A MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY (PART I)

“A Cacophony of Prophetic Utterances”

By Akin Ojumu

We hear a lot these days about prophetic this and prophetic that. A Tsunami of all things prophetic is drowning the Church. It doesn’t matter which corner of the social media you turn, you are bound to find some prophetic person issuing some type of prophetic something.

From these prophetic beings emanate a cacophony of prophetic utterances, prophetic declarations, and prophetic decrees which, streaming through the walls of cyberspace, flood your safe space. Predictably, these prophetic supreme beings draw motley crowds looking for someone to scratch their itching ears with prophetic words, prophetic statements and the prophetic agenda.

Because the prophetic super humans operate in stratospheric prophetic dimensions, they like to claim they have the authority to offer prophetic lifelines to anyone for a sizable contribution, of course. These prophetic gurus are also known for dishing out prophetic signs, prophetic counsels, prophetic tasks, and prophetic instructions with such prophetic clarity and prophetic alacrity as to bring their initiates to prophetic alignment.

Suffused with all kinds of prophetic gifts, the prophetic sages always dream prophetic dreams, pray prophetic prayers, and dispense prophetic favors. In all of this prophetic mania, the most fascinating is the prophetic bank where prophetic destinies are kept.

You may be wondering why, all of a sudden, the Church seems to be bombarded by an explosion of prophets and their prophetic theatrics. This outbreak of prophetic utterances is rooted in a profound Biblical illiteracy. There exists within Christendom an embrace of the spectacular and a shunning of sound theology.

Like the Christians that made up the Corinthian assembly in the first century, Church folks of our day fancy the showy gifts of the Holy Spirit more than the mundane, tedious, and boring work of muscular theology. The flair for the flamboyance and the relish for extravagance are the defining attributes of the modern-day Church.

Recently, the Grand Poobah of the prophetic movement in Nigeria posted what he thought was a profound prophetic insight on his Instagram page. In the post, he argued that prophecies deliver on two faith systems, namely: Faith in God and Faith in God’s prophet.

For the “Faith in God” faith system, he wrote:

“Every prophetic Word believed and received becomes a reality in your life. You must believe the source of the Word to see it come to pass in your life.”

The proof text he used as the basis for his philosophy was 2 Peter 1:19.

Concerning the “Faith in God’s prophet” faith system, the prophetic general said this:

“If you don’t receive the person of the prophet, you can’t be a partaker of what he carries.”

To support this view, he cited Isaiah 43:18-19.

Now, the purpose of this commentary is not necessarily to debate the merit, or lack thereof, of the argument Papa prophetic made in his prophetic post. My concern, mainly, has to do with how the man misapplied and misappropriated 2 Peter 1:19 in support of his aberrant opinion. All I’m interested in is to set the record straight on the proper interpretation and use of this verse.

2 Peter 1:19

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”

The “prophetic word” mentioned in 2 Peter 1:19 is actually a synonym for the entire Old Testament. Because of the way this text is structured in the original Greek, the proper rendering of it is, “And we have more sure the prophetic word.” 

By implication, what Peter is telling us here is that the Old Testament (i.e., Scripture) is superior to our experience, no matter how profound the experience may seem.

Within its proper context, 2 Peter 1:19 is a continuation of Peter’s defense of the Gospel against false teachers, false prophets, and false apostles who went about spreading falsehood in order to discredit the true Apostles and undermine the Gospel they preached. In a bid to ingratiate themselves with the community of believers, these impostors told the people that what Peter and his fellow Apostles were teaching were myths and fables.

To counter the accusations and slander, Peter wrote the people to defend his Gospel message by letting the Church know that the Gospel he preached was his own eyewitness account of events that he personally witnessed.

2 Peter 1:16

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

We’ll take it from here next time.