Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson Links Sharon Stroke, God's Wrath

[Reba]

What does that mean for Yassir Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas?

Arafat has already found out.

 

[chirowife03]

This is a perfect example of a man NOT being called of God. Pat is NOT a prophet of god. He is a man called of himself. He has no right to say such things...

Wanna see a real prophet, he doesn't say things like that.

lds.org

Penni

 

[Reba]

There are no prophets today. No one knows the future beyond what God has revealed in the Holy Bible.

 

[Rose Immortal]

There are no prophets today. No one knows the future beyond what God has revealed in the Holy Bible.

Um...then what's being talked about in Romans 12 here? Something different?

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Romans 12 in its entirety: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=52&chapter=12&version=31&context=chapter

 

[Reba]

Um...then what's being talked about in Romans 12 here? Something different?

Yes.

I should have written, "no prophets today like the O.T. prophets who foretold future events from a direct revelation of God." Sorry for the "quick" post that wasn't clear.

As the word "prophecy" is used in this verse, it does not mean a future prediction; it means telling forth the message of God.

As Matthew Henry's Commentary explains:
"Prophecy. Whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. It is not meant of the extraordinary gifts of foretelling things to come, but the ordinary office of preaching the word: so prophesying is taken, 1 Co. 14:1 endash 3, etc.; 11:4; 1 Th. 5:20. The work of the Old-Testament prophets was not only to foretel future things, but to warn the people concerning sin and duty, and to be their remembrancers concerning that which they knew before. And thus gospel preachers are prophets, and do indeed, as far as the revelation of the word goes, foretel things to come. Preaching refers to the eternal condition of the children of men, points directly at a future state."

So it means preaching God's Word as it is already in the Bible; it doesn't mean predicting events that are not in the Bible.

For example, a preacher can preach on the prophesies of Daniel or the future events of Revelation because those are recorded in the Bible. A preacher can NOT predict a future event (like the next US Presidential election) or details (like the human name of the Anti-Christ, or the date of the Rapture) that aren't included in the Bible.

Also, Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words states:
"Though much of O.T. prophecy was purely predictive, prophecy is not necessarily, nor even primarily, fore-telling. . . With the completion of the canon of Scripture prophecy apparently passed away . . . the teacher has taken the place of the prophet . . . The difference is that, whereas the message of the prophet was a direct revelation of the mind of God for the occasion, the message of the teacher is gathered from the completed revelation contained in the Scriptures."

 

[Rose Immortal]

Ah, OK...that definitely clears it up.