Weekly Thoughts

1/6/07 – Prophetic words

Hi all,

I better put a disclaimer in here at the start - I'm in a funny, quirky mood as I write this, so I want to apologize ahead of time to all those I'm going to offend...ha! You may even chuckle once or twice. So don't take offense, there will be 45-50 more "thoughts" through the coming year and they won't all touch on sensitive issues. Hang in there! Just be like an old cow and eat the hay and spit out the sticks, please. These are after all, just thoughts...

'Tis the season for prophecies about the new year to flow in abundance, and with apologies to Forest Gump's mother; prophecies are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

Not that I don't value the various words coming forth, actually I seek the Lord for anything he might impart to me along these lines as well, but it might serve us well to (once again) compare what scripture calls prophecy with what is called prophecy in our day.

The past couple of weeks I've received in the mail and email "prophetic words" about 2007 from various sources ranging from a Christian magazine editor to Bible teachers past and present to a group calling themselves prophetic elders to various 'prophets' out there in the body of Christ.

Seriously - I've even heard that word is out on the street that Jesus is returning this year. Hey, I live in Tulsa, the buckle of the Bible belt, so it goes with the territory. (Of course you all know that Tulsa would hear first from God if Jesus was returning this year) Don't get me wrong, I wish it were true, but then what he's told me about 2008 and 2010 might have to be adjusted...

I don't think that I am particularly well connected as an explanation as to why I've seen all these "words" come my way, it's just the nature of the season we're in to seek the Lord for the coming year. And I admit I am doing some fasting and praying more during this month as well. But the lines have blurred between what is called prophecy versus what the Bible calls prophecy, and to me, it's both frustrating and confusing.

Of course we know that Christians don't have the market cornered on predictive words - prognosticators of the coming year range from supermarket tabloids to Wall Street - but we believers are to have the Spirit of Truth, and therefore should speak forth as inspired by the Spirit, and that said, it should be clear, concise, accurate and truthful, for that is how the prophets of the Old and New Testaments spoke.

I Corinthians 14:3 speaks of what we will call the 'common' gift of prophecy. It says that prophecy speaks to men "edification, exhortation, or comfort." There is nothing predictive in the simple gift of prophecy.

Edification means to build up, exhortation means to encourage to someone, and comfort means bringing peace and comfort to a person or people. Pretty much self-explanatory.

In verse 1 of chapter 14 Paul told them (and us) to desire to prophesy, and you can understand how valuable the gift of prophecy is since it speaks what the Lord is saying to people in terms of edification, exhortation and comfort.

Most of what I've received in the mail and email that has been entitled "Prophetic words for 2007" has been this simple gift of prophecy with a spin towards "this will be a year for _____ (fill in the blank)" They have been words of comfort, they've built me up, and they've exhorted me to go further in the Lord this year - but they've also been vague, flowery, and at times, confusing - nothing specific about events that a true predictive prophecy would have.

Most of them take a great amount of ink and paper to say very little. Masked by flowery speech and vague symbolism it's hard to understand exactly what they are claiming God is saying. Furthermore, one group of "prophets" opened their letter with 3 disclaimers about their prophetic words, the first one stating that any prophecy outside of scripture is conditional.

That's a nice 'out' for them isn't it? What it means is that many of the "prophetic words" their members have spoken have not come to pass, and rather than saying they missed it they are saying it was conditional anyway, so no big deal. This allows them to continue spouting forth with no accountability in the coming year.

I beg to differ. Over and above the simple gift of prophecy, there is the gift to the body called "Prophet". The person so called and graced may indeed prophesy as anyone else in the body of Christ might do, but the prophets are gifted by God with the grace to hear God directly, and may therefore speak forth direct and specific words. Prophets hear the Holy Spirit speaks directly - or what the Father speaks through the Holy Spirit would be just as accurate to say.

What we really have is people who are fluent and experienced in the simple gift of prophecy calling themselves "prophets", and nothing more. That isn't to say there aren't a few prophets sprinkled in their midst and around the body of Christ in general, but from the looks of some organizations one would think heaven has gone through a population explosion of prophets disproportional in number to the rest of the body of Christ.

Thus we see an explosion in what is called "personal prophecy"...personal words of exhortation, edification, and exhortation...nothing futuristic about it, it's just that evidently there is a lot of need for people to receive inspired words encouraging them and comforting them and exhorting them in the things of God. I applaud the genuine gift of (simple) prophesy!

But because the lines are so blurred and people are going beyond the Word with little true Bible education, there is much confusion out there. Many seeking a personal prophecy are in fact seeking a word about their future, when the simple gift of prophecy does not contain anything future.

When a person goes specifically to someone for a specific word about their future, it's called divination or soothsaying in the Bible and is forbidden. It's a wrong spirit that actively seeks a specific word for themselves about their own future from another person (Get it from God Himself while you are in prayer).

And that's the spirit behind some who've gone just a bit too far - trying to make the simple gift of prophecy into something prophetic, and that's why some people experienced in prophecy think themselves prophets - they just elevate themselves because they think their experience and fluency in the gift merits a promotion?!. 

I'm old enough to have lived through the big prophecy and 'personal prophecy' fad of the 1970's and it's amazing that what goes around comes around every 25-30 years or so - it's just interesting and sad for old fogies like me watch otherwise respected men and women treat the holy and sacred gifts of the Spirit like some new toy to be unwrapped and played with on Christmas morning. A poll was taken of the incoming class at the Bible School I went to in 1979 of what they thought they were called to. The Dean reported that something like 90% of the students said they were called as prophets...what goes around...

This distinction between prophecy and a prophetic word in scripture is seen most clearly in Acts 21:9-11. In verse 9 it says that Philip the Evangelist had 4 teenage daughters who did prophesy. But the very next verse says there was a prophet by the name of Agabus who comes and speaks a word to Paul because he heard the Holy Spirit directly, telling him that he would be arrested by the Jewish authorities and turned over to the Romans during his upcoming visit to Jerusalem.

The girls were known for the simple gift of prophecy, but when time came for a predictive word, the Lord chose a prophet - why? Because the simple and common gift of prophecy is not predictive in nature.

The girls were noted for being fluent and experienced with the gift of prophecy, but they were not called prophets.

The prophet Agabus is mentioned twice in Acts; for in chapter 11:28 he stood up in Antioch and "indicated by the Spirit" that a famine was coming, and the text mentions when it came to pass. The significance is that the body of Christ was able to prepare for that event because he heard a specific word that could be nailed down, rather than a vague generality.

With Agabus there was no vague, flowing, flowery speech - it was direct, concise, and to the point because it was a true prophetic word, not a simple word bringing edification, exhortation, or comfort.

I guess that's what I've been looking for, and what I haven't found in all the "prophetic words" I've read about 2007 - something direct from the throne in clear and specific terms spoken as clearly and concisely as possible.

And that's the difference between the simple gift of prophecy and one who is a prophet speaking forth true prophetic words. I wish the body of Christ would learn to label their inspired words more accurately. It would be nice to have a word prefaced with the following instructions - I'd even take some fine print at the bottom of the page - "This word is a simple word of prophecy and should not be construed as predictive in nature, but is designed to edify, exhort and bring comfort to the body of Christ."

Or perhaps; "This word is spoken by inspiration as the prophet was heard and was moved by the Holy Spirit and is not conditional."

Of course there are some conditional predictive prophecies in scripture. My favorite example is Jesus' word in Matthew 24:15-20 about the anti-Christ coming into the temple 1/2 way through the 7 year peace treaty with Israel. That much is set in stone. But in verse 20 Jesus said to "pray that your flight be not in winter nor on the Sabbath day."

Anti-Christ and his coming is set in stone. When he will come to Jerusalem is subject to prayer as to the season of year and day of the week.

After a class I taught, a couple asked for prayer. I had a word for them about a business they were involved in would be offered to them for purchase about a year down the road, but that in it's current state it looked quite risky, but to go ahead and buy it for God would give them instructions on how to turn it around, and he would do so. I spoke that because I heard the Father through the Holy Spirit tell me what to tell them, and I merely repeated what I heard. That's what a prophet does.

That was a prophetic word. A year or so later they wrote and told me it came to pass exactly as I told it.

The day the Shuttle Challenger was about to lift off the Father told me: "It's going to explode and all will be lost."

The day President Reagan got shot the Father said, "President Reagan is going to be shot today and you need to pray for him." The same thing happened when Pope John Paul got shot.

Those were specific words the Father spoke to me...I heard him, there wasn't any vague ambiguity floating around in my spirit that had to gel before I could discern what He was saying. Nor did He use flowery speech and vague generalities.

In 1989 the Sunday before the earthquake that occurred later that week during a World Series game I had a word spoken to our congregation about the earth shaking but not to be afraid, etc.

Nothing conditional about those words, and please understand I am sharing my own experiences not to lift me up, but rather that I can only speak about me and what I know, and am forced therefore to use myself and my experiences as examples merely for teaching purposes.

I've shared in this space in the past things the Father has given me, or that I've heard through visitations from Jesus in the past couple of years.

Most of you will recall how in the fall of 2003 the Father spoke to me and told me "watch out when Hillary takes office"...and given that was in 2003 I took it as a word that may be, and I emphasize may be, conditional...enough time to pray for a change. But the closer we get to the elections in 2008 the more I wonder. It isn't a concern for Hillary taking office, it's that the Father said, "Watch out", and her taking office kicks off the period I need to "watch out".

He also told me in 2005 of Iraq, "It will all be undone." That isn't conditional, though again I take it as a matter of prayer, just as I'm sure Agabus prayed for Paul as he went to Jerusalem and eventually to Rome. These things are always a matter of prayer.

I remember a situation in which my wife and I were visiting with our closest friends in ministry at the time, and the Father spoke to me, "He will be dead within a year". That was November, and we prayed it was subject to change, but the following May they discovered advanced cancer, and in October he died.

Prophetic word? Yes. Subject to change? I had hoped so, but it wasn't.

I do have some things I believe the Father has shown me concerning this year, this January through the spring in particular, especially February through April or so (and early June), but I hesitate sharing them because when He gives me a directly prophetic word I actually hear the Father via the Holy Spirit, as Agabus stated he did.

This isn't that. These are merely matters of prayer I've heard Him ask me to pray about, so I take them as conditional. This list includes a stock market drop in spring, a possible assassination attempt on the president, and 2 earthquakes in the first quarter of the year spaced rather shortly apart. The fact is, He has told me that 2007 is a very important year, but he is giving me a "heads up" for prayer in bits and pieces. Another point I'll go ahead and share concerns a terrorist attack this fall, but that's something we cover in prayer nearly daily, or should be anyway.

So...I hope you will be encouraged by all the words that are out there about the coming year, but will rather spend time on your own seeking what the Father might have for YOUR year. I pray the body of Christ will not be caught up in weird activities hiding behind masks of spirituality. After all, we should be moving towards Paul's great desire, "To know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings." Amen.

I better close this now, as I have to go prepare for 7/7/07 at 7am and 7pm for all the angels about to be released to conquer the demons released back on 6/6/06 at 6am and 6pm.

Blessings,

John Fenn

cwowi.org