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Section 2 : Nature of Prophecies of Judgment



Then we look at the positive side. And on the positive area is to understand that a prophecy of judgment has three other qualities. We are talking about the second area now. The first quality is the purpose of a prophecy of judgment is not to predict judgment. People think that's what its for. Why should God be going around sending alarm to people by predicting judgment on peoples' life and families? Why should God be doing that? It is not for that purpose.



1. Reveals The Area of Negligence



The purpose is to tell the people whom you are giving that kind of prophecy and warning to tell them to do something. It is to reveal the negligence of that person more than to bring about the judgment.



Lets look at I Samuel. Lets say you have been living your life in half obedience. And some time God sent people to warn you. Lets say God revealed something to me a prophecy for you. It is not for me to come and tell you that this thing is going to happen. That's not the purpose. The purpose is to say this is where you neglect. So please get these areas correct so that these prophesy of judgment will not come to pass. That will get rid of about 99% of doomsday prophecy. None of them give any solution. God never tell a problem without giving a solution as well. Every prophecy in this bible that is a judgment, God gives the people a solution. Jeremiah, Isaiah, they tell people what to do. It is that the people don't want to do what they are told to do. The purpose of any prophecy that deals with judgment is to reveal negligence and specify areas to do to prevent the judgment and not to make a hero of a doomsday prophet.



In I Samuel Eli has been very negligent as a high priest. And a man of God came to Eli one day in chapter 2:27. Here is where a typical example of true prophecy that covers judgment. I Sam. 2:27-29 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus the Lord has said, 'I reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh. And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest; to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then look with greedy eye at my sacrifices and my offerings which I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves upon the choicest part of every offering of my people Israel? Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares; 'I promise that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me for ever'; but now the Lord declares 'Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming, when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity which shall be bestowed upon Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house for ever.



Look at the depth of it. It tells him where he actually went wrong. You don't come to someone and say judgment is going to come. That's not the way. The Lord will tell you where you went wrong. Do you look at God as a father? Does the father come to the child and say, "You are wrong," and smack. Never, the father will say, "Son this is where you have made a mistake. And if I don't do anything about it you are going to repeat." That's what a father is like. Remember God in the Old Testament, God in the New Testament is still the Father. When He gives such a prophecy He will tell you what is wrong. A judgmental prophecy must reveal to people what actually is wrong and give them a chance to amend. Not just to predict and say Eli this is going to happen. No, he says Eli this is a specific wrong you have done. It would involve a word of knowledge, a revelation. A lot of prophecies of doomsday only claim to be a word of wisdom. That means they predict something in the future but they have no revelation in the present. A true prophecy of judgment sees through a word of knowledge the exact condition that is causing the future catastrophe. Even Jeremiah when he predicts all the wrong things that is going to happen. Ezekiel saw all the evil and spoke about the exact evil. Even Ezekiel saw the exact writings and the idol worship that goes on right in the temple. So there was a specific word of knowledge not just a word of wisdom or disaster.



And here the man of God who was a stranger and doesn't know Eli at all gives a word of knowledge and said, "You have honored your sons more than God when you should correct your sons for kicking and doing the wrong thing in my sacrifice. Your exact failing is to honor your sons more than God."



Here is another prophecy of judgment in chapter 3 this time Samuel is the one who has it. In verse 11 and 12 it talks about the terrible catastrophe that will come upon Eli's house. And in verse 13 And I tell him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. He tells him what he did not do and what he should have done. I hear many doomsday prophecy years ago. The prophet thinks he is very clever or smart. As I said it doesn't take a clever prophet or a smart anointed prophet to do all these. When you have lots of wisdom you could predict. To know the future is good. But you also must know present.



So point one every prophecy or caution or warning or judgment that carries with it a prediction of disaster or catastrophe must also have a word of knowledge and tell where the failings precisely are. Then it gives a person a fair change to undo the cycle of destruction that they have locked into.



2.  Reveals the How, When and the Who



Secondly lets look at I Kings 13 the prediction of the young prophet. And here is another unknown prophet who died because the old prophet led him to disobey the Lord. When a prophecy is in areas of judgment or warning it not only must contain a word of knowledge or a revelation the exact fault or problem that is going to cause the judgment. It must also reveal if it is of the Lord and if its accurate it will reveal the how, the when and the who. It doesn't just reveal what will happen. It will reveal how it will happen, when it will happen and many times through whom it will happen.



That makes it different from the other first section I covered where you can receive a sort of warning or prophecy because of the wisdom of knowing the law of God, the condition of the heart and the ruling evil spirit in that place.



The first is important if you receive something through wisdom and the impressions that come through your walk with God, you receive a real prophecy to warn and to give to somebody that warning usually is specific not general. Don't just generally say this is going to happen. Many years ago there was a true prophet who predicted disaster for our country. He is a true prophet and I know that person and I heard the tape. People asked me what about it. I said, "Well God bless him a true prophet but the prophecy is wrong."  Any economist can predict that you don't need a prophet. Besides he didn't tell how it is going to happen, when it is going to happen. A prophecy of that magnitude must be more specific. I mean any Tom, Dick or Harry can stand up and say this disaster is coming. He is not specific enough. And in fact I had a word from the Lord that is opposite from his. So the Lord told me about three periods in the country. To give him the benefit of doubt he may be talking about that period.  But he was wrong. These other two must happen before that. But I don't go round and say thus say the Lord and say the whole body Christ must hear what I have from the Lord, which the other prophet claimed. Remember if you got a word from the Lord there is somebody else who also hears from the Lord. You are not the only one who hears from God. You are not the only Elijah minus the seven thousand who did not bow their knees to Baal. Even Elijah so mighty thought that he was the only one who can hear from God. He forgot that there are seven thousands who did not bow their knees to Baal.



And here in I King 13 look at how precise this man of God is. Verses 1-3 And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord; "Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burned upon you. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: "Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out."



And in verse 5 the altar split apart and the ashes poured forth and everyone was frightened. You need a sign from God. But look at how specific. He predicted when it would happen. He predicted by whom it would happen. He predicted how it would happen. And he predicted the details of what will happen about the men's bones being burned there.



Now lets look at the fulfillment in the book of II Kings. Hundred of years later king Josiah came to the exact place. This is hundred of years later and there were many other kings before him and he was among the last few. And here is Josiah he was named by the prophet. II Kings. 23:15-18 Moreover the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, the altar with the high place he pulled down and he broke in pieces its stones crushing them to dust; also he burned the Asherah. And as Josiah turned he saw a tomb there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. Then he said, "What is yonder monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things.  It is specific.



People don't understand how specific things must happen. Like for example last year I got caught into the Spirit and that Monday meeting I got no word. The prophecy went on for about forty five minutes to an hour. And part of it was recorded. He predicted judgment on a certain nation and he predicted there would be an earthquake. He predicted certain things that have happened. That's what I mean if it was a true prophecy it will be specific. It is different from wisdom that you could just have from the Lord. And the earthquake did happened. All these things are specific. If you really move into that area and you function as an international prophet it is important for us to understand all these laws that are involved. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can just say disaster is coming run. You don't need to be called a prophet to do that. But it takes a real prophet to tell who, when, how and the details.



If you study any negative prophecies or judgment, you would see how detailed they can be. Like Jeremiah he predicted the people who would come and conquer Jerusalem. He predicted when and these details were there because he was a true prophet. So that's the second law when it comes to prophecy of judgment. If you don't have the details it may not be from God. You could just be picking up impressions. And that is why not every Tom, Dick or Harry should handle it. When you have a true prophecy with judgment and warning and caution, handle it carefully. When you carry a spoon and you carry a knife you do it differently. You carry a spoon in any way. You could put it in front of you nobody will be hurt. But when you carry a knife you hold it in a certain way so that if anybody accidentally knocks on you they don't get hurt. The sharper the knife the more careful you are. So treat a prophecy that contains judgment with more caution. For it can easily cut and cause bleeding.



3.  It is Conditional



The third law involved in understanding a prophecy of judgment. Lets look at the book of Jonah. His prophecy in Jonah chapter 3 verse 2 is specific. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you. Verse 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he cried, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Do you notice he was specific in the time? If you predict disaster, disaster surely would come anytime from now to a thousand years. He says forty days it will come. So that we know when it doesn't come you are a false prophet. Don't try to play safe. If a prophecy is right to give to the body of Christ there is warning it will contain all these details. If you don't have these details yet, then it is not ripe yet. You either are not hearing deep enough or you got to be careful of the first three areas you are picking up. And Jonah predicted destruction. But after 40 days nothing happened because Nineveh repented. As I said a prophecy must have the first area they must tell people why it is happening. Although its only one or two sentence recorded here, I believe Jonah would have mentioned why the judgment was coming because of the evil. That is why the king when he heard it he quickly repented. He knew all the evils they had done. The king and everyone repented. And when God saw the repentance God said, "I will not bring the judgment. I will not allow it because they have repented."



And instead Jonah is the one who got angry now because now he looks like a false prophet. After 40 days he was sitting up there waiting for it to happen. When it didn't happen he was angry with God. He didn't understand the third law about the prophecies of judgment. Every prophecy of judgment can be averted. Even if there are no promises or condition given, there is no such thing as a sure clear destruction because there is always room for repentance. Even in the worse case scenario like king Ahab who killed, murdered, plotted against Naboth and took his vineyard (1 Kings 21). Elijah came to him and said this is the end. God will severely punish and judge you and destroy you. That is in the story in I Kings. And Ahab immediately repented. He humbled himself. The thing about it is that it has reached a point where judgment has to come. It has gone beyond that stage. But because he repented although God could not prevent it from happening because He has been decreed it must come, He says, "I will delay it. It will not happen in his time. It will happen in his son's time." Think about the marvel of God. Don't forget that all these cautions and warnings are not because God enjoy dishing out such pronouncements. They are made to turn people back to Him. Basically its still the Father the God of love. And every pronouncement of judgment can be averted. There are some areas and many times it can be completely removed. But where it has gone beyond a certain stage the most He can do is delay it until the mercy of God can reach more. So that's the third law that all judgmental prophecies are conditional. They can be cancelled, delayed or postponed.



Section 3: Safeguards in Prophecies of Judgment



What about people who receive it? When you receive such a thing on a personal side, what are the cautions involved. Let turn to Jeremiah 28. There are two little principles that we need to adhere to. Jeremiah confronts a false prophet. Hananiah the false prophet challenged Jeremiah. Verse 2 and 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Understand the picture. Jeremiah received a prophecy about the king of Babylon coming to put Israel under the yoke. And he was a very visual prophet. He made a wooden yoke and he walked about town with the yoke on him and said, "This will happen to Israel. The king of Babylon will come and put us all in the yoke." And this false prophet Hananiah came broke the yoke and gave another different prophecy and said, "In two years it will be set free." So here is true prophet and false prophet in a confrontation.



In verse 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; and the prophet Jeremiah said, (these are the two little advice that we need to give) "Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words which you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the exiles. Jeremiah will love that.



Verse 7-8 Yet hear now this word which I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdom.



1. Confirmation from the Word



There are two points in this place. No. 1 Jeremiah points to the fact that the word of God has been coming forth. He has all the time been pointing to this. Now without Jeremiah coming to the scene based on the book of Deuteronomy God already told that that at any time the people sin and turn against God, another country whose language they do not know will come and devour them and destroy them. That's found in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28 under the curses.



Verse 49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand, a nation of stern countenance, who shall not regard the person of the old or show favor to the young. This is in the time of Moses. It has become the written Word. The written Word has already spoken and said that if they were to go against God, God will bring destruction to the nation. They don't need Jeremiah its already in the word.  But what Jeremiah was saying here to Hananiah. You see what Hananiah wanted was humanly good. Every one wants to have good news. But you can't receive prosperity, peace and blessings without worshiping the true and living God. You can't have sin and prosperity together. And Hananiah is like he wants the blessing; he wants that peace but he doesn't tell the people to get rid of those idols. And Jeremiah was saying to Hananiah saying all these years what the Word has been saying about what will happen. In other words Jeremiah was saying that his prophecy is in line with the Word. Any prophecy that carries judgment, caution and warning is from God will still be in line with the Word. And all the principles in the Word are not removed by the prophecy. In fact the prophecy is judged by the Word.



So if someone comes and predicts that you are going to have an aircraft accident because they saw this aircraft exploded and you are in it. You got to examine it very carefully. You got to check your life and see whether you have missed God in any area, whether it's a warning or whether it's symbolic. There are so many areas of interpretation. Which is why in the early days when this church first started relationship is not that smooth. There are false prophets that come. They didn't really come to prophesy but they gave wrong prophecy.  They say, "O one year or two years they will close shop." We haven't closed shop; in fact we opened more shops. These are normal things. They hear the wrong spirit. What was wrong? Their heart was already determined. They wanted to see disaster. And they are looking for disaster to happen. So when someone comes and say, "Pastor this is going to happen to the church; its great disaster." First of all I check my heart in God. And I know that as long as I walk in God every work of my hand prospers. Now if I do something wrong it is different. But if I know I sought the face of God and knelt down. And whatever you like it the entire church, the entire ministry has been given to me and it is my responsibility with God. I know that as long as I obey God He is going to bless every department right down the line. So the Word is there.



It is the same in your home. When people predict something is going to happen to your son, remember what the Word says. If it didn't pass the other three tests on the positive side about telling you the condition or tell you why it should happen and it doesn't tell you when, you know something is wrong. That person just knows how to pick up but they don't know what they picked up from the atmosphere. It may not be from the spirit of prophecy. Knowing how to pick up is an amateur thing. The professional prophet doesn't do that. Of course to the average Christians being able to pick up is a big thing already. So they get caught up. Examine it very carefully. What did the word say? I am not saying that God doesn't warn. When He warns His warning is always in line with the Word. And if there is a disaster going to take place, even that disaster would have been specified in the word. And so Jeremiah says, "Look here what I am saying is what the Word has been saying."



2.  Confirmation from the Counsel of Prophets



No. 2 in this point he says what I say agree with all the other prophets I am not the only prophet saying this. Although we are not going by the majority is right business. But the second point is important. Remember what I say that we have to handle a knife more carefully that we handle a spoon. A spoon could be a positive prophecy and it is easy to handle. But when you have knife you got to handle it differently. What would you do? I want to consult with other people. Two or three prophets must judge together. A prophecy of that nature needs to be filtered more carefully. Jeremiah says, "Has any of the other prophets said anything different from me?" He will say, "Hananiah you are the odd one out." Although you may be in the majority in this area right now with all your people under you but he says every other true prophet says the same thing like what I say.



So No. 1 is the word.



No. 2 is by the counsel of many in the same level.



Then when Hananiah in verse 10 broke the yoke from Jeremiah, Jeremiah gave a personal prophecy for Hananiah and saying that the same year he would die. Let me say it again when we deal in prophecy it's a very powerful realm. You can die instantly when you deal with the wrong thing in the wrong area. And Hananiah died in that same year because he tried to be funny. He broke the yoke without God telling him to do so. God ordered that yoke to Jeremiah. Hananiah broke that yoke without God telling him. So we must not take these areas lightly.



Summary



I summarize the principles again. When we deal with a prophecy of judgment we have to be careful of these three areas. Your inner radio must be tuned to these areas.



No. 1 is the law of sowing and reaping, or the law of action and reaction. You must have an inner understanding of the Word and have wisdom and your relationship with God is good and sound.



No. 2 is whether your heart has a certain inclination to certain things that make you magnetize and draw to yourself certain impressions.



No. 3 whether you are picking it up from the spirit that is over that place.



And then the second area. No. 1 If it's a true prophecy it will tell you why the disaster must happen. If it doesn't tell you why, it doesn't have a word of knowledge only have a word of wisdom something is wrong.



No. 2 it will be more precise than just any guessing. It will be so clear-cut that you know that an ordinary person cannot have that. Ordinary person can only predict and guess. But I will have some content of who when, and how that you know its supernatural.



No. 3 no matter how correct the prophecy of judgment is, it is still conditional. When people turn to God great is the mercy of God. Their repentance may avert, delay or postpone the judgment.



Then on the last area is on the people receiving any sort of prophecy. No. 1 both the receiver and the giver still have to abide by the Word of God. It is not just abiding on one verse. You cannot just pick one verse out of the context. You must have the general flow of God's Word from Genesis to Revelation.


No. 2 Is there a counsel of prophets or five-fold ministers apostles, pastors, evangelists, prophets and teachers who say the same thing and read that prophecy correctly? That is, is there a consensus of people who love God and hear from God?