Key passages:

Joel 2:28-29 – Gift of prophecy in the last days

Acts 2:14-21 – New Testament application of Joel

Heb. 1:1-3 – Jesus the better revelation

2 Pet. 1:21 – Prophecy is divinely initiated

1 Cor. 12 – Spiritual gifts

1 Cor. 13:8-10 – Priority of love over prophecy

Classic “tests” of the prophet:

Isa. 8:20 – Testing by the law and testimony

Matt. 7:20 – By their fruits you will known them

Deut. 18:21-22 – Fulfillment of the prophetic word

cf. Jer. 28:9 – Prophet who prophesies peace

1 John 4:1-3 – Confessing that Jesus has come in the flesh

Key questions:

1. How frequent is the occurrence of the prophetic gift?

2. Does the ordering of spiritual gifts suggest that some gifts are more important than others? Prophets, for example are listed before teachers in 1 Cor. 12:28.

3. What does 1 Cor. 13:8-10 mean when it subordinates prophecy to love?

4. How can one know whether a particular person has the prophetic gift? Does their own claim make a difference one way or another?

5. What is the function of the prophet? Can a person be a prophet without predicting?

6. Can a prophet tell us exactly what a passage of Scripture means? In other words, when Paul interprets the Old Testament, does that become the final meaning of that OT passage?

7. To what extent must a prophet be a “good” person?