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and the test of prophecy
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by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19) 
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"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit." Joel 2:28-29
If you're wondering if YHVH speaks to us through dreams and visions, then according to Joel 2:28-29 above - the answer is yes, YHVH actively speaks to us through them. YHVH uses our dreams and visions to hear Him (click on highlighted words to view content). YHVH not only opens our ears, but also seals instruction through our dreams so that we are notified of our faults, counseled in wrong direction and given instruction on best ways to move forward from these circumstances. Job 33:16 tells us, "He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings." YHVH instructs through dreams and visions and imprints them upon our memories creating lasting impressions in a similar way that a seal is used to make an imprint in wax on a document. We can learn a lot through these instructions. We just have to be open to listening to what He is saying. Our dreams are used by YHVH to break down our walls of self-defense. They are produced through our subconscious minds. Because of this, they normally bypass our self-defense mechanisms and our preconceived notions about our strengths and weaknesses. Our dreams and visions go right to the truth of the matter. By breaking down the walls of self-defense, He allows us to see the true motives and condition of our hearts. We have the opportunity to listen to YHVH and enter a whole new place of relationship with Him.
Not every dream or vision is from YHVH, however - there are lots of different spirits out there vying for our attention. How can we know the difference? We must first be willing to lay down at the feet of the Father what we think He is saying to us and WAIT on Him to give us His Discernment. He is faithful to do that if we don't try to possess what we are wrestling over. Secondly, we must find His Nature in the dream or vision. 1John 2:3-6 tells us the way we come to know YHVH is to keep His Words. Salvation is by grace, through faith, as shown by the life of Abraham. But, guess what - even Abraham kept the Words of YHVH. All of them as we are told in Genesis 26:5. And this was 430 years before Sinai! How was he able to do that? The only way he could have was to be in a behavioral relationship with YHVH - to know the Nature of Spirit. YHVH's Words define the core Nature of Spirit, what it means to be holy - which is selfLESSness. To know the Nature of Spirit is to Abide in Spirit by conforming our behavior to the Spirit of YHVH. All of the behaviors listed in the passage from Galatians 5:19-21 are self-centered - they are the antithesis of Spirit. So, while grace provides us with an entrance into relationship with Spirit, behavioral obedience to the Nature of Spirit comes as a result of relationship. The Spirit of YHVH, Who is holy, writes Torah on our hearts and "leads us into all truth" that we may be obedient to His Truth found in the spirit of holiness. We become holy as He is Holy as we conform our behavior to His Nature. The core Nature of YHVH, exhibited in the Life of Yeshua, is selfLESSness that, like a thread, runs through scripture from cover to cover of the Book. That thread is the one that looks upon the good of my brother as being more important than my own (Philippians 2:3-5). Finally, we look for a second witness in what is being presented to us. In John 8:13-18 Yeshua gave the Pharisees two witnesses as an answer to their question - YHVH and Himself (He was quoting from Deuteronomy 19:15). That second witness could be a passage of scripture, a word from a trusted friend or a circumstance we find ourselves thrust into. YHVH speaks to us in many ways and we must be open to all of them.
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"...when a prophet speaks in the name of YHVH,
if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that YHVH has not spoken;
the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." Deuteronomy 18:22 |
Closely related to the interaction of dreams and visions is prophecy as Numbers 12:6 at the top of this article indicates. Scripture tells us to judge prophecy (1Corinthians 14:29). "Visions", "dreams" and "phenomena" all fall into this same category as well. Scripture gives us three distinct tests to determine the validity of whether the Father is actually in something - or not. The first and primary test of prophecy (as indicated in the verse from Deuteronomy 18:22 above) is - does it come to pass. (Jeremiah 28:9). Blood Moons, Messiah's Coming and looking for Armageddon are just a few of the prophesys that have failed to meet this test. In the original Book, those prophets were given one opportunity to be wrong. If it didn't come to pass, they were stoned to death. Fortunately, for those of us who are called into that realm today, we live in an age of Grace where the consequences for failure are not quite as harsh as they were back then - but the seriousness with which the Lord places on such speaking is still measured with considerable weight, not something to be taken lightly. If it does not come to pass, simply put - it is not YHVH. There are times, however, when "spiritual" things do come to pass. There is real power in the spiritual realm - the sorcerers of Pharaoh's court were able to reproduce the same miracles YHVH gave Moses in Exodus 7. While the results of spiritual sorcery are similar to those found in the Spiritual Realm of YHVH and are presented as "angels of light" - they originate in darkness. The Nature of YHVH contained in His Words are given as instruction to keep us out of darkness. That something may have come to pass may be true; however, scripture tells us that even if something does come to pass but leads us away from the Nature of Spirit contained in His Words - it does not come from YHVH. Whenever we start to use prophesy or prayer to change externalities, even though our motivation might be well intentioned - we have moved. We have crossed the line between the realm of the Kingdom into the realm of witchcraft and sorcery. Sorcery may work - but that is not the Kingdom we are called to live in.
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| the Nature of YHVH is found in the words of Torah |
And, lastly, is it in keeping with the testimony of the Life of Yeshua. Revelation 19:10b says, "…the testimony of Yeshua IS the spirit of prophecy." Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon defines prophecy as the "spoken oracles of YHVH". So, the testimony of the Life of Yeshua reveals how YHVH's Words are to be construed. Acts 7:38 also gives us the proper Hebraic persepective of prophecy as being the spoken oracles of YHVH. If we are to use the words of Yeshua as the benchmark by which all other words are measured including other words of scripture, then we need to have a true understanding of what His Words really mean. Does it elevate the Character of Who He is? Does it speak of His Nature of Purity, Love and, yes, unvarnished Righteousness? Does it align itself with the Life He lived among us as an example for us to walk? He is Love. Perfect Love casts out fear. We fear YHVH because of the awesomeness of Who He is, not because He is subjecting Himself upon us. If it instills fear, a terror of what will happen if we do not do a thing properly - it is not YHVH. There has been a spirit of deception like none other before loosed upon this earth to fulfill what is written in scripture concerning this time. If we are not careful, even the very elect would be deceived (Matthew 24:24).
Sadly, in today's Christian culture what passes for prophecy, dream interpretation and visionary illumination is nothing more than sorcery and divination disguised as "angels of light". How can we tell the difference? Coming out of a life steeped in sorcery into the movement of YHVH's spirit was, at first, very confusing to me because of seeing a similarity in operation in both spirit realms - the "mechanics" if you will. Upon quizzing the Father as to why this was so, He revealed the difference to be the underlying motivation of the person involved. When operating in the spirit of holiness, the motivation is an impartation of the Nature of YHVH (selfLESSness) through word or deed. We are to impart the Life of Yeshua to others, as He did and exampled among us; whereas, the underlying motivation of sorcery is an imposition of self upon people and circumstances (considered "empty talk" in Ephesians 5:6) - regardless of the goodness of our intent. It is interesting to note that we never see Yeshua "praying" for someone to be healed or delivered. He merely spoke a word to the person. The word He spoke was what He heard from His Father while in prayer earlier. You will not find Him saying, "Thus says the Lord" to anyone either. Were you aware that it is possible to prophesy to someone in normal conversation without them knowing it to be a "word from God?" Sorcery intends to elevate the one delivering the message as having some rare gifting when 1Corinthians 14:5 encourages everyone involved in YHVH's Kingdom to prophesy.
| "For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets." 1Corinthians 14:31-32 |
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com. While not claiming to have all the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what the Spirit is uncovering.