Testing prophecy

Some key tests of prophecy:

A prophecy must not contradict established doctrine:

‘If a prophet…. says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them”, you must not listen to the words of that prophet.’ Deuteronomy 13:1-3

A prophetic word must be weighed by others who are exercising a prophetic gifting or ministry:

‘Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.’ 1 Corinthians 14:29

A prophetic word may be structured around conditions (If… then….):

‘If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.’ 2 Chronicles 7:14

‘The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.’ Jeremiah 18:7-10

The people should expect to see the word fulfilled:

‘And if you say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?”—when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.’ Deuteronomy 18:21&22

Taken from Prophecy Past and Present by Rev. Dr. Clifford Hill