And I fell at His feet to worship Him. And He said unto me,
See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant,
and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus:
worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 19:10
We are to test the prophetic words.
The bible tells of a true prophet who spoke a lie
and a true prophet who believed a lie.
From 1 Kings 13:
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him
all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel:
the words which he had spoken unto the king,
them they told also to their father. v11
And their father said unto them, What way went he?
For his sons had seen what way the man of God went,
which came from Judah. v12
And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass.
So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, v13
And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak:
and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?
And he said, I am. v14
Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. v15
And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee:
neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: v16
For it was said to me by the word of the Lord,
Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there,
nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. v17
The prophet deceived the man of God:
He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art;
and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying,
Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. v18
So he went back with him,
and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. v19
And it came to pass, as they sat at the table,
that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:v20
And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying,
Thus saith the Lord,
Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord,
and hast not kept the commandment
which the Lord thy God commanded thee, v21
But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place,
of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water;
thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. v22
And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk,
that he saddled for him the ass, to wit,
for the prophet whom he had brought back. v23
And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way,
and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way,
and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. v24
And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way,
and the lion standing by the carcase:
and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. v25
And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof,
he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion,
which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord,
which he spake unto him. v26
And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass.
And they saddled him. v27
And he went and found his carcase cast in the way,
and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase:
the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass. v28
And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God,
and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back:
and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. v29
And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him,
saying, Alas, my brother! v30
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead,
then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried;
lay my bones beside his bones: v31
For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord
against the altar in Bethel,
and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. v32
We cannot conclude that when a prophet speaks a word that comes to pass that all other subsequent words are true, no matter what.
They all must line up with the word of God and be tested
or, wait and see, as other words are.
This is a clear instruction the bible teaches about prophecy and testing it:
The prophet which prophesieth of peace,
when the word of the prophet shall come to pass,
then shall the prophet be known,
that the Lord hath truly sent him. Jeremiah 28:29
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord,
if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:22
Their prophetic words must come to pass or they are not from the Lord.
However, no prophet should be followed as we follow Jesus Christ.
Each thing they say should be tested.
There are other principles in the bible about prophecy.
This writing is not a full explanation as it never should be,
any human’s explanation or teaching is not complete.
Quench not the Spirit.
Despise not prophesyings.
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 Timothy 5:19-21