Aspects of the Prophetic Office

Aspects of the Prophetic Office - The SeerBy Lars WiderbergLong ago, prophets were called seers, 1 Sam 9:9. The prophetic dimension is by no means ruled by laws of evolution and change, by laws of coincidence and impermanence. The prophetic office includes the activity of a seer. The change of title indicates by no means any change of function or objectives. Rather, the linking of the two titles builds a bridge between different aspects of the office and broadens the definition. It constitutes continuation and duration.A prophet is a seer, which implies that the basic nature of his commission is characterised by observation and watchfulness. There is no element, no connotations of spiritistic character in the Hebrew concept. There is no element of fortune-telling implied. Shamanistic connotations may not be added. Shamanistic methods and techniques belong to another, entirely different kingdom. Trance states and altered states of consciousness belong to the realm of magic and is a sign of the flesh in charge and in operation. The practices of the diviner are, and have to be, sharply renounced and rebuked by a true seer. Prediction for the sake of establishing a track record, for the sake of seeming to be able to know and to have been divinely commissioned, is no valid evidence of the prophetic. Predictions do not substantiate claims of representing Heaven.

The Seer represents the prophetic dimension by means of his ability to observe, by his inclination towards watchfulness. He is a watchman, he is the protector. He walks the narrow paths of the border areas of the Kingdom, drawing strength for this isolated work of defence from the vivid visions and experiences of the heartlands of God’s domains. The prophet’s home is a Mizpah, a watchtower, a place for proper judgment and discernment, 1 Sam 7:6.The watchfulness itself becomes a prophetic sign and a prophetic force. It does so in an ever increasing measure as we are moving closer and closer to the final stages of our age. ”Be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer”, 1 Pet 4:7. Sober praying is indeed prophetic intercession. Sound judgment is indeed a sign of the prophetic dimension. Sober discernment is the cutting edge of the Church of the end times. This sequence of time marked by the absence of absolutes encounters a challenge by the Absolute. This terrible time of total alienation will, in and through the prophet, be countered by a revelation of Fatherhood. God, the Father is the absolute protector. The time of moral and emotional subjectivism is to be confronted by sober intercession. This is indeed a stimulating prospect.The basic attitude and fundamental approach of a seer is expressed in his eagerness to watch and listen, to wait and observe. He is made able to cope with silence. He is made able to keep silent. He is made able to listen and obey. The prophetic dimension brings obedience, Rom 16:26. The seer is a man of the Cornerstone, of proper mental and moral alignment. He is made ready to demand obedience and correction. He waits for proper timing.Out of necessity the presence and the quality of a prophetically disposed people will develop in our time, the time of apostasy. The general moral condition in our day forces true Christians to react with tears and intercession. The moral enablement, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is the dynamics of the prophetic dimension. The particular condition in the Church defined by the horrifying word ”Apostasy” cannot but generate an extraordinary pain among the watchmen, driving them to the heart of the Father. Out of necessity the false and the true will grow alongside each other. Only the seer will avoid mixing the two. Only the watchful will succeed and live. Only the sensible and the sober are able to move in the prophetic dimension.

The seer has learnt to live the Book, the seer has learnt to pray Heaven. He is a man of correspondence and agreement. Things seen must be prayed into existence. ”As in heaven, so on earth”. The things defined in Heaven as rule and standards must be applied on earth. The seer is a man of definitions. Like Ezekiel, any seer is compelled to watchfulness and analysis by the Father’s urging words: ”Do you see, are you able to identify, look what they do”, Ez 8:6-15.The seer gathers experience, not like any of those with ears itching, not like those who never care to draw conclusions and never learn. Prophets are old men, experienced men, men who have taken time and opportunity to unveil and unmask the glittery and sensual moves and modes of the world without and within the Church. The seer has learnt to stay silent until the proper work of defining and labelling is finished. Prophets wait until they have received a word from the Lord, and they keep on waiting for proper timing. Prophets are men who have seen Heaven, have learnt to pray Heaven, have begun to live Heaven. Such men will be able to speak on behalf of Heaven.The ministry, the office of a prophet takes learning, it takes the toil of gathering experience, but it does not necessarily require the gift of prophecy. The seer is marked by intellectual capacity and maturity. Spiritual giftings does neither guarantee truth nor constitute maturity. The spiritually gifted Church in Corinth was led to accept individuals as equally gifted, who allowed themselves the strange and dubious luxury of cursing Jesus Christ, 1 Cor 12:3.

i actaully just finished reading this book"the seer by jim goll" it cleared a few things up & put a lot in perspective in how my walk has been shaped. here is an excert from it THE SEER AND THE PROPHET: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES - A Study Guide Outline by Jim W. GollI. DEFINING OUR TERMSA. Three Hebrew Words The word "prophet" is used 300 times in the Old Testament and 100 times in the New Testament.1. Nahbi (naw-bee) is translated prophet. a. Young - "the function of a Nahbi was to speak a message on behalf of a superior. In the case of Aaron, this superior was Moses, although ultimately, of course, it was God. As far as the prophets were concerned, the superior was God Himself. It was He with whom the word to be spoken originated. He placed that word in the mouth of the prophets, and they in turn declared it unto the people...we conclude then, that upon the basis of Old Testament usage, the Nahbi was a speaker who declared the word that God had given him."11 b. Scriptures: i. Dt. 18:18.ii. Ex. 7:1. iii. Ex. 4:15-16. iv. Jer. 1:5,9. Numb 11:29 (NIV) But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"2. Ro'eh(raw-aw) and hozeh (khaw-zah) or chozeh is translated "seer". a.Young - "The word Nahbi stresses the active work of the prophet, in speaking forth the message from God. The word Raw-aw on the other hand, brings to the fore the experience by means of which the prophet was made to "see" that message. One word lays the emphasis upon the prophet's relation to the people; the other upon his relation to God."12 b. Hengsteuberg - "These were not so much chronological historians so much as describers of pictures."13 c. Scriptures: i. I Sam. 9:9. ii. II Chr. 29:30 - Asaph. iii. II Sam. 24:11 - Gad.iv. II Sam. 7:2 - Nathan. 2Kin 17:13 (NIV) The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets."3. General Conclusion:a. Prophecy is God communicating His will by word (sometimes by action) through chosen persons. It includes whatever God desires to say about past, present, and future. Some have inclined to confine it to the future, but this is inaccurate.The prophet was, and is, a forth teller as well as a foreteller.Indeed, he speaks whatever God wants said! b. The "Seer" is the receptive dimension and the "Prophet" is the communicative dimension.B. Words Describing How the Prophetic Comes1. Nataf - This means "to let drop like rain." It comes upon us little by little and is accumulated in our buckets over a period of time. Ezek 20:46 (NIV) "Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. 2. Massa - This is used to refer to the "hand of the Lord" that releases the "burden of the Lord." When God's hand comes upon us, it imparts something to us. When His hand lifts His burden remains. Deut 1:11 (NIV) May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised! 12 But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? 13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you." Prov 31:1 (NIV) The sayings of King Lemuel--an oracle or burden his mother taught him: Isai 13:1 (NIV) An oracle/burden concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: 3. Nahbi - This word refers to the action of "flowing forth." It also carries with it the thought "to bubble forth like a fountain, to let drop, to lift up, to tumble forth, and to spring forth." 4. Propheteia - This New Testament Greek word means "speaking forth the mind and the counsel of God." It simply means "to speak for another."Roma 12:6 (NIV) We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.C. Levels and Terms of "Seeing"1. Visual - Insights, revelations, warnings, and prophecies from the Spirit of God may come in supernatural visual dreams. Herein one sees God's revelation while his spirit simply observes and receives themessage. One might even see the heavens opened, as Ezekiel did (in Ezekiel 1:1), even though he's asleep. In an open heaven type of a vision, the higher ethers (celestial realms) are disclosed, and views, patterns, and heavenly sights of God become seeable. 2. Actual - Supernatural actual dreams are those in which God's tangible presence is evident. To see the Lord in a dream is visual, but for the Lord to manifest Himself to you in a dream is actual.II. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF THE STREAMSA. The Prophet - Nahbi1. Often uses plurality of eldership or seasoned, gifted individuals (men and women) with the "laying on of hands" to minister. 2. Will utilize giftings of tongues and interpretation of tongues. 3. Spontaneous, faster flow with inspiration being the tone. 4. Often "hears" and repeats as spoken to. 5. Steps out to prophesy according to his portion of faith. 6. The prophetic presbytery is a common approach.B. The Seer - Ro'eh1. Tends to be more single in ministry versus the plurality of a team. 2. Emphasizes visions and the revelatory gifts versus the audible, speaking gifts. 3. Often operates at a slower pace due to describing pictures in their own words. 4. Is dependent upon the angelic and the manifested presence of God. 5. These prophetic vessels appear to have limitations until they sense the anointing. 6. Often gets information ahead of time and tells it later.III. CONCLUSIONThe purpose of both the Prophet and the Seer is to reveal the glorious wonders of Jesus Christ, God's purpose in a ,generation, eternity, heaven and hell, and the Father's great presence.Pray for your eyes to be opened. According to Eph. 1:17-19and II Ki. 6:17a - O Lord...open his eyes that he (the servant) may see...

I respect you guys---you folks have more knowledge than I can ever hope to have , however you need to understand that prophets are frail human beings note 1KI 13 the story here of 2 prophets--one blind(he lost all his discernment)the other becomes disobedient.The blind prophet lies then God turns around and uses him---maybe the gifts and calling of God are without repentance---Then theres Elijah who was a man-----MAN---just like us and was subject to the same weaknesses.God's not interested in prophets per se' He's looking for willing vessels----servants, who He can use in this the midnight hour.REV 19:9-10 It's all God It's all by His Grace Go ye therefore and.......Let Jesus fill in the blanks.

This thread – Aspects of the Prophetic Office – will at this point hold six articles.As we go along, some remarks and statements will be delivered as to helping understanding the prophetic realm.To help in the process of reading and understanding, the mind aiming at maturity will listen to hear the writer. After listening, follows meditation and thinking. As a third step follows interaction, questions, comments, discussion and perhaps disagreement. Interrupting a speaker is somewhat impolite; to talk while someone else is talking is somewhat unlearned.If you are eager to discuss the subject, please start another tread. Let us begin from the beginning.Lars W.

Aspects of the Prophetic Office - The SeerBy Lars WiderbergLong ago, prophets were called seers, 1 Sam 9:9. The prophetic dimension is by no means ruled by laws of evolution and change, by laws of coincidence and impermanence. The prophetic office includes the activity of a seer. The change of title indicates by no means any change of function or objectives. Rather, the linking of the two titles builds a bridge between different aspects of the office and broadens the definition. It constitutes continuation and duration.A prophet is a seer, which implies that the basic nature of his commission is characterised by observation and watchfulness. There is no element, no connotations of spiritistic character in the Hebrew concept. There is no element of fortune-telling implied. Shamanistic connotations may not be added. Shamanistic methods and techniques belong to another, entirely different kingdom. Trance states and altered states of consciousness belong to the realm of magic and is a sign of the flesh in charge and in operation. The practices of the diviner are, and have to be, sharply renounced and rebuked by a true seer. Prediction for the sake of establishing a track record, for the sake of seeming to be able to know and to have been divinely commissioned, is no valid evidence of the prophetic. Predictions do not substantiate claims of representing Heaven. The Seer represents the prophetic dimension by means of his ability to observe, by his inclination towards watchfulness. He is a watchman, he is the protector. He walks the narrow paths of the border areas of the Kingdom, drawing strength for this isolated work of defence from the vivid visions and experiences of the heartlands of God’s domains. The prophet’s home is a Mizpah, a watchtower, a place for proper judgment and discernment, 1 Sam 7:6.The watchfulness itself becomes a prophetic sign and a prophetic force. It does so in an ever increasing measure as we are moving closer and closer to the final stages of our age. ”Be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer”, 1 Pet 4:7. Sober praying is indeed prophetic intercession. Sound judgment is indeed a sign of the prophetic dimension. Sober discernment is the cutting edge of the Church of the end times. This sequence of time marked by the absence of absolutes encounters a challenge by the Absolute. This terrible time of total alienation will, in and through the prophet, be countered by a revelation of Fatherhood. God, the Father is the absolute protector. The time of moral and emotional subjectivism is to be confronted by sober intercession. This is indeed a stimulating prospect.The basic attitude and fundamental approach of a seer is expressed in his eagerness to watch and listen, to wait and observe. He is made able to cope with silence. He is made able to keep silent. He is made able to listen and obey. The prophetic dimension brings obedience, Rom 16:26. The seer is a man of the Cornerstone, of proper mental and moral alignment. He is made ready to demand obedience and correction. He waits for proper timing.Out of necessity the presence and the quality of a prophetically disposed people will develop in our time, the time of apostasy. The general moral condition in our day forces true Christians to react with tears and intercession. The moral enablement, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is the dynamics of the prophetic dimension. The particular condition in the Church defined by the horrifying word ”Apostasy” cannot but generate an extraordinary pain among the watchmen, driving them to the heart of the Father. Out of necessity the false and the true will grow alongside each other. Only the seer will avoid mixing the two. Only the watchful will succeed and live. Only the sensible and the sober are able to move in the prophetic dimension.The seer has learnt to live the Book, the seer has learnt to pray Heaven. He is a man of correspondence and agreement. Things seen must be prayed into existence. ”As in heaven, so on earth”. The things defined in Heaven as rule and standards must be applied on earth. The seer is a man of definitions. Like Ezekiel, any seer is compelled to watchfulness and analysis by the Father’s urging words: ”Do you see, are you able to identify, look what they do”, Ez 8:6-15.The seer gathers experience, not like any of those with ears itching, not like those who never care to draw conclusions and never learn. Prophets are old men, experienced men, men who have taken time and opportunity to unveil and unmask the glittery and sensual moves and modes of the world without and within the Church. The seer has learnt to stay silent until the proper work of defining and labelling is finished. Prophets wait until they have received a word from the Lord, and they keep on waiting for proper timing. Prophets are men who have seen Heaven, have learnt to pray Heaven, have begun to live Heaven. Such men will be able to speak on behalf of Heaven.The ministry, the office of a prophet takes learning, it takes the toil of gathering experience, but it does not necessarily require the gift of prophecy. The seer is marked by intellectual capacity and maturity. Spiritual giftings does neither guarantee truth nor constitute maturity. The spiritually gifted Church in Corinth was led to accept individuals as equally gifted, who allowed themselves the strange and dubious luxury of cursing Jesus Christ, 1 Cor 12:3.

The prophetic office is given to the Church for the sake spiritual maturity as well as intellectual and moral integrity, 1 Cor 14:28. Dividing the two elements – the spiritual and the intellectual/moral – is in it self a sure sign of the operation of the forces of apostasy. The operation of the gifts of the Spirit and Christian character produced by the Holy Spirit is but the two sides of a coin. The glorious grace shown by God through the operation of the gifts leads to full and total submission to the law of the grain of wheat, John 12:24.Watchmen are men able to give answers as Heaven answers. ”Watchman, how far gone is the night?”, Isaiah 21:11. What time is it, what kind of time is it? Watchmen serve their time and their church by understanding and defining the mentality of contemporary phenomenon. The prophet is a man of foundations, able to analyse the results of a common trend in society by looking at its roots. He is skilled in the art of deduction, interpretation and discernment. He, himself becomes a force against the mentality of the time and he offers understanding of how to avoid the influence of its atmosphere. This imminent force of separation and purity is the prophetic dimension.Seers are men of revelation. Seers are men of enlightenment. Seers are men of intellectual maturity. The Father speaks to hearts for the sake of increased knowledge, The Father reveals himself to the inner man for the sake of mobilisation of discernment and for proper decision-making. The seer sees as the Father sees and corrects and instructs accordingly.

The prophetic dimension is marked by submission and obedience. The prophetic climate produces obedience. Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, Prov. 29:18. Where there is no seer, there is no discipline. Where the people are unruly, where the people hail subjectivism and the sensational, the cursing of Jesus Christ is not far from entering in. Where the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of prophecy is not welcome, one will not easily find any respect for the word of God, for order and heavenly protocol.The seer is made able to read the spiritual climate. He is made able to identify the prevalent motivational force. His role is to see through masks and veils of pretension, to expose man’s folly and evil, for the sake of seeing the poor and needy through. The watchman is set over men’s hearts to discern motivation, and to pray for and to call forth correction. The seer is set over men’s hearts to call them to heavenly living.The prophet is a seer. The basic nature of his commission is observation and watchfulness. He is prone to contemplation and skilled in the art of deduction. He is certainly not of a passive nature. As the time draws to its conclusion by increasing its malicious efforts, his words, definitions and prophetic statements develop in exactitude and veracity. As the society draws close to its final cursing of Christ, the seer turns even more definitely away from fantasy and the fantastic and sensational. He will focus all his energy and capability to bring the people back to the Lord, back to the Book, back to Holiness and back to prayer.

Aspects of the Prophetic Office - FatherhoodBy Lars WiderbergAnd Elijah went up by a windstorm to heaven. And Elisha saw it and cried out: ”My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen.” 2 Kings 2:11-12.Prophets sent by God are sent forth into the world, heavenly commissioned to represent and reflect the fatherheart of God. A prophet’s mandate lies in his willingness and eagerness to reflect and personify the fatherhood of God Almighty. Prophetic ministry stands for the principle of fatherhood. Prophets personify the identity of the God they serve.Prophets, their stature and dignity, is recognised by the peculiar people which is marked by a desire for true spiritual growth. The twice-born are made able to discern the shepherd’s voice and to reject any counterfeit. Growth unto maturity, becoming a man, is by all means a matter of fatherhood.Elisha was taught the most difficult lesson on earth to be learned, trusting the future into the hands of the only true Father amidst the loss of the object of identification -an earthly father. The mixed and doubleminded multitude of vanity prophets are never able to produce the fruit of true fatherhood, which is hope for the future, through their voluminous and at times deceptively accurate predictions and forecasts.

When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said: ”My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 2 Kings 13:14. Prophets are recognised as fathers, as trustworthy, protecting father-figures even by kings and men in authority positions. Fathers are welcomed into action on the arena of governing by men whose desire is to see dignity to be restored. Dignity restored - salvation - is a matter of fatherhood. Becoming what one was meant to become requires fatherhood, both on personal level and on national. National identity and safety is a matter of fatherhood, of a reliable source, of solid origin and of sound belonging. Prophets are men of the Covenant, who understand the principles of covenanting which rules and regulates any social structure.Fatherhood is basically and foundationally the ability to provide covering. The key elements constituting fatherhood are protection, peace and provision. What man is, he is according to his strength and according to his source of strength. What a prophet is, he is according to his ability to establish peace and bring protection. A true fatherheart is much weaker and vulnerable than a weakling’s and it is much stronger and than any manifestation of an antichrist. A prophet’s heart never bows to emotionalism or sensationalism. Prophets cry salty tears. Prophets stand and stand still when common trend tries to get the crowd to bow down, fall down and to stray.

The prophetic voice, echoing the fatherheart, invites to and offers rest - Hebrews, chapters 3 and 4. The prophetic voice calls any and every ear to return to true listening. The prophetic voice directs any and every heart back to its purpose of existence - restful worship. The prophetic voice has to be as sharp as the best sword to bring about a turning back to the Father.Prophets are sent to establish obedience. But most voices pretending to be prophetic causes the people of God to run about like wild horses, run away from proper protocol and intended route as if whipped and pinched by the ugliest demon. Prophetic presence brings peace and obedience. Prophetic presence brings purpose and direction, quite contrary to the show at the Ephesian theatre - confusion, many voices shouting, the majority not knowing for what cause and under what banner they had gathered, Acts 19:29-32. Prophets bring peace and calm the crowd. Prophets never involve themselves in ”prophetic prayer warfare”, instructed by, and adapting methods, mode and mood belonging to, the enemy they want to conquer.The great falling away, the final apostasy of the end times is caused by the absence of genuine fatherhood, by the lack of true prophetic ministry. A major mark of the great falling away is the crowds of prophets in the Church ready and able to deceive the many, Matt 24:11, 24.Samuel provides a pattern for the true prophetic office: ”Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you,” 1 Sam 12:23, ”but I will instruct you in the good and right way” He prayed like a father and he had a father’s courage to stir a little unrest - conscience touched - for the sake of returning to true rest. The presence of God, the Father, causes fear and trembling. God is awesome. One dares to follow the crowd these days on its way into apostasy because no voice is to be heard on the subject of veracity and obedience.

Fatherhood brings rest. Fatherhood teaches waiting. Prophets are watchmen. ”I will stand on my guard post, and station myself on the rampart”. ”Though the vision, the fulfilment of it tarries, wait for it.” Haggai 2:1, 3. Fatherhood teaches the art of waiting on God. Prophets are men of the Covenant and God has made a covenant with time for the sake of finally reaching goals which seems to have been lost. He is able to redeem time for the sake of catching up in situations where so much has been wasted. Fatherhood goes against the modus operandi of this present age. Instant and overwhelming results are requested. Instant and thrilling experiences are demanded. Fathers never heal the brokenness of the people superficially, saying peace, peace without any tie to the spiritual reality behind the word.Sheep recognise the shepherd. A child recognises its father. Sheep, twice-born men and women, recognise the Holy Spirit who gave them life. Sheep practice discernment - the mixed multitude following any vanity prophet digs into any stew pot just like their brother Esau. Flip the coin - true shepherds and prophets divide between sheep and goats.If you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, 1 Cor 4:15. Fathers give birth. Prophets give birth through prayer, Gal 4:19. Tutors, teachers, educators bring discipline according to outer patterns of behaviour. Prophets bring obedience through life. Some ”eminent” apostles build their own kingdoms and take others by force. True fatherhood give away any item owned just to save one single sheep. The ones always learning, yet never truly learning, prefer kingdombuilders. Sheep, on the other hand, like shepherds.

Fatherhood establishes ability to live. Fatherhood brings ability to cope. The Father qualifies us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light, Col 1:12. Fatherhood strengthens any saint and son for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, Col 1:11. Prophets speak practical instruction, not generalisations. Prophets who offer glorious descriptions of God’s new moves and outpourings without including any practical program for participation prophesies vanity. God is not religious, he is relevant. Spiritual growth towards manhood must be founded on a solid and sober work description.Spiritual growth touches the emotional compartment of human existence, but spiritual growth is not an automatic inner evolvement into Christlikeness. It develops out of a full mobilisation of every sanctified human effort in close companionship with the instructor, the Holy Spirit. Love completely with all heart, all soul, all mind, all motivation an all strength, Mark 12:30. This experience towards a fully sanctified character cannot be transferred by a touch. Holiness cannot be transferred by any human vessel - it takes fatherhood to bring about development unto holiness.Above all, fatherhood teaches the noble art of waiting on God. Waiting is the mark of a truly spiritual character. Waiting equals worship. Worship equals rest. Rest equals availability. Availability allows God to act as God Almighty. Availability does not take a passive stance - it is defined as uninterrupted active attention. Waiting brings obedience. Obedience, which is surrender at any cost, brings fruit in the form of God’s own presence. Obedience establishes the presence fatherhood just as fatherhood brings about obedience.

The prophetic office manifests in Covenant consciousness and waiting on God. The Covenant reality manifests in spiritual maturity. Fatherhood provides covering on Covenant basis. Tampering with the terms of the Covenant takes away the covering promised and guaranteed. Breaking the Covenant disrupts the protection. Cutting covenants besides the Covenant is a direct invitation to spiritual forces which pretend fatherhood to enter the scene.What spiritual force blesses disobedience with all sorts of strange experiences allegedly purporting God’s presence? Who offers protection and emotional bliss to a Church that has left its Covenant obligations behind? Who is pretending to be benevolent father in a Church who has made a decision against obedience unto holiness? Is it possible to pretend spiritual experiences as if God is present, yet hiding the heart from a real touch of the Father? The prophetic answers to these questions are horrifying and would turn any sensible heart to intercession on behalf of the straying Church for the rest of its time on earth.

Men are God’s method. Dignity restored; character is God’s goal. Perfecting human character and manly virtue is God’s aim for the sake of Heaven on earth. Prophets are sent to the Church of our day - a Church who reflects the absence of Fatherhood. This present age is indeed antichristian in its character and inclination. It is a grand statement against fatherhood, brotherhood and friendship. It despises weakness. Its holds on to authority and bravado at the expense of love, humility and servanthood. Its attitude aims at rulership at the cost of dignity. The poor and needy pay the bill, as usual. Man robbed of dignity becomes cruel and authoritarian. Man robbed of dignity tries to take any kingdom by force, even the Kingdom of God. Christians have to fight against many categories of principalities and powers, but they are never meant to be warriors - the warrior spirit contradicts humility. The most militant activity in the Kingdom of God is to allow oneself to fall into the ground, like a grain of wheat. The most militant virtue in the Kingdom is expressed in humility and at all points practiced by a 180-degree turnabout to reach out to friends and foes.

The spiritual dynamics of the Antichrist is caused by the absence of fatherhood. The core of the spiritual dynamics of the Antichrist is the denial of Fatherhood, 1 Joh 2:22. It is fully possible to ”confess Christ” motivated by antichristian prospects of gain, even to the point of concluding that gain is godliness. The prosperity prophet operates in the antichristian spirit of denial, yet reaching out for the benefits of the Gospel.Prophets pray; fathers try to avoid the sin of prayelessness at any cost. Prophets put the confounder to shame by true modesty. A father brings in an alternative solution into the rat race for survival and prosperity. Fatherhood is ready to die. Fatherhood states: ”I do not have to survive, live and come out on top. I have a valid alternative. I can die. I can die, waiting on God, waiting for his intervention.”An antichrist, a false prophet, a father denying genuine fatherhood lacks the ability to love and show affection. He is proud and stubborn. He does not take correction. He never listens, 1 John 4:6. He does not allow himself to partake, he never shares his heart. He cannot cry; he sulks in self-pity. He fights to have his own way. He plays a game of mutual recognition in which a true prophet always loses. His mentality is that of a Nordic Viking, a Mongolian warlord or a modern terrorist. Prayer warriors adopting such imagery and reaching out for such a spirit brings disaster to the House of Prayer. The emotional mix produced when fatherhood is absent consists of anger, jealousy, scornfulness, strife and hatred. Spiritual retardation and the neglect of true duty are but two results. A pastor without a fatherheart lashes out at and beats up the sheep he cannot control.Fatherhood expresses itself in terms of a Covenant. Fatherhood brings rest. Fathers protect and provide. Prophets generate and plant Covenant consciousness. Prophets can be trusted. Prophets do not need a track record or formal recognition. The reflection of the Fatherheart of God speaks louder and in a different language than does precise predictions. Prophets bring in a willingness to obey, and an eagerness to practice waiting and listening.Prophets are fathers. Prophets are fathers for the young and inexperienced to look up to. Prophets are fathers who inspire and initiate a pursuit unto maturity and holiness. Prophets produce fatherhood. Their legacy is hope for the future. Sons are left with a rich and abundant inheritance from the prophets. Sons inherit the ability to handle life from a prophet. Pursue the prophetic dimension for the sake of holiness. Pursue the prophetic dimension for the sake of the presence of the Lord. Pursue fatherhood for the sake dignity restored. Follow hard after the Lord. Learn the art of waiting on God. Do this for the sake of a common return to true worship.

Aspects of the Prophetic Office - The DelivererBy Lars WiderbergSalvation is wholly of God. He alone is the author and perfecter of our faith, Hebr 12:1-2. God is certainly our redeemer, and he will return to Zion to deliver his people, Isa 59:20. Indeed, there is no other name given unto man, through which he will be able to obtain relief. No other method are valid in securing forgiveness and the deliverance from sin than the method of divine substitution, Lev 17:11. No sacrifice will satisfy the demands of God almighty than the one given once and for all at the Cross, Heb 9.Yet, salvation is a matter of careful examination and inquiry. Salvation is substantial. Salvation is meant to bring tangible results. Redemption and deliverance set up sharp and clear borderlines. So does the process of sanctification. Salvation is to be practically applied and worked out, Phil 2:12. Examination and inquiry. Within what limits can I expect God to operate? What does He want to accomplish? How does He do it? How am I to be involved? Salvation is to be prayed for, while probing and searching the rich and long texts of prescriptions and promises.A prophet is recognised by his pursuit for truth. A prophet’s eye might see through you but only to try to see you through. He is occupied with probing and testing for the sake of relevant expressions of the salvation so costly to our Lord. 1 Pet 1:10-11. Timely expressions. Christ painted before our eyes by the use of proper colours, royalty and redemption, a praying priest.Christian faith is basically a matter of worship and revelation. Christianity is all a matter of registering and applying what is pursued during long hours of listening. Christianity is the religion of probing, measuring and weighing. A Christian has to learn to read, read the 1189 chapters of revelation and instruction. He has to align himself properly to all that is possible to take in from all of those texts. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart, Ps 119:2.

The prophetic dimension is the realm of listening, of careful examination. Revelation demand two things: The searching, inquiring mind of man and the revealing Spirit of God. Revelation leaves no room for man’s passivity and complacency. What kind of salvation is it that the true prophets so eagerly pursue? Salvation is wholly of God; why try to understand and lay hold of the process of deliverance? Why spend time and energy on categorising the sources and mechanisms of bondage and slavery and the way to freedom.Instruction, preaching the Word of God, brings deliverance. Lack of insight brings devastation, Hos 4:6. A prophet’s task is to bring deliverance, Hos 12:13. They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. Jer 8:11. Revivalism is but an illusion. The folly of fantasy is bondage and slavery. Instruction, a relevant call to repentance is bitter medicine to the deceived as well as to the deceiver. “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” Ephesians 4:17-19. Salvation offers a delivered thought life. Salvation re-establishes the will to and the ability to think, to understand and to examine. Anyone telling you not to think is a false prophet. Anyone telling you to obey without questions or to just let go emotionally is inviting you to live under a delusion. Revelation, the prophetic dimension, brings instruction and ability to take proper measure.

Any betrayal, any falsification of true religion has its root in man’s distorted view of the Cross. Thinking and relating rightly as to the fact of the Cross brings deliverance. Downplaying its importance, treating it in a derogatory fascion, redefining its role is the point of beginning of any man’s folly. A friend of ours was lost when he stated that he had been at the Cross once and never had to return to it anymore. The open rebellion was a fact. The following quote brings optimised rebellion into light: ”If the death of Jesus on the Cross paid for man’s sin, then every man could die for himself”, E. W. Kenyon. Lack of insight brings devastation. Prophets give themselves to careful examination and inquiry to be able to describe the process and mechanisms of salvation.For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chron 16:9. A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, declares the LORD. Isa 59:20. When he comes, he does so to present a practical plan and program to bring his people out of bondage. God states in a most practical and definite way the reasons for captivity. In the same manner he sets forth his program for deliverance. Love is unconditional, but holiness is not optional. Deliverance is brought about according to appropriate patterns related to the specific settings and conditions of the captives. God has his Cyrus. He secures the foundation of worship by igniting men’s heats with fiery desire to build the temple according to the set plan.Spiritual bondage and deliverance requires definition. Each and every illness reacts only to its own cure and remedy. Holiness is not optional. The way to holiness is not optional. The way to holiness is set as to course and events, carefully planned for each and every individual according to his character and final goal. Deliverance aims at moral action. It profits us to quote C. G. Finney: ”Here is one grand mistake of the Church. They suppose that revivals consist mostly in a state of excited emotion rather than in conformity of the human will to the will of God. Hence when the reasons for the excitement have ceased and the public mind begins to grow more calm, they begin immediately to say that the revival is on the decline, when in fact with much less excited emotion there may be vastly more real religion in the community.” - The promise of the Spirit.