According to Hebrew 1:1,do we still have prophet again?
the Word of God is connected so we need to let the Holy Spirit reveal the truth in us by uniting the scriptures…
Ephesians 4:11
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
What was the test to see if a prophet was truly from God or was a false prophet? The litmus test for whether a prophet is from God or is a self-made (man-made) prophet is given in many different places in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 18:22-23 it says, “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” Today, these so-called prophets should be thankful that they did not live in the Old Testament days for the penalty for being a false prophet was death!
Isaiah writes in 8:20, “God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” Jeremiah said that, “among the prophets of Jerusalem. I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah” (Jer 23:14).
@NatalieThomas since you ask about Hebrews 1:1,
Hebrews 1 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
God’s Final Word in His Son
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
keep reading to verse 4 …
Hebrews 1 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
God’s Final Word in His Son
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
God’s final Word is the Word of God incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ who is Lord and Savior.
The dictionary defines “prophet” as “one who speaks for God.” In the Old Testament, we read of a number of prophets – men such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel. None of these men had been to Prophet School. None asked for the job. When first called by God, none of them had a very impressive resume. Several were teenagers. Their credentials were pretty thin.
Nevertheless, God called each to deliver His message to His people. You’ve heard the aphorism how God does this. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Usually, the message was soundly rejected. God called his disobedient people back to faithfulness. He called them to repentance. He warned them that their lives were sinful and their religious leaders were corrupt. But God’s warnings were ignored. The prophets who delivered God’s warnings were despised and rejected by the people. Some were stoned. Some were killed.
Why was God constantly calling His people to repentance? Because He loved them and wanted a relationship with them. The Old Testament is one long story of disobedience and then repentance. Of sin and then reconciliation.
These prophets were despised and scorned because they challenged the religious system and decried the cultural evils and the sexual and social sins of the time. They preached God’s judgment on a sinful people who rejected Him.
So, our question is this: do we still have prophets today? Of course we do. The word doesn’t just apply to men who lived 2,000 years ago. Then, who are today’s prophets? Who teaches and preaches that our society today is bankrupt? Who preaches that we’ve rejected God and fallen again into sexual immorality? Who’s warning us that killing 65 million babies is wrong? Who’s warning us that the world is rejecting God and He’s calling us to repentance? Who’s telling us the things that we don’t want to hear?
The way we can know who God’s true prophets are today is, I believe, very simple. The ability to know the truth of God is built into our hearts by the very God who created us. Every one of us is born with a “God-shaped hole in our heart.” Each of us has the need to worship what is holy, to worship a higher power. We Christians do this through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit who helps us know, to discern, to recognize, and to accept God’s truth. It’s the same Spirit who helps convict us of those things that are wrong and to reject those things that we know aren’t of God.
Make no mistake about it – in addition to God’s true prophets, there are many false prophets in our world. Some are dressed in religious clothing. They look and sound “official” but their words aren’t God’s truth. Some even have religious titles such as Pastor, Priest, and Bishop.
To discern God’s true prophets from the many false prophets requires us to test their message against what we know to be God’s truth. We must test the message against God’s Word – Holy Scripture. Are the words consistent with what God, Himself, tells us in His Word? If a pastor’s or priest’s words aren’t consistent with God’s Word, then we can know they’re a false prophet.
But, let us be very careful. We cannot claim to accept the true prophet if we insist on rejecting the message – even if it’s a message we don’t want to hear.