New Covenant Prophecy (2) Three-Agent Universe

The new covenant changes the nature of prophecy, but it is not a change from “judgment prophecy” to “reconciliation prophecy”. God always wanted reconciliation. The transition comes from a change in perspective on events in the world.

The main role of prophets under both the old covenant and the new covenant is to explain what is happening in the spiritual realms and how it is affecting events on earth. Prophecy under the old covenant was different because the Old Testament, prophets did not fully understand the working of the spiritual realms. They saw God and humans as the main actors on earth. They lived in a two-agent universe. Job got a glimpse into the work of Satan, and Daniel, towards the end of OT age got a glimpse of the Prince of Persia, but Old Testament prophets did not fully comprehend the role of the spiritual powers of evil in events on earth.

Accordingly, when warning of bad things coming, prophets said that God was sending judgement against rebellious people. They portrayed God as the agent of the things that were going to happen. This is how they saw the world, but their vision was incomplete.

Most of the judgments announced by the OT prophets were not initiated by God, but were the work of the spiritual powers of evil attacking people who had lost their spiritual protection. The warnings of the Old Testament prophets were not God’s intention. They describe what would occur when cities and nations reject God and lose his protection.

God did not initiate these consequences directly, but he created a world in which it would be possible for the spiritual powers of evil to gain a foothold. He does not shirk from that responsibility. That is why the scriptures often describe these events as God’s judgment.

Since the coming of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have a fuller understanding of the relationship between the spiritual and physical realms. We understand that we live in a three-agent universe. The three actors on earth are God, humans and the spiritual powers of evil.

When modern prophets warn about bad stuff that is coming, they should not usually be declaring God’s judgment. Instead, they should describe what the spiritual powers of evil are planning to do because the people have lost God’s protection.

When the people of the world turn away from God, they give greater authority to the spiritual powers of evil, often without being unaware of it. The inevitable outcome for a society that forgets God is more frequent evil events as the powers of evil exercise their increased freedom to act.

Prophets to the nations should still be warning the nations about what will happen if they continue on their current path. They should not be saying that God will destroy them. They should be saying that they have opened themselves to the spiritual powers of evil and the consequences will not be good. Rather than announcing judgments, the events that they are warning about can be more accurately described as “consequences of forgetfulness” or "a negative feedback loop".