Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
My prophets of old were unique people among the many. They were interested in Me and stepped aside to hear what I wanted to say to the people, and they would fearlessly proclaim it, even when it was message no one wanted to hear or to do. But through and with My prophets, I gave everyone the chance to repent and be saved.
Your Words were found and I ate them, and Your Words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, for You filled me with indignation. Jeremiah 15:16-17.
And I knew them before they were born, from the womb I called them. Why? I see all time and I know those who are Mine. Those who love Me are known of Me. But for each of them it was an act of their own free will that they responded and stepped aside to know Me. Just as it is today.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5.
From the womb of my mother He named me. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand He has concealed me; and He has also made me a select arrow, He has hidden me in His quiver. Isaiah 49:1-2.
For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Galatians 1:13-17.
Through them I tried to show My love, My plans, and My counsel for their protection, health, and prosperity to My people and when My people went astray to bring them to repent and return to Me. That way I gave them every chance to change their future from destruction to days of Heaven on earth. You will see a common theme from the beginning to the end: repent, return, and I will restore all things better than before.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Jeremiah 36:1-3.
When I sent Jonah as a prophet to the people of Ninevah, they repented and they were saved from the wrath to come. They all turned from their evil ways. However, with My own people, though I sent them numerous prophets at the time of Jehoiakim’s reign and gave them every opportunity to repent and be saved, even though they heard My Words from Jeremiah and kept calling Jeremiah to again and again tell them My Words, they did not like what they heard, would not repent or give up the evil they were blatantly doing of violating My Word, and finally I had no choice but to judge them for their evil deeds which their leaders flaunted before My eyes. Consider what Jehoiakim did with Jeremiah’s scroll that I told him to write:
Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. Jeremiah 36:21-24.
And he went even further than mere rejection. He wanted to kill Jeremiah and Baruch or least put them in confinement so they could no longer preach to the people. But I hid them from him at that time.
And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them. Jeremiah 36:26.
Even after Nebuchadnezzar came in and took Jerusalem captive and burned it to the ground, the remnant whom he left to care for the land to keep the vines and crops growing and producing sought Jeremiah’s counsel, asking him to seek the answer from the LORD of what they should do to survive and thrive. Jeremiah sought counsel from Me and then delivered My directions to them. But they rejected My Words from Jeremiah, though they saw with their own eyes that everything I had warned them of from his proclamation of My Words came to pass, and refused to do as I had told them and they perished as well. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
I gave them warning after warning from multiple prophets. And what I told them would happen if they did not repent did happen, as it did for Adam and Eve, but I was kind to them in their exile and prospered them. And after 70 years, as I told the prophet Jeremiah to give the people hope, I returned them to their homeland with all the funds and supplies to rebuild all they had lost.
But even in the exile I was merciful and fair, I treated each person differently according to what they had done and their level of responsibility. Much is required of those to whom much is given.
You will note those who had hearts for Me and were swept away with the evil doers I took care of and promoted.Daniel and his three friends I promoted and diligently protected from harm in their exile, the same for Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah. I gave them favor and prosperity, which they used wisely to promote My Kingdom wherever they found themselves and gave Me glory among their captors. And to Ebed-Melech, who saved Jeremiah out of the miry cistern, I gave him his life and freedom from the leaders he feared as booty. Jeremiah 38:7-13. Your good deeds to My prophets give you a prophet’s reward.
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:12-13.
You are each judged individually.
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give an account of our words (logos (λόγος)). Hebrews 4:13.
“But I tell you that every idle word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:37.
The problem is that though I warn you often of these things you are not serious to repent.
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. Revelation 9:20-21.
All they had to do was repent (change their way of thinking to align with My Words which edify, exhort, and encourage) and turn from their evil ways. To turn from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it, you must get a new mindset, which is what it means to repent. It means to wake up to righteousness. To awaken out of the darkness of deceit to the light of the truth that will set you free to be the amazing, excellent, imperishable you I made you to be. But you are unwilling to come to Me to have that new life.
Jesus is the Way and it is the Way of repentance. It is the Way of following prophetic utterance (gifts). Look back at the words of My Son and you will see it was what He preached. He came to seek out and save the lost. And as I sent Him, so He sends you. To be a prophet to prepare the people for Me in salvation from their sins.
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15.
After being baptized by John at the Jordan, filled with the Holy Spirit, and led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan and overcoming where Adam failed, Jesus was ready to preach the good news that salvation had come and the Kingdom was at hand! The time was fulfilled. What time? The time the prophets had foretold. I can do nothing without first revealing it to My prophets so they can release and authorize My entrance into your dominion realm, the earth.
May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, but the earth He has given to the sons of men. Psalm 115:15-16.
Surely the Lord LORD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:4-7.
The prophecies of Jacob, Leah, Moses, Hannah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Daniel, and Malachi all converged the night the angels sang over Bethlehem, and the day Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, and each and every prophecy of old was fulfilled as Jesus walked them all out to the Cross and beyond right back to My throne. Every detail was in place. He lived it and it all came true.
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:10-12.
Do you see who is behind all revelation and preaching of the good news of Jesus?
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. John 15:26-27.
When Jesus returned from his temptation in the wilderness, He was full of the Spirit and He went about teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming to repent and believe in the good news for the Kingdom was at hand. Do you recall the first sermon Jesus gave in the synagogue at Nazareth that I reveal to you? He read from the scroll of Isaiah:
And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:17-19.
And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And do you remember what He said to them? “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:20.
They were the blessed generation that heard what many a prophet and many a king had been looking for and hoping for. Their response was to try to throw Jesus to His death from the cliff at the side of Nazareth. There was no excuse for missing the visitation of the Messiah, Daniel had told them the exact time it would happen. There are none so blind as those whom Satan has blinded their minds.
And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. Luke 24:25-27.
Remember what Jehoshaphat told the people after they prayed for deliverance from the three enemy armies that had come against them to take the city of Jerusalem and I raised up a prophet who assured them of the victory, that they would see My Salvation (Yeshuah), and told them all they had to do was march out and face the enemy and I would fight for them?
They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” 2 Chronicles 20:20.
They followed exactly what the prophet told them to do, unlike the people did later to the prophet Jeremiah.
Do I still raise up prophets today? Yes. Jesus told you that it was a gift He gave to the church when He ascended back to Me.
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13.
It is also a special grace endowment gift of the Spirit for a heightened level of the prophetic at times when needed to benefit the Body of Christ as a whole.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.
How do you discern if a prophecy is correct and not deceit? You who are believers now have the Holy Spirit in you:
Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances (that is, gifts). But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22.
I desire that you all prophesy, for the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you who believe, which is to speak My Words that edify, exhort and encourage, but there is a prophetic gift and office that also includes the gifts of the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. But My Spirit will guide you to all truth.
But let Me tell you a truth here you need to know. Jesus summed it all up in saying there is one thing necessary pointing to Mary sitting at His feet like a disciple hearing My Word taught by Him. And I also summed it up for you on the mountain of the transfiguration: “This is My Beloved Son, LISTEN TO HIM.”
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:1-3.
And as I sent Him, so He sends you who believe.
All Scripture is My Word breathed by Me by My Holy Spirit.
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Petet 2:20-21.
What then is the Spirit of prophecy?
“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.
Jesus testified to the truth. My Word is truth and Jesus is My Word made flesh and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” John 18:37.
I sum up everything and save everything in Jesus.
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. Ephesians 1:9-10.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Colossians 1:17-20.
Do you remember one of the first things Jesus did when He appeared to the apostles in the upper room on the day I raised Him from the dead?
So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” John 20:19-23.
He put the Spirit in you as the born-again body of Christ on earth and filled you with His Spirit in your inner man. He gave you His authority to preach the gospel and do the works He did and greater. He also gave you the power I gave Him to release and retain sin.
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. Luke 5:24-25.
Was Jesus only talking to those in the upper room? No, He was talking to you too:
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17:20-21.
I love you. It is time for you to step up and live your life through Jesus and tell the good news to all the world! And we will talk more about this in our next life lesson.