Psalm 105:15 Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.
It seems that the church at large has not benefited much from the gift of the prophets in the last 60 years. There is, however, a multitude of pastors who have made mega-profits in today’s churches. When the true prophets are harmed, the church turns into a social club where sports become the excitement—replacing the Holy Spirit’s presence and the thirst after righteousness. A place filled with many programs for every class of persuasion where everyone can be at ease. The church has to be responsible for everyone now.
The home has lost its calling to raise and teach its children because we spend our spare time benefiting our own affections in activities that are self-extolling. We have designed our lives to be proactive for our self, and passive with God. It is easy to criticize God’s people, and yet we idolize corrupt sports figures without hesitation. We praise and admire the wicked and pass judgment on the holy. The wicked can easily be praised and the holy can be willfully debilitated with glee.
It is in the middle of this unreceptive environment called “church” that the true prophet calls people back to God. He speaks with his life first, and refuses to entangle himself with the activities that require no cross. He is on unfamiliar territory where Jesus is not the theme. His clumsy conversation offers no thrill to the popular trends of personal attainment among that which is highly esteemed among men. Why is he so out of touch with the stars of Hollywood and sports? Because he is in touch with the holiness of Heaven. The gift of a prophet is hidden in his burden.
I have met many people in my 30-plus years of ministry who have called themselves prophets; but I have never met a prophet of God who called himself a prophet. Many of these self-proclaimed prophets are not gifted from God but have a natural untamed ability to be reckless and bold with their own preferences. The modern church-world has accustomed themselves to calling a certain bold untamed personality a prophet. These are not prophets from God. The prophets of God do not fit this description at all. Being a true prophet of God is not based on a natural gift or weakness of character. It is based on a gift that comes from the Holy Spirit. New Testament prophets are not accusers or finger pointers. They point us to God with the anointing of conviction and wooing.
Let us be aware of prophets that seek to disrupt and to undo the workings of God in clever ways. The Bible is quite clear that these can even do miracles and that there are many of them. Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. These prophets are false and they have agendas like wolves. They create chaos; they tear up the sheep but are disguised in clothing that appears mild and humble. The clothing is fashioned in the disguise of burden-like substance. The word “ravening” means they are excessively rapacious to disrupt, destroy, and undo that which God has done or is doing. All we are asked to do with such is to be aware of them. They can become your enemy in a second!
Why are we not to harm the true prophets of God? Firstly, they operate and function under God’s authority. They are not roaming lions. They are subjected and balanced with wisdom that is alone from God. God will never let the Holy Spirit’s call and gift become unauthorized. The submission is why it carries so much power and authority. It is the order that God chose to operate all His gifts and callings under. Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. V.2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
If we harm the prophets of God, we harm the message they share concerning returning to faith and love toward God. A harmed prophet will no more have the message to bring back that which is lost. That sound of heaven that draws the church back to persistence is gone. When the prophet of God is harmed, the church will love the world. The love and fear of God will vanish quickly without the people even knowing until it has become a dreadful situation. It is easy to quote God’s prophets of the past and just as easy to destroy God’s prophets in our presence. The anointed we do not touch, the prophets we do not harm!
Matthew 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. V. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
