A few weeks ago, Bethel released a video in their series, Rediscover Bethel, dealing with their teaching on basic prophetic ministry. I took time to listen to this video while keeping my Bible open and taking notes. The more I listened, the more I noticed familiar words and phrases mentioned, which originated from a DVD curriculum Kris Vallotton had released several years ago about prophetic ministry. I had taught from this curriculum provided in the former church I attended, the church where I was once identified as a prophet.

After watching this video, I was compelled to study it further, search the Scriptures referenced, and spend time watching older videos from Kris Vallotton on this subject. I have recorded a more in depth podcast on this topic, and I am writing this blog post in hopes of helping others to become students of the Word of God and to understand the importance of examining teaching. The focus of this review is on the teaching itself and is not an assault on the individual. With that being said, the main question I want you to come away asking yourself is, “Should I be listening to this teaching from Bethel and does it agree with Scripture?”

In the first nine minutes of this video, the discussion begins with the difference between Old Testament and New Testament prophetic ministry, citing 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 as the focus for New Testament prophetic ministry. The Old Testament prophet is described by Kris as a covenant enforcer, judging the people and telling them how they had fallen short. However, in the New Testament, the role has changed because of reconciliation through Jesus Christ. He also stated that prophetic words are now judged under the New Testament rather than the person. He stated that the best depiction between Old Testament and New Testament prophetic ministry is found in Malachi 4:5-6, claiming that Elijah was moved on the other side of the cross and linking him to 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 and concluding he reconciles families back to God. He concludes this section with stating, “If you’re taking your model and theology from the Old covenant for prophetic ministry, you’re missing the beauty of reconciliation ministry in prophetic ministry and finding the gold in people.”

This final statement, along with the teaching connecting Malachi 4 with 2 Corinthians 5 are areas needing to be addressed as the Scriptures do not agree with his assessment or his final statement. When looking at 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, we can see by reading this passage that the One who reconciles individuals to God is Jesus Christ. Neither Elijah nor modern prophetic ministry has anything to do with this passage. These verses are ultimately centered upon the gospel of Jesus Christ and the reminder to believers that the ministry of reconciliation is Christ centered. As for Malachi 4:5-6, these verses applied to Israel, and the one to come in the spirit of Elijah was John the Baptist. We see this in Matthew 11:10-14, 17:10-13 from Jesus Christ Himself. John the Baptist was not on the other side of the cross. Rather, he was the final Old Testament prophet preparing the way of the Lord. Luke 1:17 is another passage that helps us to see Malachi 4:5-6 is speaking of John the Baptist, and what is fascinating here is the angel prophesying to Zechariah concerning John quotes part of Malachi 4:6. We can also see John the Baptist’s apparel would have reminded the people of Elijah (Matthew 3:4, 2 Kings 1:8). From this we can see the teaching connecting Malachi 4 and 2 Corinthians 5 is not correct, and we are not called to be like Elijah. We are called to follow Christ and to be like Him.

The Old Testament actually does reveal the beauty of reconciliation. The prophets ministered a type and shadow of the gospel, calling the people to repent and to turn back to God. They also prophesied of the coming Messiah. The true gospel of Jesus Christ does not find the gold in people, and we are not instructed to find the gold in people. We are instructed to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel reveals our need for a Savior and that without Him, the wrath of God abides on us. Christ brings good news that He has satisfied the wrath of God. The message has not changed. The message is still to repent and believe. We are to place our faith in Christ alone to save us and to give us eternal life.

We also find that the Old Testament is intertwined with the New Testament. There are 283 verses from the Old Testament in the New Testament, and the vast majority of these verses point back to Jesus Christ. It is also worth noting that though this statement does not seem to view the Old Testament in a positive light, I noticed Old Testament passages were used frequently examples of teaching on prophetic ministry in this video. In other words, the Old Testament model to a certain degree was essentially brought into the New Testament in order to validate the perspective on prophetic ministry. This video clip was also interesting and applicable for this discussion as Malachi 4:5-6 is mentioned in a negative connotation rather than as the crux of their understanding of prophetic ministry from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

At the nine minute mark, the topic of hearing God was discussed with John 10:27 being mentioned in this. However, this passage is not about hearing the voice of God in listening prayer or any other such way, but this passage contextually has to do with salvation. The Bible is acknowledged as the final authority to judge prophetic ministry, but there seems to be a focus on valuing prophetic words outside of Scripture and not dismissing them. Kris in this section also discussed the difference between foretelling and forthtelling, using Ezekiel 37 and Mark 11:23 as examples for forthtelling, which he defines as “causing things to happen.” We should note that Mark 11:23 was a metaphor in Jewish literature for doing what seemed impossible and Jesus ascribing this to God.

At fourteen minutes, Kris discusses the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, stating if we do not say what God is saying then it will not happen. But this seems to make man sovereign and God dependent upon us. The point is made in this video that prophecy is hearing God speaking and then speaking out loud what God is saying. However, if you listen to this video, you will hear the claim no one hears perfectly. So, the questions become how are we to trust the prophecy is from God while claiming fallibility? Based on the belief no one claims to hear God perfectly, how do we trust Scripture if fallible men of God could not hear God perfectly? The answer to the second is we know they did hear prophecy without error because we trust the Word of God to be the voice of God speaking through those who were divinely inspire and carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). The Old Testament prophets of God heard God without trouble, and when speaking through these weak vessels, it was without error and under a lesser covenant by the way.

At twenty one minutes, the gift of prophecy is addressed, and during this discussion, he defines a word of knowledge being a word about what is currently true or currently happening. However, we do not see this definition in Scripture for this gift. He does this because he goes on to elaborate how a word of knowledge is not prophecy and if an individual spoke a word over you of a specific vocation, for example, and that was not true at the time, he states you should not dismiss that word because prophecy is foretelling and forthtelling and “the value placed on the word determines the power you receive from the word.” In the midst of this discussion, he uses the Israelites not being able to go into the Promised Land with the exception of Caleb and Joshua because of the people’s lack of faith in the prophetic word, and he states, “Sometimes what gets blamed as bad prophecy is faithless people who refuse to put their trust in God through the declaration.”

I believe statements and a belief system like this remove critical thinking and true Biblical discernment from believers in Christ. It removes accountability from the person who spoke the word claiming to be from God, and it places the blame on the individual. This teaching brings confusion to an individual in this type of environment with the potential of becoming hesitant to test any word given in fear that it is truly God speaking and they are despising prophecy if they call it into question. They could even be told since they place such little value on that word by testing it, then there is little power to receive it.

I will also say in the prophetic movement, there seems to be a low view of Scripture and a higher view of extrabiblical revelation and supernatural experiences. Yes, Scripture is referenced, but it is all too often misappropriated to mean something it does not mean. It is used many times to validate the revelation given rather than to minister the revelation in Scripture already provided. Faith in a personal prophetic word is emphasized as a word from the Lord while saying that it may not be perfect but it should not be discarded because it could be from the Lord. Do you see how confusing this can be? Meanwhile, when a prophetic word is called into question and tested against Scripture, some are accused of worshiping the Bible.

Why is the Word of God not sufficient? Why do we want more at the possible expense of dishonoring God? When I personally think about once having this similar mindset about the prophetic ministry, it saddens me that I had such a low view of God without realizing it while having a high view of myself. When God spoke in the Word, it was clear. It was authoritative. Loopholes were not created in order to avoid accountability or to manipulate people. As believers in Christ, we must have a high view of Scripture to provide instruction and correction to us. And we should not be fearful to test the current prophetic movement.