New Testament prophecy has both similarities and differences to prophecy in the Old Testament. It’s clear from the Gospels that Jesus is the fulfilment of much Old Testament prophecy (something Matthew, in particular, is keen to stress to the Jewish Christians to whom he wrote – see Matt 2:15, 17; Matt 13:14, Matt 35:54, Matt 27:9, for example, along with Luke 4:21, Luke 18:31, Luke 22:37, John 19:24), a fact which the apostles also stressed when first teaching people (see Acts 2-3, Acts 8.) The apostles’ authority in teaching the revelation of God was similar to the Old Testament prophets’ (see Luke 11:49, 2 Pet 3:2). Prophets are mentioned in the New Testament (see Acts 11:27-28, Acts 13:1, Acts 15:32, Acts 21:9), but it is clear from the fulfilment of Joel 2:28-29 at Pentecost that the gift of prophecy is more widespread in the New Testament, affecting many believers (hence Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians that all should eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.)
The content of New Testament prophecy was similar to that in the Old Testament, including prediction, guidance, personal words (see 1 Tim 1:18) and incisive knowledge which revealed secret sins (see Acts 5) or which caused unbelievers to marvel at God’s knowledge (see 1 Cor 14:24-25, John 4). Prophetic words can be a valuable tool in evangelism (see Acts 8:26-40, Acts 10, Acts 16:8-10) and are for the encouragement, strengthening and comfort of the church. (1 Cor 14:3)
As with the Old Testament, the means of New Testament prophecy varied, including visions, dreams, pictures and symbolism as well as words. The prophecies we find in the New Testament did not necessarily have the same ‘weight’ as in the Old Testament (Agabus, for example, was not wholly accurate in his predictions about Paul’s fate in Jerusalem (Acts 21:11), but this does not appear to have been a problem for Paul or the other leaders.) All prophecy nowadays has to be weighed and tested (see 1 Cor 14:29, 1 Thess 5:19-22); it must be subject to the revelation God has given us in the Bible. The subjectivity of prophecy and the fact that it is open to misuse often lead us to be wary of this gift, but we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater. God is good and delights to give good gifts to His children. (Luke 11:13, Matt 7:11)