How do we judge prophecy?

How do we judge prophecy? Most Christians have been taught that the prophetic word given must be 100% accurate, or it’s false. That is true for “non-choice” words, but not every prophetic word is a “non-choice” word. Let me explain: Not every prophetic word contains “free will.” When words contain “free will,” we must judge them on the fruit the word produces. Let’s look at some Biblical examples…

The Lord said the world was going to be flooded. Non-choice word- the world flooded. No human free will was involved.

The Lord also said Nineveh would be destroyed in three days. Jonah the Prophet spoke this. We know Jonah is not a false Prophet, but at that time, Nineveh was not destroyed. Everyone who would have heard Jonah give that word and saw that three days later it wasn’t destroyed could have and most likely did say he was a false Prophet. That is why Jonah said it is better for me to die, he knew before he left that God was merciful, full of grace and compassion, slow to get angry. I believe he knew they would repent making Jonah look false. The people decided to fast for three days, even the animals had no food or drink and the Lord changed His mind.

Religious people look on the surface to find fault. Spirit-led people look at the fruit and celebrate an entire city of men, women, and children who had a heart change towards God!

Remember, all that God does is to restore what was lost. May we all be humble enough to appear wrong in the eyes of man so that we may lead many to stand right in the eyes of God!