The Gift of Prophecy? Part Two

Isaiah knew his audience

Whenever we study OT passages, we need to understand that there are 4 types of people being addressed (remember we are dealing with the theocracy — under the Mosaic law we are dealing with both believers and unbelievers. Whether you were a believer or unbeliever you were obligated to keep the Mosaic Law and if you didn't you would receive discipline. If there was sufficient sin in the nation then the entire nation would be judged, if there was sufficient obedience, then the entire nation would be blessed)

1) True believers who were walking with God (the minority)

2) The believer who was not walking with God

3) The unbeliever who was trying to live by the Mosaic Law

4) The unbeliever who had no concern for living according to the Mosaic law (Dr. Jerry Hullinger’s notes on Isaiah[1]

Preachers today also must know their audiences in order to connect

The famous evangelists, Billy Sunday, worked hard at knowing to whom he was preaching and then using that knowledge to persuade his listeners.

Billy Sunday was masterful at picking up the language and sayings of the people in the cities where he was conducting his evangelistic campaigns and using them in his sermons to better identify with the people. Here is a Billy Sunday example:

Once in a community of lumbermen, Billy Sunday noticed how they would go deep into the forest to cut wood and sprinkle sawdust to find their way back. At the end of the workday, the foreman would holler, “Let’s hit the sawdust trail and go back home.” In the next service under the large Billy Sunday Tabernacle, which had sawdust as a covering for the floor, Sunday, in his invitation, exhorted wicked lumbermen to “Hit the sawdust trail” and make their way back to God. From then on, Sunday employed the phrase in his meetings and saw many come to Christ.

Isaiah the Man 

We know about Isaiah not from history but from what he said and wrote, especially in Isaiah 6:1-13. We preachers today needs these character traits.

1) He was humble. “Woe is me.”

2) He obeyed God’s call, “Here am I, send me.”

3) Isaiah ministered to Judah’s kings (1:1) for around 58 years. He finished his course.

    a. Uzziah (790-739) had a long reign during which Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727) confronted Israel and forced them to pay tribute (2 Kings 15).

    b. Jotham (750-732) saw the beginnings of the decline of Judah.

    c. Ahaz (735-715) sought the help of Tiglath-Pileser III for protection from Israel and Syria instead of trusting in Yahweh.

    d. Hezekiah (715-686), whose reign saw the threat on Jerusalem from Sennacherib. Isaiah's ministry began sometime in Uzziah's reign, and he probably died sometime after the death of Hezekiah because Isaiah wrote a biography of him (2 Chron. 32:32).

    e. Hezekiah lived after the death of Sennacherib in 681 BC (37:38). Isaiah ministered for at least 58 years (from at least 739, when Uzziah died [6:1], to 681, when Sennacherib died.

4) Isaiah was a scribe (2 Chronicles 26.22). He has been called the “Shakespeare of the Old Testament.”[2] Isaiah was accused by the leaders of Israel of treating and teaching them like they children (Isa 28:9-13). Harry Ironside and J. Vernon McGee taught his pastoral students to keep the cookies on the bottom self.

As Spurgeon once commented, ‘Christ said, ‘Feed my sheep…Feed my lambs.’’ Some preachers, however, put the food so high that neither lambs nor sheep can reach it. They seem to have the read the text, ‘Feed my giraffes.’”[3] Tony Merida agrees with Spurgeon: “The overall truth to remember in explaining is to avoid overly academic language. Luther said that when he preached, he aimed at the youth in the church, not the highly educated. Refrain from trying to impress people with your personal study. Make the text plain and understandable, so that you teach the text to all of the listeners.”[4]

5) Isaiah was married and had two sons (7.3, 8.1-4).

6) Isaiah lived in Jerusalem (He wrote much about Jerusalem). Isaiah referred to Jerusalem by using more than 30 names. Isaiah has been called the “book of the city” (1:1, 8 and 65:18-19; 66:13).

The book of Isaiah is about a city (click to open).

In Isaiah, “Jerusalem” appears 49 times and “Zion” 47, and these references are distributed throughout Isaiah’s 66 chapters. Jerusalem is referred to as “the city of righteousness” (1:26), “the faithful city” (1:26), “the valley of vision (22:1), “Ariel” (29:1–2), “the City of the LORD” (60:14), “Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (60:14), “My Delight Is in Her” (62:4), “daughter Zion” (62:11), “Sought Out” (62:12), and “A City Not Forsaken” (62:12).

But from the outset of the book we are introduced not to one city but to two: the present Jerusalem full of corruption (1:2–20), and the future Jerusalem, redeemed and righteous (1:21–2:5).[5]

7) Isaiah trained disciples (8:16).

8) There is no historical record of Isaiah’s death. Jewish tradition held that he suffered martyrdom under King Manasseh (697-642 B.C.) because of his prophesying. The early church father Justin Martyr (ca. A.D. 150) wrote that the Jews sawed him to death with a wooden saw (cf. Heb. 11:37).[6]

Isaiah’s ministry to four of Judah’s kings for 58 years reminded me of Billy Graham who met with 13 U.S. presidents and was known as the “pastor to presidents.” [click to open] Graham ministered to Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald W. Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald J. Trump. About George H. W. Bush, Graham said, “He says straight out that he has received Christ as his Savior and that he is a born-again believer.”[7]

Isaiah the Book 

Isaiah’s name, “The Lord (Yahweh) is salvation,” meaning the Lord is the source of salvation, summarizes the book's message.

1. Judgment of Sin (chs. 1-39)

2. Salvation from Sin (chs. 40-66)

Wiersbe as well as many others called Isaiah “The Bible in Miniature”[8] because

1. 39 chapters in the OT match the first 39 chapters of Isaiah (chapters 1-39)

2. 27 chapters in the NT match the following 27 chapters of Isaiah (40-66)

•       The second section begins with John the Baptist (40:1-11), just like the NT begins.

•       The second section ends with the New Heaven (66:22-24), just as the NT ends.

•       Isaiah 53 about the penal substitutionary death of Christ is the center of 40-66. Which John Whitcomb entitled a book Christ Our Savior: The Greatest Prophecy: Isaiah 53.

Isaianic authorship

The book claims to have come from Isaiah (1:1; 2:1; 7:3; 13:1; 20:2; 37:2, 6, 21; 38:1, 4, 21; 39:3, 5, 8)

Jesus Christ and the apostles quoted him as the writer at least 21 times, more often than they quoted all the other writing prophets combined.

Critics of Isaianic authorship

There is no record of any serious scholar doubting the Isaianic authorship of the entire book before the twelfth century when Ibn Ezra, a Jewish commentator, did so. However, with the rise of rationalism, some German liberal scholars took the lead in questioning it in the late eighteenth century.[9] The critics rejected Isaianic authorship because they rejected supernatural predictive prophecy.

These critics advocate three different authors who wrote to three different historical settings in these three parts of the book:

1. Isaiah’s lifetime (ca. 739-701 B.C.; chs. 1—39)

2. The Babylonian exile (ca. 605-539 B.C.; chs. 40—55)

3. The return (ca. 539-400 B.C.; chs. 56—66).” John D. W. Watts [10] is a modern commentator on Isaiah who advocated this approach.

Evidence for Isaianic authorship

NT writers quote from all these sections claiming Isaiah as the author:

1. Chapters 1-39: Romans 9:29 quotes Isa 1:9.

2. Chapters 40-55: Matt 3:3 quotes Isa 40:3 concerning the ministry of John the Baptist. Romans 10:16 quotes Isa 53:1.

3. Chapters 56-66: Romans 10:20-21 quotes Isaiah 65:1.

External evidence (New Testament citations) and internal evidence points to the unity of authorship. The title for God, “holy one of Israel,” is mentioned 12 times in chapters 1-39 and 14 times in chapters 40-66. This title of God is mentioned only seven times elsewhere in the entire Old Testament.

Outline of Isaiah

1. Prophecies of judgment for sinners: Isaiah 1-39

     Israel had broken the Mosaic Law. God predicted the punishment for breaking his Word in Deuteronomy 28:25.

    A. Prophecies of judgment on Judah (1-12)

         1) The Lord’s indictment against Judah (1-6)

a) Prophecy is preaching (1:1-31) You are sick

b) Prophecy is predicting (2:1-5) In the future you will be well when you trust in the Lord

         c) Prophecy is preaching (2:6-4:1) Stop trusting in people

             d) Prophecy is predicting (4:2-6) In the future God’s people will be fruitful

             e) Prophecy is preaching (5:1- 30) Be fruitful now

         2) Prophecies of deliverance (7-12) The Book of Immanuel (Trusting God or Man/Assyria)

              a) Prophecy of the virgin birth (7:14)

              b) Prophecy of the birth, death, and reign of Christ (9:6-7)

              c) Prophecy of the reign of Christ (11:1-12:6).

The Assyrian kingdom will fall (Isa 10:34). This prophecy was fulfilled in the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. God’s kingdom will rise (Isa 11:1-12:6). This prophecy is fulfilled in Revelation 11:15: “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’”

                  1. A description of the Messiah (11:1-5)

                  2. A description of the Kingdom (11:6-9)

                  3. A description of the Remnant (11:10-12:6). How do we know these are millennial prophesies? Because these prophecies can only be fulfilled literally in the millennium.

Wayne Grudem argues that “Several Old Testament passages seem to fit neither in the present age nor in the eternal state. These passages indicate some future stage in the history of redemption which is far greater than the present church age but which still does not see the removal of all sin and rebellion and death from the earth.”[11] These are not being fulfilled in our age, nor can they be fulfilled in eternity (Isa 11:10).

    B. Prophecies of judgment on the Nations hostile to Judah (13-23)

        1) Prophecies against nine sinful Gentile nations or cities were given to convince Israel that God will judge her enemies and set up his kingdom to persuade Israel to trust Him and the other nations.

            a) Babylon (13:1-14:27)

            b) Philistia (14:28-32)

            c) Moab (15-16)

            d) Damascus (17:1-11)

            e) Assyria (17:12-18:7)

            f) Egypt (19-20)

            g) Edom (21:11-12)

            h) Arabia (21:13-17)

            i) Jerusalem (22)

            j) Tyre (23)          

        2) Prophecies are written to assure Judah that God will judge her enemies. God will right all wrongs.

    C. Prophecies of universal judgment and blessing on the earth (24-35)

        1) The Little Apocalypse (Isa 24-27)

The Book of Revelation is the Big Apocalypse

Transition from immediate to future judgment (24) and Kingdom blessing (25-27). God’s judgment on the nations through the Assyrian invasions (chaps. 13–23) forms a backdrop for the Lord’s eventual judgment on the whole world (24:1, 4). Known as “Isaiah’s apocalypse,” chapters 24–27 describe the earth’s devastation and people’s intense suffering during

             a. The coming Tribulation (24)

             b. and the blessings to follow in the millennial kingdom (25-27)

             There is chronological progression in this eschatological section from

I. The Tribulation (24:1-20) “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30)

   A. The coming worldwide apocalypse (24:1-6)

   B. The extent of the worldwide apocalypse (24:7-13)

   C. The result of the worldwide apocalypse (24:14-16) A remnant.

   D. The description of the worldwide apocalypse (24:17-20) Like the flood (Gen 7:11; Mt 24:37-42)

II. The Second Coming (24:21-23)

     A. Isaiah 24:21: The Second Coming in Revelation 19:11-21 against the kings of the earth

     B. Isaiah 24:22: God’s enemies cast into the “pit” in Revelation 20:1-3

     C. Isaiah 24:23: The thousand-year reign of Christ in Revelation 20:4-6

III. The Millennium and beyond (25-27).

      A. The humble to be exalted (25:1–9)

      B. The proud are abased (25:10-12)

      C. The blessings of the Millennium (chapters 26-27)

           1. Jerusalem will be righteous, peaceful, and safe (26:1-6)

           2. Israel will be a witness to the lost world (26:7-11)

           3. Dead Israel is resurrected (26:12-21) (Rev 19:11-20:6)

           4. Resurrected Israel will bless the world (27:1-11)

           5. Israel regathered from around the world (27:12-13)

The millennial sections explain various aspects of God’s activity during this time (Constable). Soon after God in His judgment will wipe out sinful people (chap. 24) the Messiah’s glorious kingdom will begin. In poetry Isaiah described the praise that will be ascribed to the Lord in the Millennium for His marvelous work.

                 1) Praise to the Lord for the coming kingdom (24:1-5)

                     a) The prophet ascribed praise to the Lord’s name (His revealed character)           

                     b) for His marvelous acts of judgment (vv. 2–3)

                     c) and deliverance vv. 4–5).

                 2) Effects of the coming kingdom (24:6–12) 

                 3) The humble to be exalted (25:1–6)

                 4) Deliverance to come from God (26:7–21)

                 5) The culmination of judgment (27:1)

                 6) The song of the vineyard (27:2-6)

                 7) The coming judgment (27:7–11)

                 8) The regathering of Israel (27:12-13)

  2) Woes against those who set themselves against God and were scoffing at Isaiah’s messages (28-33)

(Gen 12:1-2) I will bless them that bless you and.curse them that curse you (See Ryrie’s Basic Theology)

            1. Woe to Ephraim and Judah (chap. 28)

            2. Woe to Jerusalem (chap. 29)

            3. Woe to the obstinate children (chap. 30)

            4. Woe to the Egyptian alliance (chaps. 31–32)

            5. Woe to the destroyers (chap. 33)

        3) Vengeance and blessing (chaps. 34–35)

            1. The Lord’s day of vengeance (chap. 34) against the enemies of God.

            2. The Lord’s day of blessing (chap. 35) for the people of God.

    D. Prophecies of the Captivity (36-39) A Historical Bridge

         Historical interlude: Judah to be in captivity (chaps. 36–39)

        1) God defeated Assyria as predicted (Isaiah looks back in chapters 36-37 and climax 1-35).

a) Isaiah wanted to portray Hezekiah as one who believed in God and was miraculously delivered from the Assyrian threat by a sovereign act of God. The point of these chapters is that God can and does fulfill His Word to His people. He had told them on a number of occasions that the Assyrians would be defeated; now that promise was fulfilled.

            b) Hezekiah was a man of faith

        2) God delivered Judah from Babylon as predicted (Isaiah looks forward in chapters 38-39 and lays a foundation for 40-66).

            a) In chapters 36–37, Hezekiah was a man of faith, but here he was a man of pride.

            b) This account is also recorded in 2 Kings 20.

            c) Three events occurred in 701 BC.

     1) Sennacherib’s attack (Isa 36-37)

                2) Hezekiah’s sickness (Isa 38)

                3) Merodach-baladan’s visit (Isa 39)

                 “Hezekiah faced three crises in a short time:

                1) An international crisis (The invasion of the Assyrian army),  

                2) A personal crisis (sickness and near death)

                3) A national crisis (the visit of the Babylonian envoys). “He came through the first two victoriously, but the third one tripped him up”[12]

2. Prophecies of Comfort for the believer (the remnant): Isaiah 40-66

God promised God’s People that He would return them to the land for their obedience (Dt. 30:1-5). Judgment, emphasized in chapters 1–39, is the purifying force that leads to the forgiveness and pardoning of sins emphasized in chapters 40–66 (cf. 27:9).

This section is divided into three parts of nine chapters each (chaps. 40–48; 49–57; 58–66).

    A. Prophecies of deliverance from captivity in Babylon (40-48).

           The chief deliverer is Cyrus, mentioned near the middle of the section (44:28–45:1). The prophecy of Cyrus was stated in about 726 B.C. and fulfilled in 536 B.C. 190 years later.

    B. Prophecies of the rejection and restoration of the Suffering Servant (49-57).

Servants in the OT

1. Job in Job 42:7 “My servant”

2. Assyria is God’s servant though not called a servant (Isa 10:5)

3. Cyrus is God’s servant “shepherd” (Isa 45:28)

4. Nebuchadnezzar (”my servant”) (Jer 25:9)

Servants in Isaiah

1. David (37:35)

2. Israel (41:8; 43:1-10; 45:4: 48:20)

3. Messiah (42:1-12; 49; 50:4-6; 52:13-53:12

Four “Servant” Prophesies

1. The Servant is sent (42:6-7)

2. The Servant is rejected (49:3-7)

3. The Servant is abused (50:6)

4. The Servant is crucified (52:13-53:12)

The Servant’s Greatest Service

1. The Servant is humbled and exalted (52:13-15)

2. The Servant is rejected (53:1-3)

3. The Servant is punished (53:4-6)

4. The Servant is submitted (53:7-9)

5. The Servant is exalted (53:10-12)

    C.  Prophecies of the consummation of God’s restoration of Israel and the world (58-66). At the heart of this third section is the coming of the Messiah (chaps. 61–63).

         1. The restoration to come by God’s initiative (chaps. 58–60) (59:20)

         2. The coming of the Messiah (61:1–63:6)

         3. The nation’s prayer and the Lord’s response (63:7–65:25).

         4. The Lord’s fulfillment of His promises (chap. 66)

Theology of Isaiah

The central doctrine of Isaiah is the Holy One of Israel

1. Isaiah’s call is rooted in the holiness of God in Isaiah six. The adjective “holy” (Heb. qadosh) describes God 33 times in Isaiah and only 26 times in the rest of the Old Testament. Holiness is the primary attribute of God that this prophet stressed.

2. Isaiah is the prophet of holiness

    a. In the book of The King his holiness is rejected (5:24)

    b. In the book of The Servant He dies for sinful people (Isa 53)

    c. In the book of The Conqueror sinners will bow before the Holy one of Israel (60:14)

Another important doctrine is God who keeps His promises (covenant promises)

In the ancient Near East, names were more meaningful than they are today. A person’s name was an indication of his or her character. The Book of Isaiah is no exception, for in this book, the meanings of God’s names play an important role in several prophetic utterances. Isaiah used the name “the LORD” (Yahweh) by itself more than 300 times, making it by far the most prominent name for Deity Isaiah used. Since this name is the covenant name for God, it is natural that Isaiah used it often.

He also frequently used the name “God” (’ělōhîm) in both parts of the book. It is noteworthy that “God” occurs six times in chapter 40 (vv. 1, 3, 8–9, 27–28; “God” in v. 18, however, translates the shorter form ’ēl), which introduces the section on comfort for the covenant people. As the one supreme Deity, God can give comfort to His people[9] (Bible Knowledge Commentary).

God fulfilled the first-coming prophecies literally, and God will keep the second-coming millennial prophecies literally. However, Covenant postmillennialist Loraine Boettner provides an example of allegorizing the millennial passage of Isaiah 11:6-8, which predicts that in the future kingdom:

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.” Here is how Boettner allegorizes this prophecy for Israel: “A fitting example of the wolf dwelling with the lamb is seen in the change that came over the vicious persecutor Saul of Tarsus, who was a wolf ravening and destroying, but who was so transformed by the Gospel of Christ that he became a lamb. After his conversion, he lost his hatred for the Christians and became instead their humble friend, confidant, and defender.[13]

This fanciful interpretation was not Isaiah’s message to his original audience. This allegorical interpretation violates the historical/grammatical method of hermeneutics. First, there is no indication in the New Testament that “the lamb” in Isaiah 11 is a type and Paul is the antitype. An actual type is the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 and the antitype is in 1 Corinthians 5. Plus, the context is not Saul of Tarsus’ conversion but the future millennium. From above the context is clear:

Prophecy of the reign of Christ (11:1-12:6).

The Assyrian kingdom will fall (Isa 10:34). God’s kingdom will rise (Isa 11:1-12:6). This is the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15.

                  1. A description of the Messiah (11:1-5)

                  2. A description of the Kingdom (11:6-9)

                  3. A description of the Remnant (11:10-12:6). How do we know these are millennial prophesies? Because these prophecies can only be fulfilled literally in the millennium. These are not being fulfilled in our age, nor can they be fulfilled in eternity (Isa 11:10).

God literally keeps His promises. What promise from God’s Word do you need today? The promise of salvation (Rom 10:19), forgiveness (1 Jo 1:9), strength (Phil 4:13), or God’s supplies (Phil 4:19). Claim these promises proclaimed by God’s prophets!

[1] Dr. Hullinger’s notes on Isaiah

[2] Brent A. Strawn describes the common interpretations of Isaiah authorship (click to open)

[3] John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994), 146-147.

[4] Tony Merida, The Christ-Centered Expositor: A Field Guide for Word-Driven Disciple Makers (Nashville: B&H, 2016), 180.

[5] Bo Lim, A Tale of Two Cities (click to open), Seattle Pacific University

[6] William Sanford LaSor, Great Personalities of the Old Testament (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1959), 136.

[7] Billy Graham: pastor to presidents (click to open) Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, February 23, 2026.

[8] Wiersbe on Isaiah: Be Comforted.

[9] Thomas Constable, Netbible.org.

[10] Thomas Constable, Netbible.org. Bibliotheca Sacra 144:573 (January-March 1987):24-43; and idem, “Literary Genres in Isaiah 40—55,” Bibliotheca Sacra 144:574 (April-June 1987):144-55.

[11] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

[12] Bible Knowledge Commentary

[13] The Meaning of the Millennium p. 90).

The Gift of Prophecy? Part One

Before the 2020 election, alleged prophets, Loren Sandford, Jeremiah Johnson, and Kris Vallotton, who are part of the New Apostolic Reformation, prophesied that Donald Trump would be reelected as president! How did that turn out?

Before we study biblical prophets in God’s Word, lets examine contemporary unbiblical prophets who are widespread and influential. In 2020, contributors to the World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in The Modern World confirmed that the Apostolic networks are among the fastest growing movements in the modern Christian world. [1] A huge part of the Apostolic networks is the continuing gift of prophecy.

Unbiblical Modern Prophets

Modern prophets are unbiblical for two reasons. First, modern unbiblical prophets do not meet the qualification of Deuteronomy 18:20-23 of fulfilling 100 percent of all prophecy. Second, modern unbiblical prophets misinterpret Ephesians 4:11.

Modern unbiblical prophets do not meet the qualification of Deuteronomy 18:20-23

One of the main prophets and/or leaders in the Kansas City Prophets movement was Bob Jones (no relation to Bob Jones of Bob Jones University in South Carolina), the movement's visionary.  He was said to have been specially anointed with supernatural visions from the Lord and a prophetic gift.  However, he was quoted as saying that the general level of prophetic revelation in the movement's "prophets" had an accuracy level of about 65 percent.  He said some prophets were as low as 10 percent accurate, with some of the "most mature" prophets having a rating "approaching 85 percent to 95 percent." [2]

Here is a more recent example. Craig Keener, who is a Charismatic and believes in the continuing gift of prophecy noted the failed prophecies concerning Trump’s reelection in 2020. Keener wrote: Yet certain prophets have drawn the attention of Charismatics and non-Charismatics alike by publicly confessing that their prophecies were indeed mistaken and extending their apologies. Loren Sandford, Jeremiah Johnson, and Kris Vallotton have recently expressed contrition and even repentance for incorrectly prophesying that Trump would win again in 2020.[3]

Deuteronomy 18:20-23 is the test of a prophet in the Old Testament. A biblical prophet has an accuracy rate of 100 percent.

Modern unbiblical prophets misinterpret Ephesians 4:11

Another movement that is more current that advocates the modern prophetic gift is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). The movement is carrying on the legacy of previous movements like the Kansas City Prophets movement. One of NAR’s founders, Peter Wagner, wrote, “The church is to be guided and governed by prophets and apostles (Eph. 4:12–15). Prophets are people with the anointing of God to hear his voice and guide the church. God has empowered those with the gift of prophecy (that is, those who hold the office of prophet) to hear his revealed will ‘more accurately’ once the intercessors have opened heavenly portals by binding demonic powers”[4]

The New Apostolic Reformation wields massive influence today. Here is an article exposes the harmful influence: The Framing of a Movement: The New Apostolic Reformation.[5] (Click to open)

Bill Hamon and Peter Wagner “worked together in propagating the Apostolic Movement like Martin Luther and John Calvin worked together in propagating the Protestant Movement.” Like Luther, Hamon was the visionary behind the restoration of apostles that began what he called the “Prophetic-Apostolic Movement.” [Notice the NAR was originally named “Prophetic-Apostolic”]. Like Calvin, Wagner popularized the movement’s theology into the broader church by writing the theological designations for the different types of apostles and their various functions in what he termed the “New Apostolic Reformation.”[6]

The continuing gift of prophecy is part of the he five fold ministry of Christ

The five fold ministry of Christ is based on Ephesians 4:11-12 which includes pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles.

Bill Hamon describes how the lost gift of prophecy was restored:

• During the 1950s, the office of evangelist was restored, evidenced by renewed emphasis on crusades and evangelistic ministries.

• During the 1960s, the office of pastor was emphasized, followed by the office of teacher during the 1970s. Throughout the 1950s to the ’70s, Christianity saw an abundance of ministries being created to teach the restored doctrines through radio, television, and revival ministries. Among these offices, two were destined to rise above the rest and claim dominion over the others: the age of the apostles and prophets had come.

• In 1988, the prophets were restored to the church.

• In 1998 apostles were restored; the Second Apostolic Age had begun. According to Hamon, all the “previous movements” of reformation throughout church history “prepared the way for the full restoration” to the five fold ministry led by prophets and apostles. Now that the Second Apostolic Age has come, Christ calls his restored end-times church to prepare for his coming.[7]

New Testament prophets laid the church's foundation (Eph 2:20). Once the foundation was laid, their ministries ceased. See Michael Horton’s White Horse Inn article Reformed and Charismatic? (Click to open) Horton refutes the New Apostolic Reformation and other similar groups that believe in the continuing gift of prophecy.

Here is Horton’s refutation of NAR which he refers to as Reformed Charismatics because of the infiltration of NAR into Reformed circles:

I’ll focus on the question of whether the gifts of prophet and apostle have ceased.  In Ephesians 4:7-16, the apostle says that offices prophets and apostles as well as pastors, teachers, and evangelists are gifts of his heavenly ascension …. Against both Rome and the radical Anabaptists, the Reformers argued that prophet and apostle are extraordinary offices, for a foundation-laying era.  They are sent at key moments in redemptive history, and their writings are added to the canon of Scripture.

Against both Rome and the radical Anabaptists, the Reformers argued that prophet and apostle are extraordinary offices, for a foundation-laying era.  They are sent at key moments in redemptive history, and their writings are added to the canon of Scripture.

Cessationists hold that the New Testament itself makes a distinction between the foundation-laying era of the apostles and the era of building the church on their completed foundation (1 Cor 3:10-11).  Although the New Testament establishes the offices of pastors/teachers, elders, and deacons, it does not establish perpetual prophetic or apostolic offices with their attendant sign-gifts.[8] 

In contrast to unbiblical prophets who were hit and miss in their prognostications, biblical prophets were not only accurate in foretelling the future but also powerful in instructing their contemporaries.

Biblical Prophets

The prophets in the Old Testament were the most profound spokesman in history. [9]

1. Prophets foretold the future

When they predicted events, it was to move their listeners to repent or be encouraged. Jonah preached his prophecy, “In forty days, Nineveh will be destroyed,” resulting in their repenting.

Old Testament prophets foretold over 300 Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ’s 1st coming and over 400 that will be fulfilled in His 2nd coming. Isaiah has more prophecies about Christ than any other prophetic book. There are at least 22 prophecies about Christ in Isaiah.

The prophets were preachers but more than preachers. They prophesied that God would reveal future events to them. Here is God’s claim of being able to predict the future (Isa 42:8-9). These verses declare that because God has fulfilled previous prophecies, He will bring to pass future prophecies. An example of God fulfilling a previous prophecy is the prediction that God would defeat Assyria in Israel in Isaiah 10:24-27 which was fulfilled in Isaiah 37:36-38. If God does not predict and fulfill prophecies, then Isaiah’s argument that God is different from idols is destroyed.  

The Sunday evening, I got saved, the preacher proclaimed a prophetic message on Hell. Hell is in the future of every person who rejects Christ as Savior.

2. Prophets forth told the Word to their contemporaries

There are 17 prophetic books: Five Major (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and Twelve Minor that cover four centuries in the Old Testament from 840 B.C. (Obadiah) to 420 B.C. (Malachi). The 17 prophetic books are called the “dark continent of Scripture.” These Old Testament dark ages needed prophets foretelling the future and forth telling God’s Word to provoke repentance.

“The prophets spoke to Israel in times of crisis .... Had there been no crisis, there would have been little need for the prophets.” [10]

1. The prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah prophesied before the crisis of the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC to Assyria (Assyria invaded Israel five times).

    1) Tiglath-pileser invaded in 743-738 B.C. (2 Kings15:19-20).

    2) He invaded again later

    3) Shalmanesser V invaded and defeated Israel in 722 B.C. Isaiah predicted this defeat.

    4) Sargon II attacked later

    5) Sennacherib attacked Israel but was defeated by a single angel in Isaiah 36-37 in 701 B.C.

2.  The prophets Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Ezekiel and Obadiah warned the Southern Kingdom of Judah not to follow the example of Israel or they would experience a similar crisis. Judah fell to Babylon in 586 BC.

Don’t stump your toe over the same rock twice.

3. After the 70-year exile, when Persia was the new world power, Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, and Malachi prophesied to God’s people. These prophets ministered in times of crises unto the end of the Old Testament.

Augustine referred to “Seasons of the soul” or crises when sinners are more open to the gospel. For example, when my mother’s brother, Paul, an alcoholic, died, my mom looked into his casket and asked herself, where is my brother? Then, she asked herself, where would I be if I died? She knew she would be in hell. The death or crisis of her lost brother became a season of the soul and she trusted Christ as her Savior.

Prophets as individuals

A prophet was called “man of God,” “seer,” “visionary,” and “prophet.” “Prophet” during the literary period was the most common name for a prophet.

Non writing Prophets

Though these prophets did not record their prophecies, “The records of non-literary prophecy are not entirely lost to us for they are interwoven into the histories of Israel as they are told in the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.” [11]

“The prophets (non-literary) did not become a significant factor in religious history until the rise of the monarchy.” [12] They were the conscience of the king.

1. Samuel and Nathan

The prophetic organization returns to Samuel, the first full-time professional prophet. (I Sam. 3:21ff. lays out the office of the prophet). Prophetic organization — the prophets traveled with disciples (schools of the prophets) (Dr. Jerry Hullinger’s notes on Isaiah). Maxwell “Never do ministry alone.”

    A. Samuel, the kingmaker. The monarchy or institution of kings came into existence because of the ministry of Samuel the prophet. Samuel anointed the first two kings of Israel.

B. There was a band of prophets in 1 Samuel 10:5-13.

         1) Nathan received a vision of the temple in 2 Samuel 7:17.

         2) Nathan rebuked King David in 2 Samuel 12 concerning his sin with Bathsheba. Nathan’s message: “You are the man.”

2. Elijah and Elisha had understudies called the “sons of the prophets” (2 Kgs 6:1-7). Elijah rebuked King Ahaz in 1 Kings 17:1 with a prophecy, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years.” The nonliterary, prophets were watchdogs of the king, admonishing him to faithfulness to Yahweh.

3. Isaiah preached to and rebuked Hezekiah in Isaiah 36-39. Read Isaiah 38:1-2.

4. John the Baptist was called the greatest of the prophets in Mt 11:11 who rebuked king Herod in Mt 14:4.

Since “All Scripture is God breathed and is profitable” how can we apply what the biblical prophets did in the Old and New Testament without embarrassingly prophesying future events like the predictors of Trump’s second term in 2020? Michael Horton notes that “Paul [in the New Testament Epistles] treats prophecy (prophēteia) as preaching, which although illumined by the Spirit is (unlike the scriptures) un-inspired and therefore must be tested (1 Cor 12:29; 1 Thes 5:19-21).”[13] 

Preachers today can obviously forth tell God’s Word. In Romans 12:3-8, Paul lists service gifts that many Bible students believe are operative and beneficial for the local church today (The temporary sign gifts are absent from this list): Prophecy (in the forth telling and not the foretelling aspect since no other sign gifts are in this list), ministry, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and mercy. We must preach the Word with boldness as did the prophets and even at times rebuke high up officials as did the watchdogs of kings in the Old Testament and John the Baptist in the Gospels.

In Part Two, we will focus on Isaiah the prophet.

[1] Barrett, David B; Kurian, George Thomas; Johnson, M. Todd (2020). World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in The Modern World. Vol. 2 Volume Set (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

[2] Steven F Cannon, "Old Wine in Old Wineskins: A Look at Kansas City Fellowship," The Quarterly Journal 10, no. 4 (October-December 1990): 8.

[3] Craig Keener, Failed Trump Prophecies Offer a Lesson in Humility, Christianity Today. January 20, 2021.

[4] C. Peter Wagner, On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Answer God’s Call to Transform the World, Ventura, CA: Regal, 2013, 29) (click to open).

[5] Evan P. Pietsch, R. Vivian Pietsch, Modern Reformation: The Framing of a Movement: The New Apostolic Reformation, Tuesday, May 21st 2024.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Bill Hamon, The Eternal Church: A Prophetic Look at the Church—Her History, Restoration, and Destiny (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2003), 265.

[8] Michael Horton, Reformed and Charismatic?

[9] Bullock C. Hassell, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 11.

[10] Ibid., 11.

[11] Ibid., 15.

[12] Ibid., 15.

[13] Michael Horton, Reformed and Charismatic?

[6] C. Peter Wagner, The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit: Encountering the Power of Signs and Wonders Today (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1988), 107.

[7] Bullock C. Hassell, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 9.

Review of Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth by Terry Mortenson

Chapter 2 A Brief Overview of the Exegesis of Genesis 1-11: Luther to Lyell

David Hall summarizes his chapter: “What follows is a summary of the most noteworthy theologians from 1500 to roughly 1830 (about the time of Charles Lyell, the figurehead leader of the geological theory of deep time).[1]

Hall notes importantly: “When one considers the totality of primary sources, rather than the unsubstantiated claims of modern proponents of old-earth creationism, we will see that Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Westminster Divines, John Wesley, and the like are no friends of deep time or gradual creation.”[2]

The Protestant Reformers

I am only going to quote John Calvin as representative of the Protestant Reformers: “We are drawn away from all fictions to the only God who distributed his work into six days that we might not find it irksome to occupy our whole life in contemplating it.”[3] On the age of the earth, Calvin contended that the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 were strict chronologies (with no gaps).[4] Thomas Constable agrees with Calvin on the genealogy in Genesis: The careful recording of the age of each man when he fathered the next man in the list strongly suggests that this list is complete. Furthermore, the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1:1-4 and Luke 3:36-38 are identical to the one in Genesis 5. There are probably no missing generations. As well as Keil and Delitzsch, 1:120-27.[5]

From Calvin to Ussher

Next, Hall quotes an impressive succession of Genevan scholars, including Theodore Beza (1519-1605), Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563), Peter Martyr (1499-1562), and Francois Homan. I am going to cite Peter Martyr as typical of this period: “The evening and the morning were made the first days of the gathering together forth of light before the bringing forth of the sunne ....When we speak of the creation of things, we bring not forth one thing out of another after Aristotle’s manner, but we affirm all natures, as well bodies with bodies [angels, demons], to be created of another by the word of God.”[6]

Continental Reformed Theologians, 1590-1690

Zacharius Ursinus (1534-1583) speaks for many Reformers of this era. Ursinus was a student of Philip Melanchthon and wrote a commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism. Ursinus became a professor at Heidelberg in 1561. The catechism was published anonymously in 1563, but many contend he was the main contributor to writing the famous catechism.[7] In his commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, he wrote, “According to the common reckoning, it is now counting from this 1616 of Christ, 5534 years since the creation of the world.”[8]

British Puritan Exegetes

“Cambridge Fellow, William Perkins (1558-1602), was a puritan, polemicist, and preacher par excellence. His works at the height of British Puritanism became as popular as Calvin’s.”[9] On the time and days of creation, Perkins wrote: “The sixth shall be touching the tme of the beginning of the world, which is between five thousand and sixe thousand years a goe.... God could have made the world, and all things in it in one moment: but hee began and finished the whole worke in sixe distinct dates.... for the light was made the first day: but the Sune, the Moone, and the Stars were not created before the fourth day.”[10]

Reformed Theologians a Century after Westminster, 1640-1740

Hall cited one of the darlings of Reformed theologians: “Writing in 1679, Francis Turretin noted, but then rejected, the Augustinian view and sided with Ussher: ‘Nor does the sacred history written by Moses cover any more than six thousand years .... Greek history scarcely contains the history of two thousand years.’ Tuerritn went so far as to commend Ussher and others for specifying that creation happened in autumn, not spring.”[11]

Wesley and Early 19th Century Commentaries

[John] Wesley never wrote extensively on creation or the Flood, but in this work, he stated his belief that the various rock strata were “doubtless formed by the general Deluge” of Noah’s day.[12] On the age of the earth, Wesley declared: “The Scripture being the only Book in the world that gives us any account of the whole series of God’s Dispensations toward man from the Creation for four thousand years.”[13]

Joining the Church Fathers, the Reformers also advocated six-twenty-four days of creation, approximately six thousand years ago. Thus, the Great Tradition is a young earth.

[1] Terry Mortenson, Coming to Grips with Genesis (p. 54).

[2] Ibid., 55.

[3] Ibid., 56.

[4] Calvin, Genesis, p.76

[5] Thomas Constable, Netbible.org

[6] Terry Mortenson, Coming to Grips with Genesis, 62.

[7] Zacharius Ursinus: The Happy Professor

[8] Zacharius Ursinus, Commentary to the Heidelberg Confession, (Columbus: Scott and Bascom Printers, 1852).

[9] Terry Mortenson, Coming to Grips with Genesis (p. 68).

[10] William Perkins, An Exposition of the Creede, 1:143.

[11] Terry Mortenson, Coming to Grips with Genesis 71.

[12]  Ibid.,74.

[13] Wesley, Survey of the Wisdom of God in the Creation, II:227.