Ephesians

2. Prophets. A prophet speaks for God and unfolds the mind of God. In the early church, before the New Testament was written, prophets spoke directly by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uttering truths that are now recorded in our New Testament. They unfolded the truth of God that galvanized and motivated the body of Christ to action. Like the apostles, prophets are engaged in laying the foundation of the church.

Prophets wrote the Old Testament, as well as large parts of the New Testament. Mark and Luke and Jude were not apostles, but they helped lay the foundation of the church through their writings in the Scriptures. They are New Testament prophets.

The gift of a prophet differs from an apostle in that the apostle has the word of authority and gives an authoritative declaration of the whole body of truth concerning Jesus Christ. But the prophetic gift is to interpret that authoritative word and explain it so that the truth becomes clear and compelling. The word prophet comes from a root word with a prefix, which combine to mean “to stand before and shine.” This meaning is reflected in 2 Peter 1:19, where the apostle writes, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

The church owes much to prophets. Not only were much of the Scriptures given to us by the prophets, but many of the great modern theologians of the church have possessed the prophetic gift. For example, there was Dr. C. I. Scofield, who compiled the annotations for the famous Scofield Reference Bible. He was not a clergyman, not ordained to the ministry. Rather he was a layman, an attorney by profession—but he had the gift of a prophet and his writings have been helpful to people in explaining the revelations of the apostles. He has made the words of the Bible to shine with clarity.

The same can be said for many pastors and Bible teachers today. The gift of the prophet is alive and well today.