Some days as a prophet are not fun. God wants you to address things that you would rather not address. Some days it is easier to go to your cave than face or deal with things that you see are wrong. And the Church still has a ways to go.
The Church in America is a spoiled child and I am a part of that Church. I've had my comfort zones and I like them. But I also love the Lord and I am not happy when I am not doing my part. But there are roadblocks, among the brethren, that are problems for everyone. They keep things out of order.
Sometimes you feel you can only address it so many times and then you would just rather leave it alone. But you know when God deals with it, it will be worse, when as a prophet you sense His authority emphasizing it.
Resistance is not easy to deal with, and I am talking about in the Camp of the Lord, not the devil. The devil is another matter. In fact dealing with the devil is easy when the Church is right. The power release is fun! Today I can find things to rejoice about, but the Lord is saying there are still problems and it is over spiritual dynasties that claim ownership over social orders. And the devil loves to set us up if he can.
Something we have to own up to is that sometimes the problems are with leaders and sometimes they are with the people. Moses and the Lord got along real well. In his time, the people were the problem. King David and the Lord got along real well most of the time. Even when David failed, the relationship was restored. God made these famous over the centuries and used them as good examples and leaders because they got along well. They knew Him.
These, along with others who pleased God, saw many things in the Spirit and received many revelations, including things for the future. They left legacies. And don't people love to know the future? But you can never really know the future unless you know God!
The Lord has spoken strongly to me lately about King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a tree...
10 "These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great.
11 The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
12 Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it.
13 "I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, And the birds from its branches.
15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, Bound with a band of iron and bronze, In the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, And let him graze with the beasts On the grass of the earth.
16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him.
17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’
11 The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
12 Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it.
13 "I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, And the birds from its branches.
15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, Bound with a band of iron and bronze, In the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, And let him graze with the beasts On the grass of the earth.
16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him.
17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’
Now you know if you have read this one chapter, that the dream was about Nebuchadnezzar's kingship and kingdom. He got proud and God tore his dynasty down - for a long hard season. Time flies when things are going well; it crawls when things are not.
The watchers in this chapter were obviously more than just sight seers. They had authority to declare and decree. They were trusted that way. Here they declared seven years of hard humility.
Now if we are wise, we will ponder our punishments or what could be them. Punishments can help us make wiser decisions, because we humans are all prone to give into the flesh from time to time. Ezekiel tells us that if we see a wrong thing and do nothing about it, we are just as guilty.
Nebuchadnezzar was not called to the ministry of God. Sometimes we want to write off as less those with governmental positions, but he was the leader of a very large kingdom that God took serious notice about.
In fact, as I studied this, I realized that for the most part, God was real pleased with him. When Daniel interpreted his dream, he said to him:
20 "The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth,
21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home—
22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home—
22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
This was not just flattery. This was commenting on civil order at its finest. This was not about religious order, because the king appeared ignorant of much of that. The problem was about man taking credit for the things of God, something perhaps easy to do in a non religious culture.
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon.
30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
Right after the dream, it seemed that he had taken the fear of the dream to heart, but then pride captured him a year later and he suffered those seven long years like a beast in the field. (Now this whole chapter is a testament of him sharing about his grace that he received, even after he went through that. Some with pride never survived! The Love of God is very gracious.)
29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon.
30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
Right after the dream, it seemed that he had taken the fear of the dream to heart, but then pride captured him a year later and he suffered those seven long years like a beast in the field. (Now this whole chapter is a testament of him sharing about his grace that he received, even after he went through that. Some with pride never survived! The Love of God is very gracious.)
Even though not "religious", there was a fear of God. When Pharaoh had Sarah, Abraham's wife, he defended himself with the fear of God and God released him from his plague.
But what was the point that Nebuchadnezzar testified about?
34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
Did he claim how "special" he was? How loved he was by God? Did he even proclaim the atonement and lift that up? No, this is Old Testament but the premise is still the same. God is God and He is merciful, but His Character still demands a fear.
He still will maintain the order of His Kingdom and Glory. And man is NOTHING in comparison! Nebuchadnezzar was restored, because God remembered his better days when he was in his right mind, when the weak and the strong could find shelter under his order. It was pride that got him and we are all called to do diligence in that area.
And if we don't understand this, we will go through our own tribulations. We don't claim that we are "special" over others or take credit for the things that God does or has done. In His eyes we are nothing compared to His dominion. This thinking will keep many souls alive!
Is this a word about America? Perhaps. But knowing the religious order as I do, it could be about that too! There is a social order that can be had under a righteous spirit. Some want to love God even more, and that will reveal His Spiritual order, the inner court. But even they are not allowed to lord that over others and claim themselves in the position of God.
The power of man is not to set up or promote spiritual dynasties. To whom much is given, much is required. God will warn and then He will judge. And obviously there are spiritual witnesses and watchers who will declare it. The Church and our nation must return to our spiritual humility.
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