Part 2: Prophecy, Visions and the like... Kerala's adultery with the elemental spirits and mystical falsity. (Me - going all Galatians 3 "who has bewitched you" on this subject!)
Prophecy is another area that has affected the church in a major way. People have lost all senses when it comes to prophecies, visions and dreams. The OT passages have given them a very wrong impression. If one had to depend on the NT only, then this industry would be bankrupt. This itself should show that there is misinterpretation of God's Word at the heart of the issue. Truth be told, these men just see their own dreams and lustful desires as visions, and claim Jesus showed them. Repent soon, for the axe is laid to the roots!
My experiences with this nonsense - I happened to speak to a family-friend of mine some months ago, and toward the end of the conversation he said, "my brother got a vision that he would go to the US, and all the other related things just fell in place after that." (Me - Why doesn't he get a vision now in the midst of Covid-19!)
- Another friend of mine whose so-called testimony I heard on YouTube, where he saw a vision of him elevated on a chair in a wedding suit. This was in light of him wrestling with the question of marriage to a girl. Apparently the girl saw the same vision. He then asked her to tell her his vision (like Nebuchadnezzar asked his astrologers), and she said the exact same thing, and they got married. (Me - yea Paul would be really pleased to hear that he was beaten by the Jews thirty-nine minus one lashes five times so you could get married!)
- Another instance, where one of our family-friend, kept giving excuses for their daughter's marriage plans because some prophet had told them some month or day the wedding was to happen. (Me - hope it does not happen on the Sabbath or the day the meteor strikes the earth!)
- Many so-called preachers have prophecy meetings where they call out location of peoples homes, their passport number, telephone numbers etc. (Me - I double dare them to call out Apple's keychain passwords that are auto-generated!)
Friends, let me put this bluntly - This is witchcraft! This is an abomination to the Lord! This simply isn't biblical!
I'm just lashing out (Phase 2 of "O foolish Galatians!")
When will the church realize that if someone is involved in such things they need to repent? My voice is for the sane and not the spiritually insane. I am hoping and praying in the midst of this great deception, that there will be at least one person that the Father draws to get a grip on spiritual reality. The OT saints - Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and many more; and the NT saints - Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude (Jacob) and many more, did not suffer shame and torture and rejection so that we could use the Holy Writ for our visa, job, children's education, cars, marriage, loans, travels etc. Paul says, 'so then, death is at work in us, but life in you' - 2 Corinthians 4:12.
Please respect the martyrdom of the holy men of God and the death of Jesus Christ enough to run away from materialistic prophecy and visions (1 Timothy. 6:10).
Some biblical direction -
Let us establish by way of common sense, that the prophetic language in the OT; the metaphors, stories, narratives, poems etc., were all specifically driven by Yahweh in conclusion of the promised Messiah. So it is wrong to extract words, phrases and/or similar thoughts from the prophets in order to apply it into our lives. For example, the OT prophecy from Psalm. 110:1 - "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet". Now this is not in relation to our enemies who would be colleagues at work, someone that caused harm to us or some family member, etc. If it had not been explicitly mentioned as Messianic by the NT writers, then this would have turned out to one such misused passage.
Prophets should not be seen as future predictors rather as Yahweh's mouthpieces. And any future that was predicted was for the sake of the fulfillment of prophecy in relation to the coming Messiah, Israel's restoration of the temple, temple destruction because of rebellion against Yahweh, prophecy of hope in light of inclusion of the gentiles, impending exile due to rebellion and so on. That means every prophecy of the OT had nothing to do with our 21st century issues, but everything to do with the plan of God that sums up the statement "the Word tabernacled amongst us" - John. 1:14. The application ought to be drawn (i.e. interpreted in context), and not twisted to suit our own interpretation.
Prophets were teachers too. This is completely ignored when it comes to prophets and prophecy. Infact the use of prophecy and teaching need to be seen closely. If seen in this manner it will mean, "exegeting scriptures so that the hearers will walk in the will of God in order to fulfill His plans". Acts. 13:1, "Now there were prophets and teachers in Antioch...".
The New Testament has no positive evidence of prophesying into someone's future for their materialistic needs. Not even a hint.
Visions also were not part of any personal agenda like one's job, education, business, finance, future planning, etc. Visions were purely an extension of the advancement of the Kingdom and nothing more. For example, Paul's Damascus road experience of the Lord Jesus Christ, Ananias' vision to meet Paul, Peter's vision of the sheet with non-Kosher food, Cornelius' vision, etc. OT visions and dreams like that of Joseph, Abraham, Daniel, Jeremiah, etc., were all leaning towards the kingdom of God and its fulfillment in the day of Yahweh.
Even if one successfully argues that some visions, dreams and prophecy are unrelated to the kingdom directly, the overwhelming narrative speaks against such interpretation's view. What is a narrative? It is the written expression of a verbal world of the writer as expressed in plots, chronology, human characters- their interaction with the unseen and amongst themselves, in order to convey a highly structured meaning for the reader's final consideration about the story of Yahweh (my understanding). For example, the narrative of the book of Genesis is to reveal that Yahweh is the sole Creator of all that is good, sin entered the world, Yahweh's interaction with Adam (humankind) to restore relationship and concluding in the story of Joseph with final farewell speeches; thereby creating a pearl amongst many pearls in the story of Yahweh. Individual words and stories are important, but it must fit the entire narrative, otherwise we would be straying from the author's intention of the narrative.
2 Peter 1:21 "for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God
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