They that have ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit says.

There is much teaching and seeking and speaking of prophecy, the prophetic, and prophets these days. There is no lack of prophecies or prophets (whether true or false) for those who seek them. Many travel quite some distance to hear these prophets prophesy. The emphasis is primarily upon the words being spoken... but we suggest that the focus needs to shift from the speaker, to the hearer. As Amos prophesied: "Behold the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine for HEARING the words of the Lord. And the people shall wander (TRAVEL) from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but shall not find it." Amos 8:11,12

Prophecy and the prophetic are all about individuals having ears to hear, eyes to see, a heart to receive, and a will to obey GOD! All of that has surprisingly little to do with any messenger. AND because of that, the messenger can take no glory or pride in having 'succeeded' or 'failed' in the delivery of any message because it had little to do with them in the first place, they were simply the tool or vessel that was used. Words ARE very important, they are death or life and we are personally responsible before God for every word we speak. But, we are ALSO personally responsible before God for every word which we accept and receive, and for every word which we reject. That is a personal, individual thing which no one else can be held accountable for. This puts rather a different light on the prophetic; it is not so much about what is spoken but about what is HEARD by us!

The hallmark of the Good Shepherd's sheep is not that they go around making a lot of noise bleating and head butting each other (like goats) but that they HEAR and KNOW and FOLLOW the voice of their Shepherd! (John 10:27)

We tend to place much emphasis on the prophetic voice. BUT the voice itself is actually not that important. Prophecy is not just a 'thus saith the Lord' message. It is FAR bigger than that! Our Creator constantly desires to communicate with us and will often use anything or anyone to speak through (even the occasional donkey!) or even unbelievers and secular films and songs! He can speak through ROCKS if His living stones are silent!!!

The important thing is to have ears to hear Him. We, in our pride, tend to think that of course we would recognise His voice and listen, and yet history proves that this is not usually the case. Even if God spoke through someone raised from the dead, people would still not believe: "If they do not hear and listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded or convinced even if someone should rise from the dead" Luke 16:31

Often when a person doesn't want to accept a message, the messenger immediately becomes the focus. If the messenger is made the object of controversy, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we do not need to listen to their message by telling ourselves that the person was too intense, or they weren't serious enough, or they were too serious, or God doesn't give negative messages like that or... fill in the blank; the list goes on and on ad infinitum! We can always find a reason in any human to reject them and what they say because we are all fallible and imperfect creatures. The issue is one of discernment.

When a living stone is being used to speak on God's behalf, it will not always be obvious, recognised or heralded and if we are not careful the stone may become a rock of stumbling to us... It seems to be God's way to use the weak and foolish to confound the wise - His ways are not our ways! Jesus had the right to be called a prophet more than anyone, so did He want to be known as a Prophet? "When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began saying, Surely and beyond a doubt this is the Prophet Who is to come into the world! Then Jesus, knowing that they meant to come and seize Him that they might make Him king, withdrew again to the hillside by Himself alone." John 6:14,15 We are so ready to proclaim someone a prophet and set them up as a king that we can look up to with great respect and awe... but Jesus WAS the great Prophet and He more than anybody had the right to be recognised as a prophet, and yet He didn't accept or allow it.

Jesus didn't want any titles that were His Father's (do not call anyone Father, Leader or Teacher Matt 23:8-11) He was jealous for His Father to receive ALL the glory. He simply wanted to be known as the Son of God: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they answered, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Matthew 16:13-16

Why should we be any different? Being a spokesperson, messenger or prophet is not as personal or as special as being the CHILD of the One we speak for! Being a daughter or son of God is an amazing privilege and we DO speak on behalf of our Father at times. Christ continually directed people back to His Father and stressed that we are simply brothers and sisters. As such, most brothers and sisters listen to their Father for themselves unless for some reason they are not listening or are too far away to hear for themselves...

When we do speak things on our Father's behalf, He will often have spent much time working those words into our lives first; either through experience or prayer. They will become internal and personal before they are external; it will be something which God has dealt personally with us on. We hear, see and receive, and then we communicate that which we have heard and seen and assimilated in the hope that others will also see, hear and receive. We are usually very good at hearing and seeing for others and not always so good at hearing and seeing for ourselves and allowing God to deal with US before delivering a message to a brother or sister.

Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but My servant? Or deaf like My messenger whom I send? Who is blind like the one who is at peace with Me? Yes, who is blind like the Lord's servant? You have SEEN many things, but you do not observe or apprehend their true meaning. His ears are open, but he HEARS not! It was the Lord's pleasure for His righteousness' sake to magnify instruction and revelation and glorify them. But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes and hidden in houses of bondage. They have become a prey, with no one to deliver them, a spoil with no one to say, Restore them! WHO is there among you who will give ear to this? WHO WILL LISTEN AND HEAR IN THE TIME TO COME? Who gave up Jacob for spoil and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against Whom we have sinned and in Whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to His law or His teaching? Therefore He poured out upon Israel the fierceness of His anger and the strength of battle. And it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; it burned him, but he did not lay it to heart. Isaiah 42:18-25

The prophet IS the message as much as being a messenger of a message. God told a number of prophets to 'eat the scroll' or eat the words He gave them. The words (and the Word Who is Christ) became an integral part of the prophet before they even spoke. No longer could you separate the two. Their speaking then flowed naturally as part of who they were in Christ and who HE was in them and the hearing was up to the individual. Paul said to the Corinthians: "I am speaking as to intelligent, sensible men. Think over and make up your minds for yourselves about what I say. I appeal to your reason and your discernment in these matters." 1 Corinthians 10:15

Why does God do it this way? Simply so we're totally reliant on Him both for ourselves, AND for others. We rely on and trust Him not only for our own personal hearing, but also for those to whom He may give a message through us. We are not responsible for someone else hearing or not hearing, that is between them and God. What we ARE responsible for is our own personal hearing and speaking. Jesus frequently said "He who has ears, let him HEAR!" Jesus spoke truth because He WAS Truth and yet many, in spite of their ears, still did not hear! "If I speak truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God listens to God. Those who belong to God hear the words of God. This is the reason that you do not listen to Me; because you do not belong to God and are not in harmony with Him." John 8:46,47.

The prophets in the Bible often spoke with a 'thus saith the Lord' and hopefully without much of their flesh coming forth, and yet their messages were often not received. Why were they rejected and stoned regardless? Because of hard, stubborn hearts and deaf ears that refused to hear... surely there is nothing new under the sun! And often those hard stubborn hearts and deaf ears are much closer to home than we would like to think!

Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah were called to speak to a stubborn, rebellious people who did not have eyes to see or ears to hear, they would not hear because they had hard hearts, but the prophets still had to speak regardless. It is the nature of God's justice and mercy that He will still speak even when hearts and ears will not hear and receive because then a choice has been made by the individual. Paul quoted Isaiah: The Holy Spirit was right in saying through Isaiah the prophet to your forefathers: Go to this people and say to them, You will indeed hear and hear with your ears but will not understand, and you will indeed look and look with your eyes but will not see or perceive what you look at. For the heart of this people has grown dull, hardened and calloused, and their ears are heavy and hard of hearing and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may not perceive and have knowledge and become acquainted with their eyes and hear with their ears and turn to Me that I may heal them. Acts 28:25-27

Why would God bother speaking to people who refuse to listen? Because He is a just God. It would be unjust to hold someone responsible for something that they had not had the opportunity of hearing and responding to. One reason for having to be personally accountable for what we receive and reject as God's words to us is because God will sometimes test us to see if we will listen to and obey man, instead of God. There is the account of the un-named prophet in 1 Kings 13 who delivered his message but then was enticed to sin by another prophet of God and was struck dead as a result. The prophet said "I was told by the WORD OF THE LORD You shall not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way that you came. He answered him, I am a prophet also, as you are. And an ANGEL spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. BUT he LIED to him." This un-named prophet apparently thought more highly of another prophet's words than God's own words given directly to him and he paid dearly for his mistake. We must not be guilty of the same thing. To hear and know the Word of the Lord (Christ Himself) is of far more worth than another prophet hearing from an angel!

There is also the case of God sending lying spirits to the prophets in 1 Kings 22. A prophet cannot give someone the message or answer that the person wants to hear; it must be what GOD wants the prophet to say. Through Ezekiel God said: If the prophet does give the man the answer he desires, I the Lord will see to it that the prophet is DECEIVED in his answer, and I will stretch out My hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel. Ezekiel 14:9

The prophets that Jeremiah addressed were prophesying peace; their prophecies would have been easy to receive! Often we do not hear Him through each other because of our preconceived ideas of Who God is and what He will and won't say to us through another; but, our God cannot be put in a box and often will offend us in order to reveal something about ourselves that we'd rather not see... Many these days think that a word from God must be only positive, only encouraging. Even the false prophets in the Old Testament thought that and yet God, through Jeremiah, addressed this: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity and fill you with vain hopes; they speak a vision of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord. They are continually saying to those who despise Me and the word of the Lord, The Lord has said: You shall have peace and they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own mind and heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and HEAR His word? Who has marked His word and has actually heard it? The anger of the Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind and heart. IN THE LATTER DAYS you shall consider and understand it perfectly. I did not send these false prophets and yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. Jeremiah 23:16-21

A New Testament example of discerning for yourself what the Spirit is saying, is with Paul in Acts 20 & 21. He tells of how the Holy Spirit had told him to go to Jerusalem. Then chapter 21:4b says "Prompted by the Spirit they (the disciples) kept telling Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem." The Holy Spirit told Paul one thing and then apparently prompted the disciples to say the opposite! Obviously God will sometimes test us through our own brothers and sisters to see how firm we will remain to what He has Himself revealed to us or called us to do or say. Further on in the same story Agabus, a prophet, had confirmed what was in Paul's heart, but then another group of disciples still tried to dissuade him from going ahead! We need to be humble enough to admit that we do not always know what is right for an individual, even when we are sure we have heard from God. Who knows what is best for a child, their Father or a brother or sister? We must always give each other the freedom to hear and follow what our Father tells each of us personally. If we allow someone to persuade us not to do something that He Himself has asked us to do, God will hold us personally responsible for heeding human voices and human wisdom instead of His voice and His wisdom.

A living relationship of communion and communication with Christ through the Holy Spirit is vital; HE is our Light and Life, He is the Word that is a lamp to our feet; not just a word of prophecy through someone else, although He may well speak to us through that means of course! The point is the focus; HE is the Spirit of prophecy!!! If we do not ourselves have ears to hear Him Who IS the Spirit of prophecy, if we do not recognise His witness and testimony within us personally, then how can we possibly expect to hear Him or recognise Him through another? Jesus deliberately made things difficult to understand so that HE would be sought for the answers. To us (through Christ) has been given the privilege of knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom (see Matthew 13:10-16).

It is this way for a purpose; for the maturing and humbling of both the speaker and the person spoken to because it means that NEITHER can ever rely on themselves or the other person, but only on God. The recipient must always exercise discernment in checking with both the Bible and with God to discern what things are from Him and what things are not and what to accept and what to reject in what a brother or sister says. The speaker must be humble enough to know that he/she is not God and consequently does not always hear or speak perfectly.

Although we can trust God to use us in spite of our flaws and imperfections we can also expect that He will continue to refine and purify us until our words ARE more His words than our own. We seem to be experts at finding reasons to not listen to God whether a message is clear or not. Even the apostle Paul had this problem with people: Now I myself, Paul, beseech you, by the gentleness and consideration of Christ, I who am lowly enough, so they say, when among you face to face, but bold, fearless and outspoken to you when I am absent from you! I entreat you when I do come to you that I may not be driven to such boldness as I intend to show toward those few who suspect us of acting according to the flesh... Look at this obvious fact which is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that even as he is Christ's, so too are we. Neither would I seem to be overawing or frightening you with my letter; for they say, His letters are weighty and impressive, forceful and telling, but his personality and bodily presence are weak, and his speech and delivery are utterly contemptible and of no account. Let such people realise that what we say by letters when we are absent, we put also into deeds when we are present - not that we have the audacity to venture to compare ourselves with some who exalt and furnish testimonials for themselves! 2 Corinthians 10:1,2,7,9-12

Truth, integrity and honesty are at the core of the prophetic, it is about truth being lovingly expressed in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly. It is not ever about man's titles, testimonials or advertisements! God now wants to speak to EACH ONE! If each one is listening to Him primarily and others secondarily, then it is not difficult to hear Him. There is much wisdom in this because it deals immediately with our natural tendency to depend on man instead of God. It means we are personally responsible for what we discern and hear and accept. It also means that there is no place for posturing, self-appointed 'prophets' who need to announce their 'gifting' with testimonials before they speak, and then make threats about 'touching God's anointed'. This can easily be seen as being manipulative and intimidating. We must allow God to put His authority on our words; not our own self-imposed authority! If God is speaking through us, we do not need to advertise the fact or defend what we have said. The responsibility for His words being heard and received is not ours but His and no amount of convincing talk on our part will ever cause them to be heard. The recipient will either have ears to hear and eyes to see, or they will not! We must reject what is false and deceitful and each express and embrace the truth. (Ephesians 4:25, 5:8-11).

Jesus was THE Prophet above all prophets and yet He didn't need to tell people when He was speaking as a prophet because those who had ears to hear would KNOW because of the authority that was on His words; those who did NOT have ears to hear.... crucified Him. He said: "If any man desires to do God's will, he will know and have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from Myself and of My own accord and on My own authority. He who speaks on his own authority seeks to win honor for himself." John 7:17,18. The Pharisees/religious people were particularly keen on knowing where Jesus got his authority to speak from, but He would not tell them (Matthew 21:27).

At the very heart of the prophetic is the heart of God. If we have hearts ready to receive and obey God, we will both hear and see what God desires us to. True prophecy comes straight from the heart of God. When we KNOW His heart, then we can speak on His behalf and from His heart of love.

And those who KNOW His heart will not be fooled by a prophecy that comes from the heart of man. When God reveals something of His heart to you, it hurts to sense something of His longing and deep desire and passion for His people and to see how we so often let Him down... It is a huge privilege to share a small portion of the pain that He feels, He wants us to feel and to know His heart. The prophetic is more about sensing and sharing the heart of God (HEARING Him and SEEING from His perspective) than simply speaking. He will show and tell us many things that are never to be spoken but are simply shared in that place of intimacy and relationship with Him as He shares His heart with us. Sometimes we will simply identify with Him in His suffering, pain, or joy; other times we will pray through what He has given us, and sometimes we will be required to speak out that which we have seen and heard. Sometimes that speaking will be with much agonising, gentleness, pleading and love, and sometimes the speaking will be hard and with no emotion at all. God knows who to speak to gently, and who to speak to like a hammer! "Is not My word like fire that consumes all that cannot endure the test? says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock of most stubborn resistance?" Jeremiah 23:29.

Speaking on behalf of God is usually a thankless task and there is always a price to be paid. The risk of misunderstanding and rejection is great no matter how much care and love is behind the words that are given. Ezekiel was told to expect rejection and misunderstanding: "The house of Israel will not listen to you and obey you since they will not listen to Me and obey Me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and stubborn of heart." Ezekiel 3:7.

Often God speaks through prophetic words, dreams, visions etc; and yet He is not heard because our ears do not hear; we misinterpret and so we miss what God is saying; God SPEAKS but the people do not always HEAR! God is trying to communicate with us all the time. But do we have eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to receive and a will to obey? Without Him showing us and teaching us; we are thick, dumb, deaf and blind!

Not only is hearing, seeing and receiving God's words important but so is OBEYING them! "Everyone who HEARS these words of Mine and ACTS upon them will be like a sensible man who built his house upon the rock..." Matthew 7:24 To obey the words of God and DO what He requires of us, is better than any sacrifice we may make. "Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in OBEYING the voice of the Lord? Behold to OBEY is better than sacrifice and to LISTEN than the fat of rams. For rebellion (not listening) is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness (not obeying) is as idolatry." 1 Samuel 15:22,23 Hardened hearts are caused by hearing but not obeying, often through our own reasoning: Be doers of the Word, and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. James 1:22

One of the reasons why prophetic words are rejected is because the nature of the prophetic IS revealing; it is a Light which reveals what was previously hidden; both good and bad and separates the two. When anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and where everything is visible and clear there is light. Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall SHINE upon you and give you light. Ephesians 5:13,14

When something bad (darkness) is challenged by the Light, some people will reason that the words were not from God because they brought condemnation and judgment rather than conviction and redemption or restoration. Sometimes the reason for this perception is because those who do reject the true words of God HAVE in fact, just brought judgment upon themselves by rejecting His words, and they rightly feel condemned! Jesus clearly said: I have come as a Light into the world so that whoever believes in Me, whoever cleaves to and relies on Me may not continue to live in darkness. If anyone HEARS My teachings but fails to observe them and does not keep them but disregards them, it is not I who judges him. For I have not come to judge and to condemn and to pass sentence on the world but to save the world. Anyone who rejects Me, refusing to accept My teachings, HAS HIS JUDGE; for the very message that I spoke (and that was rejected) will itself judge and convict him at the last day. John 12:46-48

This again comes back to hearing and discerning what God is saying to us personally. For if we searchingly examined ourselves, detecting our shortcomings and recognizing our own condition, we should not be judged and penalty decreed by divine judgment. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined and chastened, so that we may not finally be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:31,32. Jesus, when speaking about the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11, mentions three things as works of the Holy Spirit; convicting us of sin, righteousness and judgment.

Prophetic revelation can be likened to lightning. It often comes as a flash of inspiration which energises and enables us to see very clearly what is illuminated by the Light. Sometimes it not only reveals, but destroys. Put simply, prophecy is revealed truth. Who is Truth? JESUS, Who IS the Spirit of prophecy! He IS Light, Life and Truth; all of which are elements of prophecy - it reveals Him Who is Truth. Lightning is very powerful, five times hotter than the surface of the sun, it is the result of negative and positive charges. Lightning is full of energy. One of the Greek words for God's working power is 'energeia' - energy; another is 'dunamis' - dynamite; both of which can be applied to lightning. Much about lightning is still a mystery to us, but we do know that it is essential for sustaining life on the earth; it produces ozone and nitrates which are essential for plant life, but it can also be destructive; it can bring life or death. It also plays havoc with our power/energy systems on earth. Ninety percent of all lightning never touches the ground, it remains in the thunder cloud or travels from cloud to cloud; it stays in the heavenlies but occasionally zaps earthly stuff! It will often ignite fires on the earth which not only destroy but also fertilise the ground ready for new growth or seeds to be planted.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord splits and flashes forth forked lightning.  The voice of the Lord makes the wilderness tremble; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.  Ps 29:4,8,9

Even those who are blind and do not have eyes to see the lightning will know something has been said because they will hear the accompanying thunder. In John 12:28 John heard God speak, he heard the words of God, but others said that it had simply thundered because they did not have ears to hear His words, the same was true of Saul/Paul when he encountered Christ (Acts 22:9)!

Unfortunately the Bible usually has these two going hand in hand, not seeing and not hearing. If people are deaf and blind it leaves ONE thing; they can still feel the effect of the thunder through the ground shaking! A prophetic word will sometimes shake a person to their very core; even if they have rejected the words and are deaf and blind, their spirit will still KNOW and react accordingly.

So see to it that you do not reject Him or refuse to listen to and heed Him Who is speaking. For if they (the Israelites) did not escape when they refused to listen and heed Him Who warned and divinely instructed them here on earth, how much less shall we escape if we reject and turn our backs on Him Who cautions and admonishes us from heaven? Then (at Mount Sinai) His voice SHOOK THE EARTH, but now He has given a promise: Yet once more I will shake and make tremble not only the earth (physical) but also the heavens (spiritual). Now this expression, Yet once more, indicates the final removal and transformation of all that can be shaken - that is, of that which has been created (physical, fleshly) in order that what cannot be shaken (spiritual reality) may remain and continue. Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and cannot be shaken, offer to God acceptable worship with modesty and godly fear and awe; for our God is indeed a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:26-29

Jesus often spoke in allegories or parables using every day word pictures which had hidden meanings that He revealed only to those who sought to see and hear. Some things had multiple meanings such as when He referred to His Body, it could mean His literal Body or His people or the Temple. With this in mind, consider the following verses in reference to the last days.

If anyone says to you then, Behold here is the Christ (the Anointed One), or There he is! - do not believe it. For false christs (anointed ones) and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have warned you beforehand. So if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness - do not go out there; if they tell you, Behold, He is in the secret places or inner rooms - do not believe it. For just as lightning flashes from the east and shines and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever there is a fallen body (a corpse), there the vultures and eagles will flock together. Matthew 24:23-28

The usual interpretation of verses 23 & 24 is about the anti-christ. But anti-christ simply means in place of, or instead of THE Anointed One. However the word used in these verses before both christs and prophets is not "anti" but "pseudo" meaning lying, not genuine, artificial. The warning in these verses is that there will be many false anointed ones, many false prophets who will appear to be real; they will show great signs and wonders in order to deceive! Some will say you will only find Christ in the desert where you are isolated and alone; and while it is true that many of us do find Him in wilderness experiences, it doesn't mean everyone must be there! Others will say He is in the inner rooms; this Greek word means storehouse or storeroom. If you interpret it to mean churches or "ministries"; many will say He is in this church or that ministry; but DO NOT BELIEVE IT! On the other hand some will say He is in the lonely, solitary place of the desert; DO NOT GO OUT THERE! You do not need to look externally for He who is living IN you!!!

Just as we see lightning (prophetic revelation) flashing from the east to the west, so will the coming of Christ be! Wherever there is a dead body (lots of flesh) there the eagles will gather together...

Being used as a prophetic person is also like being a diamond chisel in the Jeweller's hand which is used to shape His jewels (people). Diamonds have four aspects which are important; colour (the whiter the better), carat (the weight), clarity (the clearer the better) and cut. The cut of the diamond is the only thing that man is used for; all the other characteristics are natural and inherent in the diamond. The cut is very important as it determines how much Light will be reflected in the jewel. The only stone that can cut a diamond, is another diamond and so God will also use other jewels to cut and shape us into what He desires.

BUT, the tool does not know what to cut, it is the Jeweller Who decides what and when He will cut on each individual jewel. It is clear that many of the prophets did not always fully know or understand what God was saying through them or why (eg Daniel). God simply requires our availability and obedience. Should we feel the cutting of His tool/words upon our hearts, we must not blame the tool that is being used, but accept and submit to our Father's shaping and purifying work in our lives and die to self. That which is already dead, cannot be hurt.

Many believe that prophecy must only build up. Yet there are two sides to the prophetic, the encouraging and the discouraging, the positive and the negative. In the same way, there are two types of tools that are used to shape jewels these days, one is the diamond point chisel, the other is a laser. A laser is concentrated Light and is far easier, quicker, efficient, more accurate and powerful than the chisel. A love for the Truth and the Light is fundamental to any prophetic person. "He who practices truth comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are - done with God's help, in dependence upon Him." John 3:21. The Light instantly reveals what was hidden, both good (more light) and bad (darkness).

The laser, will bring revelation like a flash of lightning. The chisel, on the other hand, cuts slowly and painstakingly and appears to be very hard or harsh in it's working. It is entirely the Jeweller's decision which tool He will choose to use for each living stone. Not all have hearts of flesh, many have uncircumcised hearts of stone. While one tool may bring revelation and encouragement to a heart of flesh, the other may bring revelation of the things that are hindering God's work in a person's life.

In 1 Kings 22, out of 400 prophets in Israel, only one gave the true word of God! But the king didn't want to hear him because he "never prophesies good for me, but evil". He does call for him eventually and the prophet Micaiah tells the king why the 400 had prophesied good "The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets; and the Lord has (in fact) spoken evil concerning you." One of the other prophets then hit Micaiah on the face and put him in prison for having told the truth. In Nehemiah 6 is the account of prophets who tried to put fear into Nehemiah and stop him doing the work that God had called him to do. We must hear and be confident in what God Himself tells us, even if we must suffer as a result. There may be those whom He will put around us to confirm and establish His words in our lives, but He will also allow others to test and try us so that we will become very strong and secure in Him and what He has told us Himself.

Here is an example of New Testament prophecy which revealed hard hearts: You stubborn and stiff-necked people, still heathen and uncircumcised in heart AND ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. As your forefathers were, so you are! Now upon hearing these things, they were CUT TO THE HEART and infuriated and they ground their teeth against Stephen. Acts 7:51,54.

Stephen said that their hearts and ears were uncircumcised. Circumcision is symbolic of dealing with the flesh, having it CUT or chiselled away from our hearts and ears. Circumcision is a very painful and personal thing to have done. It was also absolutely necessary in God's eyes. When the Israelites went through the wilderness, the new generation were never circumcised. The very first thing God had Joshua do when they had crossed the Jordan river and before they could receive the inheritance of their land, was to circumcise all the males (Joshua 5). It is one thing circumcising an eight day old baby, but quite another to circumcise grown men! You can be sure the pain would have been felt... When they had healed, THEN they seized Jericho and began to inhabit the promised land!

Jeremiah also spoke of this "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem..." Jeremiah 4:4 "To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised and they cannot hear or obey." Jeremiah 6:10 Why do our hearts need to be circumcised? Because in the same way as the flesh had to be cut off the reproductive organ, so the flesh needs to be cut from our hearts so that we will reproduce Christ's Life through our words. From the abundance (residue and remains) of the heart the mouth speaks. When our ears are circumcised they will HEAR God's words and our hearts will in turn receive them where they will then reproduce the fruit that God intends through our lives and our mouths.

We don't usually mind receiving encouraging messages, but we don't like receiving correction and we sure don't like circumcision! Yet Jesus said "Those whom I dearly and tenderly love, I tell their faults and convict, convince, reprove and chasten, I discipline and instruct them. So be enthusiastic and burning with zeal and repent, changing your mind and attitude." Revelation 3:19

A message from God often deals with the past and the present, not just the future. It is all about revelation; His Light shining and revealing what God wants revealed - whether good or bad, whether past, present or future. Another example of New Testament prophecy is Peter knowing by the Spirit that Ananias had lied about the sale of his land. Peter then prophesied to the wife saying "LISTEN! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also. And instantly she fell down at his feet and died." Acts 5:9,10 Peter's words to Ananias revealed something that had been already done in secret, his words to Sapphira revealed what was about to happen and they could not be interpreted as encouraging, uplifting, confirming, or edifying words of prophecy either...

The prophets described the prophetic as being 'the burden of the word of the Lord' and it was something that they felt and that weighed upon them. It was sometimes a message that was heavy and discouraging both for the one giving it, and for the one receiving it. An "oracle" of God is referred to as a "burden". Not only the message but the messenger themselves may well be an oracle (or burden) to the ones they are sent to. Jesus was something of a burden to those NOT wanting to hear Him... the typical response is still "Crucify the one that burdens us" in an attempt to silence the message. People misunderstood and didn't listen to Jesus.

Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me and welcome Me gladly, for I came forth from God, I did not even come on My own authority or of My own accord as self appointed but He sent Me. WHY do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching. John 8:42,43

If this was the response to Christ then, we shouldn't be surprised if the reaction is the same when He speaks through us today. We cannot open anyone's ears or eyes so we shouldn't be discouraged when others don't hear or see, but simply need to keep our own eyes and ears firmly focussed and fixed on God and to speak out what He says and when He says.

Then while it is still called Today, if you would HEAR His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion in the desert when the people embittered God against them.
Hebrews 3:13-15

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