ground. This is significant because the ground had already been cursed after Adam's sin. Adam would now work it by the sweat of his brow. Cain's offering came from the ground that bore the curse and represented the work of man's hands. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. His sacrifice pointed to the Lamb of God who would one day take away the sin of the world. When God looked at Cain's offering, He saw works. When He looked at Abel's offering, He saw a prophecy of grace. This is one of the reasons Abel's sacrifice was accepted. Abel was prophesying through his sacrifice.

Abel also introduces the earliest pattern of worship found in Scripture.

Genesis 22:5 (NKJV)

"And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.'"

This is the first time the word worship appears in Scripture. Abraham uses it while preparing to offer Isaac upon the altar. Worship is introduced through sacrifice. Although Abraham is the first person to give it a name, Abel demonstrated it generations earlier. His offering established the pattern before Abraham identified it.

The prophetic has a way of giving language to what God has already been doing. Abel demonstrated worship before it had a name. Abraham later identified it.

SECTION 3

Shadows Authored by the Spirit of Prophecy

The spirit of prophecy is the track record of Jesus Christ throughout Scripture. Before Jesus appeared in the flesh, the Old Testament was already carrying shadows of His coming. These shadows were authored by the Spirit of prophecy. They were moments, people, patterns, and promises that appeared to belong only to the generation in which they were written, yet they were bearing witness to Christ.

One situational shadow is Noah and the ark.

Genesis 7:1 (NKJV)

"Then the LORD said to Noah, 'Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.'"

The ark became the place of safety from the judgment coming upon the world. Just as everyone inside the ark escaped the coming judgment, everyone found in Christ escapes the judgment to come. Noah's ark was more than a historical vessel. It was a prophetic shadow of Jesus Christ.

Another shadow is found in Jacob and Esau.

Genesis 25:29–34 (NKJV)

"Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.' Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, 'Sell me your birthright as of this day.' And Esau said, 'Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?' Then Jacob said, 'Swear to me as of this day.' So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."

Within this exchange, Esau becomes a prophetic picture of Christ and Jacob becomes a picture of us. The exchange happened over bread and red stew. The bread points to His body and the red stew points to His blood. This brings us to the language of the Last Supper. Through the body and blood of Christ, the younger brother receives the birthright of the Older Brother. A birthright was exchanged.

Another situational shadow is found in the days of Joseph.

Genesis 40:20–23 (NKJV)

"Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him."

The baker and the cupbearer became prophetic shadows of Jesus Christ. The baker carried bread, and the cupbearer carried the cup. The baker died, pointing to the body of Christ that would be broken. The cupbearer lived and stood before Pharaoh with the cup in his hand. This becomes a picture of the blood of Jesus that continues to testify before the throne of the King on our behalf. Long before Jesus instituted Communion, the Spirit of prophecy had already woven the language of His body and His blood into the life of Joseph.

The Spirit of prophecy also speaks through passages that appear to belong only to the generation in which they were written while at the same time speaking beyond that generation concerning Christ.

Haggai 2:9 (NKJV)

"'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts."

This prophecy reaches beyond a physical temple. The latter glory is Jesus Christ. He is greater than the former order because He fulfilled what the law could only foreshadow. The glory of the latter house is greater because Christ Himself entered it.

Nathan's prophecy to David is another example.

2 Samuel 7:12–14 (ESV)

"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men."

At first glance this appears to be speaking of Solomon. Yet the prophecy reaches beyond Solomon because it speaks of a kingdom that will be established forever. Nathan was speaking of Jesus in prophetic language. Even the phrase, "when he commits iniquity," points beyond Solomon. Jesus never committed sin, but He became sin for us and bore our iniquity upon the cross. He was chastised with the stripes of men so that we might receive righteousness. Nathan was bearing witness to Christ nearly a thousand years before His birth.

SECTION 4

Geographical Locations

The spirit of prophecy is not only seen through prophetic people. At times in Scripture it rested upon an entire geographical location. There were moments where individuals entered a particular place and found themselves prophesying because of the atmosphere surrounding them. This was neither the office of the prophet nor the New Testament gift of prophecy. It was the spirit of prophecy coming upon people for a specific purpose.

One of the earliest examples is found in the days of Moses.

Numbers 11:24–25 (NKJV)

"So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again."

The seventy elders prophesied, yet the Scriptures tell us they never did so again. This was not the office of a prophet, nor was it the New Testament gift of prophecy. This was the spirit of prophecy coming upon them. The Lord took of the Spirit resting upon Moses and placed it upon the seventy elders. They immediately began to prophesy.

This is also one of the earliest shadows of impartation in Scripture. What rested upon Moses came upon the seventy elders, and the immediate evidence was prophecy. Long before impartation was understood in the New Testament, the Spirit had already authored a shadow of it in the wilderness.

Another example is found at Ramah during the ministry of Samuel.

1 Samuel 19:20–24 (NKJV)

"Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, 'Where are Samuel and David?' And someone said, 'Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah.' So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?'"

The spirit of prophecy had saturated Ramah. Saul sent men to capture David, yet every group that entered that region began to prophesy. Finally Saul himself entered the same vicinity and the Spirit of God came upon him as well.

Ramah had become encompassed by the spirit of prophecy. Those who entered its vicinity found themselves prophesying because of what rested there. This was not the result of the prophetic office, nor was it the gift of prophecy. It was the spirit of prophecy manifesting within a geographical location.

There are seasons where believers step into places where hearing the voice of God becomes unusually easy. Sometimes this is because of the people God has gathered there. Sometimes it is because a location has become saturated through years of prayer, worship, and prophetic ministry. Throughout Scripture, the spirit of prophecy was not only seen upon individuals. At times it rested upon an entire geographical location, and those who entered its influence encountered it.

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Prophesy Class 1 Note