In teaching number 9, “The Purpose of Prophecy,” we learned about the subject of prophecy. In that teaching, we see that prophecy is the testimony of Jesus and is not just related to future events but has a significant impact on your life today. Its purpose is to give you the guidance you need today so you can end up in the right place tomorrow. In this writing, I want to expand on that teaching and help reveal a broader mindset of prophecy so that we, as the body of Christ, are always up to speed on what God is saying and accomplishing in His church. I recommend that at some point, you read teaching number 9 again to help in remembering how this works.
One of the biggest enlightenments about prophecy is that it’s not limited to one situation.
Prophecy can be spoken directly concerning a person or a situation and be fulfilled and finished in both. But that will most likely not be the end of it. It may also need to be fulfilled later in another time and a different person or situation. The Bible contains examples where a prophecy is spoken in the Old Testament and then again in the New Testament. In the old, prophecy is often used as a setup for greater witnesses in the new. In both cases, God must accomplish His purpose. And we must attain God’s perfect will. I like to say that the Bible is a continual progression of the same story taking place in many generations again and again until the Spirit perfects it.
Prophecy is the thing that keeps the story of God active and continuing forward. At the same time, it puts hope in the story about something that has already happened and is coming again in the future. These repetitive instances of prophecy can also be referred to as types and shadows. Also known as a figure or example of something to come. An example is Romans 5:14, “Adam, who was a type, or figure of Him (Jesus) who was to come.”
We also see this in Hebrews, where the priests and the laws of God were used in the Old Testament as a shadow of heavenly things to come. (Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 8:5; 10:1) What is in the shadows is made known when the light shines on it. God gave these examples on the earth to reveal heavenly things. Types and shadows can repeat themselves until they are perfected in prophecy.
The strength of prophecy is that its origin is heaven, and the revelation of Jesus Christ is revealed in its fulfillment.
Two principles of prophecy.
The spirit of prophecy is built on two simple principles.
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega who was, is, and is to come. (Revelation 1:4-5, 8)
To understand the power of prophecy is to see that it is a word that comes from God and works by the guidance of His Spirit. Prophecy is the Spirit of God that testifies of Jesus Christ. When prophecy is spoken, it will reveal Jesus either past, present, or future. In both the Old and the New Testament, prophecy will use whatever representation God chooses to reveal His message of Jesus. In the old, it will seem as if God is talking about one person, and in the new, He is talking about someone else. But when you understand what God is doing, all prophecies lead back to Jesus Christ, and those who are part of His body will be partakers with Him. That doesn’t mean that every detail of the Bible is about Jesus. Still, it does mean that all prophecy testifies to Jesus, even if it’s hidden in the shadows until the light reveals its true meaning.
The apostle Paul used a principle that orders out God’s method perfectly;
1 Corinthians 15:46–47 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul (being)”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.”
We see a clear principle to understand; the natural is first, and the spiritual is second. The natural revealed first how Adam was of the earth and entered into sin. The spiritual revealed that Jesus was a quickening spirit and freed Adam from his sin. This illustrates that there will be a first and a last. The first Adam in the natural, and then comes the last Adam in the spiritual. The story of Adam is a good example of prophecy repeating itself. God’s faithfulness shines continually throughout many of his generations. Prophecy can and will repeat itself continuously, but it also is perfected as it progresses.
Because prophecy is testifying of the revelation of Jesus, it can use many examples until it is ultimately fulfilled in perfection. When it is perfected, it can then repeat itself as a teacher to those who still need to learn. (Jesus was the perfect example.)
The testimony of Jesus relies on the idea that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega who was, is, and is to come. He is the first and the last. Therefore the Spirit that flows from Him originates in the past, present, and future. The spirit of prophecy is not limited or hindered by time or situation, so it can be applied to the story of God as needed in any age.
When you understand that the principle behind prophecy relies on Jesus being past, present, and future, then you know that the testimony of Jesus, the spirit of prophecy, will be seen in all three simultaneously. We see this in the Spirit of Christ. The only way for Jesus to be something that was, and is now, and is to come in the future is for Him to be a Word from the beginning. That’s why He is called a quickening spirit, because He, as a Word, has no limits and boundaries that confine Him to a particular time.
In origin, if He is a word of God, then He can appear, disappear, and reappear again because He is not bound by time or space. We see this clearly in the Old Testament when the Word, also known as the angel of the Lord, would appear to men to continue prophecy in the story of God. This angel of the Lord was the Spirit of Christ.
We will see the Spirit of Christ in prophecy represented in what was, and is now, but is still to come. This idea takes our spiritual life to the next level. If you live according to prophecy, there will be no limitations to your experience with God. He will reveal things in you that only He is aware of. This way of thinking is easily seen in Jesus, who was, is, and is yet to come. An idea that we will get into below.
Examples.
We see examples of this very thing in prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. These prophecies usually speak of a coming messiah, yet they are also about someone in a present time who also will fulfill the same prophecy in their situation. Prophecy helps connect earlier versions of the story with later versions. With this in mind, you can have one prophecy work in several generations, and all of them bring the same type of ending.
Let’s use the example of Israel, God’s son, in the Old Testament.
Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
It’s evident that Hosea was speaking about Israel here, but that’s with just looking at this verse at face value. When you apply the spirit of prophecy to this verse, you see that it leads us to a better revelation of the Son of God. To prove the pattern is true, let’s look closer.
Abraham
First, we see Abram, who is Abraham, who was delivered out of Egypt long before Israel became his offspring through Isaac and Jacob. (Genesis 12:10-20) When Abram went to Egypt because of a famine in the land, he was delivered from Pharaoh after the Lord afflicted Pharaoh. He took Abram’s wife, and the Lord wasn’t happy about it. Pharaoh sent Abram away because he did not want to contend with the Lord anymore in affliction. This is the same thing that happened with Israel when they entered Egypt. Because of famine, they were sent out by Pharaoh after God poured out His affliction on him. (You can catch up on Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and Pharaoh by reading the first several chapters of the book of Exodus.)
Using Abraham as an example in the earth opens the door for Israel to repeat that same deliverance in their generation. It’s evident that in Abraham was hidden the seed of his son Israel, which would soon manifest in God’s timing. So it’s easy to see that Abraham also fulfilled the prophecy of the Lord’s son when God called him out of Egypt.
Jesus
After having two clear examples in the Old Testament, we arrive at the New Testament to see this prophecy move to a new level as the son of God is now represented by His divine Son Jesus. As I mentioned earlier in this writing, all prophecy will tie back to Jesus Christ because the spirit of prophecy is His testimony. When you read Matthew 2:13–15, you see the Son Jesus was taken into Egypt and then was called out of Egypt by the angel of the Lord. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” We then see Jesus fulfill it spiritually when He resurrected from the dead. He was delivered from the captivity of sin and death, which is Egypt, spiritually speaking.
Sons of God
Now that the prophecy has been perfected in the Son of God, it’s time to progress it to future generations, which include us. We see the prophecy fulfilled again in the Spirit concerning the sons of God that are delivered from the bondage of slavery. It’s evident in Paul’s teachings concerning the seed of Abraham that the key to the fulfilling prophecy is to be a son of Abraham by faith. In turn, that makes you a son of God. (Galatians 7,14,26,29)
Note: Jesus ended the earthly bloodline by dying on the cross and resurrecting from the dead. He buried the earthly flesh and rose a new spiritual flesh that can also access heaven. The new seed line is no longer according to the flesh; now, we can be born of God by the Spirit.
Because of Jesus, we are now the sons of God, and Egypt is spiritual captivity that God is calling us out from. (Revelation 11:8) This fulfillment of prophecy applies to us today through the Spirit because we are all Abraham’s children through faith.
I want you to pay attention to the fact that prophecy continues to repeat itself today in us. Even though, at first glance, it may appear that it was only applied to certain people at certain times. When prophecy is revealed in the past, present, and future, it will continue to fulfill the will of God throughout all ages until the body of Christ is perfected. We are the body of Christ; therefore, all prophecy will repeat itself until we are perfected by it.