Not all are prophets, but all are called to be prophetic witnesses...
It was just before he said goodbye to his disciples and ascended into heaven that Jesus commissioned them, when they had received the Holy Spirit, to be his witnesses (Luke 24:48-49; Acts 1:4-8)
When his promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, Peter explained that what had happened to the disciples was a fulfilment of a prophecy of Joel and stated the result - adding his own four words – "and they shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28¬-29; Acts 2:16-18).
Putting these two statements together the conclusion that we reach is that all Christians are appointed by Jesus and are enabled by the Holy Spirit to be his 'prophetic witnesses' to the whole world in general, and to their own generation and locality in particular.
Not All Are Prophets
Christ's witnesses function as prophets do, but this does not mean that every believer is a prophet in the sense that Paul had in mind when he asked: "Are all prophets?" (1 Cor 12:29); the presumed answer to which is 'No!'. The ministry of the prophet, to which Paul referred, is an important one, second only to that of an apostle; but this is a ministry given only to some persons.
Not all Christians are called to the ministry of the prophet. But all are appointed by Jesus and enabled by the Holy Spirit to be his 'prophetic witnesses' to the outside world."
It is also necessary to distinguish that 'prophetic witness' which Jesus expects his disciples to maintain among a world of unbelievers from the manifestation of the gift of prophecy which Paul sought to encourage in the assembly of the Lord's people in Corinth (1 Cor 14:1, 5).
All God's People Witnesses
God's primary purpose in calling a people to be his own, in both Old Testament and New Testament times, is for them to be his witnesses. Paul told a company of idol worshippers in Lystra that God had not left himself without witness in that he had given them rain and fruitful seasons, but it is evident from the context that these people needed witnesses to show them that such essential blessings are the provision of a loving God (Acts 14:15-18).
In Isaiah's day, the people of God were reminded that they were his witnesses (Isa 43:10; 43:12, 44:8) with the responsibility of bearing witness to the fact that Jehovah is the living and true God as compared with all idols.
The Shema Witness
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord". These words repeated twice a day by orthodox Jews are called the Shema, from the Hebrew of the first word, meaning 'hear or listen'. In Jewish tradition, the last letter of the first word of the Shema and the last letter of the last word are printed in large type. These two letters are the letters of the Hebrew word 'witness'.
All believers are called to be witnesses: to listen to the living, speaking God and testify to his truth."
This statement which is part command, part creed and part covenant is an excellent summary of the witness Israel and the church today is called to sustain. The command is to listen, for God is a living God who speaks. The creed declares that he is one and besides him there is no other God. The covenant is implicit in his name Jehovah, who is the God who enters into covenant with his people.
New Testament Witness
By the time Jesus sent out his witnesses into all the world there was an additional piece of information to be added to the Old Testament witness: the God of glory had sent his Son to die for the sins of the whole world and had raised him from the dead. The essential aspect of New Testament witness is the fact of the resurrection (Acts 1:22).
Seven times over Luke informs us of this (Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39; 10:41; 13:31; 17:18). No witness can claim to be truly Christian which denies, explains away or omits this fundamental truth (1 Cor 15:14-17).
Witness Word Study
The Hebrew word translated 'witness' literally means to repeat. It is part of being a witness to repeat what we have seen and experienced. However, the repetition may be that implied by the Old Testament's insistence that there must be at least two witnesses to establish the truth of any matter (Deut 17:6)- a principle which is carried over into New Testament teaching (Matt 18:16).
The New Testament word for witness is martus. This is the Greek root from which we get our English word 'martyr'. As F.F. Bruce has pointed out, by the time we come to the reference in Revelation 2:13 to 'Antipas, my witness', the Greek word 'martus' has begun its transition from 'witness' to 'martyr'. This stresses the cost of being a faithful witness.
The Greek word for 'witness' is also the root of our English word 'martyr'. Being a witness – that is, repeating what we have seen and experienced – comes with a cost."
The English word 'witness' refers to a person who has seen or can give first-hand evidence of some event. This quality of witness is emphasised in Jesus' words to Nicodemus. "We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen" (John 3:11).
Witnesses Stand Out
The English word for 'witness' is made up of two words: 'wit' (meaning 'to know') occurs in several well-known phrases such as 'to have the wit to', 'to keep one's wits about one' and 'to be at one's wits end'.
The second word 'ness' is of French origin and means 'nose'. It occurs in a number of English place names e.g. Dungeness, Foulness, Shoeburyness, also Walton-on-the¬-Naze - all places which project or stick out.
The English word 'witness' implies someone who sticks out because of what he knows."
It would be hard to beat this definition of a 'witness' that he stands out for what he knows! Before leaving the words used for 'witness' it is important to note that the words 'testify', 'testimony' and 'bear record' are all translations of the Greek word 'martus' and have the same meaning as 'witness'.
Universal Witnessing
Jesus' words make it clear that he expects his disciples to carry out their witnessing to the ends of the earth. "To all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47), "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) indicates our marching orders geographically to be to the ends of the earth. But there are other 'worlds' into which we must seek entry for his gospel. The 'worlds' of music, art, drama, sport, society and many others have all to be evangelised.
We have been given our marching orders: to take the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth and into every sphere of society."
We must regain the commitment of those early Christian witnesses who witnessed to Jewish rulers, to an occult magician, to a Roman jailor, to a Roman centurion, to Athenian intellectuals, to a rioting crowd in Ephesus, to King Agrippa and to a number of Roman governors. They didn't give their witness behind the closed doors of Church buildings in those days, expecting strangers to 'come and get it!'
Power-packed Witness
The secret of their powerful witness was their conscious receiving of the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised them the dynamic experience which they had appropriated. He had told them that when the Holy Spirit came he would bear witness and they also were witnesses (John 15:26-27).
But the initiative was the Holy Spirit's. He showed them where to witness. He directed Philip away from a revival to a deserted road; persuaded Peter to break out of his religious apartheid and sent Paul sailing to Europe and finally to Rome itself (Acts 8:26; 10:20; 16:10; 27:24).
Witness Confirmed
He enabled them to witness effectively by transcending their merely human wisdom (1 Cor 2:4). He backed up their words with demonstrations of his power. When Ananias and Sapphira lied about their offering they collapsed and died (Acts 5:1-11). When Elymas the magician resisted Paul he ended up with temporary blindness (Acts 13:6-11). As they witnessed he brought conviction to their hearers and multiplied the number of those who were being saved (John 16:8-11; Acts 2:37-41).
The secret of successful witnessing is the conscious receiving of the power of the Holy Spirit, who witnesses through and with us, and backs up our words with demonstrations of his power."
Speaking God's Words
The most simple definition of a prophet is 'one who speaks God's words' and it was Moses who expressed the desire "that all the Lord's people should be prophets" (Num 11:29). That wish was fulfilled when Joel's prophecy was made a reality on the day of Pentecost (Joel 2:28-29). Then Jesus' promise became true: "When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matt 10:19-20). This is what it means to prophesy and all true witnesses are prophets in the sense that Moses had in mind.
This is the only manifestation of prophecy in which all the Lord's people can share. They cannot all receive the ministry of the prophet and it is unlikely that they will all be able to speak a word of prophecy in the worship gathering of the Lord's people; but they can and they must be prophetic witnesses to the world. The one about whom they bear witness is called "the faithful and true witness" (Rev 1:5; 3-14) and they can have no higher ambition than that their witness is also faithful and true.
First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 2, No 5, September/October 1986.
