In the preceding chapter we looked at the divinely assigned role of the sun, moon, and stars as markers to indicate to God’s people His moedim (seasons, appointed times). Three times each year all the men of Israel were commanded to gather to the place appointed by God to observe the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The heavenly lights, specifically the moon, were used to establish the precise day when these events were to take place.
The Feast Days were not the only moedim whose proper time was announced by the lights Yahweh arranged in the heavens. It was previously noted that the appointed time for the birth of the Son of God was announced by a specific star whose message wise men from the East understood and acted upon. Similarly, we are told that the return of the Lord will be announced by signs in the sun, moon, and stars (Luke 21:25).
Christians rarely object to assertions that Yahweh assigned to the heavenly luminaries a timingrole as a sort of divine calendar. Yet a Bible teacher will encounter great resistance should he begin to teach upon the prophetic role that sun, moon, and stars play in declaring the counsel of God. People fear that advocating a prophetic role for the constellations and various heavenly bodies is tantamount to promoting astrology. Satan has introduced many profane and heretical practices to humanity from the very earliest times. He is called “the great deceiver who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Satan has induced men to embrace spiritually dark practices such as communication with the dead, hypnotism, spirit channeling, seances, Ouija boards, astrology and horoscopes. These last two hold a close relationship to the starry hosts and the location of the sun and moon in the heavens.
Astrology is a form of divination. Divination is defined as “the practice of seeking knowledge about the future, or about the unknown, through supernatural means.” A patient consideration of the meaning of this word will reveal that there are both lawful and unlawful forms of divination. By lawful, I mean practices of which Yahweh approves. The relationship between the word “divination” and the word “divine,” which denotes something from, or like God, is readily evident. A diviner in ancient days was considered to be a person who was able to communicate with the gods, or with a specific god.
Communication with Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a very good thing. Communication with false gods is an evil thing. Yahweh forbid the practice of idolatry among those who worshiped Him. In contrast, devotion to Yahweh was encouraged. If Christians are able to distinguish between idolatrous worship and worship of Yahweh, they are also able to distinguish between the various forms of lawful and unlawful divination.
Prophecy is a form of divination. It is a supernatural means of obtaining knowledge about the future or about hidden things that a person could not comprehend through their natural senses. The Bible is filled with accounts of men and women who prophesied about events to come. This is a form of divination that is found in the New Testament as well as in the Old.
Acts 11:27-30
Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
In this Scripture we see an example of lawful divination. What makes this type of supernatural communication lawful is that Yahweh is the initiator of it. The Holy Spirit speaking through God’s prophets made known what was to come. The Bible also provides accounts of unlawful divination.
Acts 16:16-18
And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Yahshua Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.
Similar encounters occurred in the life of Christ as demons began to speak through those they possessed, declaring Yahshua to be the Son of God.
Mark 1:23-26
And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with You, Yahshua of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God!" And Yahshua rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him.
Notice that in both cases the unclean spirits spoke truth. Paul was indeed “a bond-servant of the Most High God,” and Yahshua is “the Holy One of God.” Nevertheless, what these spirits were doing was unlawful in God’s sight. They had not been sent by God to prophesy these messages. Lawlessness is the condition of being out from under authority. It is doing or speaking something of one’s own initiative, rather than being subject to the rule of God.
These spirits, and the people they were speaking through, were prophesying. I am certain that the servant girl who was bringing much profit to her masters was declaring many amazing things about people that proved to be true. At times this may have included speaking about future events in a person’s life that would come to pass. The Bible reveals that evil spirits can impart supernatural information to people in imitation of the work of the Holy Spirit. This in no way negates the legitimacy of prophecy and words of knowledge as divine gifts bequeathed to the body of Christ.
I Corinthians 12:8-11
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.
Like Agabus, those individuals who lawfully use the gifts are able to bring much benefit to the people of God. We would err if we were to condemn all supernatural words of prophecy within the body of Christ simply because Satan has a counterfeit gift. Sadly, many who proclaim to be Christians are prophesying under the influence of unclean spirits. For this reason, discernment must be exercised among Christians. We are commanded to “test the spirits”
I John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
There are many pastors, churches, and entire denominations that reject the gift of prophecy among the body of Christ. Doctrines have been embraced that declare the gifts of the Spirit to have ended when the Bible was canonized. This rejection of prophecy is not in accordance with the mind of Christ. If a famine were to occur in our day, as it did in the days of Barnabus and Saul, the Bible would not inform us of it, but the Spirit of Christ speaking through a gifted prophet could. The Bible was never intended to be a replacement for the Spirit of Christ. It is just one more means by which the Holy Spirit communicates the mind of God to mankind. Christians should value the Scriptures while being careful not to quench the Spirit by refusing to let Him speak through other means.
I Thessalonians 5:19-20
Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances.
Those who reject the gift of prophecy among the body of Christ are quenching the Spirit. They are effectually saying, “We will not permit the Spirit of Christ to communicate to us through this means. We will only allow the Spirit to speak to us through the Scriptures.” In the same way, Christians who reject the starry hosts as a form of divine communication are quenching the Spirit. Out of fear for Satan’s counterfeit, they reject the voice of God as it speaks through the heavens.
Psalms 19:1-4
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their utterance has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
Christians need to be discerning. Divination is not an all or nothing proposition. Accepting that Yahweh speaks to mankind through the sun, moon, and stars does not necessitate that the individual accept Satanic forms of astrology. The corollary to this truth is that rejecting the unlawful practice of astrology does not necessitate that a Christian reject God’s voice in the heavens. The magi embraced God’s voice in the heavens and they were informed of the birth of the Savior of mankind. Yahweh spoke to these same wise men through a dream, warning them not to return to Herod, but to go home another way.
Having God communicate through the stars, and through a dream, may seem atypical to many Christians, but they are both common modes of communication that GodYahweh regularly employs. The Bible is filled with examples of God speaking through the stars, through dreams, through visions, through signs and wonders, through angels, and through prophets. Those who would reject these forms of divine communication do injury to themselves, and to those whose lives they influence.
Yahweh is a great communicator. The Son of God is called “the Word made flesh” (John 1:14). A word is the basic unit of communication. Christ is the ultimate expression of God. He fully disclosed the Father to mankind. Although Christ has now ascended to the Father, He continues to speak. He has sent forth His Spirit to open the minds of men to understand the speech of God. This speech may come through the reading of the Scriptures, but it may also come through other ways.
Hebrews 1:1-2
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...
Job 33:14-16
Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction...
If you will accept that God speaks through visions, dreams, and words of prophecy, then you should accept that God will communicate profound and specific things through the heavens as well. Speaking of the hour in which we now live, Yahweh declared the following through the prophet Joel:
Joel 2:28-31
“And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes.”
Cast away dreams, cast away visions, cast away prophecy, cast away God’s messages through the heavens: The result will be that you will render yourself deaf and blind to the Spirit of God.
Isaiah 42:18-20
“Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but My servant, or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, or so blind as the servant of Yahweh? You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.”
As I have been studying this subject of God speaking through the heavenly bodies, I have purposely chosen to read what people are saying who oppose this form of divine speech. It is wise to hear all sides of a matter. Oftentimes those who are cheerleaders of some truth manifest too much exuberance. There is a temptation to go beyond the revelation that has been given to them, or too speak with confidence where caution is due. As a Bible teacher I am aware of the danger of transgressing in this matter. I have erred at times, and had to later retract some statement that was imprudently uttered. James spoke of the need to guard our speech.
James 3:1-2
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
I am not yet a “perfect man,” but I am desirous of making consistent progress toward conformity to the image of Christ. I have found that patient consideration of alternative, or antagonistic views on a matter, is one way in which I can discern pitfalls and errors in a subject and avoid an excess of enthusiasm that has led some to stray into error. The Bible recommends the practice of hearing all sides of an issue before forming a judgment.
Proverbs 18:13
He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.
Proverbs 18:17
The first to plead his case seems just, until another comes and examines him.
Wednesday 2 July 2014
BRIAN GEMMELL ON "FOUNDATIONS - PROPHECY IN THE HEAVENS"!
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