Tue 22/05/2012 2:21 PM
I found a very interesting passage last night in 1 Kings 13. It related to a "Man of God" who went down from Judah and pronounced judgement on one of the kings of Israel who had set up altars so that his people didn't have to go to Jerusalem to the temple. He didn't make them like the regular altars of God, square with 4 horns but made two golden calves and told the people that these were the gods that brought them out of Egypt.
This prophet had been given very specific instructions by the LORD. He obeyed them to the letter and God backed him up with amazing miraculous signs and then he went his way. He had been told not to eat or drink in Israel but to go a different road back to Judah. While he was on the way back to Judah, an old prophet went out to meet him and lied to him and told him that it was OK to come and have a meal with him. He listened to the old prophet after which the old prophet prophesied judgement over him.
That judgement manifested swiftly and with just as much of the miraculous as before and he was killed by a lion. When the old prophet heard of it he went and got his body, which was being watched over by the lion and the donkey the young prophet had been riding, and he buried him with honour in his own tomb and left instructions that when he died that he should be laid in the grave beside him. Part of the judgement was that he would not be buried in the tomb of his fathers. This left me in tears. The old prophet gave him a place with his own family so that the young one would not be alone.
Which one was the false prophet?
Neither.
One was given an important task.
The other was given an important task.
The old guy was asked by God to test the new guy and the new guy failed the test. Even though he was the one God used to test the new guy, the old guy was grieved. He didn't grieve over what he had done, that is to take out the new guy through entrapment, but he grieved that a fellow prophet had fallen, and gave him honour and respect. He was obedient. The young guy wasn't. But, you say, how can he be a true prophet of God because he lied. If the young guy had held fast to the instructions he was given regardless of who challenged or modified them then he would have passed the test.
You see, prophets are different to all other people, a man of God as opposed to a priest or a minister is a man who is set apart to and for God. He is God's property and has been given a great privilege, that is to hear from God directly and to correct and direct, judge and release. He is accountable to God and God alone. That's crazy you might say. We all need to be accountable to the authority over us and to our peers and to the government and to the church. Yes we do, except in the case of the prophet.
It is the prophet's responsibility to make sure he has heard it right before acting. Once he acts and speaks he needs to be 100% sure of himself and the word that God wants to deliver, there is no turning back or turning aside. He is in God's hands. When you are the mouth and finger of God you have an awesome power and along with that comes an equally awesome responsibility. If you follow that path you must make yourself totally available to Him and completely at His mercy without fear or favour. If you screw up He will deal with you personally. We see only 2 generations before that king Saul did not obey Samuel to the letter but let king Agag live and he took the livestock he was supposed to destroy. The kingdom was torn from him that day. Solomon had some amazing experiences in God and had the presence of God come down and promises made because of his good attitude and God kept those promises but there was also warning in what was said and he didn't heed the warning and so God tore down what He had built for him.
1 Kings 12:19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. (20) Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
1 Kings 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: (27) If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." (28) Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" (29) And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. (30) Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. (31) He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. (32) Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. (33) So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.
As a man of God I need to be much more careful that I hear from Him correctly and accurately and completely. I am no longer to allow anyone to force my gift. No matter what I must not speak prophetically unless the Spirit of God moves me to. When I am moved I need to be very careful to follow His instructions. It is only by His grace and mercy that I am not dead.
Twice (I think) I have prophesied when I shouldn't have. I allowed those people to suck it out of me and make me give them a word. I have been haunted by those experiences. The words were good. The people were blessed and they are very happy but I know it was the wrong timing and in one case it was speaking the person's heart and not His perfect will for them. My words came to pass as they do. They are happy. God is not. It is my job to be able to distinguish between what is around someone, what is in their heart and what He wants to say. If I can't do that then I am not a prophet but someone who is using God's prophetic gift for their own ends. I am an irresponsible person playing with people's lives and not adding real value to the Kingdom of God but problems.
So many "prophets" these days are just spiritual people, akin to teacup readers, who have an interest in the supernatural and get off on spiritual gifts. They tinker with things they do not understand and put themselves and the people they minister to in grave danger. I can't afford to be like that. Even many respected, mature prophetic ministries don't seem to understand these principles and it worries me. "In many words there is error". I know that you get used to the flow. I know that after a time it just comes out and you don't even need to understand or think about what you are saying, that you are just a human radio tuned in to the Holy Ghost channel. There is a place for that and I respect them but that is not the place He has put me in. Although I can do that, I am really uncomfortable with it. If I am going to be generic then I leave that to my preaching and teaching. When I prophesy it needs to be God speaking directly to the person, clearly and specifically, or not at all.
The issues I have with many prophetic people today that I have worked with are complex. Many think they are prophetic, and more than some of them are, but they have not trained their minds and their spirits to discern the various sources of that information flow. They have allowed themselves to become deceived on more than one issue and on more than one occasion. They will not let someone like me teach them, guide them or train them. They feel that it is God's job. I fear for them. If you will not hear from anyone but God while at the same time you are sensitive and open to more spiritual influences than just Him then you expose yourself to all kinds of nasty things. You also make it so that He has to deal with you directly because you will not be taught which can be a really scary thing. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God".
Over the years I have heard what God requires of me. He has been clear and specific and so I have been clear and specific. Some have begun to say that I am deceived in thinking that God would do this through me and that I am not accountable to anyone. They obviously doesn't understand what the office of a prophet entails as opposed to a prophetic person or one who moves in the gift of prophecy where the limit and extent of operation of the gift should be for exhortation, edification and comfort. The problem is that I have, like the young guy in this account, allowed people to challenge what I know to be true and have modified how I say it and I have softened it or have made it more palatable for them.
I am so fortunate to be alive today in obscurity. If I hadn't learned this and was still in prominence then I probably wouldn't be. People would say that that's so Old Testament but they forget all about Ananias and Sapphira and Simon the sorcerer and Herod and the list goes on. They were all new testament events but no one wants to know about that these days. The truth is that if we don't walk in His grace then we come under His law and if we will not come under His law then we are worse than heathen because they don't know any better. We do know better even if we pretend we don't by clinging to contemporary doctrine and values.
It is better to leave those who don't know God that way rather than to bring them into a church that is full of compromise and double standards and the way of thinking in common with the world and exposing them to doctrines of devils. I know why Paul sweated in prayer and concern and worry over the churches. Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth, it seemed that no matter how well he laid the foundation, they were being pulled in every direction the moment his back was turned. I get it. I just don't know how to fix it yet. Many contemporary churches don't even preach the gospel any more but popular psychology, those that don't are often tainted by it. Most are just caught up in the me, me, me, God wants to bless me, mentality without a true understanding of discipleship, service and worship. I know I am called to help change all that but how and what and when I don't know yet. I do know that I have to be really, really careful in what I say and do or it, should I say, I will be short-lived. God may not kill me like in the story but I do know that it only takes a moment to fall from a place of honour and distinction in Him into complete obscurity. I know that one from experience. I know that one very, very well.
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Note: I have included the Bible passage below so you can read it for yourself.
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1 Kings 13:1-32 MKJV And behold, a man of God came out of Judah, by the Word of Jehovah, to Bethel. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. (2) And he cried against the altar in the Word of Jehovah and said, O, altar, altar, so says Jehovah. Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you he shall offer the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you. (3) And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which Jehovah has spoken. Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out. (4) And it happened when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who had cried against the altar in Bethel, he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him! And his hand, which he put forth against him withered up so that he could not pull it in again to himself. (5) The altar also was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar according to the sign which the man of God had given by the Word of Jehovah. (6) And the king answered and said to the man of God, Seek now the face of Jehovah your God, and pray for me, and my hand may be given back to me again. And the man of God prayed to Jehovah, and the king's hand was given back to him again, and became as at the beginning. (7) And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward. (8) And the man of God said to the king, If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water in this place. (9) For so was it commanded me by the Word of Jehovah, saying, Eat no bread nor drink water, nor return again by the same way that you came. (10) And he went another way, and did not return by the way he came to Bethel. (11) And a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his son came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. The words which he had spoken to the king they also told to their father. (12) And their father said to them, Where is this man? What way did he go? For his sons had seen what way the man of God, who came from Judah, had gone. (13) And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled the ass for him, and he rode on it, (14) and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am. (15) And he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread. (16) And he said, I may not return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. (17) For a word was to me by the Word of Jehovah, You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that you came. (18) And he said to him, I am a prophet also as you are. And an angel spoke to me by the Word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied to him. (19) So he went back with him and ate bread in his house, and drank water. (20) And it happened as they sat at the table, the Word of Jehovah came to the prophet who brought him back. (21) And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, So says Jehovah, Because you have not obeyed the mouth of Jehovah and have not kept the command which Jehovah your God commanded you, (22) but came back and have eaten bread and have drunk water in the place which He said to you, You shall not eat bread nor drink water, your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers. (23) And after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, it happened that he saddled the ass for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. (24) And he left, and a lion met him by the way and killed him. And his dead body was thrown in the highway, and the ass stood by it, and the lion also stood by the body. (25) And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. (26) And when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard, he said, It is the man of God who did not obey the Word of Jehovah. And Jehovah has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the Word of Jehovah which He spoke to him. (27) And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle the ass for me. And they saddled it. (28) And he went and found his body thrown in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor torn the ass. (29) And the prophet took up the dead body of the man of God, and laid it on the ass and brought it back. And the prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. (30) And he laid his body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! (31) And it happened after he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, (32) for the saying which he cried by the Word of Jehovah against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass."
Posted by Garth Clarkson at 06:30
FRIDAY, 9 MAY 2014
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