What was the gift of prophecy in the early church?
In the early church, the gift of prophecy was not primarily foretelling the future but speaking forth the Word of God. It was one of the gifts given to the apostolic church because the printed page had not yet come out.
Les explains that the word prophesy in Scripture can mean either telling the future or speaking forth the Word. When the Apostolic Church had men with the gift of prophecy, it was not that they had a gift for telling the future, but they had a gift for speaking forth the Word. That was one of the gifts given to the early church, because the printed page had not yet come out. He connects the same idea to the two witnesses in Revelation 11, who will speak forth the Word rather than necessarily tell the future.