We are living in a time when the Word of the Lord is becoming more and more precious to those who truly love Him. It is a time for the prophets of the Lord to seek Him early. Furthermore, it is a time for us to be faithful to the truth. We cannot survive these times with speculation or presumptions. We must know the will of the Lord for His people during this present time. Many of the prophets in the Body of Christ, who supposedly speak the oracles of God, go to the Old Covenant, and repeat things that the Lord has said to Israel. This is only acceptable when the words spoken by the older prophets are used as a reference in a present prophecy.
For instance, a prophet may say, “Just as God brought many plagues in the land of Egypt, yet brought His people out safely, so shall He do in this generation.” Or... “For the Lord has said, in the last days, he shall pour out his Spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy.”
The above is very different from a prophet trying to offer remedy for the plagues of today with....“Take a lamb or a goat of one year old, without spot or blemish, slay it and place its blood on your doorposts. This will assure that none in that house will be affected by the plague.” This is not the operation of the prophetic gift. This would not be a word that would come from the Lord to the mouth of His prophets today.
I can hear some say in their heart, “How do you know what the Lord will or will not say?”
1 Samuel 3:19-20
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
When the words of the prophet fall to the ground, it is evident that they did not come from God. They have no substance, and they do not express His will. The next question one would ask is, “Where did these words come from?” The short answer would be, “They came from the heart of the prophet.”
In the days of old, the servants of the Lord were prophets, priests, and kings. It was through the functions of these offices that the people knew the will and ways of God.
• The kings acquired and maintained the earthly dominion of the nation.
• The priests were the intercessors who offered up sacrifices and offerings
on behalf of the people. They stood before God as advocates for the people.
• The prophets were advocates for God. They were His messengers. They spoke for Him. Therefore, it was important for them to always know His mind and heart for the nation.
But now we have come to a New Covenant, and to a new and living way. We have become citizens of a spiritual kingdom that is superior to all earthly dominion. Christ is our King and has given us a measure to manifest the Kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus is also our High Priest. He has consecrated a way that gives us access to God as individuals. We can now present our bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto Him. But as it relates to communicating with and hearing from God.... Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you (John 16:13-15).
It is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost to speak the heart and mind of God to the sons. All things that pertain to Christ will be made known to us. He will speak those things the Father wants us to know. This promised communication should be a comfort to the sons, for we are not left forsaken and ignorant of God’s will for our lives. He is a Father who truly speaks to His sons.
So where is the need for the prophet in our personal communications with God? It was once his job to declare to the nation the heart and mind of the Father. It was very rare for him to communicate that mind to individuals other than those who were in some form of leadership or a position that would affect the nation. Nevertheless, his role is still the same. He is to declare the mind and heart of God, relative to the condition of the Body of Christ. He is still God’s spokesman. However, he is not the church psychic.
The Lord would like to relieve the prophets, pastors, evangelists, teachers, and even apostles, of the undue burden of thinking they have to provide an individual word for each member of the household of faith. That is not your job. You are the oracles of God to the Body of Christ and the nations of the world.
