The Gifts Part 52
Prophecy continued...
I would be remiss if within the framework of our discussion on the gift of prophecy I did not also include some thoughts on judging prophecy. When it comes to judging prophecy, or any other spiritual gift for that matter, there are those within the household of faith who would readily make the ever popular blanket statement ‘do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm’, and from that point forward refuse to hear or participate in any discussion as to the veracity of a certain word. What they fail to understand for some reason is that judging a prophecy is something we must do in order to determine whether or not the person was anointed of God, and if they are indeed a prophet of God.
It’s not about touching people, or doing them harm, it’s about weighing the words that they spoke in the name of the one true God and seeing if indeed the source of their revelation was indeed sovereign and divine.
When it comes to ‘words from the Lord’ or ‘prophecies’ we can’t afford not to judge them, because the word of God itself commands us to do just that. We know by way of scripture that there are three sources of inspiration from whence any given word can originate, those three sources being God, the flesh, and the devil.
Yes, there are words from God, words which originate from His throne room, whose purpose is the wellbeing of the Body of Christ, and the sanctification thereof, but there are also words which originate from men’s bellies which seek to glorify, raise up and elevate the individual, as well as words that originate from the enemy which seeks to pervert the work of God, and imitate or counterfeit it.
Although men today by and large have lost the fear of the Lord and so readily presume to speak a word in the name of the Lord even though the Lord has not commanded them to speak it, in the days of old, God was merciless when it came to men presuming to speak in His name.
Deuteronomy 18:20, “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”
The only other sin punishable by death in the Old Testament, within the context of Mosaic Law, was that of fornication. Of all the things that men can do, and did do, two of them God saw fit to punish with physical death, those two being men who presume to speak a word in His name, and those who committed fornication or adultery.
Before we continue, I need to make a distinction here, because there are many within Christendom who are eager to put on the black robe, pick up the gavel, and pass judgment on anyone and everyone without a moment’s hesitation. When we speak of judging prophecy, we do not speak of passing sentence on the prophet himself, or sitting in judgment of him, but rather evaluating the words of prophecy, comparing them with the word of God, and reaching a conclusion based on our evaluation whether or not it was of God.
Can we say a word is not of the Lord based on an evaluation? Yes, of course we can. Can we warn people that a word does not sync with Scripture? Yes of course we can. Can we sentence men to hell, spray paint Ichabod on their front doors, throw rotten fruit at them as they attempt to go to the store, and stalk them on the internet for the rest of their lives? No, we were commanded to evaluate prophecy, to judge prophecy, not pass sentence on them men who speaks it, even if the man presumes to speak a word in the Lord’s name which the Lord has not commanded him to speak. Fear not, God will judge the individual, and God will do so both justly and swiftly, for He is not mocked, and His righteousness endures forever.
No I am not growing lenient in my old age, I’m not giving false prophets a pass, as I said, God will judge them. What I take issue with is those who don’t evaluate but pass judgment on certain prophecies not through the prism of the word of God, but via the prism of their own denominational upbringing, decrying a certain word because it contradicts their denominational stance, and not the Bible. Be certain, God will judge you for judging unjustly just as readily as He will judge those who presumed to speak a word in His name.
I have known far too many believers who take far too much pleasure in playing the roles of judge, jury and executioner when it comes to their fellow brethren, who in one fowl swoop, sentence those they disagree with to the deepest darkest bowels of Hades without even a passing sense of remorse or regret. I have seen the reputation of solid Christian brothers besmirched time and again, because the self-appointed judges believed that the only way they could elevate themselves, was to tear everyone else down. If your vociferous denouncement of a brother or a sister has your own elevation as its primary agenda and purpose, know that you are judging unjustly from the start, because whenever we judge it must be in defense of Scripture, in defense of Christ, and not in the misguided attempt to raise ourselves up. The God who sees all, knows the intent of the heart, He knows the reasons behind why we do what we do, and if our intent and intentions are not pure in His sight, if we do anything for any other reason than to bring glory to His name, the day will come when we will stand before Him and give account.
2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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