“The Dilemma of Prophets
And Prophetic People”
December 4th, 2015
You have just experienced a dream or a vision or a word from God!
You have seen and experienced devastating and horrendous things.
You have a deep down wonder of how you escaped and are still alive.
You have lingering compassion for countless lives within the event.
Then at the very end of your dream or vision, the Lord speaks to you!
He opens your understanding and all the deep things have become clear.
A sense of wonder fills you and your whole being is half in and half out of a very different place. You are absolutely awed that the God of the universe chose you to reveal a thing and His Holy Spirit would come and speak to you.
The urgency to share these incredible occurrences resounds through your whole being. Your senses do not just desire, no, they must come forth and quickly. Your only thought becomes how best to alert the whole world of what you have just seen and heard. You absolutely will not be able to eat, sleep or rest until to the best of your ability, all is revealed. Your only thought is how best to convey even the slightest of details and to touch as many as humanly possible.
Although sadness still attempts to hang onto you, you have to be focused on the message. These events have already taken place! And now you must bring the reality of their existence to those who will hear.
Now you have three primary issues!
1. The vision, dream or word that came forth had no “date stamp.” What will you do, remain silent or speak those things with the same urgency in which you received them?
The experience was as real as your right hand. You would be more than willing to stake your life upon the thing taking place for it has already taken place (in the spiritual), and yet it was real in every way. You have an overwhelming sense of urgency; you cannot delay this word from going forth!
You have every confidence, there is no doubt, and you have been privileged to become “a participant of a major event”. And obviously the Lord has allowed you this peak into a future event for a vey good reason! The entire experience was not given you for your exclusive knowledge but rather for the Body of Christ, therefore you have an obligation. What will you do?
Supposing for a moment, you are a highway patrolman and you know for certain the bridge just ahead had been swept away by a raging overflowing river. And you, the one who has full knowledge of what lies ahead and you still allow all to pass by headed for their certain destruction. You would be a murderer, for by your omission of truth, you caused their destruction and now you have become liable!
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. Ezekiel 33:6
So when the Prophet or the prophetic one comes and brings a dream, vision, or word, he or she will most truly have urgency. It will come as a “Now” word for the body. It will come forth in a fashion that will shake the one giving the revelation to their very core since they have already lived the beginning and end of this event. This in tern will also affect those who hear the word. Therefore when the revelation comes, it will come forth as an emotional plea with an imminent nature.
When other Believers or even unbelievers hear this word and hear and sense the emotion behind the words, it will also shake them. It may happen in the next fifteen minutes. Then again, it may happen in the next 4,000 years as Abraham has since discovered as he sits in Heaven.
Yet, obviously we understand we no longer have that type of time remaining for we are in that generation of Matthew 24 that has seen the miracle of all miracles. We have seen the Lord bring His people back from the four corners of the earth back into the Land of Israel and a nation was born in a day!
Now for the second issue
2. By writing the vision, dream or word and expressing it,
you have now set yourself in harms way. You have laid down your name and integrity upon a thing that may very well seem ridiculous in that moment. Everyone, family, friends or casual acquaintances will question your motivation. Why would you dare write such a thing, is there a monetary or fame motive. These and other questions will most certainly come.
You will quickly discover who are friends and those sympatric to the dilemma you now find yourself. It is truly amazing how harsh the Saints can be upon others who are brave enough to declare the things of God. In fact, I believe that there are many Saints who have received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and they also receive prophetic revelation. However, they walk in fear, which takes them captive.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesyings. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20
Now for the third and final issue
3. The final dilemma is that we will expect a timely fulfillment.
No one wants to look foolish! Every person who has heard the revelation both the one who brought it forth and the one who simply hears will expect a fulfillment of the revelation within a reasonable time period. And if the event does come occur “quickly” then he or she is deemed a false prophet or worse if that is possible.
So then the prophetic person is faced with the prospect of two avenues.
He or she can either pray against the event or pray the Spirit will fulfill the very thing that was shown. Again…what will you do?
Recently I heard a young pastor in Redding CA criticize the Shemitah teaching and timing. He made the statement, am paraphrasing here,
“if the event could have be avoided “if my people will pray”, should have been a part of the prophesy.
2nd Chron 7:14, then that should have been stated with or in the prophetic word as well as the word itself.
This is a foolish statement since Jonah was given a very specific word from the Lord saying. “In three days I will destroy this city”.
In the Book of jonah
The Lord did Not say “if you will repent”, I will spare Nineveh.
The Word was, “In three days, I will destroy this city!”
This was the exact reasoning for Jonah developing such an attitude.
He even states as such when he speaks to the Lord saying, I knew you were a merciful God and you would do this very thing. I obeyed you,
I spoke every word you gave me and then you sent the Spirit of repentance upon them and spared Nineveh, and now I look foolish!
Is it any wonder why prophets and prophetic people many times find they are literally between a “Rock” and a hard place!
Even Jeremiah said to the Lord the following passage.
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jeremiah 20:9
I believe that most prophets and prophetic people who have had these types of experiences truly desire and pray for a Holy Spirit led linking of events. In other words, when we see cycles and patterns occurring, they tend to play heavily into the scheme of things. So when we observe a dream and then another from within our experiences and then we see something in the natural, there will always be an ongoing thought process a mindset to connect the dots and bring context into all things.
So dear Saint, not for my or any particular person’s benefit but for all those are brave enough to come forward and share a dream, a vision or word, have patience with them. It is their earnest desire to encourage you and give you whatever direction or instruction they have received.
The Lord will certainly do nothing before He reveals it first to His prophets….and they (at times) see through a glass, darkly.
Blessings to you and your house,
Steve Grable