The Spirit of Prophecy

WEDNESDAY January 21

The Spirit of Prophecy

Revelation 19:10 says, “ ‘ For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ ” In all of Scripture the phrase “spirit of prophecy” appears only in this text. What does it mean? 1 Cor. 12:8–10, 28; Eph. 4:11.

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The closest parallel to the phrase “spirit of prophecy” in the Bible is found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. There Paul refers to the Holy Spirit, Who gives the gift of prophecy among other gifts (charismata); and the person who receives this gift is called a prophet.

Now, just as in 1 Corinthians 12:28, those who have the gift of prophecy (verse 10 of the same chapter) are called prophets—in Revelation 22:8, 9, those who have the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10) are also called “prophets.”

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’” (Rev. 19:10, NKJV).

“I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God’ ” (Rev. 22:8, 9, NKJV).

The situation in both passages is the same. John falls at the feet of the angel to worship. The words of the angel’s response are almost identical, yet the difference is significant. In Revelation 19:10, the brethren are identified by the phrase “who hold to [have] the testimony of Jesus” (NIV). In Revelation 22:9, the brethren are called simply “prophets.”

If the Protestant principle of interpreting scripture by scripture means anything, this comparison must lead to the conclusion that “the spirit of prophecy” in Revelation 19:10 is the prophetic gift, which is given not to church members in general, but only to those who have been called by God to be prophets.

This is not purely an Adventist interpretation. Lutheran scholar Hermann Strathmann says about “brothers who have the testimony of Jesus” (NJKV) in 19:10: “According to the parallel 22:9 the brothers referred to are not believers in general, but the prophets. . . . If they have the marturia Iesou [the testimony of Jesus], they have the spirit of prophecy, i.e., they are prophets.”—Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 4, p. 501.