“Subomi, if one person who listens to a prophet becomes a leader, do you know how transformational that life will be?”
I’ve often wondered about the significance of 2 Chronicles 20 and why prophecy is so encouraging in times of trouble.
I think it is because prophecy is an extreme and customized gift of love. Think for a moment. God stops everything and sends a specific message you may otherwise not listen to or have the wisdom to access.
From that moment on, you can no longer say God doesn’t love you or that luck didn’t shine on you. You’ve just been handed a trump card.
The Role of the Heart
But in life things are not always that simple. The quality of the receiver’s heart matters, or as the Parable of the Sower puts it – the type of soil (Matthew 13).
If I were to consider the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 in relation to the Parable of the Sower, then the seeds are sown by Prophets. But those who cultivate souls to receive the seeds are the teachers.
Teachers cultivate the heart of the hearer, and a heart can come in various stages of preparedness – Wayside, Shallow, Thorny, or Fertile.
Who Teaches You Matters
Teachers can be Authors, YouTubers, Lecturers, Preachers, AI, and of course the Holy Spirit.
Find your teacher. Because until your soul is ready, you cannot fully utilize the seed that can change your life. You must be ready.
Nonetheless, God is infinitely kind. He will find a way to reach you no matter how long it takes.
Can Prophecy Become Redundant?
Prophecy has a way of becoming redundant eventually. Once a person has an active relationship with the Holy Spirit and Jesus, they may not need the words of a human Prophet as much. It’s like how people finally outgrow coaches. Maturity comes with certain benefits.
Maybe that’s why love outlives prophecy (1 Corinthians 13). Prophecy tends to have an expiry date, especially when it finally comes to pass. But love and its cousin, service, will always be required. Because after the prophecy comes the implementation. Some implementation extends to the other side of eternity.
Prophets who have operational and creative gifts will therefore be more relevant than those who only speak the word.
Prophecy at the End of an Era
In my view, prophecy seems to be quite pertinent at dusk—whenone era is ending and a new one is emerging. When God is ramping up the start of a new thing and winding down the previous. After all, many prophecies tend to be new wine meant for new wine skins.
