What is a prophetic company?
A community of prophets who live by and intentionally train and equip others in the receiving, interpreting, and application of divine revelation.
The New Testament Church is a community of prophets who live by every word that continually proceeds from the mouth of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Prophecy,” and He has been poured into the hearts of all believers. God is generous and lavishly gives Himself to us in relationship. He wants to make His heart known to us. He wants to reveal great mysteries and give us extraordinary wisdom and wise strategies for every area of life and ministry.
As we journey deeper into God’s heart, we find the gifts of the Spirit flow in/through us naturally. The Holy Spirit resides in us and wants to teach us how to flow with Him. He wants to teach us how to walk in the Spirit every day, to live Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered lives.
Jesus encouraged us to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, as we eagerly seek to know Him and live by divine revelation. Paul said we should eagerly pursue the gifts and live empowered by the Holy Spirit every day. “Eager,” “pursue,” “ask,” and “seek” are words commonly used in scripture; they communicate our response to God’s giving: we should seek Him with every means possible, with unbridled and joy-filled enthusiasm, knowing our Heavenly Father is our VERY GOOD Father who delights to make Himself known.
(Isa 11:1-3, 45:3; Matt 4:4, 7:7-8, 13:11; Luke 11:9-10; John 14:26; Acts 2:17-18; 1 Cor 14:1; Gal 5:16; Eph 1:17; 3:9-10; Col 1:26; 1 John 2:27; Rev 19:10)
From the Old to the New Testament:
In the Old Testament, the NIV uses “company of the prophets” ten times. “Company” is the Hebrew word ben, meaning “son,” as in “son of the prophets.” Ben includes sons belonging to a guild, a class, or a prophetic order. Ben designates a mentorship or apprentice kind of relationship. Ben explains a son’s maturing and succession into his father’s calling. Ben is from banah, which means to build, construct, fashion, fortify, rebuild, restore, and to be surely built – as in, to be surely built upon a firm foundation.
The first time “company of the prophets” appears in the Bible is in 1 Kings 20:35-43, and it is used in the context of one of the prophets giving a prophetic word from God to Ahab, the king of Israel: “By the word of the Lord one of the company of the prophets said….” The other nine times are in Elisha’s ministry in 2 Kings and reveal that various towns and cities had their own company of prophets. “Company of the prophets” is also understood as “school of the prophets.
1 Samuel 10:1-11 describes Samuel anointing Saul with physical oil, then instructing him to go to Gibea to look for a procession of prophets. Samuel told Saul he would find them coming down from a high place where they would have spent time worshipping with musical instruments. Samuel said to Saul, as you join them, “the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person” (1Sam 10:7). Later in chapter 19, we see Samuel again with a group of prophets.
In the Old Testament, Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha had schools or companies of prophets (1 King 18:4, 13; 19:18). They were intentionally training people in the prophetic. Even before these three men, during Moses’ leadership, seventy elders in Israel received the Holy Spirit and prophesied. When questioned about who should prophesy, Moses groaned as if praying, “I wish that all God’s people were prophets…” (Num 11:29). In the OT, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of prophets. How much more for us today, since we are under a new and better covenant (Heb 8:6, 12:24). We are new creations in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, who is the “Spirit of Prophecy” and who has been poured out upon all people, just as God promised: “I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28).
ALL CAN PROPHESY! A prophetic company trains and equips believers to live by divine-prophetic revelation.
