THE PURPOSE & EFFECT OF REVELATION
PART THREE
Conditional vs Non-Conditional Prophecies
Much of what constitutes personal prophetic ministry and corporate prophetic utterances are conditional prophecies. Conditional prophecies are prophetic words that are dependent upon the people that receive them. There are, of course, prophetic words that are not conditional, but those tend to be more rare.
For examples of conditional prophetic words we can look at many places in scripture. Take for instance 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
The Lord gives a promise: “I will heal their land.” But the promise is conditional upon the response of the people: “If My people humble themselves.” If the people fail to humble themselves then the promised healing and forgiveness will never take place.
There are many other examples in scripture of conditional prophecies. Take the prophecy to Hezekiah by Isaiah:
Isaiah 38:1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”
Hezekiah turns to the Lord and weeps:
Isaiah 38:2-3 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord , and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Isaiah is then told to update the prophetic word to Hezekiah:
Isaiah 38:4-5 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.
The original prophecy to Hezekiah was conditional to the state of Hezekiah’s heart. When Hezekiah cries out, the prophesied outcome is changed.
Another example is found later in Isaiah:
Isaiah 56:4-5 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
Those eunuchs who hold fast to the covenant are given a name that is everlasting.
Many of the personal prophecies that are given today are conditional in the same way as the aforementioned. How are we going to respond to the invitation? If it is prophesied that we are called to leadership, how do I respond and what kind of training do I seek? If it is prophesied about a particular gift the Lord has given me (like Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14), how do I put myself in the place for the Lord to use me? If Hezekiah did not turn and weep, he would have shortly died. This does not mean we are required to respond to everything anyone says to us. We will address how to respond to prophecies and the fallibility of prophecy in a later section.
Something must also be said for prophecies that are not conditional. They are given as fact. Take the prophecy of the famine by Agabus:
Acts 11:27-29 And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.
The question was not whether or not the famine would come, but rather how to respond to the revelation of a coming famine. There were no conditions to the eventual famine, it simply was going to happen. The same is true of the covenant promises:
Psalms 105:8-11 He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance.”
When God covenants and gives his oath it is non-negotiable. He tells Abraham that his family will be a blessing to the earth:
Genesis 13:14-17 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are— northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
This is not given as an “If you do A, I promise B” type of prophetic word.
The ultimate redemption of creation is also a given, it is not conditional:
Revelation 21:1-4 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
There is not question that this is going to happen, it is not conditional upon humanity, God has promised to do it.
Predominantly, prophecy is an invitation to the people of God to respond to the nature of God. The word for prophecy in the New Testament is a compound of the Greek words “pro” and “phemi.”
Pro (G4253) – Of place or time (in front of, in the presence of, before)
Phemi (G5346) – Make known one’s thoughts, to bring to light by speech
Prophecy from the paradigm of the New Testament is to make known the heart of God and to bring to light his nature for his people, creation, and his church. In the Old Testament prophecy was to point forward to the mystery of God yet to be revealed, in the New Testament it is to make know the heart of God for the world. The question is when it is made known to me how will I respond?
The Purpose of Prophecy
“Abba Poemen said, “Every time I met Abba Macarius I did not say a single word without his already having knowledge of it because he was a Spirit-bearer and possessed a prophetic spirit, like Elijah and all the other prophets, for he was clothed with humility like a cloak through the power of the Paraclete who dwelt in him. He alone possessed foresight and was filled with the grace of God; the glory of the Lord shone on his face; the consolation of the Consoler, the Holy Spirit, which was with him, came down upon everyone sitting around him. When we were filled with the joy and rejoicing and gladness of his life-giving words filled with grace, we would go to our dwellings, glorifying God and his servant Abba Macarius, to the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and at all times always, forever and ever. Amen.”
In the 4th century, this enigmatic desert father gives us a snapshot into what ought to constitute prophetic ministry today. The prophetic ministry of Macarius was characterized by humility, foresight, and the grace of God. When he spoke, the Holy Spirit comforted the hearers. They would leave the gathering of Macarius full of joy and rejoicing because his words were life-giving. Their attention would be pointed to God in thankfulness. Sadly, this is not the reputation of prophetic ministry today. But it was in other times of church history. Perhaps we can recapture that humility that made Macarius famous in the Egyptian desert.
Prophetic ministry absolutely has a place in our churches in our modern age. Especially prophecy characterized by the deep humility and grace we see in Abba Macarius. Prophecy the way it ought to be would do wonders for our churches today.
Every age of the church has seen the effective practice of the gift of prophecy. From directing kings and emperors, to matters of church governance, and personal guidance, prophetic ministry has been useful in many different contexts. The purposes of prophecy are many and varied. A look at both scripture and history bear that out.