Jumping Into the Fray: Perfect Prophets? ? SmartHomeschool
So what I’m really trying to argue for here is this: the subjectivity of prophecy to scripture demands occasional mistakes in the prophecy.
Hmmm. They are discussing the continuation/cessation of the Holy Spirit gifts and manifestation, still. This time centering on prophecy.
There is a hint of where some disputers are somewhat facile in their Bible study. Pyromania is quoted thus, “So here’s my challenge to those continuationists who insist that the problem of bogus prophecies pales in importance compared to the exegetical issues raised by cessationism: Name one faithful modern prophet whose prognostications are both objectively verifiable and always one-hundred percent accurate. Because that is the biblical standard (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).”
But I suppose they forget the book of Jonah… a particularly important book since Jesus referenced it this way,
This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.”
and
“For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.”
If you recall, Jonah was not happy with how God used him. But not much is preached on the reason for that. The trouble with the ministry of the prophet is that there is no choice in the message or the conditions of its fulfillment. Jonah knew the nature of his God. He knew that God warned vehemently, but that His heart was merciful. This means the prophet could well end up looking like a liar, and that his own sense of justice just might be upturned.
IOW, matters don’t always turn out as prophesied because conditions may be met which change the outcome. Conditions not fully quantifiable except to God.
But as the story is well-known we know that God gently upbraided and taught Jonah to see things from His viewpoint- once the initial goad of the storm and the fish returned Jonah to his mission and he fulfilled his calling.
What story in the Bible is more ridiculed by unbelievers than that of Jonah? And yet it is the one that Jesus compares to Himself and the evidence that He is the Christ, it best exemplifies God’s heart of mercy.
This means the prophecies come to pass in the timing and specifications that God gives them, not us. In time, over time, a true prophet will be known to have spoken God’s message. But there are times when pieces of that message will come in different amounts to different prophets and over time. Discernment and interpretations need to be at work. There is much that we don’t know… and cessationists are not comfortable with that fact.
They don’t like that dim mirror, they want everything on the table ready for dissection and examination. but that is what the Word is for, and why it is used in tandem with the spirit of Prophecy. The consistancy of God is the qualification and the guarantee, it is up to the Church to “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge”. Peer review from godly, tested ministers in this gift.
You cessationists are like atheists in my mind. You choose the proofs that God will not give you. Ever. And thus -except His grace soften you- you will stay in your scepticism. To your great loss, friend.
discussion followed via Adrian Warnock