How To Judge Prophecies – Part 4

You would expect Christians to quickly recognize the voice of God in a prophet or minister, but the reality is not the case.  In this final part, we will consider what could make believers miss the message of God.

In parts one to three we discussed the definition and description of prophecies; we saw in the ministry of Prophet Jeremiah how the message of a prophet could be misinterpreted, rejected and the prophet himself, probably persecuted.

Why people misjudge prophecies

Some of the reasons why people misjudge prophecies are, corrupted minds and ignorance of the Scriptures.

a)     Corrupted Mind

A believer’s mind is corrupted when he fails the test of sincerity, honesty, integrity, and uprightness.  A corrupted mind seeks his way, but not denouncing God vocally. Other priorities occupy his heart, much more than the desire to please God.  His public worship is a façade to cascade inner rot, depravity, insincerity, and sometimes, waywardness.  He is a backslider in heart, but a Christian professor in the public.  When a Christian slips into this quagmire, he becomes a hypocrite in chief.

Such was the case of Ahab.  Ahab’s prophets were the Apostles of “God bless you … It is well” prophecies.  Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. And as though it were not enough to follow the example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal. First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 16:30-33).

Despite the corruption of his heart, he still wanted “God bless you, God is with you” prophecies.  He got one, but a deception.

So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?”  They all replied, “Yes, go right ahead! The Lord will give the king victory.” (1 Kings 8:6)

But, one king was not satisfied; Jehoshaphat.  The Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established.  Here are 400 witnesses, yet a servant of God could sense that God was not speaking.  Jehoshaphat tuned to his spirit.  He lost confidence in this multitude of prophets; he was seeking for the voice of a genuine prophet.

The king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man who could consult the LORD for us, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but trouble for me! His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.” (1Kings 22:8).

Why did he hate the prophet? An unrighteous king desires to have “God bless you, God is with you” kind of prophecies. Although 400 prophets sold out, one refused to be corrupted.

Friends, how many prophets of God today have been corrupted by the Ahabs of this world?  They know that the king is evil, but they do not have the confidence to rebuke him.  They do not want to risk losing their social and political recognition, invitation to the seat of power, generous donation from the political class, etc. But, just as it was in the days of Ahab, there are still some Micaiahs today who would not hesitate to tell the king that a lying spirit has taken over his prophets.

Deception thrives among Christians when they have corrupted their hearts, seeking their own ways, never giving attention to words of rebukes and correction.  When a Christian preoccupies his heart with his own pleasure, his spiritual eyes and ears become corrupted that he would scarcely differentiate a lie from the truth.

b)    Ignorance of the Word of God

One vice leads to the other.  Ignorance of the Word of God sometimes makes people to block their hearts; while corruption of the heart also makes believers not to understand the Word of God.  Jesus rebuked the Sadducees and said unto them, “You do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. “ (Matt.22:29).

People wallow in error and deception when they do not understand the Scriptures.  Ignorance of the Scriptures is the main reason why soothsayers, cultists, and every other prognosticator who manages to give accurate prediction is called a prophet.  It is for this same reason that merchandizing of the Gospel has progressed from being tolerated to being coveted in Christendom.  A man of God is known by the fleet of cars he has, his entourage, the capacity of his auditorium, the crowd he pulls, and his commanding influence in the political realm.  Subtly, the once abhorrent has become the cherished; while the once coveted has become the relegated.  All because the people of God do not understand the Scriptures.

There are Churches today where Pastors have deliberately refused to rebuke, reprove of sin, or demand attitudinal rectitude from the erring members of the congregation for the fear that some people could be offended or leave the Church.  Such Churches, like Ahab, have conditioned themselves to receive nothing else but “God bless you … God is with you” kind of prophecies.  How can such ministers and their congregation accurately discern the voice of God?

God speaks to the humble

Thus says the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

For all those things has my hand made, and all those things have been, says the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.

He that kills an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; he that offers a grain offering, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burns incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.

I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before my eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.  (Isaiah 66:1-4).

God said that the man He would consider is that man who is poor in heart and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at God’s Word. The word, contrite, means, smitten, broken, wounded, or crushed. To be contrite in spirit means to be broken in spirit; remorseful, repentant, and vile in one’s own eyes.  God’s reprove causes a contrite man to weep in repentance, and turn away from ungodliness.  That soul who seeks to hear prophecies of good things when his ways are not right, is an abomination to God.  He would, like Ahab, not be able to appreciate the prophecies of Micaiahs of today.

Just as Ahab punished Micaiah by banishing him into prison, so also have the genuine prophets today been castigated by the news media, scorned by the Church Establishment, and branded prophets of doom.  By so doing, many Christians have shut their ears to the voice of God.

On the other hand, contrition is not supposed to make a believer gullible.  This is where the understanding of the Scriptures play a vital role.  But, like Jehoshaphat who could sense that God was absent in the voice of 400 prophets, the genuine saints of God would not be satisfied by the voice of multitude of preachers and teachers today; they would listen for the voice of God, and God would guide them and keep them from deception.

Summary

If Christians would learn to judge what they hear by the Scriptures and by the Holy Spirit, there would be less patronage of these merchants of prophecies; neither will they be like Ahab who hated a genuine prophet of God just because his prophecies were judgmental.  It is important Christians learnt how to judge prophecies because being contrite or rebellious depends on the believers’ ability to know who sent the message. There is no shortcut to achieving accuracy in judging prophecies, except through spiritual maturity.

Points for meditation

1. Can you accurately sense the absence of God’s voice despite multitude of prophets who are echoing the same thing? With Christendom awash with prosperity messengers, would you be able to spot the voice of God in the mist of the noise?
2. Are you like Ahab who hated a servant of God and his message just because the messages were judgmental to you?
3. What is your basis of assessing prophets and their messages? Is it by the measurement of how they speak good of you, or by the measurement of the Word of God?
4. Can you say the phrase, “contrite in spirit” describes you? Do you remorsefully repent when rebuked, or do you attack in self-defence?
5. Do you interact with the Holy Spirit such that the voice of 400 prophets cannot confuse you?

Let’s meditate on these things and may this article bring a change to the way we treat prophecies, messages and every person who speaks to us in the name of the Lord.