OPINION (Joseph Mattera) – The Bible teaches us that true prophecy edifies the church and also exalts the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthian’s 12:3-7; and 14:3,4). However, where there are true prophetic gifts, there are also counterfeits and/or the wrong use of God-given gifts. For example, in the Scriptures, we see that the prophet Balaam tried to use his gift for financial gain (Numbers 22:21-39).
We see in this narrative of Balaam, that even though his motives weren’t godly, he still had a bona fide prophetic gift. The bottom line is, all prophetic gifts have to be framed by the intent, the motives and ultimate purpose of the Word of God. As someone who has participated in prophetic ministry since the early 1980s, I’ve seen this gift used for both edification and manipulation. The following are contrasts between prophetic edification and manipulation: CONTINUE
