The Biblical Basis for a Modern Prophet

Chapter 4—End-Time Manifestation of the Gift

Joel 2:28-32. Living in the “last times” (from the OT perspective, 1 Peter 1:20; Hebrews 1:2) the apostle Peter saw a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit with the endowment of tongues (Acts 2). However, Pentecost seems to have been only a partial fulfillment, for Jesus places the signs in the sun and moon mentioned by Joel as coming after the Dark Ages of persecution and nearer the advent of “the great and the terrible day of the Lord” (Joel 2:31). Furthermore, Joel specifically refers to a manifestation of the gift of prophecy. Thus a complete fulfillment of Joel’s ancient prediction would require an end-time manifestation of the prophetic gift. BBMP 4.5

Matthew 7:15-20; 24:24. Inasmuch as Jesus foretold the appearance of “false prophets” in the end-time, such a prediction is presumptive evidence of a true manifestation of the gift. BBMP 5.1

1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4; et cetera. The New Testament doctrine of “spiritual gifts” (which includes the prophetic gift) has never been rescinded. If the past may give any indication of the future, we may note that the prophetic gift commonly functioned at periods of crisis or significance: Noah before the Flood; the major and minor prophets cluster around the critical periods of Israel’s history when Assyria, Babylon, and Persia threaten or affect Israel’s existence; John the Baptist before Christ’s advent, et cetera. It would be reasonable to expect therefore, some kind of prophetic manifestation prior to the close of human probation and the Second Advent, the consummation of the Plan of Salvation. BBMP 5.2

Revelation 12:17; 19:10. While our pioneers emphasized the prediction of Joel 2 in defense of a legitimate manifestation of the prophetic gift, they were not unmindful of the implications of Revelation 12:17; 19:10. Writing in the The Review and Herald, October 16, 1855, James White stated: BBMP 5.3

But let us look at Joel 2:32, and see where he locates the prophecy. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” It is the REMNANT that is to witness these things. It is the remnant (or last portion of the church) that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (which is the spirit of prophecy, Revelation 19:10) most certainly, that is to share this deliverance. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord” in the time of trouble such as never was, will share that deliverance. “Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him ...?” Luke 17:1-8. This calling on the name of the Lord is also symbolized by the angel [Revelation 14:15] crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, “Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

God has ever manifested His power to His children according to their necessities and their work. And can we for a moment suppose that God’s people will pass through the perils of the last days, and face the time of trouble such as never was, and He not manifest Himself to them through those gifts which He Himself has set in the Church? Nay, verily. God has by the prophet Joel promised to do great things for the REMNANT ‘before the great and the dreadful day of the Lord come.”

1. The book of Revelation depicts two women: a pure woman clothed in light (Revelation 12), and a fallen woman, designated “Babylon the great” (Revelation 17). In a sense, both women symbolize the same entity: Christianity. Both have descendants (12:17; 17:5). Revelation 12 appears to be sketching the loyal followers of God and the course of their history; Revelation 17 symbolizes the development and course of Christian apostasy. BBMP 5.4

The pure woman hiding in the wilderness to escape persecution both by the dragon (12:17), and by the fallen woman (17:6), in essence, represents multiple loyal groups. These groups (while not necessarily doctrinally pure in every respect: compare the symbolized history of the church, Revelation 2:3), maintained faith in God and loyalty to the Scriptures during the period of the Dark Ages. How then is the “remnant of her seed” (“the rest of her offspring,” RSV) to be identified: Is it to be understood as an end-time remainder of Christianity in general? Or, is it to be delimited to a specific group of Christians? BBMP 5.5

2. The book of Revelation appears to describe the truehearted followers of God in the end-time under two different classifications: (a) “the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God” (12:17), and (b) “my [God’s] people” who are in Babylon (18:4). This would imply—in a technical sense—that the group designated in Revelation 12 as “the remnant” do not constitute all genuine Christians in general, but is being delimited here to a specific group by certain characterizations: they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. BBMP 6.1

Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that the remnant or last phase of God’s people spoken of in Revelation 12:17 will also preach God’s last message. That last message is described in Revelation 14:9-12 as the “third angel.” It is a specific message with definite points and involves the contents of the first two angels as well (see Revelation 14:6-14). If those who compose the “remnant” of Revelation 12 are the propounders of the message of the third angel (Revelation 14), then they would of necessity have to be a specific group of Christians, distinguished by the characteristics of that special message. Historically, Seventh-day Adventists have believed they were fulfilling the role of the third angel; hence, we have naturally seen our movement as also symbolized in 12:17. BBMP 6.2

3. “The testimony of Jesus” (12:17). The question here is whether this phrase denotes an end-time manifestation of the prophetic gift in the group delimited as “the remnant of her seed.” BBMP 6.3

The expression “testimony of Jesus” occurs six times in the book of Revelation 1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4. The first problem which relates to the expression concerns translation. Two translations are grammatically possible: BBMP 6.4

a. The testimony (witness) about/concerning Jesus (objective genitive) = what Christians witness about Jesus; “who bear testimony to Jesus” (RSV).

b. The testimony (witness) from/by Jesus (subjective genitive) = messages from Jesus to the church.

The evidence from the use of this expression in the book of Revelation suggests that it should be understood as a subjective genitive (a testimony from or by Jesus), and that this testimony is given through prophetic revelation. A few exhibits: BBMP 6.5

a. Revelation 1:1, 2. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants ... and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”

In this context it is evident that “the Revelation of Jesus” designates a revelation from or by Jesus to John. John then bears record of this testimony/witness from Jesus. Both genitive expressions make the best sense in context as subjective genitives and agree with Christ’s closing words in the book: “He which testifieth [witnesses] these things saith, Surely I come quickly” (Revelation 22:20).

Commenting on the same phrase in Revelation 19:10, James Moffat writes.

The testimony of Jesus is practically equivalent to Jesus testifying (xxii, 20). It is the self-revelation of Jesus (according to i, 1, due ultimately to God) which moves the Christian prophets. He forms at once the impulse and subject of their utterances.—The Expositor’s Greek Testament, W. Robertson Nicoll, ed. [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1961 reprint], 5:465

b. A comparison of Revelation 19:10 and 22:9 links the testimony from Jesus with the prophetic function:

19:10—“You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you” (RSV) and

22:9—“You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you” (RSV) and

19:10—“your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus” (RSV)

22:9—“your brethren the prophets ...” (RSV)

c. Revelation 19:10 defines the testimony from Jesus as “the spirit of prophecy.” “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Although James Moffat regards the sentence as a gloss, he analyzes its meaning from the implications of a subjective genitive.

“For the testimony or witness of (i.e., borne by) Jesus is (i.e., constitutes) the spirit of prophecy.” This ... specifically defines the brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus as possessors of prophetic inspiration. (Ibid.)

4. The phrase “spirit of prophecy” may be understood in either of two senses: BBMP 7.1

a. It can refer to the Holy Spirit who indites or conveys the prophetic revelation. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Such expressions as the “Spirit of grace,” the “Spirit of truth,” et cetera, designate the Spirit who conveys grace or who conveys truth. So the testimony from Jesus may be equated or linked with the Spirit’s function to inspire the prophet with a revelation from God (cf. 1:10). Such a revelation is, in effect, a testimony or witness from Jesus. This interpretation of the phrase is in keeping with 1 Peter 1:11 which notes that the OT prophets were inspired by “the Spirit of Christ” and thus bore a testimony from Him.

b. The phrase, “spirit of prophecy,” may also be understood as the genius or distinctive essence of prophecy. Jesus bearing witness is the very genius or soul of prophecy. James White phrased it this way: “The spirit, soul, and substance of prophecy, is the testimony of Jesus Christ. Or, the voice of the prophets relative to the plan and work of human redemption, is the voice of the Redeemer.”—Life Sketches [1880 ed.], 335-36, cited in SDA Encyclopedia, art., “Spirit of Prophecy”.

5. In either case, the passage of 12:17 stresses that the remnant have (are having, present participle of echo) the prophetic testimony from Jesus. It is a possession which the remnant is described as having or holding onto as the dragon makes his final offensive against God’s end-time people. (See Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon on the use of marturia [witness/testimony in Revelation].) BBMP 7.2

6. If the “testimony of Jesus” is indeed the witness of Jesus to His church through the prophetic channel, then the question is whether the characterization of 12:17 is stressing the remnant’s possession of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments or the possession of a postcanonical manifestation of spiritual gifts in the form of the prophetic gift. The former assertion seems too obvious a point for the prophetic writer to underscore; but a manifestation of the prophetic gift in an end-time setting would be significant. BBMP 7.3

This prophecy regarding the remnant’s possession of the prophetic testimony from Jesus may be compared with the many references to the Messiah in the Davidic Psalms. A reader in OT times would have related many—if not all—of the statements in these psalms to David. Later—after Christ’s life, atoning death, and resurrection—these statements are seen to have a greater and more perfect application to the Messiah, the Son of David. Just so, in the fulfillment of Revelation 12:17, together with the development of the movement of the third angel, we may now see what was not evident before that development: that the remnant’s possession of the “testimony of Jesus” involves the heartwarming truth that Christ has chosen to speak once more through the prophetic gift to His people as they face the myriad challenges of the end-time and the close of human probation. BBMP 7.4