Many today are proclaiming that God has spoken to them. We are told in Acts 2:17-18

 

"‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions,
   and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit
   even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy."
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This scripture was referenced as fulfillment of prophesy from the book of Joel as the crowd witnessed a supernatural event that occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. However, prophecy often has dual reference where it occurs twice--once in the near future and once again in the distant future. We are seeing this happen yet again now. Although they are increasingly censored, if you do a search on YouTube, Rumble, Brighteon, etc. you can see for yourself how many are sharing this is happening to them, men and women, young and old.

 

Here are 8 guidelines from scripture to evaluating and responding to prophecy:

 

TEST THE SPIRITS

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that refuses to confess Jesus, 

that spirit is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist,

which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world."

1 John 4:1-3

 

DO NOT SCOFF

"Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good."

1 Thess. 5:20-21

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RECEIVE A PROPHET

"If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10:41-42

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CHECK THE SCRIPTURES

"And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica,

and they listened eagerly to Paul's message.

They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth."  

Acts 17:11

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 TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

"Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.”

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Revelation 19:10

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 IT COMES TO PASS

"If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared." Deuteronomy 18:22

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ANCIENT PROPHETS USUALLY WARNED, BE WARY OF PEACE PREDICTIONS

 "But listen now to the solemn words I speak to you in the presence of all these people. The ancient prophets who preceded you and me spoke against many nations, always warning of war, disaster, and disease. So a prophet who predicts peace must show he is right. Only when his predictions come true can we know that he is really from the Lord.” Jeremiah 28:7-9

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Prophets usually did not predict peace, and in this account, Jeremiah spoke after hearing the words of Hananiah whose message of peace was recorded to be a lie. The Lord had not sent him and sentenced him, taking his life two months later. There are exceptions. For example, Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus and after the days of Jeremiah, in the  new testament,  John prophecies in Revelation about the defeat of Satan, the new heaven and earth, and God living among his people removing sorrow forever.

However this passage from Jeremiah issues warning because much of Bible prophecy contains warnings.

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MEASURE THE MESSAGE, NOT THE MESSENGER

In the account below from 1 Kings, a man of God disobeyed instructions he had received directly from God by instead following opposing instructions from an old prophet who lied to him. Yet, when God informed the man of God of the judgment for his defiance, He spoke through the old prophet who had lied!

 

Key Point:  God speaks through whomever he chooses

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1 Kings 13:11-30

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11 As it happened, there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons came home and told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king. 12 The old prophet asked them, “Which way did he go?” So they showed their father which road the man of God had taken. 13 “Quick, saddle the donkey,” the old man said. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.

14 Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under a great tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

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“Yes, I am,” he replied.

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15 Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

16 “No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. 17 For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”

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18 But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. 19 So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.

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20 Then while they were sitting at the table, a command from the Lord came to the old prophet. 21 He cried out to the man of God from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: You have defied the word of the Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors.”

23 After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet saddled his own donkey for him, 24 and the man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived.

26 When the prophet heard the report, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord’s command. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him.”

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27 Then the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey, 28 and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29 So the prophet laid the body of the man of God on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him. 30 He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, “Oh, my brother!”

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