14:29
We get more common sense here. Not everyone was to be prophesying, but only two or three, and their words were to be weighed, ie thoughtfully considered to see if they were genuinely of God. This is another counter to the straw man argument against prophecy advanced by some that every word a prophet says is bound to be of God. The Bible makes it quite clear that that is not the case, the words were to be carefully considered to see if they were consistent with the gospel. This is also a counter against anyone who claims “I am a prophet therefore you have to listen to me. Everything we say or do us subject to the word of God.
14:30-33
The last part of this paragraph continues the theme of order. “If a revelation is made ..” What is “a revelation”, I guess that a thought suddenly from God comes to someone. If this does happen, the first person is to be silent. So there is to be order in what is done, for God is a God or order, not disorder. Sometimes charismatic churches have the silly notion that the more chaotic something is the more spirit-led it is, there is no Biblical support for this idea. However, this does not mean that God will never do anything out of the ordinary. “The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets”. This is another example of one of the themes of what Paul has been saying, which is the link between spiritual gifts and human control. God works through people, when He gives us something He gives us responsibility as well (this is a recurrent theme in Jesus’ teaching).
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