Do not Scoff at Prophecies
Wednesday, February 12
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22)
We live in a time when prophets and prophecies are commonplace. Prophecy can mean either “foretelling” or “forth-telling.” The former speaks to the specific function of the prophet who predicted the future activities of God. The latter speaks to the ongoing activity of the prophet who spoke as “a preacher of righteousness to his generation and his culture.” More than two-thirds of all prophetic activity in the Bible is forth-telling rather than foretelling.
Paul’s reference in this command is most likely a rejection of the preached word. To what extent they were despising or scoffing prophecies cannot be determined with certainty. Paul may even be attempting to prevent this from happening rather than to correct something that was already happening. Perhaps some thought that those with the gift of preaching were receiving too much attention. Or maybe the presence of false teachers led them either to abandon preaching altogether or to minimize its importance. Whatever the issue, Paul did command them to place a high value on the proclaimed word. But for whatever reason, they were not valuing the preached word as they had been taught.
This fact is evident by Paul’s use of the word scoff. This word has the sense of “treat with contempt” or “look down on.” Paul never taught the church to treat prophecies with contempt, but he did challenge the church to “test” them. When a prophecy is being proclaimed or the Word is being preached, firstly, you test it with what has been taught in Scripture, and secondly, you test it with the life of the preacher or prophet. If there’s no alignment with Scripture and the life of the spokesman, then you should question such prophecies or words.
Paul knew that the health of the church would ultimately be determined both by its commitment to preaching and by its desire to honor God’s Word. The church will only be as strong as its commitment to preaching, teaching, and obeying Scripture, which ultimately gives accurate prophecies.
Doing the Word
Do not scoff at prophecies.
Prayer
Dear Father, help me not to scoff at prophecies and Your preached Word. Help me to live in obedience of Your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.