Discerning Prophecy And End-Time Signs Sýnishorn

Three Levels of Spiritual Knowledge

The Bible provides us with three levels of knowledge, which I call fundamental, revelational, and prophetic. Even though these aspects of spiritual knowledge serve different purposes, they are each an essential part of the prophetic communications God gives for His people and the world. 

Fundamental Knowledge

God gives us fundamental spiritual knowledge through the teachings and examples of the written Scriptures, the Bible. The Bible is the record of God’s covenantal relationship with His people throughout history, the unfolding of His plans to redeem the world through Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and His clear instructions for how we are to live our lives in love, honor, and obedience toward Him. The Bible also contains prophecy, which I discuss under “Prophetic Knowledge” below. Through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit continually speaks to us about the essentials of God’s nature, will and ways.

Revelational Knowledge

Revelational knowledge discloses even more of God’s mysteries. God’s Spirit removes the veil from spiritual realities so we can see His current divine purposes and activities, which are hidden to the natural or fallen human mind. The apostle Paul never ceased to pray that the believers in the churches he had established would live according to revealed knowledge: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17).

There are two important Greek words related to receiving revelation from God: Logos and rhema. Both terms refer to knowledge and wisdom from God, but they do so in different ways. The Logos is the written Word of God, which, from Genesis to Revelation, was inspired by the Holy Spirit. A rhema is a word from God for today, for a specific situation. A rhema word will always be in agreement with the Logos word. It will never contradict it. One example of a rhema word is when the Holy Spirit causes the written Scriptures to come alive in meaning for us, with application for our present circumstances. Another example is a prophetic word given through the Spirit for individual believers or the church.

What is the Spirit saying to us now? What do we need to know now to follow and serve God? The Holy Spirit continues to speak through the written Word, but He also brings additional revelation to the hearts of men and women of God who hear His voice. The Father sent the Spirit for this very purpose. (See John 14:26.)

It is not possible to know God’s will for the now without the Holy Spirit. We can know the general will of the Lord through His written Word, but we cannot understand the prophetic Scriptures that correspond exactly to the now.

Prophetic Knowledge

The third level, prophetic knowledge, refers to the prophecy contained in the Bible. Although there are different definitions of the word prophecy, I am using it in the sense of predictions about the future. The Scriptures tell us that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). The “spirit of prophecy” from God is that which declares the future; it can be predictive about either a person, a place, or a thing. God is eternal, and He can reveal to us what will occur in the future. 

Understanding the prophecies in the Bible is one of the church’s primary needs today, especially if we are to be relevant in our ministry to the world. If we do not know prophecy, we will not be able to comprehend what is occurring in the spiritual realm.

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). We cannot exercise faith for the future without having received some foresight or foreknowledge from God. Faith in Him for the events that are coming is born out of prophecy; it comes from knowing what will happen before it occurs. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (verse 1). When we have this foreknowledge, we readily prepare, and we also obey what God has already revealed to us. 

Jesus is coming again, just as He promised! If we are paying attention to God’s Word, we know this is true because we believe the Scriptures and the revelation of the Holy Spirit. We expect His return. 

We must keep in mind that if we don’t receive God’s revelation and understand prophecy, we will struggle to live correctly and serve others in ministry during these crucial times. I believe that if we, as Christians, truly understood the season in which we are living, we would not become discouraged or distracted by activities that have no real spiritual value and that we were never called to do. It is not God’s will for us to fumble around or apply His Word in any way we want, but rather for us to understand the prophecy He has given us, guided by His Word and Spirit.

In Day 4, we will explore what makes a prophecy valid.