Chapter 8: The Wisdom of God for Prophecy—God’s Wisdom vs Man’s

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Proverbs 9:10

“Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord”
Proverbs 1:29

“For the wicked: ‘There is no fear of God before his eyes.’”
Psalm 36:1

The Mind Set on the Flesh is Death

It’s hard to start things off with a rebuke, but Romans 8:7 gives us a real zinger! This says the mind of the Flesh is hostile to God. It cannot even be fixed! It leads us to death, and verse 6 says it is itself death. The problem is, every body has one!

So yes, you can be a Christian and live in the flesh. You can be a pastor and run your church in the flesh. You can prophesy a true revelation from God but then in the flesh make a total mess of all of it: speak it in pride, understand it in error, apply it in manipulation, and so on, because the flesh is simply our human level thinking.

What is The FLESH ?—It’s these Five Things

Jesus asked me if I knew what the flesh was and at first I wanted to blush because I thought it was all that sexy stuff. But no, he said the Flesh is five things, it is simply:

“The Human Level Understanding,
The Human Level Intellect,
Human Level Perception,
Human Level Motives and
Human Level Desires.”

So I suppose it’s just the natural mind that has learned how to live on the Earth, in the natural realm. It’s our normal, natural thinking. Your gasp of Gravity, Time, Causation, Pain, Fear, Death and I suppose all Relationships as well … so do you see, the natural mind is so much a part of you, you cannot just switch it off. And this is where we are having a monster of a problem.

So yes, of course sexuality factors into that but mostly it’s about the normal human attitudes, mindsets and ‘normal’ thinking. So yes, the Flesh can be in control of a Christian, the Flesh can be in control of a church and the Flesh can even be in control of someone’s prophetic ministry, certainly!

I’m right because it’s just God’s Word I Preach

For example, the Bible is God’s word, but how you understand it may still be based in Man’s carnal understanding. How you reason though the meaning of a scripture or interpret a prophetic word, which may be a 100% true divine word from God, but your understanding of it may still be the Flesh!

Think about how you perceive a situation. It’s not your fault you can’t understand God’s mind or know how he views a situation or see him standing right there next to you with ten angels! You can even really, really want to know and see it but still not be able to! How can you see the unseen? You are morally innocent maybe but you can still be completely wrong and so be acting against God’s will, even innocently!! What your real motives are for believing and especially preaching a certain doctrine, preaching a particular sermon, what you really desire in any given situation, secular or ministry … this is where we are struggling actually.

And you know that not all sins are criminal or sexual or violent in nature. God says whatever is not of faith is sin. So whatever is based on human level Understanding, Intellect, Perception, Motives and Desires is all going to be contrary to operating in trust, faith, love, joy, peace and friendship with God.

So it’s very bold what Paul said, that this carnal mind is an enemy of God, it is at war with God, and cannot be made to obey him or his ways at all. It needs to be just be silenced.

So I tried to dig deeper into it and you can look up those five terms, “Understanding, Intellect, Perception, Motives and Desires,” and define each one with a dictionary and you will see each of these areas is distinct but they also slightly overlap. It coves the range of human thoughts and goes far deeper than people consciously giving rehearsed answers to religious questions. I mean, you can doctrinally know God is good, but still in your heart believe he is not good to you. You can know God just said he would provide the rent, but you can still cry yourself to sleep all week long until it arrives!—Wow! That was unexpected!—And when you bring it up to many religious people even prophetic people they just say they’ve conquered the carnal mind! It’s gone! But really either they’re embarrassed to admit they struggle with it, or they’ve just been deceived by it into thinking it no longer exists—but it’s still right there! And that’s when it’s all the more dangerous!

Two Different Kinds of Wisdom

So I was at the beach recently to take a break with all the kids in my house. As a missionary and by God’s direction we open our home to many children and young adults who would otherwise live in a slum or worse. A day at the beach for us is a huge trek—we borrowed a van, and had 15 to 20 people just from those who live in my house and we all piled in and headed to one of the beaches on nearby Panglao Island!—there used to be even more of us but some ran away back to their lives of sin and poverty.

We are taking a break but what is always on my mind is the burden of ministry, end times preparation, warfare over our territory, taking down demonic strongholds, especially family strongholds, and all kinds of perversions attacking my kids, supporters failing, prayer backup quitting, family turning their backs on me—all while we press on in our learning, training, writing, praying … I have so much on my mind.

The picture-perfect tropical stretch of white sand is idyllic and paradisal, at least it is to me! And I just so much enjoy beach-combing for shells and sea creatures and just love looking at the wonder of God’s beauty in his creation, especially so many tiny, insignificant seashells. Little Panglao Island itself has more different kinds of seashells than the entire country of Japan and I just love getting lost in the wonder of it all!

Well, this time I saw a small snail in the seawater and the Lord asked me, What does it think about life? Looking at that tiny slug in the tide pool by the white sandy shore … where I come to NOT think about the End Times, Ministry, Demonic Warfare, Money issues … none of that matters to a sea snail!

It’s mind is surely not care-free, but there are no worries of salvation or damnation, ministry to lost children, rent or the cost of groceries … what does it think about Life? Probably not much! Find some slime to eat, fight with the neighbors over a dead worm, hide in its shell when danger is near, and of course mating—but I have no idea if they have ‘romance’ or ‘marriages’—do snails have weddings? I don’t think so.

What does a sea snail think about its life, its purpose, its meaning, its nature, its character and the wisdom it needs according to the life it perceives that it lives?

Mankind has a much greater scope of mind and existence than a snail but still one that is limited to what it can comprehend by its senses, what it imagines and what it can do within its environment. The carnal mind is a reflection of the carnal world it lives within, so it is the mind that one needs to live in it’s physical and social universe, or so it believes.

The Darkness Within

When Man fell, their nature was corrupted and they were doomed to live in a dark shell-like prison of their own fallen nature—it’s a prison we carry around within us wherever we go much like the snail carries its own shell. What Jesus is giving us is freedom from this tiny, dark prison of our own fallen mind and character.

But to live within the fallen world, and not just the physical word but the corrupted society of Mankind, people develop a carnal mind. I have taken care of street kids who have stayed with me and just can’t accept that I am giving them free food simply because of my kindness. They even still steal it from me, and steal other things from us, and then lie about it, and almost never say thank you for anything good we do for them—and many may still just run away in the end anyway.

When we give them boundaries they often just refuse to accept any. God said we had to give one young boy a firm ultimatum about his pornography and alcohol, and God added, “He will just leave, but nevertheless you must give him an ultimatum.” So I did … and he did. Others constantly steal money and clothing and food even and are stunned when after warnings and warnings and more warnings that we finally ask them to leave. Others we ask to stay but they run away in the middle of the night to go back to the slums anyway. Demons haunt them, demons hunt them, and we pray all the time for them but try as hard as we can we sometimes just can’t break the generational curses from their lives. Maybe they want the familiarity of the bondage of the curses they grew up with? Maybe there are unseen demonic forces of witchcraft at work fighting us over them? Sometimes it just makes no sense but it still breaks our hearts—but also their world-view is corrupted, their minds are blind and unable to see the benefits of what we are offering them.

Woe unto those who Trust in Man; they are Cursed

When the Bible talks about earthly wisdom, the wisdom from below, Man’s ways, carnal thinking and the Flesh, this is what we are dealing with.

How many times does the Bible say it? Woe unto those who trust in Man! This means trusting in the mind of flesh puts people under a curse. Do NOT lean upon your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. This word ‘acknowledge’ is the same as to ‘know’ as in ‘Adam knew Eve and she conceived and had a baby’ and so what this really means to say is ’be intimate’ with the Lord in all your ways and he will make your paths straight. But Woe unto those who trust in Man—they are under a curse—this includes trusting in Man’s Ways, Man’s Mind of flesh, and by the way you are also a ‘Man’—do you trust your own opinions? Do you trust your own understanding or perception of things? Woah! It brings woe!

And it’s not just for the ‘street-kids’ I mentioned above, but this applies to all the Unsaved, and maybe it describes how we still think sometimes ourselves when we are new believers still—and so maybe it sounds funny to say it, but the fundamental thought in their mind is that there is no God who sees, no God who cares, no God who acts to punish or to save—we are actually totally alone, they think—always have been, and always will be. So why not steal? Why not lie!? No one can see what is done in secret! Their thoughts and actions are rational based on their view of a world without God.

But when God is revealed to us everything begins to change. And the more he is revealed the more they change—first in our thinking and then in our lives and we realize the absolute fundamental underlying idea of everything in all creation is that Yes! There is a God, and he sees, he cares and he acts to both punish and thankfully to save—and so we are never alone—never have been, and never will be. And you soon learn you can absolutely count on God moving, acting, healing, providing ….

But we are not changed overnight and the transition from Man’s Wisdom to the Wisdom from Above is sometimes slow and painful. But as we learn more and experience God more our ‘minds’ are gradually renewed and we abandon the lower wisdom of the fallen world for his Higher Ways, but again, often slowly. And yes, sometimes painfully.

And like I said, this new awareness is not only about issues of morality and judgment and sins and lying and stealing. Not everything is about carnal sins. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Do you worry about things? Do you scheme to make money? Would you quit your job to follow God? These are not issues of sin you think, but whatever is not of faith is sin.

So walking according to the Wisdom from Above affects much more than people think it does. You are no sea snail but just what do you think about your life, your purpose, your meaning, your nature, your character and the wisdom you need according to the life you now perceive that you live? Are you still living within the framework of the carnal mind?

Double Trouble—Demonic Dominion

So where does the fallen wisdom come from? The natural flesh! And that’s bad enough but what’s worse is that it has no defense from demonic influences and in fact what Jesus told me is that the Flesh is unfortunately under the dominion of Satan and his forces of darkness. It just goes from bad to worse and this is how Satan rules the world of Man and why God has to judge it. It is the habitation of every evil bird.

So if the Flesh is the enemy of God, the very natural thinking within us, AND it’s influenced so strongly by demonic forces, where can we go to find the solution, to escape from it and find the wisdom from above? In the Bible of course, you say, but more importantly from the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit about it.

Or why is it that ten people can read the same verse in the Bible and come up with ten different meanings? Because they’re based on their own understanding, intellect, perception, motives and desires, and also according to whatever demonic forces they are open to … cults so often use the Bible—Satan even did.

No Interpretation of Prophecy is ‘Private’

So not every interpretation of Scripture is correct, but the Holy Spirit always is—and if the Holy Spirit is our teacher we will understand the Scriptures correctly and do so without even a human mentor, just like Jesus did, and Paul. But the flesh will corrupt your understanding of the text, the words, the ‘logos’ of the Bible. So yes, God’s wisdom is in the Bible, but it is also in the Holy Spirit. You must learn to rely on the Lord more than you rely on your own understanding, and the Lord is the Spirit.

So these two things agree, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, but not everyone with a Bible who has a doctrine has the Holy Spirit and so not everyone’s doctrines of the Bible will agree with the true interpretation from the Holy Spirit. Many people have a Bible but read it in the Flesh and others are even influenced by demons and actually do have ‘doctrines of demons’ regarding what they read in the Bible. To them the Light has literally become Darkness!

God actually hides himself from those operating in carnal thinking, and from the proud, and from those with unclean motives, etc. Not everyone who claims to be a true teacher of the Bible has the Holy Spirit—but everyone can go out and get themselves a Bible!

So we must always keep this in mind, that the Holy Spirit is our real teacher of the Bible. You cannot do without him, and we never will be able to reason our own way to true understanding unless it is with him.

Come let us reason together says the Lord.

And while this applies to everything we do, to every human endeavor, nevertheless for the narrow focus of this chapter, we want to stay focused on how this affects prophecy and so specifically we ask, Where can we find God’s wisdom for the prophetic ministry? This wisdom is in the Bible, yes, and mostly this is in the Old Testament for sure. But for some reason many Christians teach the Old Testament is to be avoided, it’s void, invalid, wrong. But as we will soon see, this is simply not true.

The Old Testament is Still Valid

There is much confusion in modern churches about the validity of the Old Testament and people often say it is obsolete, void and that it is no longer right.

However, they just don’t know what they are talking about.

First, they almost never distinguish the Old Testament from what we call the Old Covenant, which means they do not distinguish the entire canon of revelation of God to Man over thousands of years with the specific requirements of the Law of Moses and those things only dealing with temple sacrifices and ceremonial washings and symbolic things of that nature given through him.

I’ve personally heard people say in the same sermon that the Old Testament is no longer valid and then in the very next sentence they quote revelation from it!—from the Psalms, wisdom from Proverbs or God’s dealings with Man from any number of books such as Samuel, Kings, Genesis, Isaiah and so many of the minor prophets—all after having just said the Old Testament is no longer valid.

None of that the Old Testament stuff is valid, but God is our Provider! God will Provide! Jehovah Jireh!’ Well then that part of the Old Testament is certainly still valid, isn’t it?! ‘Oh, it’s all expired! It’s OVER! But the Lord is my Shepherd! I shall not want! He hides me under his wings! He is a Sun and Shield to us. He is our very great reward!’ … OK, but didn’t you just say …

One elder saw I looked upset and was deep in thought and asked me what was bothering me, but it was far too much to tell him what God had been telling me and so many other people about that church falling away since he just refused to listen and so I just said, “Well, going into the wilderness is a GOOD THING actually because that is where you learn to call upon the name of the Lord.” Sometimes you need to look on the bright side of going into the wilderness! And I then shared some of what God told me, that He was sending their church into the wilderness where they will learn to call upon the name of the Lord before they emerge, unscathed but having lost everything—Incredulous he stammered, “Wilderness?! Wilderness?! That’s the Old Testament!”

He was the teacher of all the new believers and overseeing the huge refugee ministry and was convinced ‘wilderness experiences’ no longer existed? And his reasoning is baffling. How to explain to him the depth of his error? There is just too much to even begin to explain. What can the righteous do when there are no foundations? The answer is: not much.

Paul said “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” This is 2 Timothy 3:16. And he was at that time only talking about the Old Testament Scriptures of course because when he wrote this things like the Gospel of John didn’t even exist yet. Then you have 1 Corinthians 10:11—

“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

So the patterns of behavior, trust, dis-trust, faith and sin in the Old Testament are all still valid patterns of how God deals with people today. God is revealing more of his character to us all the time, but this is the same God we are learning about actually, he cannot change and did not change. And people, as I like to say, are also pretty much the same.

His Promises are YES, Amen!

Then consider 2 Corinthians 1:20—

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

We have much to say on this, but first also add what Ephesians 1:3 says because it just keeps on going—

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ….”

Wait! ALL Promises? EVERY spiritual blessing? That sounds like a lot! Can we just start somewhere small, and just outline a few of the promises we’re dealing with; what blessings are we talking about here specifically? Well OK, let’s start with Abraham. Where was this recorded? Genesis. So as far back as that, these spiritual blessings remain valid promises to us who are in Jesus.

Destiny ON OFFER

These promises and blessings are given to us, in fact ‘offered’ to us, or ‘made available to us’ but people cannot normally enjoy them ‘automatically,’ passively or ‘just because’—not until they FIRST learn about them and SECOND learn to choose to put their faith in them.

God does as he pleases and people get blessings as new believers sometimes without ever knowing God would ever do such kind and wonderful things! God is like that. So not to limit God being overly generous and blessing both the Bad with the Good, or just proving he is Good to All … but normally we find that we only reliably receive what we have faith to receive—all promises of God are received by faith, and that means again we first have to HEAR what these things are, we have to know they exist, and THEN we must put our FAITH in them.

If we never heard of these things we cannot possibly put our faith in them! That’s what Paul was plainly saying in Romans 10:17—faith simply comes by hearing …

So preach the promises of God and people will find it easier to receive them. If you never preach on them, or worse tell people they expired, they no longer exist and are off limits or void, then people have a harder time receiving them. It’s really not that complicated.

Someone will say, “OK, I want them, but where are these ‘promises’ and ‘blessings’ written down?” If we cannot ask for them or believe in them if we do not know they exist, then we need to know what they are! Where can I go to read about them?

You see they are first revealed in the Old Testament! So you need to read it, you need to believe it, and do not tell people that it is invalid or expired or as some are so eager to say are no long available. Think of some of these statements:

“By his stripes we are healed” … that’s still valid! Still available. And thank God for it!

“He came to heal the broken hearted, release the prisoners, give sight to the blind” … all still valid, amen?

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” … imagine not having Psalm 23! But we don’t have to! It’s ours!

Or what about Psalm 91!—“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge” I want to quote the whole psalm! Moses wrote this and it was as true then to those who place their trust in God as it is TODAY! Moses wrote that! And it’s STILL active, still true today!

“Call unto me and I will tell you things you know not of”
… again, still valid, still true, still happening today. Amen!

“My thoughts toward you are of peace and not evil, to give to give you a future and a hope.”… Praise you Jesus, it’s still true!

These are in Isaiah, Jeremiah but also some of these promises and blessings are in Proverbs, some are in Psalms, some are in the Minor Prophets, etc.

The Old Testament is Unfolding even Today

Also, so many of the prophecies in the books of the prophets are foretelling God’s blessings for the people in the New Testament Era. I mean the blessings we are given in Jesus being Born Again and Spirit-Filled were first mentioned, explained, promised and are somehow contained within the Old Testament, especially the books of the Prophets but also the Pentateuch, the Minor Prophets and surely many places in between! These promises from then are OUR blessings here now and it has certainly not ceased, they are even right now still unfolding.

So yes, many of these prophecies are still coming to pass, and moreover many other words are about the End Times, the Tribulation, the Millennial Era and afterwards when Heaven is Restored onto the Earth, so no, many have not even begun to come to pass yet! Look for yourself and you’ll easily see that so many of the major events in Revelations including the Great Tribulation and anti-Christ’s reign and 1,000 years of Peace afterwards, then the Great White Throne Judgment and Final Restoration of the Resurrection are not only foretold in the Old Testament, but when they are explained in the New Testament it is the Old Testament verses themselves that are being quoted. Many Old Testament prophecies are still unfolding and many are not yet fulfilled as of this time. It is certainly not void, obsolete or somehow expired.

God’s word is like rain and snow that waters the earth in season. (Isaiah 55:11) Yet snow does not water the earth while it is still frozen. Don’t let it go! You need to wait until the right season or for someone standing in faith for it to melt—maybe next year, maybe for you today, maybe only in ten years, maybe for someone a thousand years later or more? So like snow on a mountain top these promises of God’s word are not yet fulfilled, and so these verses are still valid, these promises are still pending, just ready and waiting, and when season or faith melts them they will then surely come to pass.

As a final point, not only are these promises and blessings in the Old Testament still valid, but in Christ we have been given even greater promises than God spoke to them before. These ‘greater promises’ must surely have to do with first receiving the indwelling and abiding Holy Spirit when we become Born Again, becoming his living temple, becoming living stones that carry his presence, and the effect of being transformed into his likeness to become his children even while still living here on the Earth! And then the promise of the Father as Jesus called it, being Spirit-filled, and all the blessings of our Son-ship, being co-heir with Jesus, sitting on his very throne with him, living within his very Body, which we are—these promises could not have been faintly comprehended by previous generations without a more full revelation of who Messiah is first!

Being Born-Again and Spirit-Filled are promises that were foretold in the Old Testament, especially but only briefly mentioned in Jeremiah and Joel, but the depth of their meaning and the implications of Emmanuel—God with Us, as a present reality are blessings that far eclipse any imagination of what those verses could have meant before. So yes, they at least fulfill many currently valid promises the Old Testament talked about, but in ways I think no one dared imagine or could predict.

So I mean those promises are not only still valid but they are ever blossoming and expanding even right now and so are still being revealed more fully and certainly not yet even fully revealed to us today!

The Covenant of Righteousness by Faith Remains

More again, how could the Old Testament be invalid if the promises or covenant with Abraham is in fact the very basis for our relationship with God today under Jesus?—it is by faith in Jesus we are made righteous, fulfilling the promise to Abraham. Don’t you know that?

Galatians 3:8-9—⁸ “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

And Galatians 3:13-14—¹³ “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Is this all expired? No, the promises to Abraham are not only all still valid but this is the very basis of the gospel we are receiving through Christ …

Jesus said it this way:

Matthew 5:17—“Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

These great promises are not abolished but are being fulfilled, and are still valid and available to you right now, even today, and so they remain very much open to you as you learn about them and learn to receive them by faith—yes, even this very hour. So how can the Old Testament be invalid if these promises within it are still valid? No, that’s just wrong thinking.

I do wish people would distinguish the Old Testament from the Old Covenant, by which I mean the Law of Moses. But note two things. First, what did Paul say also in Galatians?

Galatians 3:17-18—“And this I say, that the law [of Moses], which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”

So why then the law? Because the promises were not given now to only one righteous man but to millions and millions of people, his descendants first and then anyone who lived like Abraham, and they each needed to understand personally what kind of life Abraham lived, what kind of person he was, so they could walk like he did and so inherit the promises given to someone like him who lives by faith. They needed to understand sin, faith and God’s character, all so they could receive the same promises and blessings as he did.

So the Law of Moses was added because of sin, and yes, the law was passing away, it was temporary—we no longer need to sacrifice sheep to go to heaven.

The Law is still a Valid Tutor

But also note that the Law was and is still a tutor to teach us how God thinks and how we must think and act and to show us a shadow or metaphor of his eternal ways. Why else do we still call Jesus the Lamb of God? It’s because of the type, or pattern, or symbolic representation that was established under the Law of Moses who told people to sacrifice the passover lamb. We ‘plead the blood’ by the example we learned by the Law of Moses applying this learning and example to the blood shed by Jesus, but the meaning and reason why we do it was established and taught to us under the Law of Moses. So cleanliness, purity, kindness, mercy are all lessons we learn from the Law of Moses, and none of these lessons or truths are invalid, even if we now understand the symbolic nature of their lessons—don’t eat unclean food, don’t wear garments of mixed fibers, do not commit sexual sin—Ooops! That one is still very much literally true and not merely a symbolic type or shadow!

But we don’t have time to talk about all this. But read about being ‘the head not the tail’ and ‘blessed in the city, blessed in the country’ and all the rest. For this of course is what we are inheriting in Jesus, and we have been promised even more than this, as I briefly mentioned above.

Enemies All Around

We have two enemies, the flesh or the carnal mind, and also the demonic forces that have dominion over it. These two forces work hand-in-hand especially in religious environments, what we often call a ‘religious spirit’ or ‘spirit of religion.’ It’s the Pharisees who are still very much alive and living among us right now who have had their carnal minds hi-jacked by unclean spirits.

So it will help people to receive these blessings easier if people would just stop saying the Old Testament is invalid. The Law of Moses was a type and shadow and those rules have been fulfilled but they are still a tutor to teach us how God thinks and wants us to act. Beyond that these are valid patterns, examples, types and symbols at a bare minimum. And more than that so many hundreds of promises, and yes including the very promise to Abraham, are still 100% valid today and what faith in Jesus is allowing us to be partakers of, the underlying covenant with Abraham, to whom the gospel was announced in advance.

Moses gave us the Pattern, but Jesus gave us the Reality!

All Biblical promises are YES, and Amen in Jesus, so these Old Testament Scriptures all contain promises that are still valid. Jesus did not abolish these promises but he fulfilled them. You can start with Abraham … hop, skip and jump through Moses’ promises in Deuteronomy, devour the Psalms, feast on the Proverbs and if you want to be truly blessed do not neglect Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the other prophets for they all explain and outline promises of God that are now available to us IN JESUS.

Yes, some promises are maybe changed in form where before it was about a sheep or a cow but now it applies to a car or a job—the captives were once primarily military hostages, and now are mainly about spiritual chains of bondage—the oil used to be a symbolic lotion but now is the very real Holy Spirit covering on us, etc. So the promises are valid, the patterns are valid patterns of blessings and the underlying mechanism of our covenant is the same—our faith. And while Moses gave the pattern, the symbols, the text (logos), the metaphors—Jesus gave us the truth, its reality, the actual grace (charis or strength) and his real power (dumanis and his authority)!

Do you begin to see how much damage the carnal mind has done to us? How much carnal thinking has taken away from us by keeping us ignorant to the things God is doing for us?

And I need to get through that quickly because it’s not even the main point we are talking about. Wisdom is.

Beyond Promises … the Wisdom of God Remains

And so if you can get a grasp for this underlying idea that the very promises God gave us in the Old Testament Bible are available to us in Christ, that they are not invalid or expired, the blessings are described there at least in some basic way—but then we can take the next step knowing that if all that is valid … how much more valid are the examples of God’s eternal wisdom revealed to us in the Old Testament! Obedience is better than sacrifice. For the eyes of the Lord continually run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. Who could live a vibrant life in Christ without the Psalms and Proverbs?!

Can you now see that it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out?

Do not Miss the Wisdom of God for Prophecy!

I need to say this plainly: the wisdom of God is contained in the Old Testament. And this is especially the reservoir of wisdom for things concerning prophecy and the operation of the prophetic ministry for the New Testament Church.

So honestly, this is why the modern church is so badly equipped to handle the Lord’s gift of the Prophetic Ministry, because they have overlooked God’s obvious provision and have leaned upon their own understanding and not been intimate with God in these areas where it matters the most.

This is why we are so immature and childish in our ways and can’t seem to just get the real benefit of the blessing of prophecy in the church but instead are constantly confused with basic questions, common problems and never-ending teething pains. Maybe it’s not as bad as I’m making it out, but I think we have a long way to go to handle this area of ministry in an effective, mature and productive way.

So what is missing? That’s obvious!

The Wisdom of God for prophecy is missing!

And what have we embraced in its place? The ‘wisdom’ of man, the carnal mind, the curse of following the mind of flesh.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and if the fear of God is missing, as it clearly is in so many modern churches, this alone explains why they remain bound by the stupidity of Man—exchanging wisdom for foolishness will lead people into captivity.

Malachi 2:5 says God gave Jesus a covenant of life and peace so Jesus would fear the Lord, and he did! He revered God’s name! When people corrupt the covenant and abandon the fear of the Lord, they cannot hope to lead people into the blessings of God! Man’s ways do not produce God’s blessings! Jesus told me that!

Well then, I think we need to get God’s wisdom, and whatever we get, get His insight! God’s Wisdom is therefore the principle thing! But where is the Wisdom of God for prophecy that we need so much? Because we seem to be missing it, largely I believe because we disdain learning from the Old Testament, and yes, because so many of us have abandoned the fear of the Lord!

In fact, when God asked me to train prophets we had what people now call ‘activation sessions,’ practice and sharing sessions, but the main training he asked me to give was a careful reading of the Old Testament books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. God gave us these books as our textbook and training manual for serving him as prophets.

These tie into the Minor Prophets frequently and this is all being read and discussed upon the backdrop of course of the Major Prophets. We don’t want to become religious scholars but simply have a grasp of what God did, does and will do again with his servants the prophets.

And no, we are not reviving any form of legalism or the Law of Moses as people next say in fear when they hear us say we are learning from the Old Testament! In the very FIRST CHAPTER of Isaiah God said how much he hated the religious feasts he commanded the people through Moses to do! Amos 5 is rich meat and God just wants us to hate evil and seek justice. And Hosea 6:6 finally says, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” God wants our hearts, our love and obedience, not just religious symbols and pantomimes of it.

And the ministry of prophets especially after the reign of Solomon is all lessons in spiritual warfare, proclaiming God’s sovereign power over the affairs of Man, and never is the answer to a problem they face to wear a doily on your head or do a ritual or religious ceremony so the Holy Spirit will move.

One time the prophet needed soaking music, most other times they just needed to be quiet and listen; many were public figures, but many more are mentioned but once and some are not even mentioned by name.

So no, the ministry of the prophets in the Books of History have nothing to do with legalism, ‘law,’ ceremonial diversions or religious formalism. God often says openly in these books what he wants and it is not ceremony or sacrifices but justice and honestly and caring for the oppressed, the widow, the orphan, the foreigner—and for people to ‘return’ or ‘turn back’ to God, which we translate in the New Testament as ‘repent’ but it is the same thing, the same exact thing. If you didn’t know better it looks like it could be a direct foreshadow of the unimpeded ministry of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts or something.

The main difference may mostly be that they did not know the revelation of the Name of Jesus. But Jesus’ crucifixion was an ETERNAL sacrifice and it’s why Old Testament saints were not abandoned into hell but were destined for a heavenly city, whose maker was God. There are not TWO heavens—one for Old Testament Jews and another for New Testament Christians! There is but ONE Family of God, one City of God, one Olive Tree, one Vine and all who live by faith are joined into it.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

I won’t get into now, maybe not more than just dipping my toes into the water, but Daniel knew Jesus but as the Ancient of Days. David knew Jesus in many ways and it was Christ himself who dealt with Abraham, as it plainly said in Galatians 3:17:

Galatians 3:17-18—“And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ ….”

Hebrews says the promises of the gospel were proclaimed to those in Egypt; Galatians says it was pre-announced to Abraham, and this was an underlying sub-text of the Jewish national culture. They knew God, but not as well as he was revealed through Jesus, and surely not as well as he will be revealed in ages to come, but many of them were more intimate with God than many modern Christians are. But the ties that link the Old Testament and New are greatly misunderstood, especially by ‘gentile’ believers who cannot see the overabundance of Jewish cultural underpinnings of the New Testament and Jesus, who himself was 100% Jewish.

All I mean to say this for is to point out that the Jewish nation had a culture that was built upon personal intimate knowledge of God and this was clearly expressed in their national customs, and it centered around faith in God, repentance from walking in the ways of the nations around them, learning to do good, seeking justice, rebuking the oppressor, defending the fatherless, pleading for the widow, upholding His Ways, and returning to the ‘ancient ways’ or turning their hearts back to God, seeking his righteousness, seeking humility before him, fearing him as a King ought to be feared … this is the common foundation of the people of God across time and in both covenants.

Starting from Scratch

The problem with Gentile cultures of course is that they often have no such true foundation or godly teaching in their society, especially before the Gospel ever came to them, and so to reach them we have to start from scratch. The Jews were already looking for Messiah, and when they heard it was Jesus and saw his signs millions followed him. Gentiles had no such concept at that time that there even was such a thing as a Messiah or a real God for that matter either.

So when Jesus came he was FIRST sent to the Jews, but when the gentiles began to openly understand what was going on and ‘asked to see him’ he said it was time to open things up to everyone, and went to the cross. But note, the ministry of Elijah and John the Baptist were at heart the exact same ministry: to turn the hearts of the people back to God. From the Greek we use the term ‘repent,’ which means to turn back, but from the Hebrew we just use the actual word, ‘turn’ or ‘turn back.’ This means to turn people away from following their own ways, from their carnal and sinful ways, and to turn back to following God, to go back to the ‘ancient paths.’ This is what the old prophets were doing, what Elijah and John the Baptist were sent to do, and even what Malachi said Jesus would do, that he would ‘turn many away from iniquity’ or from their sin. This ongoing message of revival to the Jewish people, renewed in each generation to tell the people to ‘return to God’ went back all the way to Joshua at least and was a message people understood and responded to in the millions under John the Baptist, etc.

We must go one step further with non-Jews often, especially those in unreached cultures and often have to start with ‘Oh, in case you missed it, there is a God ….’

But yes, in this modern day and age the playing field is somewhat more level or somewhat comparable to ministry to the Jewish nation in the first century because the Gospel has been preached so widely and for many hundreds of years, especially in the West, that many people already know there is a God and this is already a part of their national culture, such as in England and America, etc., but also notable examples in Eastern Europe, etc. I was reading about the revivals with miracle healings and prophecy in England that flourished as early as the 6th Century there. So most in the West at least have already heard that yes, there is a God, and Jesus is his Messiah, and knew this message as far back as the year 555 in England itself, and even much earlier in some cases, but no, many today still don’t turn their hearts to him.

Anyway, I am not delving into prophetic evangelizing or trying to compare and contrast the two covenants, but do see that no matter what differences exist the promise to Abraham is the key unifying factor between Jews and Gentiles in both the Old and New Testaments. Those who have faith in God are considered by him as righteous. Non-Jewish believers in Jesus are being grafted into the Jewish Olive Tree (Romans 11) and are also now considered Children of Abraham; this is Galatians 3, especially verses 9, 14 and 29!

⁶ “just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ ⁷ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

…

¹³ “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

…

²⁶ “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

What I can see is that God has not changed. He is the same Yesterday, Today and For Ever. And Mankind—well … people I think are also pretty much the same.

The promises of God certainly keep getting better—yes, indeed, and the New Covenant is better than the Old, but note, the way the Holy Spirit speaks, what kinds of things he does, what he may ask his servants the prophets to say or do, what he wants—all of this is the same—pretty much EXACTLY the same—irregardless of what covenant people are under. God still has secrets, and still speaks his secrets to his servants the prophets and he expects them to be faithful and share exactly what he says and not spin it, or modify it, or add their own commentary to it to censor God or edit what they allow him to say. Just think about that.

And so yes, we have much to learn from God by reading his entire book of Scriptures and especially in our current focus, to learn wisdom for the prophetic ministry and that is primarily contained in the Old Testament, especially in the acts of God’s prophets in what we call the History Books, but also the Prophets, and yes, even in the Pentateuch.

Why so much Carnal Fearfulness of God??

There is so much carnal thinking in this area, and the root of so much of it is fear that God may actually show up and take over. I do not fear this. I struggle with my flesh like anyone, and I hope for the day when I am victorious in that ongoing wrestling match. If God manifests now and I can win this war sooner, then Come Lord Jesus! I do not fear God coming and taking over my ministry, my family or my personal life. Maybe I’m not a normal teacher or pastor in that regard. But I still often ask myself, Why do these ‘people of God’ resist God so much?

Someone will say it’s because God killed so many people back then. But now we have a new God and he’s friendly. It’s the New Testament God 2.0, New and Improved—Fools! Just plain fools. Don’t tell them that to their faces, but … fools!

This great Terror, the Fear of Israel, who you dislike so much and who you say ‘killed people back then’ was either the Father from whose love Jesus was sent to die for us in our place so he could adopt us—not to merely appoint us as angelic helpers but to adopt us as his very own children, and in doing so seat us FAR ABOVE any angelic role, rank or title and so seating us WITH HIM far above all of that … that was the loving Father’s plan, the God who you fear is a cruel tyrant.

OR that Old Testament God who you say killed everyone was Jesus himself, who is the one to whom all judgment has been given and who judged evil people to save the righteous, thus revealing his eternal character as the Righteous Judge who rightly judged the wicked and killed them righteously, and who is the same Judge into whose name the weak run like a strong tower to be safe. Revelations 19 reveals Jesus as a mighty warrior, going into battle, his robe covered in blood, feeding the bodies of kings and rulers to the birds of the air.

Wait a minute! I just saw what’s going on here!! Are you not identifying with the Righteous whom God saved? Are you somehow still identifying with the evil unrighteous who are the enemies of GOD and his people who he judged and destroyed? Is that why you are so afraid of the ‘Old Testament God’ staging a comeback?

If that’s really you, you need to get saved, brother. Get saved now! Escape the coming wrath. Because in case you didn’t know, the Wrath of God is not invalid, expired or somehow obsolete either. The Wrath of God still exists, and is exactly what people are being saved out from, being saved away from by faith in Jesus. The wrath of God is eternal and it does not sleep. Hell wasn’t closed or shut down for maintenance. Just what are they teaching people in Bible schools these days?

Loving the God Who Slays the Wicked

And so if this is not yet clear enough, you need to read your New Testament. Who killed Ananias and his lovely wife Sapphira? Who killed Herod? Have you not read the Book of Revelations in that just opening the first four seals of the book of the final mysteries of God one third of mankind dies? Which, last time I checked, was in the New Testament.

We are not supposed to talk so much about these things, in fact, because it scares people. It really does. God is loving and Good, but he also has to act justly to stop evil men from taking over. Ten thousand can fall at your right hand but if you are walking with Jesus in faith, meaning he counts you as righteousness, it WILL NOT come near you. You will only see with your own two eyes the reward (judgment, punishment, recompense) of the wicked.

And because it really is scary, we don’t need to talk about it often. A little goes a very long way here—but also many don’t talk about it AT ALL and the Fear of God is missing entirely in many churches. Without the Fear of God people will not find his wisdom—meanwhile their stupidity certainly persists! People preach sin no longer exists, neither does God’s judgment or wrath. It’s all grace now, brother. But, oh brother, they don’t even know what grace even means! Grace is strength to stop sinning, the power that transforms us—not permission to go on sinning, sinning and adding more sin to sin.

Because “if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” says Hebrews 10:26. But if there is no more wrath or punishment for sin, how about all those who got killed in the New Testament? It certainly still existed for them! No, we are even now still ‘being saved’ from a real Hell which is not a fantasy and has not been closed like an old prison and turned into a Disney attraction. No, it is very much literal, real and taking in new permanent inmates every single day.

Fearing the God who Loves

But yes, a little does go a LONG way. So we don’t need to talk about it much—but we must never deny it exists as many modern preachers actually do. Hell is for real. God really has a judgment set. Jesus died so those who have faith in him can receive Abraham’s blessing and escape the coming and still very much real wrath of God.

Why so much wrong preaching about God’s wrath and judgment. Why? I think it all comes back down to the Flesh: Human Level Understanding, Human Level Intellect, Human Level Perception, Human Level Motives and Human Level Desires. And yes, the dominion Satan has over all of that.

People create, believe and preach a carnal, fleshly version of every mystery and all spiritual ideas about God. This is why God’s people are perishing. They imagine he is one way, a pretend, safe way they know they made up, and paint him not as a Sovereign or a Fearsome Power, but like a pansy, a floor mat, a toothless lion whom Men rule over. These lies persist until people actually experience his real and often emotional friendship, his oftentimes overwhelming power, or his divine judgment—but until they do they continue to preach lies, throwing everything jarring under the blanket of the “Old Testament” like it’s a myth only made to scare the masses to obey society’s rules. They do not fear God and so preach apostasy as well. But Jesus even openly told me this, which I may share elsewhere, but he said:

“I want you to be clear in seeing that I get upset at people. It is not a cover to the flesh emotions, but I got mad enough at Moses to want to kill him and all the people more than once.

“This is dismissed by people nowadays saying, ‘But that is the God of the Old Testament”—Am I two different God’s? This is a false teaching. I AM the same Yesterday, Today and Forever.”

So fear, ignorance and carnal thinking are all corrupting our gospel: this is maybe why so many prophets who have actually heard God speak understand and preach on the Fear of God—but so many preachers and teachers who only teach what they can understand from their own reasoning just don’t. This must certainly be 2 Corinthians 5:16 again, am I right?—

“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.”

So tragically we are being taught the ways of Man even using the Word of God to do it! But this is also clearly why God gave us the prophetic ministry! One of the main purposes of prophecy, especially deep teaching words, is to correct the inherent errors that Teachers of Man so easily fall into. Prophets are needed in every generation to bring people back on track. They are necessary to maintain truth in our doctrines, and have an error-correction effect upon the pastors and teachers who so easily fall into human reasoning and carnal thinking.

Thank God for the prophetic ministry!

Key Prophetic Teachings in the Old Testament

But I cannot summarize the entire Old Testament here very well, can I? No, and so I encourage people to continue to read and meditate over the Whole Bible, always asking the Holy Spirit to reveal his thinking to you, especially where you may embrace man’s ideas and carnal understanding of his Word. So seek to understand from Him the difference between your thoughts and his concerning the Bible. God needs to be our teacher.

But I will outline a few things on prophecy that you may want to become more familiar with to give yourself maybe a better foundation of the Wisdom of God for prophecy in the New Testament from the Old.

People usually start with Numbers 11:29 where young Joshua zealously asks Moses to stop the 70 elders from prophesying and Moses dismisses his jealousy and says,

“Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”

This verse is not Moses caught speaking on a hot mic! Rather this is God’s heart, that everyone would be able to hear him plainly and serve him where it really matters. Moses knew God’s heart, he knew God’s ways, and that’s why this verse is so important.

Psalms and Proverbs

God said I don’t need to go through every verse in these two books, and good thing too. The longest chapter in the Bible, also the longest psalm, Psalm 119, is ALL about God’s word, spoken first and then written. I’ve already shared a little and people don’t like reading long lists of verses so I’ll only mention three more:

Psalm 12:6—“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

Proverbs 30:5-6—⁵ “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. ⁶ Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”

Psalm 105:15-19—¹⁵ “Saying, ‘Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.’ ¹⁶ Moreover He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread.”

¹⁷ “He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. ¹⁸ They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. ¹⁹ Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

Oh, there are dozens of verses on prophecy, God’s word and God speaking throughout the Psalms, Proverbs and elsewhere in the Old Testament and not knowing your habits, I simply suggest people to also set time aside to focus on learning as much as they can from the deeper books like Isaiah, and then Jeremiah and Ezekiel as well. This will help set a true foundation of understanding for other learning elsewhere as it helps us ground our thinking in knowing God’s mind in comparison to Man’s ways as these are so often and so clearly juxtaposed in these weighty books. And so here are just a very few more insights from them.

Isaiah

Almost everything Jesus said was in Isaiah I think. When I asked Jesus to explain his ministry to me he took me to Isaiah 61 and explained that in great detail to me. I write about this a lot since it changed my very understanding of the very purpose of Christian Ministry—the goal, methods and means by which we preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. When he took me through Isaiah 61 explaining the transformational blessings of Healing the Broken Hearted, Releasing the Captives and Giving Sight to the Blind, etc., and what comes from it … it blew my mind and I said, “Jesus this verse is the model of your ministry!” to which he said, “No, this verse is the model of your new life.”

Most people plainly understand Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus and in fact it is so obvious to everyone that this chapter is known as the ‘forbidden chapter’ in Jewish synagogue public reading of the Bible to this day—they simply won’t read it.

And when Jesus gave me a detailed dream of the great falling away he showed this to me from Isaiah 5. This is happening right now. We have not more than scratched the surface of ongoing revelation from Isaiah I believe and so much of it is a framework of Jesus’ teachings and therefore it underpins every New Testament Ministry, especially the ministry of prophecy.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah scares people but it is in fact a literal history of the siege of Jerusalem by Babylon, and seems to be a prophetic type of the great falling away and great tribulation at the end of the Age of Gentiles in several ways, with one crucial difference—God’s salvation will not this time be to “surrender to Nebuchadnezzar” for anyone who denies Christ and takes the identity mark of the anti-Christ’s world order will go to hell—regardless of their private or secret personal convictions.

Anyway, what an awful assignment Jeremiah had, really. Not where I want to be used by God and no wonder he had such a hard time walking it out.

And note that the latter part of Jeremiah’s prophesying in Jerusalem overlapped with Ezekiel’s ministry who was at that same time prophesying to those in captivity and so many things they prophesied were exactly the same. All the while they were prophesying Daniel was busy keeping the lions quiet. It was Daniel in fact reading Jeremiah’s prophecy that revealed to him that the 70 years of exile had passed and that the captivity to Babylon would then end.

But the main sections in Jeremiah we need to be familiar and comfortable with begin with Jeremiah 1, where he is called BEFORE he was born. The strength he needed to do this task was also instilled in him by God to be able to stand against so many false prophets, kings and conspirators who wanted to kill him—and note he was accused of being a false prophet right up unto the very end of his ministry!

1:4-19—⁴ “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁵ ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ ”

…

^7b …“ ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. ⁸ Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord.”

…

⁹ “Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me:
‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.’ ”

…

¹⁷ “ ‘Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them.

¹⁸ For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹ They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to deliver you.’ ”

5:14—“Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: ‘Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.’ ”

We see Jeremiah’s humanity, his weakness in his own strength a few times and in Chapter 12 he brings a case to God complaining about God’s justice to which God replies:

⁵ “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?”

The open plains are clear of bushes, but the floodplain of the Jordan was where all the bushes and untamed scrub-brush grew, impossible to run through indeed! We need supernatural strength to run with horses on open ground of course! What if things get really hard and we get stuck in the weeds? We need supernatural strength to serve God in any such hard assignment he means to say I think, and people lose nerve easily. Their strength fails, but God’s strength is unconventional strength, it cannot fail, even in the End Times, He told me. But Jeremiah was already complaining before things got really severe! The temptation to quit seized both Elijah and John the Baptist and not a few times Jeremiah spoke of wanting to quit and wished he was never born but was being compelled to speak God’s holy words regardless! How unlike the experience of today’s popular ‘prophetic voices’ this seems.

In Chapter 15 Jeremiah complains more and says:

¹⁰ “Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent for interest, nor have men lent to me for interest. Every one of them curses me.

¹¹ “The Lord said: ‘Surely it will be well with your remnant; surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you in the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.’ ”

False prophets often sugarcoat God’s hardships and only ‘prophesy’ good, flattering blessings, skipping every rebuke and even try to twist a rebuke into a blessing so as never to offend a person they get a hard word for. Here the real prophet is saying exactly what God told him to say, ‘speaking to them all He commanded him to say’ so not only is he hearing God’s real word but he does not shy away from honestly sharing it, explaining the calamity, terror and hardship … but then the promised restoration, fruitfulness and blessings which will certainly come afterwards. But if no purifying trials come, how can the promised restoration follow? You must see the current trend of only prophesying ‘smooth things’ in this and take warning.

Chapter 20 has Jeremiah beaten and imprisoned for his prophecy that Babylon was coming to destroy Jerusalem because of their sin and apostasy. He prophesied destruction on the man who beat and jailed him who was himself prophesying God would bless Jerusalem and not send her into exile. Then Jeremiah breaks down and accuses God and wishes again that he was never born. What a hard assignment. He says this in verse 8b:

⁸ … “For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, ‘Violence and plunder!’ Because the word of the Lord was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.

⁹ “Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.’ But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.”

Like reluctant Moses, Jeremiah was burning inside with the word he wished had not come to him. He was not promoting himself by preaching encouragement and blessings only—but how much I bet he wished that was God’s word to him! The real God speaks in ways that are offensive to man and he is not afraid of offending anyone; God fears no man. To be his honest, faithful prophet there will definitely be times when you carry a rebuke. Will you give it? Can you give a real rebuke but with love and compassion in your heart? It’s a hard task, doubly hard when you have to carry a hard word and not be angry, but yes, God still speaks these types of words, people still sin and hide their sin and God still exposes it for their sake and the sake of the people their sin is affecting. God still speaks this way and so still has faithful servants who will convey his hard words too, and that without twisting them to always sound candy-coated and fun.

Jeremiah 23—Woe to the Shepherds

But Chapter 23 needs to be read in its entirety, and yes, it is for modern ministers, but no, I won’t copy it here. But first he contrasts the ‘useless ministers’ who are accused of scattering His flock, driving them away, and not attending to them. And he makes the promise of sending ‘Good Shepherds’ to fix the damage they’ve caused. This is clearly a reference to Jesus coming and why we call him the Good Shepherd in fact, but note the plural ‘shepherds.’ Not only did Jesus fulfill this promise but all the modern pastors and teachers must understand this is the bar of judgment set against their ministries. Will they too emulate the love and justice of the Good Shepherd, or be found wanting as one of the ‘useless shepherds’ instead whom they were sent to replace? This is an important directive for New Testament ministers.

Then comparing carrying God’s true prophetic word with the flatterers so prevalent in the congregation, beginning in verse 9 he says:

⁹ “My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the Lord, and because of His holy words.”

…

but … verse 13: “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err.

¹⁴ “Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness.”

Flattery in prophecy is making people immune to repentance and is what is strengthening evildoers. Then the main learning:

¹⁶ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.

¹⁷ “ ‘They continually say to those who despise Me, “The Lord has said, ‘You shall have peace’ ” and to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, “No evil shall come upon you.”

¹⁸ “ ‘For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? ¹⁹ Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.

²⁰ “ ‘The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.

“ ‘In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.

²¹ “ ‘I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
²² But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.’ ”

To me this is the clear distinction between the flatterers, the ‘court prophets on salary,’ the ‘itching ear’ prophets and popular teachers … compared to the true servants of the Living God. The true bring people to real cleansing repentance, honestly speaking exactly what God is saying to them. The learning continues:

²³ “ ‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the Lord, ‘and not a God afar off? ²⁴ Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord. ²⁵ ‘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.

²⁸ “ ‘The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?’ says the Lord.

²⁹ “ ‘Is not My word like a fire?’ says the Lord, ‘And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?’ ”

Chapter 25 Jeremiah says he’s been warning the people for 23 years and yet they still won’t listen! Chapter 26 he is sent by God to preach again in the temple, maybe they will listen God says, but instead they hear him and say, ‘You shall die!’ Jeremiah is seized by the leaders who want to put him to death and meanwhile he continued to warn them to repent even while in custody! The more calm-headed elders recalled another prophet with the same message who Hezekiah listened to and repented because of, and a second with the exact same message of Jeremiah … who they killed. Jeremiah is spared but the hardships continue.

Even in Chapter 27 many prophets were saying the exact opposite message of God through Jeremiah. He is again and again accused of being a false prophet. If he spoke today would we treat him any differently? If God gave you such a word, how many people would believe you?

Jeremiah was even told to tell all the neighboring countries that Nebuchadnezzar was coming and if they wanted to live to serve him. He even said their own prophets, diviners, enchanters, sorcerers and such were lying to them as well saying Nebuchadnezzar would not come. Funny how the clearly false sorcerers and enchanters had the same message as the ‘court prophets’ and flatting popular preachers in Jerusalem, ‘God’s not angry, your sins are not a problem! Prosperity is coming and everything is going to be OK!’

Then there is a real personal confrontation in Chapter 28 where Hananiah prophesied God would break the power of Babylon within two years. This was in the fifth month. Jeremiah said, I hope so! May the Lord do it! But guess what!? You’re lying! There was a very tense standoff and Jeremiah finally said:

¹⁵ … “ ‘Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord.” ’ ¹⁷ So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.”

Did you see that?! Yes, he died just two months later!

Then Chapter 29 Jeremiah sends a letter to the exiles in Babylon, which Daniel quoted from, which says:

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. ¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.”

At this point people were STILL calling Jeremiah a false prophet. He wrote a long prophecy of encouragement to the Exiles and in 31:31-34 foretells the covenant of the New Testament of being Born Again whereby God would put his laws into the minds of the people and write it on their hearts.

His encouragement in 33:3 is famous:

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

And God often juxtaposed the death and destruction and dead bodies they were seeing strewn everywhere with visions of true joyful restoration and prosperity to come after the cleansing.

But the leadership are a hard-headed bunch and in Chapter 36 Jeremiah was not free to roam around and dictates his prophecies to Baruch to read to the people during a fast and it was sent to the king who burned up the scroll and tried to arrest Baruch, but God hid him too.

Jeremiah was beaten again and imprisoned a long time but the new king released him and fed him from the bread in the city until it was all gone because the siege was so hard. His prophecy that everyone who was in the city would die but anyone who surrendered would live was so discouraging the same people who opposed him a long time threw him into a muddy pit, a dried-up cistern owned by the king’s son, and the king would not even stop them. An Egyptian protested this evil treatment of Jeremiah and the king relented and said to take 30 men and rescue him. This king privately inquired of Jeremiah what to do and he said, ‘If I tell you, you’ll just kill me. And anyway you won’t listen to me.’ He told the king how to save his life and the lives of his household by surrendering … but he didn’t listen.

After the Babylonians broke into the city Jeremiah was treated kindly and with favor by the occupying forces. Stubborn people must have been convinced he was working for them all this time I bet. God didn’t seem to care much about how it looked, maybe that was part of what God wanted to do to really test the hearts of the leadership he was so incensed with?

There are many other beautiful revelations of God’s goodness and hope in Jeremiah I cannot mention here so I can stay focused on what we can learn about prophecy itself instead.

Ezekiel

So much in Ezekiel is just like Jeremiah. And again, Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah but who was in Exile while Jeremiah was enduring the main siege of Jerusalem.

It is noteworthy that Chapter 13 begins with the same confrontation of false prophets Jeremiah faced and that we face today who are telling people what they want to hear and not ‘repairing the breaks in the wall’ or causing actual repentance or cleansing edification.

13:1-23—¹ “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, “Hear the word of the Lord!” ³ Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! ⁴ O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. ⁵ You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.

…

¹⁰ “ ‘Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, “Peace!” when there is no peace—and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar—¹¹ say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. ….

…

¹⁵ “ ‘Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, ¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” ’ says the Lord God.

…

¹⁹ “ ‘And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?

…

²² “ ‘Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life. ²³ Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

This is the current state of the Church. Who dares to speak God’s Holy Words without making it into a circus of ‘grace means you can sin and it’s all going to be fine’ kind of playhouse?

Chapter 14:1-11—¹ “Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³ ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

…

⁶ “ ‘Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. ⁷ For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. ⁸ I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “ ‘And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, ¹¹ that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God,’ says the Lord God.”

Chapter 18 is very similar to Jeremiah’s word in 31:29-30 on not punishing children when their fathers eat sour grapes!

²³ “ ‘Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live?’ ”

Chapter 24 Ezekiel’s wife dies and he is told not to mourn publicly, but groan quietly for her as a sign for the people.

Ezekiel is also given words for the neighboring countries, just as Jeremiah had. But in Chapter 27 and especially Chapter 28 the prophecy takes on a secondary meaning in that it talks of Satan’s fall, comparing him to the King of Tyre.

And while the main chapter on prophecy in Jeremiah is 23, in Ezekiel it is 33 and 34, which in ways runs parallel to Jeremiah 23. This is where God calls a prophet a watchman, but reminds him it is a position with grave responsibilities.

Ezekiel 33:6-33—⁶ “ ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

⁷ “ ‘So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, “O wicked man, you shall surely die!” and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ⁹ Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

¹⁰ “ ‘Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: “Thus you say, ‘If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?’ ” ¹¹ Say to them: “ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ ” ’ ”

…

¹⁷ “ ‘Yet the children of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” But it is their way which is not fair! ¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. ²⁰ Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.’ ”

…

Being Hearers but not Doers of God’s Word

³⁰ “ ‘As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, “Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.” ³¹ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. ³² Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. ³³ And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.’ ”

But now comes the chapter that is a parallel of Jeremiah 23, and consider carefully who this message is for. Is this only for ancient priests? Certainly not! For this is how God will judge modern pastors and churchgoers alike now. This is in fact the same message to the church in Pergamum in Revelations 2:12-17.

34:1-10—¹ “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. ⁴ The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. ⁵ So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. ⁶ My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.’ ”

⁷ “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”—⁹ therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.” ’ ”

In verse 11 you can see God sends Jesus, the True Shepherd, to give the sheep his Kingdom. Note verse 17 where he takes issue with the other sheep who are themselves not caring for the weak among them. This prophecy is being fulfilled today in our lives. And in case it’s still unclear he finally explains his metaphor:

³¹ “ ‘You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord God”—

Which Jesus made famous use of in many of his parables and teachings.

As Jeremiah prophesied the new covenant and of being Born Again in 31:31-34, Ezekiel in 36:26 says something very similar about giving the people a new heart of flesh, putting his Spirit in them, and causing them to be able to dwell in his kingdom, his ‘land’:

36:26-33—²⁶ “ ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ²⁸ Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

…

³² “ ‘Not for your sake do I do this,’ says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!’ ³³ Thus says the Lord God: ‘On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt…’ ”

Chapter 37 is of course the vision of The Valley of Dry Bones that becomes an Army. After they are restored into human bodies they are not yet resurrected until the Holy Spirit is breathed into them. A few years ago God asked me to release this chapter prophetically now! This must therefore be coming to pass now in our days. It is therefore the End Time Army of God’s Kingdom servants. This is for now! Yes, even Today!

And we learn from Ezekiel that God asks you a question, you of course cannot understand and the best answer is what he says here, “O Lord God, You know.”

The Minor Prophets

Many of these prophecies track with events in the history books but taken at face value there is still much wisdom from the Lord about the prophetic ministry we can certainly glean from.

You already know the most commonly quoted verses in these books, but to stay on topic I’ll just list a few of the key insights here which are on prophecy, and unfortunately not every powerful verse.

Hosea, Joel, Amos

Hosea 6:4-7—⁴ “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.
⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And your judgments are like light that goes forth.
⁶ For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷ “But like men [Adam] they transgressed the covenant;
There they dealt treacherously with Me.”

Hosea 12:10—“I have also spoken by the prophets,
and have multiplied visions;
I have given symbols [parables] through the witness of the prophets.”

Other version may read ‘spoken through parables,’ which is of course what Jesus quoted when asked about his unique way of teaching. This must be Jesus speaking prophetically actually.

Hosea 12:13—“By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet he was preserved.”

Joel 2:28-29—²⁸ “And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Amos 2:10-12—¹⁰ “ ‘Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
¹¹ I raised up some of your sons as prophets,
and some of your young men as Nazirites.
Is it not so, O you children of Israel?’ Says the Lord.
¹² ‘But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,
and commanded the prophets saying, “Do not prophesy!” ’ ”

Amos 3:3-8—³ “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
⁴ Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
⁵ Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
⁶ If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
⁷ Surely the Lord God does nothing,
unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
⁸ A lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?”

Amos 7:14-15—¹⁴ “Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: ‘I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. ¹⁵ Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to My people Israel.” ’ ”

Amos 8:11-12—¹¹ “ ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. ¹² They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.’ ”

Is this only referring to the 400 years of silence before the birth of Jesus? He says a famine of hearing, this I think afflicts many people even today.

Obadiah, Jonah, Micah

There is not much in Obadiah but so much in Jonah! And note that Chapter 2 appears to be Jesus’ cry in death!

Jonah 1:1-3—¹ “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ ³ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

…

Jonah 3:1-10—¹ “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’

…

⁶ “Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.

…

¹⁰ “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

…

Jonah 4:2—“So he prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.’ ”

The fundamental learning is how opposed God’s divine justice is to Man’s petty sense of justice, here regarding mercy primarily. Jonah’s disobedience was because he knew God and knew he would spare his mortal enemies, the Ninevites, and just hated the idea of God’s mercy on them too much to be a part of it.

This is a wonderful lesson of the Flesh of Man corrupting Prophecy, don’t you think? It’s a true prophetic word, but his reaction to it is all wrong. Poor, sinful Jonah!

Note also, his warning DID NOT COME TO PASS! Is he a false prophet? Not every word of God will come to pass: a warning of judgment never should, a blessing should always. Far too often the opposite is true—now you may understand better why I say that—it depends on how the people respond! Don’t be so fast to accuse word or prophet when a word seems to not come to pass. There are many good reasons why it might not!

God then made a vine grow to give him shade and then killed it and Jonah was so angry over this as well! He asked the angry man in 4:9-11:

⁹ “Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’
And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’


¹⁰ “But the Lord said, ‘You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?’ ”

Can you prophesy rightly but mess it all up with the flesh, because of the influence of the heart and mind and emotions of Man? Absolutely! Don’t be like Jonah was!

Then in Micah the preachers preach blessings to the sinful and unrepentant saying, ‘peace, disgrace will not overtake us,’ and so call good, evil and evil they call good, and actually support the injustice of the rulers who evict families to steal their homes. When people say a prophet has to be submitted under the pastors they preach to, it is what creates this kind of situation where the prophets who are supposed to expose hidden motives in leadership to bring cleansing are instead silenced for a salary.

When people suppress the prophetic ministry and say no words of warning or correction are ever allowed, all they can do is ensure their own people (and themselves) are never warned or corrected! How can that not backfire?

True prophets will see what ails a community, and know the sin that is keeping them bound. Do you really want the yoke of this bondage NOT to be destroyed off of your land?

Yes, we need to deliver a word with the right attitude, but honestly people are seemingly more concerned with how a word is given than whether God is allowed to give a crucial life-saving word such as that at all? Isn’t that rather backwards? And who is to say how the young person gave the word wasn’t right to begin with? Do you judge before you even hear God speak? Tsk, tsk.

And so much like the famine of the word in Amos 8-11 is Micah 3:6-7. But here is Micah 3:5-12—

⁵ “Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who make my people stray;
Who chant ‘Peace’ while they chew with their teeth,
but who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths:
⁶ “Therefore you shall have night without vision,
and you shall have darkness without divination;
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be dark for them.
⁷ So the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners abashed;
Indeed they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God.”


⁸ “But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
And of justice and might,
To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.


⁹ Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And pervert all equity,
¹⁰ Who build up Zion with bloodshed
And Jerusalem with iniquity:
¹¹ Her heads judge for a bribe,
Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
‘Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.’
¹² Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.”

So there will certainly be restoration after the ‘exile’ but they must first face the valley of decision and decide whom they shall serve. So just as it said in Joel 3:10—

“Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”

This is because it is a time for war. But later Micah 4:3b says there shall a kingdom in eternal peace where:

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Micah’s Prophecy of Messiah

And not strictly about prophecy Micah’s prophecy of Messiah is nevertheless definitely worth repeating:

Micah 5:2-5—² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”

…

⁴ “And He shall stand and feed His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He shall be great
To the ends of the earth;
⁵ And this One shall be peace.”

Other versions give verse 5 as: “And he shall be their peace.”

Micah 6:6-8—⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?”

Is this not about prophecy? This is the real message of the Law God’s servants always preach which Jesus summarized simply as “Love God above all, and love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s not complicated! This of course concludes with a real vision of hope of God’s mercy since he delights in steadfast love, a reflection of God’s real heart and his true character.

Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah

Nahum has nothing I want to share, but plenty in Habakkuk! Here the prophet asks God a provocative question, trying to provoke a reply … and it works! Chapter 2 has a section that God used to give Mark Virkler’s ‘4 Keys’ to hearing God’s voice and ‘prayer journaling’ which gave us a vocabulary to help us explain what God was already teaching us as well when we first discovered his ministry.

Habakkuk 2:1-2 reads as—

¹ “I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.

² Then the Lord answered me and said:
‘Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.’ ”

Then Zephaniah has one of the most pivotal insights for our time. You see there are two camps, the sheep and the goats. And to the goats the ‘prophets of man’ say ‘Peace’—but to the others, to the camp of the sheep they place heavy, useless burdens to make them fall into line and support the corrupt leaders. How contrary is God’s word which comes to the goats as a hard word foretelling of punishment lest they repent—but to the sheep God speaks ‘Peace.’ Both messages of ‘Peace’ and a Call to Change are spoken by both false and true prophets, but to opposing camps.

Which message is right to preach at which time? Which audience is meant to hear which message? Man’s scheming, flattering prophets of the Flesh will always get it backwards.

Even today we have many people who teach that God is not angry, sin is dealt with, it’s time to be happy. A blessing means God’s power to get wealth and you are the head not the tail no matter what because you are already forgiven even of future sins you didn’t even commit yet!

So Zephaniah 3:4-7 is a window on the consequence of preachers and prophets who are filling people’s minds with useless ideas, false hopes and leading them to a dark future of misery—not into God’s Kingdom.

⁴ … “Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary,
They have done violence to the law.
⁵ The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame.
⁶ “I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
⁷ I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.”

How similar to both Jeremiah and Ezekiel! Israel also did not fear God—until they saw what he did to the Egyptians! Seeing God’s wrath is supposed to teach us a lesson! People today say it is NEVER so! ‘God is never trying to teach us anything if there are hardships!’ they insist. This may actually be the very thing that dooms them to suffer when God was trying to lead them way from suffering!

When the prophets do not fear God and teach the people likewise they are actually ensuring God’s exact judgment which is already present and moving among them, but which they claim no longer exists! What you have here is a TIMEBOMB.

But the remedy is actually here all along as well—the call to repentance the charlatan prophets and slick trendy preaches cannot grasp and never actually preach.

Zephaniah 2:1-3—
¹ “Gather yourselves together,
yes, gather together, O undesirable nation,
² Before the decree is issued,
or the day passes like chaff,
before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
³ Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,
who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Haggai has nothing I want to share on prophecy, but I like Zechariah 3:7 so much and we always quote 4:6 and 4:10!

Zechariah 1:2-6—² “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴ “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.’

⁵ “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?”

And it’s not only about prophecy but I love to quote this verse in 4:6-7—

⁶ “So he answered and said to me:
‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
“Not by might nor by power,
but by My Spirit,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
⁷ “Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of ‘Grace, grace’ to it!” ’ ”

…

And 4:10—
“For who has despised the day of small things?

For these seven rejoice to see
The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the Lord,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

But I already mentioned his next verse in Chapter 6 on Gifts, Callings and Mantles and it’s exactly what I was talking about. A mantle is a mark from God, you can’t fake it by buying a costume from Costco!

Zechariah 13:4-5—⁴ “And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. ⁵ But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’ ”

So much in Zechariah is about Jesus, and his earthly ministry before, but also what we know is the end of the Age of Gentiles when the Jewish nation will finally understand Jesus is THEIR Messiah and in 12:10—

“…then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

And other verses about the last great Judgment.

Malachi’s prophecy of Messiah also is definitely worth repeating. Malachi also has much to say about Jesus and in Chapter 2 paints him as the ideal prophet who fears God, and so speaks the true Torah, the true word of God, and turned many from their sin, in 2:5-6:

⁵ “My covenant was with him,
one of life and peace,
And I gave them to him that he might fear Me;
So he feared Me
And was reverent before My name.
⁶ The law of truth [the true Torah]
was in his mouth,
And injustice [dishonesty]
was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
And turned many away from iniquity [their sin].”

Malachi 3:1 mentions the coming of prophet John the Baptist before the Messiah, who they are waiting for! But who can stand it when he finally shows up?

3:1-2—¹ “ ‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts. ² ‘But who can endure the day of His coming?’ ”

But he is purifying the people so God will accept them, he is conditioning the people to be able to live in relationship with God but how difficult it will be for many people, especially the leaders.

You can really understand Jesus’ summary of the Law after reading these two last books, Zechariah and Malachi, as he says a few times all he wants is for people to turn back to him, to do justice, and to treat people as you want to be treated! And not a few times the idea that James repeats is stated, to return to God so God would return to them. It’s in James 4:8, Jeremiah 29:12-14 and again and again we hear it, lately in Malachi 3:7.

The final word in Malachi, which is the last paragraph in the last book in the Gentile Old Testament is the promise that prophet Elijah would come before the great and terrible day of the Lord. This must have a double fulfillment as it was true once when John the Baptist came and will be true again before the Second Coming. But how it will look I have no idea.

In the Jewish order of books this is not the last book, but somewhere about two-thirds in, as their collection of books ends with Chronicles and if you continue reading it flows right into Matthew like one historical narrative that never misses a beat.

The History Books—too much to summarize here

In the history books the real lessons of prophecy begin and there is practically a lesson on every page, certainly in every chapter.

I would start a careful reading after Solomon’s death, which in the absence of a properly functioning Kingship is when the prophetic ministry takes the proper governmental role it was meant to have. The people had asked God to be ruled by a king, and he says, in Hosea 13:11—

“I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.”

God’s real government method is not a human kingship but a prophet, priest, or as they were called once upon a time, a judge. And these scriptures give you a kind of manual of what God may ask a prophet to do or say.

But my summary of this section of Scripture is very long, a whole book in itself, which serves as our textbook in our Prophets Training School, and I won’t reproduce it here except to list one verse. If you want to learn you will need to read through this yourself, and don’t neglect the Psalms and Proverbs.

The one verse I would highlight from that entire portion of rich Scripture is simply this—

2 Chronicles 20:20b—“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

And that’s as true TODAY as when Malachi said it so far back in the Old Testament! because Jesus Christ is absolutely the same Yesterday, Today and For Ever! Amen!