God’s News In The News

Week One Hundred Sixty-Eight

Prophecy Update: The Coming Prophetic Reckoning

There’s Been Days Like These Before

Although I don’t like to use secular references to set the tone for a Biblical point, a song by artist Van Morrison actually fits. The song is titled Days Like This and generally speaking it has a generic theme of things that will happen as they have in the past. In fact, you could say it’s almost like the book of Ecclesiastes when Solomon says there’s nothing new under the sun. One of the lyrics says this:

When you don't need an answer there'll be days like this

When you don't meet a chancer there'll be days like this

When all the parts of the puzzle start to look like they fit it

Then I must remember there'll be days like this

I’ve got a pretty good feeling that Morrison didn’t pattern his song around the Bible, but he did frame the days we are living in now.

So Many Prophets And Prophecies

I and many others have noticed that we have a plethora of prophetic words these days. While we can attribute this to the rise of social media, the Internet and the subsequent personal video platforms that allow for just about anyone to post their views instantly for literally all the world to see, I think it was meant to happen and Jesus told His disciples it would with an argument of reverse logic. And the Bible gave us the knowledge that there would be a time just before the return of Jesus that there would be an explosion of visions and dreams. Now if you retort that you won’t find YouTube, Facebook, or any of the myriad of social media platforms that dominate the “airwaves” now in the Word of God, remember that a lot of current terms aren’t found in the Bible and yet are referenced other ways. Nuclear war is mentioned in it’s affects in several places in the Word of God without it actually having using the name we know today. And that’s just for starters. The point is that the Bible did say there’s be days like this.

False Prophets

Then if anyone tells you, ‘The Messiah has arrived at such and such a place, or has appeared here or there,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God’s chosen ones would be deceived. 25 See, I have warned you. (Matt 24:23-25, TLB)

This prophetic explosion is not limited to Godly prophets, though. Jesus told His disciples about an eruption of falsity in the time before His second return. So we know that there will be so many fake prophets trying to be seen as true ones that the deception could fool even the elect. This warning is repeated many times in the various Olivet Discourses and is actually the first one of the signs mentioned. When you are giving instructions, the first one is usually the most important and if you repeat it several times, the emphasis rises. Jesus did both with these admonitions so from a prophetic standpoint, there will be a great deal of falsehood happening in the last days. But there will also be a good thing happening in the realm of visions and dreams, too.

Pouring Out His Spirit

And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

29 Even upon the menservants and upon the maidservants in those days will I pour out My Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29, AMPC)

But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy telling forth the divine counsels and your young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [divinely suggested] dreams.

18 Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God’s kingdom. (Acts 2:16-18, AMPC)

In both of these instances we read about a time when God will pour out liberally His Spirit on literally all people, regardless of their age, status, or gender. When Peter made this connection, he said it would be the beginning of the Pentecostal age. But as with the prophet Joel, this outpouring would extend to our days since the context of it also mentions signs in the sky and the nation Israel that hadn’t happened yet.

Both At The Same Time

This is what makes the days we live in special and unique. A worldwide flood of false prophets right alongside a global outpouring of Godly visions and dreams which has never happened before in the history of mankind. This could be confusing along as well as troubling, but it is already occurring all around us. This is why the anointing of the Sons of Issachar is needed more and more to give us discernment and the ability to know what to do with the information we have at our disposal. Unraveling the false from the true is a skill that we need to possess now more than ever before. But if we need that wisdom, God offers it freely if we ask:

If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. (James 1:5, AMPC)

The key is to recognize the need and then to ask for this divine counsel. As noted in James, this wisdom will not be parsed out in pieces, but liberally provided in a manner that will not discriminate on why it is needed.

A False Prophetic Climate Has Happened Before

In the Old Testament we’ve seen a lot of false prophets abounding, such as when the nation of Israel was in captivity. And we know that leaders in the world always had their spiritual advisors which they consulted with in times of need. The prophet Jeremiah had to deal with such fake soothsayers as seen in these verses:

“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27 who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal… 29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord,

“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord. (Jer 23:25-27, 30-32, NKJV)

Many of these fake voices were telling the Jews that they would return to Israel sooner than God said they would. While the messages are not the same, the spirit they work from is not. And that is the barometer for who is telling the truth then and now.

But God Has His Voices

While the prophetic counter offensives in the Bible were usually individual prophets here and there crying out from the wilderness, with the current onslaught of false prophets, which I might add are not confined to pulpits, but in the secular area, God is choosing to use all flesh to fight back. The same vehicles for transmission of these demonically inspired lies is the same for the Godly messengers and we need to not only realize it, but wholly embrace them. This is why I wholeheartedly support these prophetic voices or YouTube prophets as some have called them. Do I think we should give them a blank check? No, we should always test the spirits to see if they are from God, but to throw them out just because of the number of them is patently wrong. If believers who hear from God daily and post videos of what they hear bothers you, just remember that this is the natural result of His Spirit being poured out on all flesh. And it is also the reason we need to have a healthy testing process to not condemn or scorn His messengers when they are off. Stoning them seems to be what most people think should be done when scripture doesn’t say that at all.

The Coming Prophetic Reckoning

While you thought I forgot about that title, I didn’t. I was just setting the proverbial table for my conclusions. First, the reckoning isn’t one of excommunicating and deriding these prophetic voices if something they said was from God turns out to not come to pass. Those actions are reserved for those whose hearts are to deceive His people. Those with pure hearts can “miss” it from time to time. Even the late Kim Clement told people that he didn’t always get things right as some suppose. Just as a preacher can be wrong, so can a prophet. We should be consistent in how we discipline and test both. So, let’s get that out of the way now. A preacher or pastor who errs should be lovingly and firmly addressed to discover what caused the error and then take steps to avoid it in the future. That same standard of correction should be applied to prophets. And right now, there are words out there that haven’t come to pass and there are many that have what I call expiration dates that are getting closer and closer to a time when we, as the body of Christ have to be prepared to help those who espoused them to see why they were off. This is not a moment of crisis as some see it with the eventual watering down and distrust of the prophetic by those in and outside the Body of Christ. To paint such dire outcomes is not true either. So what should we do?

We Have A Special Advantage

Definitely in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament, we have something they both didn’t have. We have the entire Bible to guide us and that must be a major factor in discernment. We have the standard by which to test these prophets and prophetic words. We should apply them with care and love, but with the requisite firmness also needed. While I am not totally certain how this examination should happen, I do know that Holy Spirit can and will help us in making sure His voice is true while He also maintains health while handling imperfect servants who are trying to deliver a perfect message. Humility should be the hallmark from those who are being examined as well as by those doing the examining. And we must also be willing to know that just because the prophetic atmosphere we live in is not “normal” compared to previous times, God fully told us it would happen as noted in the verses in Joel and Acts. And I believe Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and dispense the right amounts of discernment and correction if we let Him. Remember, these are special days and times and we can and should use all the tools at our disposal to manage them. I pray we do.