prophecy

Prophecy is authoritative speech that has it’s origin from God.

This is the idea in the words of Second Peter 1:20-21: knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, [21] for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Prophecy was Divine revelation that came by means of the Holy Spirit to certain people.
The word “interpretation” usually means to explain or give understanding, but verse 21 speaks of the source of prophecy indicating that the idea behind verse 20 is that prophecy does not originate with the prophet.

Bible Knowledge Commentary: The prophecies did not originate with the prophets themselves. The word “interpretation,” lit., “unloosing” and the word “came about” favor this view. The Scriptures did not stem merely from the prophets themselves; their writings came from God. Verse 20, then, speaks not of interpretation, but of revelation, the source of the Scriptures.

Prophecy as Divine revelation can be a prediction about the future or any word from God.

The gift of prophecy existed in the early Church. Prophecies were to be tested.
1 Thessalonians 5. 20-21: Do not despise prophecies. [21] Test all things; hold fast what is good.
1 John 4:1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Corinthians 14.29-33: Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. [30] But if [anything] is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. [31] For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. [32] And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. [33] For God is not [the] [author] of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
1 Corinthians 2. 15: But he who is spiritual judges all things.

An aspect of prophecy, I believe, is presented in 1Corinthians 13.2: And though I have [the] [gift] [of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge.
Prophecy was incorporated to confirmed Timothy's gift in 1 Timothy 4.14: Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.


It is believed that the gift of prophecy does not operate today based on the maturity principle of 1 Corinthians 13.11 when I became a man, I put away childish thing. Though not all hold to this, e.g. Charismatics, if it is the case, then speaking the word of God today should be understood as something other than prophesying.