Clearly hearing and discerning the word of the Lord is not only limited to our times, it's been part-and-parcel of believers' lives since the beginning. Our maternal ancestor Eve was asked by that old snake in the grass, Satan, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Genesis 3:1-3 N.K. J.V
Well, we all know the result of that discussion....
Several thousand years closer to our own time, John the Baptist, when he heard that Jesus was healing people, questioned Jesus's' identity (Matthew. 11:2–3; Luke 7:18–20). This is likely because John had earlier heard from God that the coming one would baptize in the Spirit and in fire (Matthew. 3:11; Luke 3:16). So far as John could see, Jesus was not baptizing anybody with fire. What John heard from God was right, but John’s understanding was wrong because he, like all prophets, had only a piece of the larger picture.
Not only are all prophecies partial, but, more dangerously, sometimes we may confuse our wrong interpretation with God’s message. We might be praying for a spouse or job, a decision about moving house, or even country: the more emotionally involved we are personally in a decision, the harder it is often to think and hear clearly. We hear what we want to hear, see what we want to see. When I looked into an ancient bronze mirror on display in the British Museum, London, I could see an image of myself, not very clear, but just recognizable, and I was reminded of a verse in Corinthians.
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12 N.L.T
Whenever we look at a reflecting surface everything is reversed, what we are seeing is simply not a true image. When we look at the night sky, the images of the stars are thousands of years old, some of those we see may not even be there anymore.
The telling difference between a prediction and a prophecy is huge.... a prediction is saying "here's what I think is going to happen" a prophecy is a horse of a very different color...it's saying "This is what will certainly happen, without a doubt, because God told me so!"
One of the things I have noticed about "false prophets" is that they love, and indeed live for a big crowd. I have heard several speak over the years, and they all seem to be very good communicators, often presenting "whoppy theology" masquerading and twisting Christian ideas, warping them into something they are not meant to be. The self-promoting prophet is usually not very keen/good at dealing with individual believers' needs. (More on false prophets in part three)
Modern theology is very different from that of the founding "fathers" of the faith. The popular “positive confession” teaching** has introduced a source of potential dangerous error into prophesying. I was taught in the early days of the Charismatic Movement that swept the church in the 1960's and 70's that ALL prophesy had to be uplifting and empowering. It was no longer correctional and/or directive. These prophetic declarations were intended to be affirmations of the faith of the person being "prophesied" over. I have experienced this several times over the years, and yet here I am at 70 years of age waiting for the door to open to me being a (prophesied) "youth pastor".
In the intervening years I have been a Home Group leader, radio presenter of a "prophetic" program for several years, "agony aunt" to countless work colleagues, funeral and marriage celebrant, mentor to business people, store clerks, authored two widely read and subscribed to websites. I have brought a "word in season"(usually prophetic) to strangers, hitch-hikers and the like... none of which was prophesied over me. If a "personal prophetic word"appears to be sending you off in a new direction, seek clarity from trusted advisors and elders. I have seen several people fall flat on their faces after acting on such a "word".
Prophecy is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, look at one piece, you cannot discern the finished picture, but as you put more pieces into place, clarity grows. Just as there are "conditional prophecies" in Scripture, there are prophecies more about what, rather than when. Events occurring now or in the near future may in fact be a foreshadowing of later more dramatic events. The so-called "minor" prophet Joel, prophesied an imminent invasion of locusts. Swarms of locusts often refer to judgement by Creator God. The eighth plague of Egypt, and by far the most devastating to date, was a plague of locusts (see Exodus 10.)
Joel's prophecy recorded in the first two chapters of his book, appears to speak of the event happening soon... however the final chapter alludes to a real invasion from a human enemy, happening some time in the future. Many commentators think this event may even foretell of the final Day of Judgment, still awaiting us all.
Many Biblical prophecies heard by Old Testament listeners were both immediate and future. Isaiah foretold of Jesus' birth, and ancient Israel looked forward to their expected Messiah. We moderns see those same prophecies foretelling of our Lord's second appearing. No one in OT times expected that! The mysterious and prophetic Book of Revelation is also both historical and future.
Back to political prophecies concerning the American election. At the time of writing it's increasingly likely that the Biden victory will hold, and he will become the 46th President. If by some miracle Donald Trump is re-elected, those prophecies of his win will draw attention to God's hand in it. It's more likely (in my opinion) that God is drawing attention to the need for the Body of Christ to do a little house cleaning in the many groups that have grabbed the limelight with spurious words and sermons. Whether this will happen is open to conjecture. I firmly believe that prophecies should be subject to evaluation, preferably before being made public, but most definitely afterward, peer reviewed if you will.
All Thinking Matters blogs are freely given, free to use. No Copyright is applied. Any re-posting or written use please credit Thinking Matters as the original source.
** Some Positions of the Positive Confession Teaching (Assemblies Of God USA)
The positive confession teaching relies on an English dictionary definition of the word confess: “to acknowledge, or to own; to acknowledge faith in.” Confession is also described as affirming something which is believed, testifying to something known, and witnessing for a truth which has been embraced.
This view goes a step further and divides confession into negative and positive aspects. The negative is acknowledging sin, sickness, poverty, or other undesirable situations. Positive confession is acknowledging or owning desirable situations.
While there are variations of interpretation and emphasis concerning this teaching, a conclusion seems to be that the unpleasant can be avoided by refraining from negative confessions. The pleasant can be enjoyed by making positive confessions.
According to this view, as expressed in various publications, the believer who refrains from acknowledging the negative and continues to affirm the positive will assure for himself pleasant circumstances. He will be able to rule over poverty, disease, and sickness. He will be sick only if he confesses he is sick. Some make a distinction between acknowledging the symptoms of an illness and the illness itself.
This view advocates that God wants believers to wear the best clothing, drive the best cars, and have the best of everything. Believers need not suffer financial setbacks. All they need to do is to tell Satan to take his hands off their money. The believer can have whatever he says whether the need is spiritual, physical, or financial. It is taught that faith compels God's action.
According to this position, what a person says determines what he will receive and what he will become. Thus people are instructed to start confessing even though what they want may not have been realized. If a person wants money, he is to confess he has it even if it is not true. If a person wants healing, he is to confess it even though it is obviously not the case. People are told they can have whatever they say, and for this reason great significance is attached to the spoken word. It is claimed the spoken word, if repeated often enough, will eventually result in faith which procures the desired blessing.
It is understandable that some people would like to accept the positive confession teaching. It promises a life free from problems, and its advocates seem to support it with passages of Scripture. Problems develop, however, when Bible statements are isolated from their context and from what the rest of Scripture has to say concerning the subject. Extremes result which distort truth and eventually hurt believers as individuals and the cause of Christ in general.
When believers study the life of faith and victory God has for His people, it is important, as in all doctrine, to seek for the balanced emphasis of Scripture. This will help to avoid the extremes which eventually frustrate rather than help believers in their walk with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment