Over the past few days, I have been praying and meditating a lot about my blog on Sunday, on the two prophetic encounters I had: first on September 6^th and, then again, early on election day, November 3^rd. Many people have emailed me or posted that maybe what I heard was correct. Biden would win and it was because many (not all) in the church have idolized Trump…but it is possible that God is giving us a window to repent of putting way too much faith in politics and government. Then, as we repented, He would reverse the outcome of the elections.

When someone first shared this with me, I responded, “No…I clearly saw a Biden victory. If Trump overcomes, then I clearly missed God and will need to repent to the body of believers.” That has been my position since I posted the word on November 8^th. I just assumed people were seeking to reconcile how someone they loved and respected could mistakenly hear concerning something of this magnitude. I thought they were trying to give me a way to save face in the event that Trump was somehow given another four years. However, this morning I read this article by Craig Keener. (Full disclosure, I read it, because he quotes me )

Keener speaks of his own dreams concerning Trump and the elections:

I am not a prophet, but my own dreams gave me misgivings. For example, in March 2016, eight months before the election, I dreamed that Trump could be like the biblical Jehu (2 Kings 10:28–31) and needed repentance. In May 2016 I dreamed that God was angry about Trump’s (future) mistreatment of refugee children. Later I dreamed about his words provoking race riots. After the 2016 election, I wrote in my journal, “I wonder why, when I have had these nightmare dreams about him, many others are not seeing the same thing.” The next year I dreamed that I was warning Trump supporters about a coming backlash: “You have sown the wind and you will reap the whirlwind” (from Hosea 8:7). … In August this year, I dreamed that Trump lost the 2020 election.

How to apply a prophecy is as important as the prophecy

The thing that struck me about his article was what he shared about the person who receives a prophecy not always understanding the interpretation or application. In Acts, Paul gets a prophetic word from Agabus that he will be put in chains in Jerusalem. His friends emphatically interpret that God was saying to Paul, “Don’t go to Jerusalem!” However, for Paul, it was confirmation of what he had already declared in Acts 20:22-24.

Keener, states, “Not only are all prophecies partial (1 Cor. 13:9), but, more dangerously, sometimes we may confuse our wrong interpretation with God’s message.”

So, yes, it is possible that God shared that with me, so we could repent during this window of uncertainty. (Of course, if I were Him, I would have shared it with someone with more influence.) You say, “But Ron, we have repented already.” Yes, in several events there has been effective, wonderful repentance for the sins of the nation, but there has not been a widespread repentance for idolizing President Trump or putting our faith in the politics.

I am not seeking to save face!

Now, just to be clear, I am not seeking a way out in case President Trump overcomes. In the natural, there is no precedent for changing the outcome of three or four states. And I do not think (I am not a presidential election scholar) a state has ever flipped where the difference was 50,000 votes (as in Pennsylvania) or even more than 100,000 votes (in Michigan). If the results are reversed, it will no doubt be a miracle. Furthermore, while I do value my reputation, “A good name is more desirable than great riches” (Proverbs 22:1), if Trump remains president, it will be my strong conclusion that I missed God and will need to repent. I value God’s reputation far above my own.

No one knows they are deceived when they are deceived

However, for the good of the nation, maybe we should all take a deep look inward and see if there has been some misplaced loyalty to President Trump which only belongs to God. No one who has idolized someone thinks (at the time) that they are in idolatry. To see it, it will take prayer and a deep inner look before God and His word. Such repentance could, maybe, turn things around—even now. One of the responses I have received this week was from a former student.

I sent [your blog] to one of the hardest “Trump does no wrong,” people I know and he called me this morning to tell me the Holy Spirit came upon him as he read your article and he repented for making Trump an idol.

And that is not the only email like that I have received.

I did think it was conditional

Could repentance turn things around? I don’t know. I can tell you that when I received these two words, it was as clear as could be. I did not then, and still don’t, see it as conditional. But who knows? Over the past two months, I wondered if I heard that Biden would win, or that Trump would lose. Maybe the President would simply be replaced by another candidate for some reason. When I had the second experience on election day, it was as if I was reading a newspaper that declared, BIDEN WINS.* I could almost see him on the stage accepting victory. My understanding, even now, is that it was a done deal—I don’t expect the result to change. But God told Jeremiah that repentance can move Him to relent.

“If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Jeremiah 18:7–10)

Again, I am not seeking an out. I am confident in what I heard. But at the same time, it would be so good if we could all just get before God and pray, asking Him if we have given a place in our hearts to President Trump that should be reserved only for the Almighty. We are asking God to expose the deception in the elections—and we should! Maybe we should also be asking God to expose anything deceptive in our hearts, as well. Present company included.

*One of the hardest things to explain in human language is experiences with God. Was it a vision. No. And yet, it was as if I could see things. I wish I could explain it better.

The first thing I want to point out is that this was not a doctrinal statement. Jehoshaphat was under attack. As he hears that armies are coming from the other side of the Dead Sea, he cries out to God before his people. Please go and read the whole chapter. It is a very powerful prayer. As he finishes Jahaziel, a priest, is overcome by the Spirit and gives a powerful prophetic word. Again, please read the chapter.

“Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chr. (20:15)

The next day, Jehoshaphat, referring to that specific prophetic word, exhorts the people to, “have faith in his prophets”. But there is no evidence that we are to always have faith in the prophets. It doesn’t appear that this a doctrine that we see repeated over and over again in scripture. But even if so, how do we handle this in light of the New Testament? Is this idea upheld in the example of the book of Acts? In a word, “no.”

The idea of having “faith in the prophets” (which means, in the prophetic word that God gave through them, not in the prophets themselves) is an Old Testament concept that did not transfer to the New Testament. There are some changes between the way God dealt with the nation of Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures and the way He speaks to the eklessia in New Testament. Why? Because:

1. Now, we have the word of God and every believer can read it. We are not dependent on prophets in the same way that the Israelites were.

2. In Yeshua, every believer, whether they are a prophet or not, has the Spirit of God and can prophesy. (Acts 2:17)

3. Before we had the written word of God, the word of the prophet was like the word of God. God used the Hebrew prophets as the primary way to deliver his word to His people. But things have changed.

We can say that Yeshua is the word of God. And His body is on earth. He speaks today through the written word of God primarily and through the entire body of Messiah. Not, exclusively through prophets as in the days of ancient Israel.

4. I absolutely believe in the continuation of the function of prophet for today. I have seen it in operation many times over many years. I have many friends whom I consider to be New Testament prophets. However, prophets do not lead the global eklessia. When the senior leader of a network or movement is primarily a prophet, problems often arise. When a prophet seeks to function as an apostle (a senior leader over leaders), he often makes mistakes. Prophets need to be inspired, but you lead by principle. When both gifts function together—where apostles lead and prophets inspire—there can be much fruit. 

When the function of prophet is disconnected from the other Ephesians 4:11 gifts: apostles, pastors, teachers and evangelists, it is not reliable. It was never meant to function in a vacuum, such as we often see today. In the book of Acts, the prophets are not leading the eklessia, but apostolic teams with different Ephesians 4:11 gifts. In Acts 13:1, God spoke through a team of prophets and teachers—and we can say apostles were there, because Paul and Baranabas were present. In Acts 15, as they seek to deal with the biggest theological controversy in the New Testament, we see that the focus is not on “the prophets,” but rather, “the apostles and the elders.” (see Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22 and 23) Prophets are not mentioned. Were they there? Of course, just as were pastors, teachers and evangelists among “the elders.” 

But in recent weeks, I am hearing constantly, “believe in the prophets and you will prosper.” This is off … and the many of the prophecies have proven to be inaccurate. 

5. Now, if you want to have an Old Testament standard for prophets, then you have to embrace it all.

Are any of the prophets who are telling us, “believe in the prophets,” willing to be put to death if their prophecies are wrong? Of course, I am not and would never advocate for this and neither did Paul. He says in 1 Corinthians 14 that he desires that we would all prophesy. Certainly he is not asking believers to risk their lives. But if you are going to use the Old Testament standard, you need to embrace ALL of this standard. Or, admit that some things have changed. It changed because in the days before Yeshua, if the prophet was wrong or led the people astray, the results could be catastrophic. They could be led to idol worship, gross sin or rebellion. People needed to have a high level of confidence in the prophets. This is why the punishment was death. It weeded out many would be false prophets. In light of the written word of God and wider leadership teams, the stakes are not as high.

In the New Testament, prophets and all leaders are accountable to apostolic teams. I am convinced that much of the false prophecy that has come forth this year, whether it is regarding the Coronavirus ending in April/Passover or the election, is a result of men and women who are not accountable to an apostolic team of leaders; ministers who are independent. For instance, does it bother you that not one of the prophets who said Coronavirus would end by April or would have no effect all, have not publicly acknowledged this fail or repented? This is result of not only pride, but a lack of team, apostolic leadership. If someone on our team made such a mistake, there would be at least 10 men that would demand they deal with it. Many of these prophets take for granted their followers, as they just continue on, ignoring the elephant in the room.

Why is this happening?

I believe that the Lord has sovereignly allowed this deception to take place to force us into right order. There needs to be an aligning of the apostolic and the prophetic. While prophets may get the word of the Lord, it is apostolic leaders who can often add practical wisdom:  timing, is the prophecy conditional, should it be shared publicly or is it for private prayer? Whenever I have received a major prophetic word (and I do not consider myself a Ephesians 11 prophet and have not been recognized as such—just someone who sometimes prophesies and loves to teach on biblical prophecy), I have counseled with my team—both peers and overseers. It is a great protection and has saved me from making mistakes. If I get attacked, I have the peace that I passed it through the proper checks and balances. Often, even when I am encouraged to share it, I get helpful advice on how to share it.

I believe we are on the cusp of a leadership reformation. I am encouraged by the ministries of people like Bishop Joe Mattera, Dr. Michael Brown, Dr. Mark Chironna and others who are seeking to bring a course correction. Something beautiful may come forth!

Today I saw a post from a well-known Christian leader that said this:

“The devil has made a strategic mistake and has awakened the Church! Stay tuned!”

Considering this prophetic minister prophesied a Trump victory, and seeing that the initial response to this tweet from others was the assumption that he was referring to the presidential election and rallies, protests and prayer meetings (to overturn the initial result) that have ensued, I assumed that by saying, “the church has woken up,” he was implying these political actions are equal to a revival of sorts in the American church. In his response to some of the criticism (very little), he was very clear: his post was about the election.

As Americans, we have a First Amendment right to protest. If people feel there was wrongdoing in the election, then by all means, they should lift up their voice and object. It is what I love about America and something for which many nations are jealous. They should pray for God’s will to be done (as Yeshua taught us). To equate that, however, to the “church waking up” is of deep concern to me.

Here’s what the church waking up would and should look like:

• Believers would give themselves to prayer and fasting for revival. We would hunger for God like never before.
• We would renew our commitment to the Great Commission. While I have always been involved politically, the Great Commission and politics are two very different things. Theologians have debated for years regarding the level that believers should be involved in politics. Theologians do not debate, however, on the need of every believer to share their faith.
• We would give more of our time to the Good Book instead of Facebook.
• We would seek to clothe the poor and feed the hungry. We would look out for widows and orphans. We would give of our time and money to rescue young women (and even men) from human trafficking.
• We would give ourselves to worshiping Jesus, the Pearl of great price.
• We would refrain from hateful language in the way we respond to each other online. We would learn how to disagree with one another, while possessing the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

From the Womb to the Tomb

I wonder how black evangelicals would view his comment. Are you aware that about 80% of their community voted for Joe Biden? Now, before you call them “baby killers” and say they are accomplices to murder for voting for a pro-choice candidate, can I ask if you have ever sat down with a born-again black democrat to hear their view? For me, I could never vote for a pro-abortion candidate, but a friend of mine sat down with a black pastor and the pastor said to him, “We are pro-life from the womb to the tomb.” His insinuation was that the Republican Party was strong on protecting the unborn, but not so strong after the baby enters this life, particularly if he is a minority.

I’m not saying I agree with that, but I want to hear their point of view. I can imagine that for them to hear a white pastor (of a mostly white megachurch) proclaiming that the amount of prayer for President Trump’s re-election could be described as the church waking up, would be hurtful. And it reinforces in them that not only do we not understand them but we don’t want to.

When George Floyd was killed, I resisted my natural tendency to go to my political corner. In prayer, I heard the words, “Do not process what is happening in America in a political way. If you do, you will choose a side, right or left; but I am seated in heavenly places, not on the political right or the political left, but in heaven ABOVE.” In fact, I noticed that when I would be in prayer, I would hear one thing from heaven—firm and clear—and then, when I would watch the news channels, I could feel myself being pulled away from God’s heart to a political position. And I realized—they are two different kingdoms.

Who side are you on?

It reminded me of Joshua’s encounter with the preincarnate Yeshua. He wanted to know if this unknown warrior was on his side or the enemy’s side. Yeshua made it clear that it was quite the opposite. The question instead was if Joshua was on the side of Yahweh.

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”(Joshua 5:13-14)

What this pastor calls as “the church waking up”, I see as an unholy mixture of the gospel and politics, causing more division than I’ve ever seen in my life. In fact, alarms are going off inside of me. I have never seen anything like it and I have never seen so many Christian leaders equating loyalty to Trump and his causes with loyalty to God.

Are you aware that the phrase, “Stop the Steal” was coined by Roger Stone in 2016 in case Trump lost? Now I see it on Christian TV networks. I hear prophets repeating White House talking points instead of the counsel of heaven. The idea of “counting every legal vote and not counting every illegal vote” (something I very much support) was created by politicians before the election. And now, “prophets” are praying it. The Hebrew prophets did not get marching orders from the king, but delivered them to the king from heaven!

Render to Caesar

Yeshua taught on the relationship between God and politics.

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (Mark 12:13-17)

Yeshua affirmed a place for “Caesar” or politics. But He separated it from his kingdom. Let me ask you, whose name was on the flags people were waving on Saturday in D.C.? It wasn’t J-E-S-U-S. And that is fine! We should rally for our preferred political candidate. Just don’t confuse it with devotion to Yeshua, who said his kingdom is not of this world.

Yet, people are breaking off relationships with friends and family members based on who they voted for or who they think won the election (I have seen it!). How in the world can that be described as “the church waking up”? I see that as pastors not doing their job in equipping the saints. The apostles had little time for politics and protests—they were singularly focused on bringing people to Yeshua. And honestly, the best way end abortion is get more people born again!

I think we’re entering into one of the most dangerous minefields that the American church has ever experienced. May righteous leaders rise up and guide us in the right direction.

Jacob leaves his family to find a wife. You know the story. He meets Rachel, who according to the Bible, “had a lovely figure and was beautiful.” He falls in love with her and asks Laban for her hand in marriage in exchange for seven year’s work. After seven years, he is so excited to finally marry Rachel. However, Laban, that sneaky fellow, switches Rachel out with his less attractive older daughter, Leah.

So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leahand brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. (Gen. 29:22-23)

And here is the funniest verse: When morning came, there was Leah!

It is just as the Hebrew says. And most of the English translations are the same. Maybe you don’t find that verse funny. And truth be told, the story begins quite tragically, but packs a powerful message for you and me.

Leah was not Ugly

But here is where the translation is wrong. Leah was not ugly, as we like to think. the Bible doesn’t say she had, “weak eyes.” The Hebrew word is רקות/rakot and it means she had soft or gentle eyes. And, it doesn’t say that Rachel had a nice “figure” (which I always felt was strange for the Bible) but that she was יפת תאור, meaning beautiful beyond description or something close. In modern Hebrew it means, “really hot!” So, while Leah was not ugly, her sister was super-model pretty. And competing with that, can be hard for an insecure young woman.

Jake goes back Laban and he is not happy. They come to a deal whereby he gets both girls as wives and their servants as well.

Unloved hurts!

It was a common thing in ancient times for there to be an unloved wife in the family. The Torah even makes provision for the son of the unloved wife, something other cultures did not. It was common to have many wives and most of these unregenerated husbands favored one wife above the others. Jacob loved Rachel, but he did not love Leah.

The Bible says that the earth trembles over a married woman who is unloved (Prov. 30:23). It angers the Lord to see a woman abused or not loved by her husband. God was so upset over Leah’s situation that he closed the womb of her sister Rachel and opened Leah’s.

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. (Gen. 29:31)

From Bitterness to Victory

Leah has three sons, and she gives them names that highlight her misery.

Rueben—“It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

Simeon—“Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.”

Levi—“Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”

The lack of love from Jacob has become her identity. She feels that if only she can get Jacob to love her, then she will be happy and fulfilled. And, bearing one a son in ancient times was certainly considered worthy of being favored. If you could not have sons or any children at all, like Rachel, you were considered cursed or even defective. The most desired thing from a wife in those times was for her to bring forth sons.

Leah thinks, this is my ticket to being loved! Each time she gives birth, she has this false expectation that Jacob will realize that even though she isn’t as pretty as her younger sister, she is the real diamond. She is the worthy one. She produces boys! But it doesn’t work.

It would seem that at some point Leah made peace with God over her unfortunate situation. You see friend, it really doesn’t matter if your husband loves you or not. Don’t get me wrong—he should. But you can still experience God’s love despite him. It is the same for an unloved child. Really, anyone who has let disappointment in a relationship label them, if you will, as unloved or unlovely.

It’s not you!

It’s not you—it’s him! My wife recently met with the wife of a pastor. Elana told me that she was strikingly beautiful and has lovely personality. And yet, her pastor husband left her! Despite being what we would all call “attractive” inside and out, he cheated. No matter how beautiful you are and how amazing everyone says you are, such things take a toll on our self-worth.

The enemy tells you that you deserved it. You are not attractive. You are not worthy of love. And yet God, your creator and designer says of you:

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Leah has a revelation!

At some point, it seems that Leah discovers her worth in God, not in Jacob. This is reflected in the name she gave for her next child.

Judah— “This time I will praise the Lord.”

There is no mention her of being unloved or needy Jacob’s love. She is simply grateful to God for her son Judah. And it is more than ironic, maybe even prophetic, that she found her self-worth in giving birth to the forefather of Yeshua, who, like David, came through the tribe of Judah.

She did not become perfect after that. When his maidservant bore two sons she gave them positive names connected to good fortune and happiness. When she gives birth to Issachar, she says, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.”

But then, sometime after giving birth to Judah, she gives birth to her final son, Zebulun, and says, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.”

But even in still longing for Jacob’s love, you do not see the misery, as before, when she complains about not being loved. She has found love in God. You can too! No matter what your situation. He is there and he loves you!

In part two, I will talk about men’s self-worth and how it can be attacked.

My guess is that many believers have had it with the prophetic. They don’t want to hear another person say that God told them something of consequence. I was feeling the same way until I read a verse yesterday morning that jumped off the page at me and I decided to write about it. Ironically, after I was done, I read an article from a colleague in Israel, who is also American-born. He wrote:

We have grown weary of false prophecies, false healings, false words from God…which is nothing but hillul Hashem – and taking up the Lord’s name in vain.  This should not be, and is certainly leading to disappointments which are facilitating the predicted Great Falling Away. (Elhanan ben-Avraham)

The verse that struck me was 1 Thessalonians 5:20 and it is for the sentiment above that I believe God moved upon Paul to write it:

“Do not treat prophecies with contempt.”

For those of us who believe in the supernatural and that God still speaks today, you may have read this verse in the past and wondered, “Why would we ever despise prophecy or treat it with contempt?”

We have something in common

Let’s fast forward to January 2021. Just like those believers in Thessalonica, who had to deal with a plethora of false prophecy, many in the body feel burned by the recent false prophetic words. Sadly, it is not over. I just watched six “prophets” who are holding fast, with great boldness, to the false hope that President Trump, not Biden, will be inaugurated on January 20^th. Wednesday’s nightmare of the Capitol building being overrun wasn’t enough for them.

One of them, a woman yelling in the voice of God Almighty, taking the name of the Great I Am in vain, declared that Trump will be the 46^th president. (She might want to tell God that when a president wins a second term, he keeps the same number, which in this case, would be 45. Forgive my sarcasm, but when someone is yelling and lecturing the body of Messiah in the voice of God the Omniscient [all-knowing], you would hope that they would get the basic facts right.)

This is the same situation in which the Thessalonians found themselves. They had had it with false prophets who had predicted the coming of the Lord. They had had it with false teachers who had peddled heresies. They probably were scared of being deceived. Remember, they did not have the Bible as we do today. Even the Hebrew Scriptures were not readily available, as they were on scrolls and in Jewish synagogues. This is why the Apostles gave the believers creeds—to protect them from heresy, until the word of God was canonized, centuries later.

“…Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to Jacob, then to all the apostles;  and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5, NASB).

They called these creeds the regula fidei or rule of faith and Paul warned the Thessalonians about associating with people who did not abide by this creed.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, to keep away from every brother who walks irresponsibly and not according to the tradition (rule of faith) received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

One of the differences between modern day apostles/bishops, and the original apostles, was that they had divine authority to preach the TRUE, genuine Gospel before we had the New Testament canonized or even written. The apostles were the NT epistles before they were written, teaching true, live-giving doctrine. But without the scripture, there was much false prophecy.

Test, Don’t Reject

It would appear that the believers in Thessalonica had begun to despise prophetic utterances. But Paul saw prophecy as crucial. We see in 1 Corinthians 14 how we are encouraged to prophesy (v. 5). He states that it is essential for the building up of the body (v. 4), instructing them to not reject prophecy but, rather, to test prophecy.

Our present situation is particularly painful, because so many put their heart and soul into believing that God was behind the reelection of Donald Trump. Hundreds (maybe thousands) of leaders prophesied this. Even after the election, there was a massive prayer movement to “stop the steal.”[1]  After the Electoral College met on December 14th, prophets boldly predicted that Trump would overcome on January 6^th. We made a video showing four false prophecies since November, where three of them promised a massive miracle or reversal during the Christmas season. (By the way, these men are all still prophesying daily on YouTube, as if their prophecies came to pass. Not one of them has even hinted that they missed he mark.)

Guard the Flock

So, yes, it is reasonable that there would be some disillusionment with prophecy. But Paul says to not reject the prophetic gift. We need it. We cannot “despise” it. But as leaders, we must govern it. Many leaders are afraid to do so. We have a “code” among leaders not to critique each other in public. But we have a commission from God to protect the flock, and that must come first.

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:2-3)

Don’t get me wrong, I would never criticize a fellow minister’s doctrine lightly. But the call to protect the sheep is higher than the “code.” And, I welcome criticism of my own teaching.

We cannot fall into this trap of hating prophecy. It is a big part of the New Testament life. We have a living faith and a living God. God still speaks today. Remember, the same Bible that tells us to go after the gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 14:1), also warns us about being deceived by false prophets (Matthew 24:4). Here is what we can do, going forward, to protect ourselves while still loving the prophetic gift.

1. Test prophecy. I am sure that most of these prophets did not have deep prophetic experiences regarding the Trump word, but simply copied other prophets, not wanting to be left out after the victory. One has already confessed this. So, before you believe a prophet, pray about it. Ask yourself, “Am I believing this just because it is what I want or is this really bearing witness with my spirit?”
2. Check the track record of the prophet. I can tell you that one of the primary prophets leading this chorus has a track record of several recent missed prophecies. He was massively wrong on the mid-term elections and said God would have mercy on America regarding Coronavirus.
3. No one can hear God for you better than you can yourself. While sometimes God will send a prophet to wake us up, in the New Testament every believer has the Spirit. Don’t be overly dependent on prophets, as this is a trap that can lead to deception. You can hear God for yourself.
4. Will their prophecies lead to incitement or violence? For instance, one prophet has been preaching civil war and talked recently about “godly” armed militias. Is that what we saw on Wednesday? Do we see such militias in the book of Acts? After Paul is illegally arrested in Acts 21, do they take up arms to rescue him? Is there anything in the Great Commission about private militias? Yeshua rebuked Peter for using his sword and told Pilate that His followers will not fight in His name, but that His kingdom is not of this world.
5. Does it line up with the Word? When a book came out in 1988, 88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming back in 1988, we knew it was off, because Yeshua said we know the day or hour (and we assume year).

In closing, there needs to be an audit regarding this past season. But we can’t go so far that we begin to despise such a precious gift. False prophecy is only going to grow worse with the excess of Facebook prophets looking for significance. We just have to be better at testing and discerning.

[1] While most of the accusations of fraud have been credibly debunked, I do hope that the Justice Department looks into voter fraud. We do need to know for future elections if our system is safe or corrupt.

Four Reasons this is Nonsense!

I heard this statement two days ago from a self-proclaimed prophetess and the man interviewing her. She was upset that certain prophets have asked the body of Messiah for forgiveness for issuing false words regarding the reelection of President Trump. She explained to her interviewer, who agreed with her, that God never told His prophets to apologize!

I see [prophets] jumping off the bandstand… They’re just jumping, diving off, running, … your faith needs to increase. You need to trust God, … and you even said it was at one time—I’m talking to the other prophets, who bailed—If you believe that God meant what He said, then you should not have backed off. And by the way, nowhere in the Bible does it say, prophets have to apologize FOR ANYTHING! You will not ever hear me apologize for what God has said to me.

We don’t expect you to apologize for what God said to you. We expect you to repent for what He clearly did not say to you. The body of Messiah expects you to be accountable when your national prophecy does not come to pass.

Then she issues a threat to the wavering prophets:

You do remember what happened to all those who fought God, hated God and argued continually? Well, the land swallowed some up, some got washed away at sea, and a bear ate some. So I don’t think I would mess with God’s plan… There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes that you do not understand and you should not make judgments, especially, you should not bash God’s anointed.

But did God really speak?

The interviewer summarizes a bit and says that we can’t expect prophets to apologize if God told them that Donald Trump was going to win the election. The problem is, He didn’t tell them!

This is the problem with the charismatic prophetic movement today! Now, to be clear, I am part of that movement. Both the interviewer and the interviewee seem to think that if a prophet says pregnant Sally is going to have a boy but instead has a girl, then the problem is with our lying eyes and not the prophet. They should not apologize for “what God said!”

Could it be that these prophets were wrong? Is it possible that God did not speak? We have several examples in the Old Testament where many prophets were saying exactly what the people wanted to hear—it really bore witness—and, yet, they were not speaking for God.

Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.” (Jeremiah 14:14)

“They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:9)

It’s hard to apologize when you are being stoned!

In the New Testament, the prophet does not get to test his own prophecies. It is the body of Messiah through the Holy Spirit that test whether or not a prophecy is from God. The most basic test that we have was given to Israel in Deuteronomy 18. It’s really very simple: Did the prophecy come to pass?

“But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death. 

You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.” (Deuteronomy. 18:20-22)

There was no time for the presumptuous prophet to tell the people that there is secret information that they don’t know, that things will be reversed in a few months or that it really did come to pass, but it just doesn’t appear that way in the natural. He would already be dead.

However, these people think the test is merely the prophet telling us that God spoke to them.

• What if they are false prophets?
• What if they have bad motives?
• What if they’re making a lot of money on their false prophecies and yet telling us they are true prophecies?
• What if they just heard their own thoughts?
• What if they love being on TV every night and realized that admitting that they prophesied falsely would take away that platform? It is hard to give up a half a million views a night.

For these reasons, and many more, it is leaders in the body of Messiah that judge a prophecy, not the one who gave it.

Four reasons that yes, prophets should apologize

But let’s get back to this issue of what the Bible says about prophets apologizing. The interviewer goes on to strengthen this argument. Let me mention here, neither the interviewer nor the supposed prophetess have any deep theological training, which when combined with prophetic gifting, is a landing strip for deception. The Word is our plumb line. Any would be prophet needs good theology.

“[People are asking] ‘When are you all going to apologize?’ Show me chapter and verse on that.”

I have to admit that this is very clever, but it is utter deception, and dangerous. Of course there is no chapter and verse that says, “Here are the criteria whereby a prophet must apologize.”

So let’s open this up a bit.

1 Taking the Lord’s name in vain is sin (Exodus 20:7). When I give a false word saying, “The Father said, ‘I…’” I misused the name of Yahweh. I have broken the third commandment. I need to repent. It’s that simple.

2 As alluded to above, one of the main reasons that Old Testament prophets never apologized is because there was no opportunity. If you prophesied falsely, you were killed. These folks make light of using the Lord’s name in vain by invoking the name of Yahweh in a false prophecy, but God takes it much more seriously, to the point that the punishment was death.

To be clear, things have changed in the New Testament. If you want to know why we no longer stone false prophets, please check out this blog.

3 Prophets do not have a lesser form of accountability than the average believer. If anything, it is higher. James speaks about leaders in the congregation:

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 

Anyone who sins needs to repent—prophet or non-prophet! If you want to know where the Bible teaches, “chapter and verse” that prophets must apologize, here are a few:

• Peter rebukes Simon for seeking to buy the gift of God: ^“Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” (Acts 8:22)
• Paul rebukes some in the Corinth Church for not repenting of their sin (1 Corinthians 12:21)
• John encourages us to “confess our sin” and God will forgive us. (1 John 1:8-10)

These prophets seem to want to be treated as a special class of believer, above you. And that’s dangerous. They do not want to be accountable to other leaders or to the body at large. They do want you to believe them, without wavering, without questions and without doubting, when they prophesy lies.

One of the more prominent “prophets” taught that those who don’t believe his presidential prophecy, are like the unbelieving ten spies who questioned the prophets, Joshua and Caleb. There’s a big difference here.

A. Joshua and Caleb were acting in faith, but not as prophets.

B. New Testament prophecy is meant to be tested (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21), not blindly followed.

The prophet prophesies. It doesn’t come to pass. He blames you for lacking in faith—”you are like the ten spies.” Or, maybe God did not speak to him! This teaching is spiritual abuse and cult-like. It makes you dependent on the prophet.

(Let me emphasize again that I believe strongly in the prophetic gift and the function of the New Testament prophet. Please don’t misunderstand me. But just as there is a true prophetic gift, there is a counterfeit, and it is the responsibility of shepherds in the body to confront it.)

4 They present the idea that prophets are living in a supernatural realm that you cannot comprehend. She says, “There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes that you do not understand.”

But Paul addressed this in 1^st Corinthians 14:32 when he said, “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.” In context, this verse means that prophetic ministry in the local congregations (Paul would have a heart attack at seeing the prophetic nonsense unleashed with no accountability on Facebook every day!) is under the authority of five-fold, Ephesians 4 level, prophets. How can local elders judge prophecy, which is part of their responsibility, if the prophet has secret information?

But in truth, when this woman, who claims to regularly go to heaven, prophesied that President Trump would win before the election, there were no such caveats. It was only after things didn’t go the way she and others said, that suddenly, “your not understanding,” “if you only knew,” “there are things going on behind the scenes,” etc.

This is nonsense and could be manipulatively used to cause you to trust said prophet over your own will and wisdom and ability to hear God. It is very hard to disagree with someone who claims to have been in heaven, talking to God.

Run!

So, dear friends, if you encounter someone who claims to be a prophet but they are not submitted to an apostolic team of leaders, my encouragement to you is to run! If you are following some unaccountable Facebook/Instagram prophet, you are opening yourself up to deception. And I expect it to get worse and worse, if we are really in the end-times.

In addition, it’s a very dangerous thing to follow someone as a prophet who does not have a theological background. I understand that many might want to argue with me here, saying, “Ron, you don’t understand the prophetic gift. They don’t have time for degrees and studying. They are in the presence of God.”

I reject that. The Bible is our bedrock. I’m not saying that you have to have a doctorate in theology, but, as Paul told pastor Timothy, you should know how to “accurately handle the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:25) The imagery Paul is using there is like a operating a plow in straight line, as opposed to being all over the place. You should know how to read the Bible in context. And you should not be uttering nonsense like, “Where in the Bible does it tell us that prophets should apologize?”

Beloved, be on your guard!

I was reading through the book of Acts, going over every single prophetic word that was given. The Church is in a season of reevaluating prophecy and the best example we have of this is Acts. As I went through them, I noticed something very interesting, there was no prophecy of someone’s personal breakthrough or promise of prosperity or blessing. But there were several common themes. Take a look with me.

Peter and John

The first prophetic word given, post-Pentecost was Peter and John. They confront the Pharisees. Just as Jesus had prophesied, the Holy Spirit gave them the words. They tell them:

“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment;  for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

This boldness would eventually get them, and the apostles, jail, flogged and beaten severely.

Ananias and Saphira

The second one is when Peter prophesies to Ananias and Saphira that they were going to die because they lied to the Holy Spirit. Peter says, “You have not lied to men, but to God.” (Acts 5:4b)

Angel frees the Apostles

The Third is when an angel got them out of jail and said, “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” (Acts 5:20) To be clear, this act would get them arrested again and threatened with execution!

Stephen

The fourth one is when Steven looks up to heaven and sees Jesus giving him a standing ovation as he is about to be martyred for the kingdom.

“Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)

Simon the Sorcerer

Next Peter rebukes Simon the sorcerer for thinking he could buy the gift of God.

“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!  You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.” (Acts 8:23)

This was indeed prophetic as he says, “I see that you are …”

Paul and Ananias

Paul then has an encounter with Yeshua that leaves him blind. A terrified Ananias is told to prophesy over him. Paul was a known killer of Messianics. But he goes to him and gives him the word of the Lord. What was the word?

“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.” (Acts 9:15-16)

Talk about a downer! Who wants to hear about suffering? YUK! Nothing about prosperity, breakthrough, favor or a TV ministry.

• No jet, just a boat that nearly sinks.
• No meals at Michelin restaurants, but days without food.
• No five-star hotels, but nights without sleep.
• No massages, but beaten with rods.

And yet, many years later Paul is talking about sharing in the sufferings of Yeshua (Phil. 3:10)

Are you starting to see a theme? I’m not saying that God cannot speak words of blessing or that it is a sin to enjoy life. I love my life! And I am very blessed! I am simply saying that the theme of Acts contradicts much of present day teaching in the prophetic, charismatic world—which focuses on mystic experiences, formulas and the accumulation of wealth and secret knowledge. Very little Galatians 2:20.

“I have been crucified with Messiah and I no longer live, but Messiah lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So far there are a few themes that we see in these words.

• The proclamation of the gospel.
• And the suffering we must endure to get that proclamation to people.
• Without the fear of the Lord, you may be judged.
• God will indeed give us everything we need when we need it, whether words to speak or an angel getting us out of jail.

We could continue throughout Acts and we would see the same thing:

• Peter rescued from prison by an angel. (Acts 12)
• Peter having a trance about Gentiles being made clean and able to receive the Jewish Messiah in Acts 10. The Holy Spirit confirms this in Acts 15.
• Agabus prophesies a worldwide famine. (Acts 11:28)
• Paul and Barnabas are sent out as missionaries after a prophetic word, where they would be stoned and beaten amongst other indignities. (Acts 13:1-2)
• Paul prophesies blindness to a false prophet. (Acts 13:8-11)
• Paul has his Macedonian vision, “concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:10)
• Agabus prophesies again, this time saying that Paul was going to be put in chains by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Paul himself already had confirmed this word in Acts 20:22-24.

“And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me.  But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.”

• And lastly, Paul is visited by an angel, in Acts 27, to tell him that not one of those sailing with him will die.

What an Awakening!

I am writing these things as I am going through them myself. I had a suspicion they would be as they are, but I am truly blown away that not one of them is very positive. And the ones that are slightly, have to do with people being broken out of jail by angels or saved from shipwreck. And they were there, because of the gospel.

• No one is promised prosperity.
• No one is told they are going to get a new jet for ministry (or ship, or latest model camel).
• No one is teaching on formulas to release their heavenly inheritances.

It is so different than what we see today. Just about all of the supernatural activity is connected to preaching the gospel and winning souls.

Visits to heaven?

The only one who actually visited heaven, Paul, is embarrassed to even mention it, much less go on a speaking tour or write a book about it.

I know a man in Messiah, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2 Cor. 12:2-4)

Paul says he heard things “which a man is not permitted to speak.” But we have people giving detailed descriptions of their journeys to heaven (and hell) in books and interviews. And then telling us what God is saying prophetically today.

Have you noticed? It is very hard to disagree with someone who claims to go back and forth to heaven. Forgive me, I love the supernatural and I love the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I fear that we have been duped into following a version of New Covenant faith that is very different than what we see in Acts.

The Elephant in the Room

Can I ask the question that many are thinking? How can it be that you spend time in heaven, like here or here but you got the election wrong? Seriously, I am not trying to be condensing or mocking. I just don’t understand.

We have to get back to sacrificial New Testament faith. Look at the example of Acts: People risking their lives to reach others with the gospel, taking care of widows, making clothes for the poor, cheerfully giving financially and paying close attention to the apostles’ doctrine.

This is the only way to make the true Jesus attractive again to the lost. It is through love, kindness and sacrificial devotion that we can reach them. Not through sensationalism.

On January 5, 2021, I was sent a clip of a very well known Charismatic leader from the rally in Washington. This was the day before the storming of the Capitol. I know this leader and have always respected him. He oversees one of the largest networks in the world.

In his very passionate speech, one sentence jumped out at me, raising red flags.

“We will rule and reign through Donald Trump, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”

I did a double-take. I had that confused dog look. “Rule and reign through Donald Trump…” What? But “under Jesus?”… Huh? The Bible does speak of us reigning with Yeshua, “They came to life and reigned with Messiah a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4), but there is nothing about politicians being the medium.

This is what we call extreme Dominion Theology. It is a theological and/or Christian political movement that believes Christians are called to take over the world’s institutions and govern them by biblical law (what theologians call a theonomy—from theos-God and nomos-law). I have never been a dominionist, but neither had I ever seen it as dangerous…until now.

Views on Messiah’s 1000-year reign

Before I share my concerns about how dominionism was applied in this past election, allow me to share some background. There are three primary views about the Millennium—the 1,000-year reign of Yeshua, spoken of in Revelation 20.

Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah, and they will reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 2-:6)

1. Amillennialism: The thousand-year reign is not literal and began after Yeshua rose from the dead. During this time, the church will be salt and light, but not to the extent of completely transforming or redeeming society. The world will grow darker leading to a Great Tribulation and the Antichrist. Jesus will return and there will be the final judgment. At that point, God’s eternal reign begins with the establishment of the new heavens and new earth and, of course, the New Jerusalem. They do not believe in a rapture.
2. Premillennialism: Yeshua returns at the end of the Great Tribulation and sets up His millennial kingdom. He defeats the Antichrist and those who have attacked natural Israel and persecuted His congregation. Both those who believe in a pre-tribulation and post-tribulation rapture adhere to this. I am a post-tribulation, premillennialist.
3. Postmillennialism: The empowered church eventually achieves such success in making disciples that the world comes to faith and ushers in the Millennium, a golden age of peace. Some teach that everyone becomes a believer and others teach it is just a large majority. Governments are ruled by the godly and legislation promotes godliness. There is no rapture and certainly no great tribulation, since everyone or almost everyone is saved. The Second Coming occurs after the Millennium.

It was out of post-millennialism that this extreme form of Dominionism was birthed. It viewed Donald Trump’s success in light of eschatology (the study of the end-times). Many saw him as a very important piece in God’s puzzle, to bring about a theonomy in America.

In their mind, despite his character flaws, God was using him to promote godly values and policies. He was very pro-life. He saw not only the three conservative Supreme Court Justices installed, but also over 300 conservative judges confirmed to the federal bench. He favored Israel. If reelected, it would lead to revival and Christians taking over the “mountain” of government. But he did not win. They reasoned:

• His defeat was because humans messed up and it is a setback to the coming theonomy.
• The failure of the prophecies was because people didn’t play their roles. (Of course, these prophecies were never presented as conditional on human obedience.)
• So, God will come up with a new plan for re-Christianizing America leading to the golden age of peace.

Seven Mountains

You noticed I used the term mountain. This comes from a popular teaching called the Seven Mountains. I used to think that this teaching was merely about influencing people in all seven cultural mountains—media, government, education, economy, religion, family and celebration/arts. I thought those pushing the seven mountains teaching wanted to see believers reaching people of influence. Over time, I began to understand that many feel God has called the church to take over all these arenas of influence. As Randy Clark recently said, “The seven mountains mandate is moving to the top to gain control.” His version, to which I subsribe, is serving from the bottom to win people.

The author of the book, “The Seven Mountains Prophecy” continued to prophesy, right up until the time that Joe Biden was inaugurated, that God would prevail (and give Trump four more years) saying, “A hammer of justice is about to come down.” However, it did not.

But there is no acknowledgement of any false prophecy. Just explanations and more prophecies. The way they treat prophecy, with little fear and trembling, it doesn’t have any more value than someone’s opinion. Certainly, we do not see any prophets in the Bible who operate that way.

Bad Theology Leads to Flawed Prophecy

You see, your theology will influence your prophecy. Therefore, bad theology will lead to erroneous prophecy. Why? Because your view of God (theology is the study of God) is tainted by wrong theological concepts. Only to the extent that we “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) can we truly understand all of God that is revealed in Scripture. On the one hand, if your view of God is constructed through man-made philosophies of what you think He wants, it will lead to deception. If you believe that the mandate of the Church is to rule politically over the nations before Jesus returns, then you are going to receive false prophecies about that.

Progression in Revelation

These folks see Revelation 11:15, which says “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and He will reign for ever and ever,” as happening long before Jesus comes back leading to the Millennium, and that you and I have a role in taking over the world for Jesus. Of course this is impossible since Jesus said that His “kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) and Paul wrote, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

The traditional view of this verse, to which I subscribe, is that this comes at the very end of the Great Tribulation and Heaven is announcing the end of Satan’s reign on earth, as well as both the Millennial kingdom of Jesus and the eternal kingdom which follows.

But somehow, the dominionist separates this verse from the preceding passage about the two witnesses prophesying at the second half of the Great Tribulation. In addition, the clear progression of the last few chapters of Revelation is:

1. Saints in heaven rejoice as “the bride has made herself ready” (19)
2. Jesus returns (19)
3. Judgment on God’s enemies (19 and 20)
4. Thousand-year reign (20)
5. Satan is judged (20)
6. White Throne Judgment (20)
7. Inauguration of eternal kingdom (New heavens and new earth) (21 and 22)

A Christian Coup?

You see, Dominionism teaches that it is through legal means, as opposed to Holy Spirit persuasion or charisms, after believers conquer the mountian of government, that we will force the nation(s) to submit. This goes against historic postmillennialism, which emphasized revival, not politics, as the means of winning the world. It might be shocking for most of my pre-tribulation friends but in the 19^th century, postmillennialism was the premiere view of eschatology in the U.S. church.  But it was not this radical view that is mixing with political personalities as a means of ruling the country (world!).

It would be one thing if they were teaching that before Yeshua returns, we would be so successful in preaching Jesus in a spirit of revival that the majority of humans come to faith. I can get behind that (even though it is an over-realization of end-time prophecy in my opinion, but it is not bordering on heresy). The version they preach was described recently by my friend, Dr. Mark Chironna, as “the extreme view of that, by way of the law, we are going to conquer everybody else and make them submit to the law of God—and that is going to be the golden age prior to the coming of the Lord.” He warned that this was not sound teaching.

Again, I never saw Dominion theology as dangerous before. It was just something that I did not agree with. But what I have seen over the past few months is a postmillennial dominionist view that prophetically identified Donald Trump as part of God’s plan to re-Christianize America and politically take over this country. They thought, through Trump, we would legislate a godly agenda. I, too, want to see the nation repent. But that will not happen by force. You can try to legislate morality, which we do every day—and it works to a certain degree—or you can change hearts through the power of the proclamation of Yeshua’s gospel.

To be clear, I do not see post millennialism as heretical. I see this version of it—hyper- dominionism whereby, we take over the world as political rulers for God—as very unsettling and dangerous. The great commission is to preach Yeshua to the nations, not take them over.

There is a disturbing “apostolic rebuke” being passed around by Johnny Enlow. I have been asked what I think by a few people.

Intro

First, who is Johnny Enlow? He is a dominionist prophet, who embraces the Seven Mountains Mandate[1]. He prophesied a Trump victory before the election and then afterwards, the overturning of the election. He seems to embrace some of the very dangerous QAnon theories. Watch this short one too (because it is shocking).

He prophesied: “‘Your nation will be known as Before Trump and After Trump.’ And [the Lord] said, ‘The nations, the whole world will be known as Before Trump and After Trump.’” He compared this new measure of time to BC and AC.

“The Lord said, ‘I’m really not interested in your all’s vote this time, I’m doing it. I usually give you all that option, this time I’m not. This is a rescue operation from Heaven.”

So, to be clear, he said that the presidency was not dependent on the vote of the people, but God was doing it as a “rescue operation from heaven.” Instead of repenting for giving a false prophecy, he is rebuking us for doubting ‘the prophets’ and speaking judgment over us. That would be like prophesying that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to win the Super Bowl (they didn’t in case you don’t watch football) and then rebuking everyone a week later for doubting him.

The very title of his post is troubling: “AN APOSTOLIC REBUKE AND ENTREATY FOR THOSE BLAMING THE PROPHETS” (you can read it here).

The Authority of an Apostle is Limited

An apostle can only rebuke people who are under his authority. You cannot just declare yourself an apostle, as Robert Duvall’s character did in The Apostle. The Pastor of First Baptist doesn’t have authority in Third Presbyterian. Apostles lead networks of leaders and congregations. There is no such thing as an apostle without leaders who look to him as one.

Notice Paul never wrote a letter to Cyprus. Why is that? Because when he and Barnabas were there, Barnabas was the apostle/father. After their parting of ways, Barnabas returned to Cyprus where he was the apostolic father. Paul went to the other churches.

“They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” (Acts 15:39-41)

If Johnny Enlow is an apostle, then there are limits to his sphere of authority. No one is an apostle over America. He can submit his thoughts to the body at large, as I am doing here, but he cannot release a word as if he has authority from God over the entire body of Christ in the United States. Beginning with even just the title, he is already out of bounds.

Bashing/Blaming the Prophets?

Secondly, the title indicates that he is writing to those “blaming the prophets.” He goes on to rebuke those who are bashing the prophets.

“Bashing the prophets” is not what I see happening. I see leaders doing their job in holding so-called prophets accountable. Prophets today are not like Elijah and Jeremiah were, loners receiving the word of the Lord. They are supposed to be part of five-fold ministry teams, where they are submitted to each other. (Ephesians 4:11)  In Acts 13, we see a gathering of prophets, teachers and apostles (because Barnabas was there), praying and fasting together. It wasn’t just prophets.

In Acts 15, they do not call for the prophets to tell them what God is saying, but they have a “hearing” and then prayer with “the apostles and elders.” The idea of “the prophets” giving words to the nation apart from other leaders, is foreign to the New Testament.

What we are seeing today is prophets making declarations that don’t come to pass, followed by a rebuke to other leaders for seeking to hold them to account. They shame anyone who disagrees with them. One yelled in the voice of God (supposedly) that God would take away the voice of those who disagreed. Another regularly prophesies, speaking for God in the first person saying, “They mock my prophets…” and then warns of judgment to those who oppose him.

Enlow points out that the prophets have universally used (or misused, in my opinion) 2 Chronicles 20:20, where the people are told to believe the prophets and they will prosper. I have written here on how this verse has been taken completely out of context and wrongly turned into doctrine .

[5 Reasons “Believe in the Prophets” does not translate to the New Testament]

Enlow continues in this vein as he rebukes leaders seeking to hold prophets accountable: “[These leaders] will have their own consequences and ‘learning curve’ with God and I will just leave it at that.” For those who continue to hold prophets accountable, Enlow says, “What a pawn of darkness [you are] if you remain in that mode.”

Testing Prophecy…How?

Paul taught that prophetic utterances should be judged for accuracy, not blindly received:

For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.  The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.  For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. (1 Corinthians 14:31-33)

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good,reject every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)

Let me say this: These words of judgment (from Enlow) against those who seek to test the prophecies are not words from God but words from the flesh. How can we do our biblical duty of judging and testing prophetic words, if we are going to be rebuked and shamed when we do so? It is demonic manipulation to threaten people with judgment for testing prophecy.

How do you test a prophecy? Deuteronomy 18 says it is very simple, at least with predictive prophecy:

“But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)

God has told us how we can know when a message has not been spoken by Him: If it does not happen. In this case, they said Trump would win, be inauguarated on January 20th, and have four more years, He did not. Many prophesied that the Supreme Court would overturn Biden’s victory. Others prophesied that the House of Representatives would do this. So, they continued to move the goal posts and deceive the precious sheep in God’s flock… and shockingly continue.

However, Enlow is angry with apostolic leaders and even issues a threat as he ends: “If the ground around you unexplainably shakes know that God is pointedly giving you a sign to heed this message.” The ground underneath my feet is quite secure, because I am relying on the unshakable bedrock of the of the written word of God.

Friends, this is not the voice of God. Leaders who question prophetic utterances are not like the evil, carnal opponents of Moses who wanted to go back to Egypt, as Enlow says. How easy it is to take the Bible and compare someone to King Saul, Jonah, Uzzah (from the ark), the grandsons of Aaron (who were consumed by fire) or the evil sons of Eli. This is a misuse of Scripture and it is manipulatively exploited to shame one into submission. It is way off base.

Never before I have seen people, who have failed so spectacularly, become so indignant against others. It is not as if their prophetic words came to pass—they did not. Yet, you and I are evil for seeking truth. Don’t be afraid to resist this form of brainwashing.

Let’s be honest. If we were in the Old Testament, they would not be able to keep changing their prophetic words. They would have already been stoned to death. They want Old Testament prophetic authority without Old Testament prophetic accountability.

Enlow makes three points as to why President Trump should have been reelected:

1. Trump’s policies
2. The amount of prayer
3. Biden’s corruption

Okay, we agree, but what do you want us to do? The election is over! There is no mechanism in the Constitution to reinstate Trump, even if the courts at this point found fraud. If Biden were to go to jail, then Harris, not Trump, would become president. If the election process is over (and it is!), the prophets who said he would win in 2020 (not 2024) and serve eight straight years, were wrong. We do not want to stone them, but leaders do want to bring correction—and they should. How else can we grow from this epic failure of discernment?

Is God Weak?

Enlow seems to say Trump should have won because 100,000,000 Americans were praying, marching, and fasting for him to win. After the election, my friend Michael Brown tweeted:

Regarding the concerns of election fraud, I am confident that, between much prayer for God’s intervention and Trump’s army of lawyers, the truth will come to light, whatever that truth may be. Personally, I am NOT concerned that the election will be stolen by either side.

How could it be that God spoke to hundreds of prophets that Trump would win, and then millions prayed for the fraud to be exposed, and yet God did not accomplish either? You have to ask yourself, is God that weak? I understand the idea of agreeing with God’s prophetic word, as Daniel did (Daniel 9), but Daniel was one man, not 100,000,000! And through Daniel’s prayer, he accomplished something far greater in world history than Donald Trump being reelected: the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon.

But we need to come to grips with the fact that either God is weak, which I reject, or something else is taking place.

Four Reasons Trump Lost

We should be asking God at this point, “What are You saying to us? Because something is amiss! As I have said before, I will say again:

• I believe God allowed Biden to win because of Trump idolatry, as can be seen in Enlow’s theology of Trump being compared to Jesus and Moses and God’s key instrument in the world today. It could be seen on January 6^th, when people thought they were fighting with Trump’s blessing. It could be seen in prayer meetings, where Trump flags instead of Jesus flags (or in addition to) were being waved from the front. It can be seen in the people who believe that Trump will be president in March (yes, many believe this!) or think he is still president today.
• I believe that God allowed Biden to win because people, like Enlow and others, began to see Trump in a prophetic light as leading the church into a worldwide takeover of governments and institutions that will lead to the 1,000-year reign of Jesus, but without Jesus.
• I believe that God allowed Biden to win so we would get back to the mission of preaching the gospel. For months now, Mr. Enlow has mostly spoken of politics, fraud, treachery (from General Mattis and General Kelly) and crazy conspiracy theories (that didn’t happen, like Trump declaring martial law and executing traitors). What happened to the Great Commission? Should not our focus be getting the message of Jesus to people in need?
• I believe that God allowed Biden to win because we have become more like Trump than Trump had become like Jesus. Many of us have become aggressive, rude and threatening. We have imitated President Trump’s bravado and lost the meekness of Yeshua.

When all the prophets agree…be careful!

Enlow points out that there was universal prophetic agreement on Trump’s reelection. Now, though, we are learning what many of us had assumed for months. Many of the prophets who have repented have admitted that they had more of a prophetic sense/inkling, and not a word from God. When they saw all the other prophets prophesying, they jumped on the prophetic bandwagon.

Additionally, in the Bible, when all the prophets agree on something, they tend to be deceived, as in the case of Jeremiah and Micaiah. (1 Kings 22) When all the prophets say the same thing, and it is positive in nature, that is a clue that things are probably be off.

So, I reject Johnny Enlow’s rebuke. He has stepped out of his domain. I continue to call for a godly accounting, full of love and compassion, regarding the Trump prophecies. But beloved, do not fear people who seek to intimidate you with threats of judgment when you are simply seeking to walk out the word of God.

[1] Not everyone means the same thing when they embrace the Seven Mountains concept. Some, like me, simply want to win people to the faith in every area of culture. But others, like Enlow, believe we are to take over every cultural institution to usher in a golden age of righteousness. This is what partly fuels their intense desire to see Trump remain president. They see him as part of that plan.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

If you look at social media, it seems that many believers have given up all hope of winning the left to the Lord. Instead, we attack them as if they are our enemy.

If you will permit me, I would like to challenge this mindset from the Bible. The questions I want to ask are:

1. How does God want us to relate to the part of our society that has a depraved moral compass when compared to Biblical values?
2. Are we aware of how our witness, or lack thereof, is perceived by the lost? Do we care?
3. What does the Bible about how we should relate to ungodly government?

One of the most successful, if not the most successful, evangelists in US history was Billy Graham. He never compromised the message of the gospel, but neither did he unnecessarily provoke those who held to a different political view. He simply preached Jesus, and with remarkable success. He was known, not for his bravado, but his humility—and his laser-like message of salvation.

What about our witness?

I watched yesterday as many believers posted images that projected joy, elation and a sense of victory that only a majority of 57 Senators wanted to convict former President Trump. Never in his history have seven senators voted to convict a president from their own party—yet, somehow, that is a victory? How do you think this appears to the lost? It comes across as if we don’t care that:

• The United States Capitol was stormed and temporarily taken over for the first time in 200 years.
• These people believed they were doing the bidding of the president.
• The president said to the majority leader of the House of Representatives when he was begging for help, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
• An angry mob had built gallows with the goal of hanging the vice-president as a traitor.
• Even after the president knew that the vice president and his family were in danger, he chose to wait for more than an hour before giving a half-hearted encouragement for the rioters to go home, including statements such as “we love you” and “you are special.”

You see, to the lost, this looks like we support the guy whose feet were on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, or the Viking whose tattooed body has become the featured image of the insurrection, or the guy beating the police officer with an American flag. In Jesus’ final words, he was concerned not about our rights, but our witness!

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

While it is easy to engage in a battle of “what about-ism”, we must remember that God is calling us to a higher level of love, humility and compassion, than those who do not know Him, those not called to walk in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We must always remember that our secret weapon is the presence and power of God. If you believe that your only choices are to either “fight like hell” or curl up in a ball in denial, then you are not reading your Bible.

The great English Bible teacher David Pawson writes, in the introduction to his commentary on the book of Romans, that Romans 13 is our map to dealing with government officials.

Chapter 13 is on the Christian relationship to the state. That is a vital insight. Notice that the state in that chapter is not a democracy, yet we are told there to pay our taxes, to pray for the state and so on. Many Christians need to learn particularly the word he gives – respect for the state. If you join in mockery of politicians, you are going directly against Paul’s letter to the Romans. If you make fun of politicians and pull them down to your level, then that is what you are doing. You are disobeying Romans (and thus God!). As far as the state is concerned, we are to accept their political duty but to reject their moral depravity. That is a delicate balance to keep.

Let me confess that, in the past, I have been very guilty of mockery. I’m trying to do better. I am no fan of the policies of Joe Biden. I’m sad that he has chosen to start from an even more progressive agenda than for that which he has been known. However, what does the Bible say?

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1)

By telling us to “be subject to the governing authorities,” the Bible speaks against the popular idea that Biden, who lives at the White House, is not really the president but Trump, who lives in Mara Lago, is. I reject the prophecy that there are actually two presidents. I reject the absurd notion that the military is taking orders from Donald Trump and, eventually, he is going to be reinstated. (In truth, after January 6, I don’t think the former president could have found a single general who would have been willing to follow him into martial law.)

Paul did not write Romans 13 because of righteous leaders

According to the apostle, God has established the presidency of Joe Biden. Now as outrageous as that may seem to some, we have to ask ourselves: Why did Paul write this? Would he have written this if all of the governing authorities were moral and righteous? No. There would not have been a need. He was writing it precisely because the governing authorities were immoral and unrighteous.

The Caesars were dictators who thought they were gods. Nero used Christians as torches for his parties, using their body fat as oil to keep the flames going. Yet, God said we are to pay him taxes (Romans 13:6) because they are “God’s servants” (Romans 13:7). It goes against human nature, which is why it is written in the Bible. God tells us that His ways are higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:8) This is why Paul told Timothy not to waste time in earthy affairs but to stay focused on the commands of Yeshua. (2 Timothy 2:4)

There is a Caveat

If God expected the Christians in the first century to submit to Nero, how much more does He expect us to submit to Joe Biden? Now, to be clear, submission does not mean to compromise your faith. If you have to choose between that which the Bible tells you to do and that which President Biden tells you to do, you go with the Bible every time. When the Sanhedrin told Peter, John and the other apostles not to preach, they said, “No, we have to obey God.” Daniel prayed even when the law said you could not. But on other matters that did not require them to compromise their faith, they would have gladly acquiesced.

After I wrote this, I came across an article by Mario Murillo called What the Bible really says about Submission to Government, that quite honestly, was a zealous misuse of Scripture. You be the judge. He seems to think that anyone who believes the plain truth of Romans 13, believes that we never resist (as the apostles and Daniel did). With that false assumption, he concludes that Romans 13 doesn’t mean what it says, thus he is free to disobey governing authorities.

He starts with a straw-man argument that I have never heard anyone use: “Doesn’t the Bible tell us to obey them no matter what?” He says you only obey good and righteous governments, but misses the fact that this letter was written to Romans under the dictator, sadist Nero!

Christian Nationalism

I’m deeply concerned. People have become more zealous for the future of America than for the propagation of the gospel. When the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him if He was now going to reestablish the Kingdom of Israel, a nation far more consequential than the United States of America, He pretty much said “Now is not the time, the day will come, but in the meantime, you are to go get full of the Holy Spirit and be my witnesses all over the world.” (Acts 1:5-8) That is where our focus should be.

The New Testament, taken as a whole, seems to say very clearly that we should not get caught up in national interests to the point of rebellion. As someone who has been involved in politics my whole adult life, let me say, believers get into danger when they become more nationalist than they are Christian. (Of course, many will claim that their nationalism is fueled by their Christianity, but just take a look at what you are reading and what you are posting, to see where your heart lies.)

It is one thing to be a patriot who loves your country, as I am. I still tear up during the national anthem. I love the American flag and what it stands for. That being said, my greater loyalty is to the Great Commission.

Yeshua: Am I leading a rebellion?

Let’s not forget, Yeshua could have easily led an insurrection against Pilate and, ultimately, the Roman government. By just answering the soldiers, He knocks them to the ground.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:5b-6)

There was so much injustice in the world, why should He not have led a rebellion against the evil Roman Empire? We all know the answer, because His mission was to die for the sins of the world and to commission us to spread this message to every nation.

When they came to arrest Yeshua with weapons, he said:

“Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?” (Matthew 26:55)  (*It was rhetorical. The answer was no, He was not leading a rebellion.)

When Pilate asked Him if He was the King of the Jews, He was quite clear:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)

So Jesus says clearly, His kingdom is not of this world. Paul introduces himself as a slave to the Romans; it is the second word of his massive letter: “Paulos doulos—Paul, a slave.” This is on purpose.

I love Hollywood and the Left!

Hollywood is not our enemy and neither is the radical left. Satan is our enemy and the left is our mission field. Jesus never attacked the worldly, just the religious. He hung out with the tax collectors and sinners, trying to win them. Remember who your enemy is!

For our struggle is not against [AOC and Nancy P], but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Our battle is not for real estate, but for the souls of the people of this nation, and our weapon is not the sword of the flesh, but the sword of the spirit. Over the past few months I heard born-again Christians calling for marital law and firing squads, instead of calling on heaven for revival. Our tool is “a demonstration of the power of God,”(! Corinthians 4:2) and that is what the world needs to see, for they will now us by our love (John 13:35), not our anger and rage. If you really want to know who your enemy is, just read the book of Acts, and see how the apostles (including Paul) acted toward a hostile religious leadership and treacherous oppressive government. There you will find your answer.