UNDERSTANDING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORETELLING, FORTH-TELLING AND FORTUNE TELLING

There is so much misunderstanding in the Church today regarding the gift of prophecy. Many people believe that prophecy only refers to telling something before it happens. However, even in the Old Testament, the messages of the prophets contained as much, if not more, about the present than they did about the future.

In Hebrew, the word translated prophecy is based on the word stem nābā, which simply means “to speak by divine inspiration, either in prediction or simple discourse.” 

“Prophecies” is transliterated (i.e. brought straight over from Greek to English) from the noun prophēteia. It is made up of pro, meaning “before, in time or position” and a form of the verb phēmi, meaning “to tell.” The verb form of this word can refer EITHER:

Foretelling (predicting or telling something before it happens). It seeks to predict the future. It predicts or reveals personalities, occurrences, circumstances that will happen. It also concerns the revelation of events which occurred in the past; It may also deal with present circumstances (i.e., contemporary with the prophet), or it can look forward to the future. It is often a very special gift from God and they that have this gift operate in the office of a Prophet. An example of foretelling can be seen in Acts 21:10-11 where Prophet Agabus predicted what will happen to Paul in Jerusalem. 

Acts 21:10-11 “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.  And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles”

Another example is when Moses recorded the creation account of Genesis 1. He was given a divinely inspired account of what transpired during the first week of earth’s history even when it is obvious that he was not born when those events took place. 

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Forth-telling means inspired speaking or declaring a message to others or things. This has to do with the use of the gift of prophecy for your personal edification where you speak the word of God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about you and all that concerns you. A classic example of this in scripture can be seen in the book of Ezekiel where the Prophet declared words to the dried bones.

Ezekiel 37: 4 “Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord” 

Not everyone can operate in the office of a Prophet (foretelling) but everyone can have the gift of prophecy (forth-telling).

Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:”

Fortune telling on the other hand is also about telling you about future. It is from the Latin word "Fortuna" which means "fate" (a predetermined course of events or destiny). It is normally only concerned with specific individuals unlike foretelling which is normally concerned with individuals as well as God's plan for nations, people or the earth. With fortune telling, your fate is sealed and there is nothing much you can do about it whereas with prophecy (foretelling and forth-telling) your destiny is not sealed and it is often conditional (example. if you don't repent or do something then an event will happen). Also, while prophecy most of the time claim to come directly from God, fortune telling does not claim to come from God rather it comes from such things as contacting spirits, worshiping the stars and the planets, reading cards etc. Its methods include use of crystal balls, horoscopes, card reading, astrology, palm reading, numerology, clairvoyance, mirror and telepathy. An example of fortune telling in the bible is shown in the book of Acts.

Act 16:16-18 "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour."

It is worthy of note that the bible clearly shows that prophecy (foretelling and forth-telling) are gifts from God through the Holy Spirit while the practice of fortune telling is forbidden by God.

Deuteronomy 18:9-13, TLB. "When you arrive in the Promised Land you must be very careful lest you be corrupted by the horrible customs of the nations now living there. For example, an Israeli who presents his child to be burned to death as a sacrifice to heathen gods, must be killed. No one may practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune teller, or be a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the Lord, and it is because the nations do these things that the Lord your God will displace them. You must walk blamelessly before the Lord your God."

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