PART I
CALL OF THE PROPHET
4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5 “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then said I: “ Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am young in the Lord.” 7 But the LORD said to me: “ Do not say, ‘I am young in the Lord,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of their faces, or their education or their titles For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD. 9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “ Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.” 11 [Jer 1:4-11]
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Arletia, what do you see?”
And I said,
“There are many false prophets among us, Lord.
They assure the people of peace, when there is no peace.
[Jer 6:4,
8:11]
The people don’t want the truth; they prefer lies that sound nice. [Isaiah
30:10]They deceive even God’s elect with great signs and wonders [Mathew
24:24]Some of these false prophets even perform miracles through fraudulent spirits and witchcraft like Pharaoh’s magicians and the beast in
Revelations 13.
Lord, I see prophets who are caught up in their gift. They are motivated by self-interest and given to please the people.”
16 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They keep saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.
[Jeremiah 23:16,17] …and I said,Lord, the people consult mediums, psychics, astrologers, tarot card readers, and Spiritual Advisors operating with all manner of spirits, and then after they have built false idols in their hearts, they come running to the church for a word from God’s prophet. They are seeking validation for their “feelings” not confirmation about their “purpose” in you, Lord.
And, the Lord said to me, when they come to you for a word from the Lord,“4 “… speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.”’ 6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the LORD will answer him by Myself. 8 I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. [EZEKIEL 14;4-8]
The Lord, God said to me,
“Caution my prophets about prophesying to any and everyone. Some, I have cut off, like Saul [1 Samuel 28] and they have become my enemy. They run from medium to spiritist in search of a word, but they do not know me. They do not love me, and they do not obey me.Therefore, says the Lord God,
… 9 “… if the prophet is induced to speak anything [to these whom I’ve rejected], I the LORD have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, ' " [EZEKIEL 14:9,10]
The Lord, God is holding His prophets accountable, lest we be deceived into allowing people like Simon the Sorcerer [ACTS 8:18,19] the wrong use of the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must test the spirits to know whether they are of God [1 John 4:1]. We must be like Paul in [ACTS 16:16-18] when the girl possessed with the spirit of divination followed Him and Silas around for days co-signing, saying “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”. We must cast the spirit out from among us, not feed into it.
Do not be deceived, says the Lord thy God. Obey my commandment:“10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
[DEUTERONOMY 18:10-14]
It’s important to understand that the beginning of prophetic activity in early Christianity, according to Acts, coincided with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the earliest Christians on the Day of Pentecost
[Acts 21:1-21]. Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost confirms the fulfillment of Joel’s prophesy [
Acts 2:14-21;
Joel 2:28-32] indicating the outpouring of the Spirit on ALL flesh. Further, since the Spirit had been poured out upon all early Christians, all were potential prophets. *
However, Satan seeks to pervert the gifts of God, so not everyone with the prophetic gift is operating the way God intended. Therefore, it is our task to teach those who have a desire to serve God the true purpose of their gift, so that the unlearned can learn how to become prophets for Christ, and not perish.[Mathew 7:6]
6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Remember, says the Lord,
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! [Mathew 7:21-23]
So, says the Lord.
Prophetic Word given to Arletia McInnis* Ilumina Bible Study Tysdale Publishing
