Prophecy XI

 If you were working a nine-to-five for ten bucks an hour and someone handed you a hundred-dollar bill, sure, you might hold it up to the light as most people do, but if you had the money marker pen handy, you wouldn’t risk it being a counterfeit; you would use it and know with certainty. That’s ten hours of your pay that would get docked if it turned out it wasn’t authentic, and you failed to use the thing that would’ve proven it conclusively, one way or the other.

How much more cautious should we be with prophecy? Some people don’t just lose ten hours of their time, but years upon years, believing something someone said to be a word from the Lord, and building their entire future around it, only to discover that, no, Jesus isn’t contractually obligated to return on the date they said He would, just because they said it. What could they have done with the time they squandered, had they gone to Scripture and believed what it said: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Likewise, just because someone says they have a word from the Lord for you doesn’t guarantee it is, in fact, from the Lord. Just because the words someone spoke over you make you feel warm and fuzzy, promising prosperity, influence, blessing, and all manner of earthly things, doesn’t mean they came from God. We tend to reject true, corrective words of prophecy and embrace those that praise and elevate us, because human nature is predisposed to receiving accolades rather than chastening.

Lamentations 2:14, “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.”

It’s not a new thing. Men have always gravitated toward praise rather than correction, even when correction was necessary. God doesn’t mince words when it comes to those who take it upon themselves to speak glowing words to those hungering for affirmation or validation. He doesn’t call them His prophets or the prophets; the distinction is made clear that it’s their prophets, the people’s prophets, those to whom they lent their ears because they prophesied good things. What they spoke was not of divine origin, but from their own bellies. The words they gave were of their own making rather than a message from God, and because they were neither challenged nor chastened, the people loved it.  

Your prophets have seen false and deceptive visions for you, so when the opposite of what they promised happens, don’t blame God or shake your fist at Him. It’s not God who lied; it’s the men you ran to hoping they would tell you something contrary to Scripture or give you liberties the Word does not.

Why does every word of prophecy nowadays have to do with how great you are, how great you’re doing, and how great the calling on your life is? Everyone and their pet pug is either called to be an evangelist to the nations or a prophet to the nations because being a servant in your local congregation just doesn’t cut it anymore. We want the big titles, the big callings, and the privileges we’ve been duped into believing come along with them. Who duped us into believing that the title of prophet affords you exclusive benefits? The same people who claim these titles and insist you should treat them with the same reverence you would Jesus. It’s almost euphoric having people defer to you, treat you like royalty, call you prophet or apostle, and you seem not to mind that it’s become about you rather than Jesus.

It is the snare the countless souls have fallen into, one that not only ensures a shameful downfall for the man or woman who sees themselves as something more than a servant, but also wounds the souls and shipwrecks the faith of those who bought into the lie that by claiming a title the individual was more special than the rest.

No one questions why modern-day prophecy doesn’t call anyone to repentance or uncover their iniquity because it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie. Why rock the boat or kick over a hornet’s nest when all you’ll have to show for it is angry letters about how you’re not supposed to touch God’s anointed?

But are they God’s anointed? Are they His prophets if they haven't heard from Him, yet speak flattering things in His name to lukewarm people who lap up the slop as though it were a fine feast?

Don’t blame God for things He didn’t do or expect Him to keep words He’s never given.

As God warned through Jeremiah, the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power, and His people love to have it so. Why, I wonder? Because a true word from God will address the pressing issues of your life, and humble you to your core. Because a true word of God is not a pep session where He praises you while you’re sitting on His lap braiding His beard.

Any promise of future national glory without addressing the iniquity among God’s people is, at best, wishful thinking and, at worst, a flagrant lie, knowingly disseminated because telling people it’s going to be all right is likelier to get them to open their wallets than telling them judgment is at the door is ever going to. Either way, God is not in it. He did not speak it, and the message did not originate from Him!

But it sounds so good, and hopeful, and full of promise. Even so, it’s still a lie. And because you put your trust in men’s words and believed them to be God’s words, when they don't materialize, your faith will be shaken, and your conviction will wane.

Even if it gives you hope in the moment, it’s artificial, a bubble that will eventually burst, and what you have left is less than what you had before you took the bait and believed your prophets over what the Word of God says.

The message of the hour is still repentance, as it has always been, and anyone insisting that we can have God's favor, blessing, and protection while bypassing repentance, whether as individuals or a nation, is lying to your face while you’re elevating him to sainthood for it.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.