Jeremiah 23: 16-32
"Thus says the Lord of Hosts Do not listen to the words of the prophets Who are prophesying to you They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination Not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise Me, The Lord has said, "You will have peace." And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness Of his own heart, They say "Calamity will not come upon you" But who has stood in the council of the Lord That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened? Behold the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes Of His heart. IN THE LAST DAYS YOU WILL CLEARLY UNDERSTAND IT. (Jeremiah 23: 20b) I did not send these prophets, but they ran I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. But, if they had stood in My council Then they would have announced My words To My people, And would have turned them Back from their evil way, And from the evil of their deeds. Am I a God who is near? declares the Lord, and not a God Who is far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? Declares the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, "I had a dream, I had a dream!" How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, But let him who has "My word, speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain? Declares the Lord. "Is not My word like fire?" declares the Lord, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?" Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets" declares the Lord, "who steal My words from each other. "Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongue and declare, 'The Lord declares.' "Behold, I am against the those who have prophesied false dreams, "declares the Lord, " and related them, and led My people astray by their falsehoods, and reckless boasting, yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit." Declares the Lord."
I highlighted the line that says,
"In the last days you will clearly understand it."
These are the last days, and if you have discernment, you know this is the way it is today. There is more justification of what man wants than ever. The rebellion of Korah, the jealousy that caused Cain to kill Abel, the greed that was the motivation of Balaam to prophesy is rampant.
Selfish ambition is a great motivator. The desire not to offend, in order to draw all the people that want to hear what appeals to their emotions and flesh is very prevalent. Self, it's desires and ambitions replace true submission to the will and purpose of God. The heart gets deceived by itself, because of self interest.
The measure of true "great" ministry is numbers and money. It is a sham, and there is such a lack of discernment! And where there is discernment, there is a fear of speaking the truth. To be prominent and busy and have lots of following is the standard. To be bigger and do more is the standard of success.
The warnings of scripture are not to be taken lightly. The rebellious want to justify their refusal to submit to God, by calling the ones who speak the truth controlling, or attack them for the message. When the Lord says that there is judgement on the household of God first, before the world, that is regarded as nothing in the minds of so many that think of the Lord as One Who does not mete judgement in this day.
The book of Jude is a warning to the last day church, as is the warning given in Revelation 3 to the church of Laodicea. In the church of Laodicea, they considered themselves as rich, and wealthy, and having need of nothing, and do not know that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Only the discerning of spirit would know the difference.
No doubt, they would attack any messenger that told them so. It would be considered as jealousy or whatever motivation could be attributed to take the heat off the real situation. The dreamer or prophet that told them they are alright would be accepted.
The prophet who speaks the Word of the Lord will turn the people away from being self-centered and turn them to submission to God in a real way. Watchman Nee says in The Spiritual Man,
"However good, praiseworthy and effective one's walk may appear to be, if they are motivated by his ambition, they are nevertheless judged by God to be wood, hay, and stubble. Such conduct and exertion possess no spiritual worth. God deems a believer's craving for spiritual fame just as corrupt as his desiring sin."
There are many dreams and prophetic words that are in the category of this scripture in Jeremiah 23. A dream from the Lord is given to be interpreted and understood so the person can have the wisdom that God wants to say. There are not many possible interpretations that are just interesting. The word of the Lord is not to be compared to the interpretations of people. People will always be limited by their experience unless they hear the Lord on a matter.
Dreams and words that do not turn man aside from conduct and do not give instruction, to keep man back from pride, or warn of things to come, to know the mind of the Lord are useless and futile. Dream interpretation is not taught, as prophecy is not taught.
You can be sensitive to the Lord, and seek His wisdom, but unless He gives the interpretation, it is of no use. You are in a muddle of wonder.
Some people are operating in wonder, rather than interpretation. An interpretation comes like the word of knowledge, not born out of the soul and the mind of man. There are some things that are more concrete in their interpretation, but there are others that you must have the sense of the Holy Spirit to know what God is saying.
One example of possible miscues by trying to interpret by learned symbolism is that colors can be significant to mean of God or of the enemy.
Purple is considered to indicate high occult power, or witchcraft. It can also be something from God's kingdom. If you do not have Divine revelation of the sense of the Spirit, you will not know which it is.
Dreams do not have to be studied to be interpreted. I have had many dreams told to me over the years, and usually, I "KNOW" what it means immediately. It is a knowing like when there is a word of knowledge. You do not fast and pray for the answer. When you see the dreams given in the Bible, they are understood, the person KNOWS what it means.
When Joseph interpreted dreams, he immediately knew what they meant, and they were enigmas to everyone else. The reason is that the knowing is a gift. You cannot earn it, buy it, or figure it out.
Several years ago, I had a woman call me to interpret a dream. She told me the dream and I told her that it did not mean anything to me the way God usually gives me interpretation, which is like a revelation immediately. I told her I could speculate about it, but it would be just that, and I didn't see the value in doing that. She then admitted that she made the dream up to test whether I was hearing God on interpreting dreams, or merely thinking up a good interpretation.
Teaching people to interpret dreams is like teaching ungifted people to be a prophet. That is a ridiculous notion. God calls and chooses, and coveting a gift will not give you the anointing to walk in it. I think that is why there is such a naming of false prophecies and dreams that are useless in this last day. The ungifted are coveting what God has not called them to do, and desire does not equal anointing.
Yes, the Bible says to desire earnestly spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. The simple gifts of the Holy Spirit are for all believers that will exercise their faith. However, the root of the "everyone can do it idea", is the Spirit of Korah, which is definitely listed in Jude as in the last days.
What does that mean? In Numbers 16, Korah and 250 of the sons of Israel were given positions of authority to help carry the load of Moses over the people. They were men of renown, chosen in the assembly. In verse 3, they said that all the congregation was holy, and accused Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves above the assembly of the Lord.
Imagine the reaction of Moses, as he had resisted the call of God and felt that he was not worthy, and could not speak well enough, and yet, God had appointed him and taken him through all the unusual experiences to train him for the place he was to hold in the kingdom of God. He had not sought the place, God chose him, and he knew it. Korah and company were stirring up discontent and rebellion in the people, and God had to deal with it decisively to uphold His servant, Moses. The ground swallowed them up whole, they and their families, as a sign to the people of what was what with God.
Moses was so disheartened when those things happened, because the way was hard enough, without the very ones God put you with as a leader accusing you of ill motives! It is a spirit that stirs insurrection in the rest of the camp! It is based out of envy and jealousy and selfish ambition. The place they had was not good enough, as he said in verse 9. They were not satisfied to serve the Lord in His way, of service to the tabernacle, and to stand to minister in front of the whole congregation.
The attack on Moses was to diminish him and exalt their positions. When you consider what Jude has to say about this, it is very sobering.
Jude 8-13
"Yet in the same manner these men also by dreaming, (Oh My hopes and dreams for ministry), defile the flesh, and REJECT AUTHORITY, and revile angelic majesties.
But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things that they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals; by these things they are destroyed."
The dreams of a man for preeminence, the highest calling of God, defile the flesh, the seat of the mind, will and emotions, defile is to soil, dirty, contaminate. If the fleshly mind is contaminated, it is not getting the real wisdom of God.
And the things which they know by instinct. Self-realization, self-promotion, selfish ambition, by these things they are destroyed.
What is destroyed is the real call of God on their life, as they seek to fulfill something else, and the insurrection they stir, as they aim at the leader in secret, to influence others, and give the impression that they have as much as they do, if not more. They should be the one on the stage!!! After all, they can hear God too!
The purpose of God is destroyed, and the anointed of God who is filling his place is attacked. Christians have their subtle little ways of doing it in a nice Christian gentle, defiling critique. "Yes that Pastor/Prophet etc. is a good teacher, but I don't know. I just think blah, blah, blah, and whisper, whisper, whisper."
"Woe to them, for they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay, have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds, autumn trees without fruit, double dead, uprooted, wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam, wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever."
They are hidden reefs in your love feasts ... a hidden reef will cause shipwreck to unsuspecting others! They feast with you without fear, because they are careful to cover their true motives, and have no real fear of coming against God's anointed. They think that God will not judge them for what they are doing. After all, God loves us all and we all have the Holy Spirit.
Caring for themselves ... Self-centeredness, ambition, they consider themselves above certain things that are for others to do that are the lesser tasks.
Clouds without water... They appear to know and have something going on spiritually, but really do not.
Carried along by winds... They are on the latest bandwagon, and running to and fro, unstable.
Autumn trees without fruit... except the fruit of self-promotion, or hanging on the coattails of someone they envy.
Doubly dead... Now this is a controversial one. Can you lose everything that you had spiritually by continuing to resist the will of God, and demand what you want, through your refusal to do what God has called you to?
As in Revelation 3, Jesus said to the church in Sardis, "Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, WHICH WERE ABOUT TO DIE, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.
Remember therefore what you have received and heard, and keep it and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
But, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels."
uprooted ... Well, could this be what we see with the hopping Christians, going from this to that, and never sticking with the imperfect churches and leaders.
Wild waves of the sea ... This is an interesting one. It makes me think of some of the wild and fleshly manifestations that go on sometimes with some people. Their imagination overloads their flesh as they try to show their "spirituality" around others.
Casting up their own shame like foam ... The show offs, in the flesh, a real problem some places. I think of the woman that wrote a book that described how God wanted her to occupy the stage by herself and dance and she had so many visits from the Lord, and He delighted in her sooo much, and the entire book draws extraordinary attention to her. She is his special daughter! And it seems as if the Lord is idolizing her in her explanation. He just wants to watch her dance, and promote her to the world. I believe she has given place to a deceiving spirit that portrays himself as the Christ, and then she becomes the mouthpiece for him, a real false prophet. How come so many do not see this angel of light and the deception the woman is in?
Wandering Stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever ...
Again, not rooted, finding every excuse why not, and like a star, want to shine and have attention. This is a perfect description of those who refuse the discipline of God and want to be recognized so badly, and feel that they are so much more important than others, that they do not realize that they have given up the Lordship of Jesus for their own agenda.
False prophets abound today. They do not all know that they are false. There are those who have led them astray, teaching them to reach for things God has not called them to. There are those that have received evil spirits, thinking that they were in contact with Jesus or angels, and no one could tell them differently. When told the possibility, they will leave, they uproot, become a wandering star.
The error of Balaam ...
Balaam sold out his prophetic call for greed's sake. II Peter 2:15 calls him a prophet. He was hired to curse Israel, but as he tried, a blessing came out of his mouth instead. He tried three times, and then told the one who hired him how to get Israel to sin and get cursed themselves, like a set up. Greed is dangerous. I have seen the results recently in hearing of someone charging exorbitant fees to enter a "crusade", and all the people get is a feel good, watered down gospel. It is sad. There are all kinds of ways that greed can take up in a minister. One is that they believe their own PR.
Gone the Way of Cain ...
Cain killed his brother out of jealousy and envy over Abel's sacrifice being accepted by the Lord, and his wasn't. Jealousy is a most destructive sin of the heart, as is envy. I John 3:16 says that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
There are murderers on the loose in the kingdom of God. They hate secretly in their heart, but know that it is unacceptable, so they hide their true feelings, and undermine and come against those they hate. If you are a prophet, you will experience this because of the nature of the ministry. I dare say that there are those who will read this and rage at me in their heart for the things I have said.
Murder in the heart. What is that? Those raging feelings empower demonic attacks against people that are hated. It is a well-known fact in occult literature that the more powerful the rage or hatred against an enemy, the stronger the attack will be by the demons they conjure.
Symptoms of hatred, anger coming from someone are a pressure on the head, or the back of the neck, of both. Feelings of confusion, chaos, anxiety without knowing why. Physical symptoms that are strange or sudden and not really like a natural thing. Headache, inability to pray, or focus on the things of God that you need to. Miscommunications that are absolutely ludicrous normally. Hopelessness, despair, thoughts that are not your own, but of degradation toward you or your ministry, etc.
These are demonic attacks that stem from the hatred out of someone's heart. You are defiled by what comes out of the heart, not what goes into the body. That includes what comes out of someone's heart toward you.
Think of the opposite effects when there are blessings and love flowing toward you from other's. It is invigorating, gives you a sense that all will be all right. This is not positive thinking, or negative. It is the very real forces of darkness that are unleashed by hatred.
There are accounts of people that have died from hatred aimed at them by covens for a period of time. It was deliberate to do that. The hatred is like adding gas to a fire.
Eternal life will not abide in a murderer of the heart! I John 3:15.
It is time to end this particular teaching. I have much more to teach, and will add on very soon. I hope this has definitely separated wheat from tares. The wheat will respond prayerfully, with an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying. A tare will blow it off, because the real word is not there in their heart to begin with, and they don't want to be confronted with the word that demands a change of heart and even actions, and possibly restitution.
We are all hypocrites in some way. Someone had said that they would not go to church because of all the hypocrites there. My Uncle Charlie used to say that he wouldn't let any hypocrite keep him out of church. I am a work in progress, and not as perfect as some of the ones I see lauded on TV.
But, I am a prophet of the Lord. I did not call myself, and my training has been lifelong through many hard things. If you do not like me, take it up with the Lord. If you do, God bless you, I see your hand
Smile! Really, I have waited on the Lord. I am one of His many messengers, and glad to be.
By Ginny Alloway Baker
Upcoming Articles will be:
Prophetic Anointing, Pronouncements, Miracles
Dreams and Visions
False Teaching and Prophets
Witchcraft Affecting the Church Today
Chains of Defilement
Hear the Spirit to Live
The Deep Things of God
Separation of Wheat and Tares
Ten Virgins
Paul
