Second, a related point is found in Paul’s exhortation to
the Thessalonians that they not “quench the Spirit” by “despising prophecies”
(1 Thess. 5:19-20). Rather, they are to “test everything,” i.e., they are to
weigh, judge, evaluate, or assess what purports to be a prophetic word and then
“hold fast what is good” and “abstain from every form of evil” (vv. 21-22). -
“A good part of the meaning of these five imperatives is
lost if we do not first understand the relations between them. The first clear
distinction is between the two negative commands of verses 19–20 and the
positive commands of verse 21–22. In Greek the two groups are separated by an
adversative “but” (omitted in many manuscripts, probably accidentally
incorporated into the next word). Within each group, Paul moves from the
generic to the specific; despising inspired
messages is a special case of restraining the Holy Spirit. Keeping what
is good and avoiding every kind of
evil are the two consequences of putting all things to the test.”[1]
With every text, there is a context. Storms seems to be
looking at this text through the lens of the modern Pentecostal phenomenon of
prophecy. But the text is a little more specific than Storms wants to
acknowledge. The immediate context of these commands must be understood in
light of v. 12 where Paul commands the Thessalonians to appreciate those that
labor among them and have charge over them. As is typically the case with
modern non-cessationists, the classification of prophecy is too narrowly
defined. BDAG defines prophecy here as the gift of interpreting divine will or
purpose. Storms assumes it is a reference to the very same phenomenon in which
modern Charismatics and Pentecostals engage. There is no exegetical basis for
this assumption.
Paul wrote the Thessalonian correspondence to (1) encourage the
church during persecution; (2) defend the purity of his mission; (3) urge the
church to live holy lives characterized by sexual purity; (4) define a
Christian work ethic; (5) correct confusion around the coming of Christ; (6)
prompt the church to respect its leaders. [Koestenberger, The Cross, The
Cradle, and The Crown, 444] There are two basic areas that we must understand
if we are to understand Paul’s command to the Thessalonians. The first one is
in point (6) above, that the Thessalonians were having issues with respecting
their leaders, those most likely to be the ones giving inspired utterances.
The word “despise” means to despise someone or something on the
basis that it is worthless or of no value. This command and the challenge
around respect for godly leaders must be viewed in light of the decrees of
Caesar regarding prophetic utterances.
These decrees are actually used as the basis for the
persecution of Paul and Jason in Acts 17:7. “Augustus decreed that the seers
were forbidden to prophesy to any person alone or to prophesy regarding death
even if others should be present. The emperor Tiberius gave another decree: But
as for all the other astrologers and magicians and such as practiced divination
in anyway whatsoever, he put to death those who were foreigners and banished
all the citizens that were accused of still employing the art at this time
after the previous decree [dogma] by which it had been forbidden to
engage in any such business in the city.” [Burge, Cohick, & Green, The New
Testament in Antiquity, 283] Caesar had issued a decree that forbad prophecy.
From Acts 17, we know that the Thessalonians were deeply familiar with and had
embraced the decree. That Paul was dealing with an element in the Church that had
continued to embrace this ungodly decree must be given very serious
consideration.
Notice that immediately after Paul commands the Church not
to quench the Spirit and not to despise prophecy, he immediately contrasts this
command by issuing a second command. Rather than immediately despising prophecy
itself, not the content of the prophecy, Paul says but examine everything
carefully, hold fast to the good and abstain from every form of evil.
In summary then, it seems fairly obvious to me that Paul was
not commanding the Thessalonians not to despise godly prophecy, but rather, to
purge themselves of the decree of Caesar, which had led to an ungodly attitude
toward the gift of prophecy and those that prophesy, namely, the leaders. In
addition to purging themselves of this ungodly bias against this gift of God,
they were also commanded not to be naïve to the content of prophecy and have
the pendulum swing to the other extreme. On the one hand, the Thessalonians
were commanded to abandon Caesar’s decree against the practice of prophecy, but
to do so while making sure that everyone claiming to speak in the name of God was
actually speaking in the name of God. They were to examine these claims by
comparing and contrasting them with the divine truth that they had received
from Paul and his associates. In light of the background of Paul’s commands to
the Thessalonians, we can conclude that Paul was far more specific than Sam
Storms has understood him to be.
[1] Paul
Ellingworth and Eugene Albert Nida, A
Handbook on Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians, UBS Handbook Series (New
York: United Bible Societies, 1976), 123.
