[Note: I will not post a commentary until later in the week because of other commitments. I'm sorry for this gap in my daily blog.]
The Word for the Day is "speaking." This word introduces our discussion of the difference between true and false prophecy. In our daily scripture study, St. Paul proposes a test of how we might discern the genuine proclamations of the Word of God from false prophecies. He writes, "Therefore, I make known to you that no one by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (vs. 3).
Even today, we hear voices claiming to deliver messages with transcendent authority in our secular world. For example, various preachers with the Bible in hand promote their personal beliefs, claiming that the Spirit inspires them. Yet these messages disagree and contradict each other. How do we know which speculations, if any, are true? In our reading of 1 Corinthians 11:31-12:6, we find a principle that distinguishes between true and deceitful prophecies that purport to be inspired.
THE ABUNDANCE OF PROPHETS IN THE FIRST CENTURY
Prophecy was common in Paul's time, and distinguishing between these supernatural messages was critical. There were prophets in the early church (Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 11:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:20; 2 Cor 11:13). Moreover, prophecy was one of the "spiritual gifts" that St. Paul lists, which also include gifts of healing, working of miracles, and speaking in tongues (1 Cor. 12:10).
However, amidst these true messengers of God, 'there were also false prophets among the people,' as the apostle warns (OSB 2 Peter 2:1). The Book of Acts names some of these, including Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:6-19), Theudas (Acts 5:35-36), and Judas of Galilee (Acts 5:37). The Jewish historian Josephus reported that the first century was inundated with a torrent of prophetic (Feldman 1990). This prevalence of false prophecies underscores the urgency of discerning the true from the deceitful.
FALSE PROPHECY IN PAGANISM
Besides its appearance in first-century Judaism, there was also a type of false prophecy in paganism. St. Paul notes that the idols in pagan temples could not speak (vs. 12:2). However, their priests and priestesses spoke for them. Sometimes, they delivered messages from the gods by demonic hallucinations as the Oracle of Delphi did. At other times, the communication would come through the empty shells of statues of the gods. For example, the image of Isis in Pompey had a secret tube inside it through which the pagan priest could speak as if the god were speaking.
Prophecy, both Jewish and pagan, was so widespread in the first century that one of Jesus's most frequent teachings was against false prophets (e.g., Mark 13:21; Luke 21:8) [1], and various New Testament writers did the same.[2] For his part, Paul worried that false prophets would deceive the Corinthians. Maybe false prophets had already led them astray.
PROPHECY REQUIRES A TEST
What was needed to solve this problem was not a prohibition of prophecy. St. Paul rejected this solution when he wrote in 1 Thessalonians, "Do not extinguish Spirit. Despise not prophecies. Test all things. Hold fast to what is good; abstain from every appearance of evil" (vs. 5:21-22). Likewise, the apostle said in 1 John, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).
As we see in the quotation from Pual and John, the apostles did not repress prophecy but advocated a test of a genuine and deceitful message. What was St. Paul's principle for such discernment? It was this: Do the messenger and the message confess Jesus as Lord? Or do they say that Jesus is "accursed," a word which would pronounce that Jesus Christ is "anathema" or subject to the disfavor of God (Strong's #3331, 20)? In summary, If the prophecy proclaims Jesus as Lord, the message comes from the Holy Spirit. If not, it comes from the spirit of demons.
FOR REFLECTION
Why is this test so significant? In general, prophecy claims to deliver communication from the supernatural. However, in the scriptures, prophecy is the Word of God, the Word of the Almighty that causes what it pronounces. The prophet announces what God is doing through the utterance of His Word. Therefore, the fulfillment of this announcement is inevitable, for the prophecy initiates its effect and makes it a reality in the world. True prophecy is a dynamic basis for faith and a firm foundation for hope. But false prophecy misleads and disappoints. It is poison to faith and hope.
JESUS CHRIST, THE KEY TO PROPHECY
Our passage emphasizes that genuine prophecy must have its center and essence in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He declares in Revelation, 'I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives and was dead, and behold I have the keys of Hades and Death' (Revelation 1:17-18). Jesus Christ is the key to all God has done, is doing, and will do in history. Moreover, the proclamation of His Lordship is the key to all genuine prophecy.
WORKS CITED
Feldman, Louis H. 1990. "Prophets and Prophecy in Josephus." Journal of Theological Studies New Series, 41 (2).
NOTES
[1] Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22, Luke 6:26
[2] 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1; Revelation 16:13; 19:29; 20:10
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