Biblical Genres- Prophesy

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Jonah is an old testament story about a prophet who missed what it was all about. He is told to prophesy to the people of Ninivah to repent or they will be destroyed. They do repent and his is angry because he wanted them to be destroyed. We see in him the truth that it isn’t just the gift that matters but the heart. His heart isn’t there for people so he misses the point through what could have been a powerful and beautiful experience. The book ends with God posing a question to Jonah about how he should care for people. That is at the heart of the prophetic.

But for life groups this week:

Biblical Genre’s- Prophesy

Sunday we talked about what Prophesy is in the scriptures. Throughout the bible Prophesy is either a foretelling or a forth telling. About 10% of biblical prophesy if foretelling something that will happen later. About 90% of biblical prophesy is a “telling forth,” or explaining what is really going on right now in front of us. The prophetic in scripture is often showing its audience, “This is really what’s going on behind the scenes. This is what you’re doing wrong, this is what you should be doing, and this is what will happen if you don’t.” The ancients saw time as circular and cyclical and prophets would explain how, “What has happened before will happen again.”

In the modern Christian sense we ask the question, “What is God saying now?” If we are asking the biblical questions we would ask, “How would God pull back the curtain on what is really going on right now? How would God speak truth to us right now and call forth right action in us?” It’s natural for a small percentage to look at the future and ask and pray, “Where is this all going? What is this leading to?”

*NOTE- The prophetic has always been important the Vineyard movement. In the Vineyard movement we have been trained that prophesy to another person should be a calling forth of what God is doing in that person. The vast majority of the time it should be encouraging and should only call out the negative in someone if we have deep relationship with them and have earned the right to talk about it. Vineyard has often categorized the prophetic in three categories. True prophesy, false prophesy, and non-prophesy. True prophesy is someone speaking true things over you they could not have known where the result is you draw closer to God and his purpose for you. False prophesy is someone speaking something that completely misses the mark and doesn’t resonate with the moment or come true. (Often because they are making guesses about you based on their own experience or they are saying something about the future. ie- modern end times claims) Non-prophesy is saying vague things about the future that could be interpreted in many different ways and uses lots of words with little substance. If it can’t be tested or confirmed by the community it isn’t prophesy. ALSO- Vineyard has had rules about prophesy like, “Don’t prophesy specific dates, mates, or babies” because it can lead to pain and heartache. We also keep the prophetic to individuals and not to wide scale national or global events. Today the prophetic should call people to who God is making them to be. The prophetic is when someone calls out what they see God doing in you in an encouraging and uplifting way. The prophetic prayer asks, “What good thing is God doing in this person right now.”

1. Jesus was often prophetic when speaking to an individual person. Can you think of the heart and approach to how Jesus used the prophetic with someone?

2. Have you experienced someone speaking to you in a way that it felt like they saw straight through you and encouraged you in a profound way?

3. Have you ever felt the inner compulsion to speak something you sensed or felt to someone to encourage and lift them up?

4. Some of us feel emotions for others, or have thoughts that feel like they are from outside us, or hear words, or imagine pictures, or even feel physical sensations when we are praying for someone. All of these can be different ways God speaks to us based on how he’s made us. Have you ever experienced this?

5. Take a moment to pause, breathe, and pray. This is just practice. Practice asking God if there is anything he would like to share to encourage someone here. We don’t always get it right but we are trying to learn to hear God’s hearts for others. Pray, ask, listen... and share with someone here.