In the last twenty years, there has been an attempt by some to change the nature of God when it comes to the gift of prophecy. While in the New Covenant, our salvation is based on the mercy and grace of God extended to us through Jesus Christ, what bothered God in the Old Covenant still concerns Him today. God has not changed. We have.
Reading the prophet Jeremiah makes some believers nervous because he sounds so stern when compared with many messages being delivered today – messages filtered through a misguided understanding that the nature of God has changed between covenants. If Jeremiah and other prophets are interpreted as offensive and put aside, the offended reader is reading those words through a lens that has been fogged by a misunderstanding of how serious God takes the necessity of holiness or integrity, no matter what the Covenant.
Read what Jeremiah had to say about prophets and the ministry of prophecy. While this is not a blanket statement about all who prophesy, Jeremiah’s words are a needed cold splash of reality tossed in our faces from time to time. It is a needed shock because what we claim to speak in the name of God must be His words, not ours. If we don’t take this responsibility seriously, we will face great personal jeopardy and extend negative consequences to those who listen to what we have to say or do not say, trusting our words or our silence as an expression of truth.
“For it is because of Jerusalem’s prophets that wickedness has filled the land” (Jeremiah 23: 15).
“They keep saying to those who despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The Lord says you will have peace!” (23:17).
“I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying” (23: 21).
“Therefore, I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me” (23:30).
As I read through these verses, I was taken aback by their impact and the solemn responsibility that speaking in the name of God carries. I brought that responsibility into my heart and examined my motives. They reinforced a fear of God, not a disabling fear, but a call to get serious about what I speak.
We have entered a time in history when those who claim to speak for God must get serious about what they transmit as truth. Prophetic ministry is not a back-slapping endeavor where we try to gain followers or invitations to speak in churches or conferences. Prophets represent the voice of God, and that voice must be as pure as humanely possible, even to the point of rejection by all but the Lord.
While many times a word of encouragement and affirmation is needed, a steady diet of words limited to that context will not fully inform or mature the Church. It will make our spiritual life soft and pudgy. When hell arrives in full force, we will not have been prepared by the rigorous training and revelation required for the spiritual warfare we will face. Just as eating healthy food and exercising our bodies to maintain our health is required to live a full and functioning life, so it is in matters of the Spirit. We need to get serious, or we will remain forever out of shape and unable to perform at the level required to fulfill the will of God. Faithful and integrous prophetic instruction is part of that spiritual training regimen.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
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