“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” Heb. 1:1-2
Self-styled prophets are a sensation in Uganda, if not Africa. Roadside billboards loom large before your traffic-held car as the TV and Radio ads invite you to stay tuned for the next ‘prophetic encounter.’
Ugandan social media space is awash with how this prophet or that has ‘unparalleled’ anointing. Quite many pronounce themselves God’s mouthpiece after the order of Jeremiah or Elijah. A few turn up the knob. They are the only ones through whom God speaks to this generation. Their followers know no God but their prophet and pity those who don’t heed their man. For their part, these ‘prophets’ remind many how heaven is their occasional walkable hangout. They see Jesus face-to-face, the Jesus who, according to one, is relatively young for His age.
Now, some of you will find the above laughable and unlaudable. For my part, here, I seek to discuss how such prophets’ postulations square with Hebrews 1:1-2.
God’s Historical Self-Revelation: When, to Who, and How
Hebrews 1:1-2 lays out a summary of God’s historical self-revelation. That is, it tells us how God disclosed Himself to humanity in history. It tells us the time or period, the audience of His self-disclosure, and the means He used to do so.
These two verses divide the history of God’s self-disclosure into two. The first is what the author called ‘long ago’ or ‘in the past.’ In a period called ‘long ago,’ God revealed Himself.
‘The fathers’ or the ancestors of the Jewish race at the time of writing was His audience. That is, long ago, or formerly, God spoke to the ancestors of the Jews.
But how did He do so? In what manner, or by what means did God reveal Himself to the fathers? ‘By the prophets’ says the text. So, when God chose to show Himself to Israel, in times past, He used the prophets. And this He so did at many times and in many ways (1:1).
Yet, crucially for us, the writer of Hebrews signals that the period when God used prophets as His spokespeople ended. The adverb ‘formerly’ as contrasted to the prepositional phrase ‘in these last days’ as well as the participle ‘spoke’ (or after He spoke) teach us so. The ‘long ago’ time or ‘formerly’ ended.
Hebrews 1:1-2 limits God’s self-revelation through prophets to ‘long ago’ and no more. The point is that God no longer discloses Himself through prophets as He did ‘formerly.’ This is because there is a new way.
The new way began ‘in these last days’ (v2), which, for the author, already started as he wrote. Now, as there was a change in season, so there is a change in the audience. It is in these last days that God spoke to us.
And by ‘us’ the writer refers to the whole Christian community, as opposed to the Jewish ancestors of fathers. That is, the way God spoke to the Christian family differs vastly from how He disclosed Himself to the Old Testament Jews. There is a distinction between Christianity and Judaism.
The difference lies in the mode of God’s self-disclosure. Jesus’s birth marked the beginning of the last days. And Jesus Christ, says the writer, is a more incredible revelation of God than the prophets, as both the Creator and ‘heir of all things.’
But the superiority of the Son as God’s self-revelation also lies in how He is the ‘radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of (the Father’s) nature’ (1:3). That is, Christ, who is God by nature, expressly and explicitly reveals God. His historical life as human marks the climax of God’s revelation. The advent of the Son was the coming of God among humans, which removed the need for intermediary messengers.
Formerly, in Judaism, God spoke to Jews through the prophets. But now, the fullness of God’s revelation for Christians is in Christ Jesus. Such renders the prophets after the OT pattern void. God’s self-portrayal in Christ is final and enough.
God’s final and superior self-revelation in Christ means that whoever presents him/herself as God’s prophetic mouthpiece for this generation is a liar. Such a person contradicts Hebrews 1:1-2, and with it, the whole of God’s self-revelation timeline.
Those who claim to be God’s spokespeople after the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ deceive. In so doing, these self-styled prophets present themselves as superior to Christ. These men also confuse Judaism and Christianity. They place the new wine in the old wineskins.
Biblically speaking, the servant of God in the last days is an expositor or expounder of the supremacy of Christ as revealed in Scripture, not a pronouncer of new revelation.
An Invitation to Christ
But perhaps you follow one of these prophets and what I just said sounds strange to your ears. Maybe you never considered that God’s revelation in Jesus is final and that He no longer sends prophets to His people as He did in the Old Testament.
Can you consider that maybe you have been deceived? Have you ever thought about Hebrews 1:1-2 and wondered why the author contrasts the times, audiences, and instrumentality of God’s self-disclosure?
As you may have noticed, Hebrews 1:1-2 shows the core of biblical prophecy is God’s self-disclosure, not prediction. Yet, the heart of these modern prophets’ message is not the revelation of God in Christ, but predictions about political elections and Oscar Awards. Such should cause many to pause, ponder, and alter their allegiance. It should be an invitation to consider Christ anew.
But who can dispute the fact that those who persist in this falsehood will finally meet God’s sword of judgment?