Wisdom or Word
When I read many of the words on prophetic lists like the Elijah List and Open Heaven, I find it hard to distinguish between human wisdom and true words from God. Many of the words have good applications of the scriptures and others provide good insight into what is happening in the world, but none seem to be very different from what would be heard in many Sunday sermons, if the pastor seeks the Lord about what he should say to his flock. Calling these words prophetic, not only devalues the meaning of the word prophetic, it makes it hard to dig out the genuine word from the Lord.
Most prophetic people have studied the scriptures for most of their lives. They usually have a passion for God’s Kingdom and are keen observers of all that is going on in the world. This puts them in a good place to comment on what is happening in current events or to develop sound applications of the scriptures. Their wisdom is often be really insightful and worth sharing (often more relevant than the editorial writers who dominate the websites of news organisations), but it is not the word of the Lord, so it is misleading to label it prophetic.
A prophet must learn to distinguish between what they receive from the Lord and what comes from their own wisdom. If they are unable to do that, they are on a very slippery slope, which can easily lead to disaster. Prophets should be very clear about the source of their words. If a word comes from the Lord, the prophet can say so. If it a prophetic of their wisdom and experience, they should label it as wisdom. If they are not sure, it is better to be modest than to exalt their wisdom above its place.
When prophets do not distinguish between their human wisdom and a word from the Lord, the word prophetic is depreciated and confusion follows. The true word from the Lord, which his people need to hear, to easily gets lost in the “prophetic slush”.
7 comments:
I AGREE!!
I have ceased posting on Open Heaven for this reason. Never have had anything on Elijah list. I thought the Paul Keith Davis prophecy yesterday was good, but shallow, vague and without much instruction.
YET, here's the rub. I get this question all the time. I have strong political and cultural opinions. They are my own. They are on the Northern Gleaner blog. Not inspired. Not a prophetic download. YET people impart that EVERYTHING I write MUST be prophetic. It's not. That's why I have TWO blogs. I will claim that which I post on the Prophet Blog that I report out (Unless I disclaim it at the outset) is what I am hearing from the Throne.
The question I struggle with is, DO PROPHETS HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE AN OPINION IF THEY MAKE IT CLEAR THAT'S WHAT IT IS?
Readers of the Prophet blog can judge what is Posted there if it sounds like Father or not.
I believe it does.
But, that's why we judge prophetic words.
One other thought for your consideration, Speaking FIRST PERSON GOD is sometimes more presumptuous than I am willing to go UNLESS it is given to me that way to say that way.
It is impossible to disallow what a person knows and understands from informing the prophetic. This is a strong delusion that many in prophetic circles live under. In the old days (early charismatic circles) if you didn't prophesy in King James English it was suspect. Fortunately we have gone beyond that. NOW people want to figure out what is informed by understanding and what is purely the direct word of GOD first person.
I have carefully read all of the prophets of the Old and New Testaments and am comfortable in saying that the credibility of informed prophetic utterance as long as it is in line perfectly with the word of God is prophecy.
I like what Amos says in Chapter 3:
3 Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?
4 Does a lion roar in the thicket
when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
when it has caught nothing?
5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
if it has not caught anything?
6 When a trumpet sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
has not the LORD caused it?
7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared—
who will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken—
who can but prophesy?
The point is, I have never heard a lion roar, so what would inform my relating this point. I have never heard a trumpet over a city sound. I have heard newscasts, warning sirens and such. IF I wrote this today by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would I mention a trumpet? AND is this first person GOD?
I think many who hold to the opinion you express have a baby and bathwater problem. Your desire for purity in the Prophetic without the capacity for understanding and context prevents you from hearing what the Spirit of God is saying.
IN FACT in the Gleaner Post on how to cope with the coming crisis, stopping the worry and stress, I considered quoting a scripture to support each point and realized this: Most Christians have heard so much Bible teaching that they are inoculated against the truth that might be revealed from it. IF you quote Psalms 23 a thousand images and teachings well up in most Christian Understandings. The message you wanted to bring is clouded. SO, I try to use common language in the Prophetic and in Teaching to reach people who need to hear but will get hung up otherwise. I hope this helps. You continue to sharpen me, and I have become sharper. More certain of the path I am on Prophetically.
Gene
God speaks about what we know, but the two are not the same. I think it is dangerous to confuse the too. There is a huge difference between God speaking about what we know and adding what we know to what God is speaking. I believe that we are missing a lot of what God is saying, because these two have become blurred. It is very easy to slip into mixing our thoughts with God’s word.
You Mountain post on the Media is a case in point. It is an excellent article with real insights, however it strikes me that that it is mostly your wisdom that has come from observing the situation over a long time. I see nothing wrong with presenting it as your wisdom.
I do have a problem when you add that you are speaking in a “seer’s anointing” because I do not what it means in this context. My first response was that it sounds pretentious (I know you do not intend that). The problem is that most Christians who write down their wisdom, ask for the Spirit’s anointing (I hope). So what is different here. It seem like you are trying boost your wisdom by associating it with a superior anointing. Specifying that it is given in a seer’s anointing does not seem to help the reader.
On the other hand, if the Holy Spirit has said some specific things will happen, I would like to know, and I would like you to highlight them.
OK, what do you call it when I sit quietly and begin to see images of what is happening sometime in the future after a collapse? It's not a stream of thought, it's a picture. I see. Then I describe. The mountain prophesies are exactly that.
It could just be my imagination based on global travel to poor countries, it could be based on a movie or tv show I have seen or a book a have read. It could be...but sometimes I am shocked by what I see.
IF that isn't a seer's anointing, then what is?
I differentiate Seer from Prophet speaking what God says in these situations.
I don't think it is presumptuous to say, I see things that I believe based on the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a pulling aside of the curtain into a future.
We may be talking nomenclature here. But it's interesting. And I will be faithful to what I know to do.
Gene, now we are getting to the heart of the issue.
Being shown images by the Holy Spirit is as important as hearing words. It is just another way of communicating.
If you have been given words or shown images by the Holy Spirit then you have a responsibility to share them. In each case they should be recorded as accurately as possible. This is what the biblical prophets did. Daniel and John described what they saw (sometimes not very well, because human language was not up to it).
My problem with you article is that it is presented just like hundreds of other prognosticating articles. The only indication that you have seen something from the Spirit is the reference to the seer anointing. But you also say that some of the article is based on your experience, so I have to have to assume that you did not see everything recorded in the article. That leaves me with a problem, as I cannot distinguish what the Holy Spirit showed you from what is you interpretation and wisdom. If you saw everything in your article, you should make that much clearer. Referring to a seer’s anointing does achieve that.
In my view, it would be better to describe what you saw “I saw…..” Any contextual information or interpretation should presented separately. “I believe this means…..” This approach has several benefits.
1) It allows other Christians to test your seeing (eg Gene had to much ketchup with his fries last night).
2) It encourages readers to think about the nature of what you seen,
(a) an exact description of what will happen (1 Kings 22:17),
(b) symbolic of real entity like Daniel’s beast, or
(c) a symbolic presentation of a spiritual truth like Amos’s lion hiding in the thicket (Amos 3:5). I note that seer’s often confuse these three different types of seeing when interpreting what they have seen.
3) People can then apply what you have seen to their situation, which may be different from yours.
4) Readers are free to decide about the timing of the fulfilment, because that is not usually contained in the vision.
I presume that what you have seen falls in category (a). That gives you a responsibility to share with God’s people all that you have seen as precisely as possible.
For example, that means with your presentation on the economy a couple of years ago. It is really important to distinguish what your saw while waiting on the Spirit from what your learned by studying the charts.
I understand that in these experiences distinguishing what the Sprit is showing from what you already know is difficult, but it is also really important. Just as it can be difficult to distinguish the voice of the Spirit from the words that pop out of your own mind. However, learning to distinguish the two is critical for sharpening the prophetic gifting. I realise that you are working on hard on this, but unfortunately many other prophetic people do not bother trying.
If in a particular situation, you have struggled to distinguish the two, there is nothing wrong with saying that to your readers. It does not diminish you gifting to be humble. The Holy Spirit is capable of highlighting what he wants people to see or hear (that should not be taken as an excuse for prophetic laziness).
PS Adding proof texts is of little value. The authority of the prophetic comes from the witness of the Spirit in the heart of the reader/hearer not from proof texts.
Gene you say that "people impart that EVERYTHING I write MUST be prophetic." I sense this confusion comes from the title. Because it is called Prophet Gene, people expect prophecy, not opinion. Yet there is a lot of stuff on it that is other people's wisdom and some of your own wisdom. You might be better to call it Prophet Genes Wisdom, and label the stuff that is truly prophetic (different font or colour). Luke 14:6-10 is pertinent.
I think that one of the biggest issues that seem to follow those of the prophetic persuasion is babble mouth disease.
Very rarely do you ever hear about prophetic silence and the Prophets who have spent most of their time with Father listening and garnering the deepest and most intimate understanding of what he is DOING right at that moment.
The premise seems to be 'oh I am a prophet or oh I am working in a prophetic anointing right now so it means I must SAY something' and then it is hoped that it is 'the word of the Lord'
What a load of hogwash! Prophets exist to DO what Father is doing, just like Jesus did.
If that means to pray then the Prophet must pray, if that means to lie on their side, then lie they must, and most of what a Prophet does is in the confinements of their prayer closet, hidden space or where ever they go to be alone with Father.
Did not Jeremiah get a word of his work?
"See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." How often was he called to SAY or DO these things that achieved what God was doing at that point in time? Or even, dare-say stand up in front of others while doing it?
Where is the burning of the bones within? or the fear of the destruction of the soul unless the WORK of the Lord is brought forth? Why did Jonah run? was it because he was just a coward like some people say or could it have been he was so full of the fear of God that he didn't know how to deal with it? At least he knew for sure after being spit out from within the fish's belly that God really had something for him to do without question! How many Prophets have been sitting on a word of the Lord like that? How many Prophets can even say they have been to the brink of death before they 'know' it is the word of God that they carry within?
Alas, many if not most of the so called modern day prophets echo to me the same babbling noise that reached Ahab's ears and where were they pointing with their noisy prophetic tongues and fingers? Straight into the arms of war and death for Israel and their King, with a false promise of victory.
And what did the true word of the Lord have to say, from the mouth of a quiet Prophet? "If you return alive then the Lord has never spoken through me" and so certain was he of the word that he even staked his life on it. How many prophets of this day and age can even remotely consider speaking a word such as that?
Prophetic purity is a MUST. No more wavering, no more compromise. When we get to see/hear/feel the actions and words of a real Prophet who knows the power of the silent and quiet spirit then nations will truly be shaken, the work of the Lord and the Holy Spirit will be seen and we will no longer be subject to the abundance of those ticklers of our ears.
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