Chapter Eight – Antagonists to the Voice by Pastor Roddie Nelson
“I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.” – Winston Churchill
There have always been enemies to the prophetic voice. We must be aware of the trappings of Satan. He comes as an angel of light to steal, kill, and destroy. He will forge the genuine with the counterfeit in order to deceive us. A person operating as a Prophet or flowing with a prophetic gift, must be aware of these spiritual forces. “The battle lies not in the realm of reason of fighting logic with logic. It rests in the realm of the Spirit that divides between souls and spirit.”
This is not a comprehensive list of every problem that faces the prophetic, but hopefully it will be insightful enough to know what challenges we face if we really want the prophetic voice to be released. Most of these things would be considered spirits, but I am just going to name them.
Jealousy
In Genesis Chapter 37 we find the story of Joseph. In the next section we will discuss how God speaks and one of those ways is through dreams. Joseph was a young man of God and his story is one of tragedy to triumph. A man that went from the pit to the palace. The end of the story is victorious, but the struggles that his brothers went through could have been prevented if they had not sold the prophetic voice. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, not because he was so spiritual, but because his father loved him more than them. From the moment Joseph arrived in Egypt everything he touched was blessed. From Potipher’s house, to prison, and finally in Pharaoh’s chambers, the prophetic spirit on his life exalted him into greatness. How tragic it was for Israel to lose the voice and the anointing because of hatred and jealousy. One of the reasons that the prophetic voice is not in operation is because of jealousy. There is a perception that if someone truly operates in the prophetic that they will be more loved than others who do not. This is childish and has no place in God’s Kingdom. We must embrace the voice of God because when it is released it brings the blessings and purposes of God.
Religious
This is one of the deadliest spirits against the Prophetic. This spirit says that prophesy has been done away with. That there are no real prophets today. It compares the prophetic movement with sorcery and witchcraft. When the religious spirit sees the prophetic it immediately attacks the character of the voice and the message that it speaks. This spirit will try to blind you from seeing how God sees. Even when a prophetic word is activated, this spirit will try to confuse and contradict the word. It usually operates through established men and women of God. Most do not even know they are acting under its influence. This spirit tries to distort a genuine move of God through deception, control, and manipulation. It operates out of religious structures and favors the traditions of men over a real intimate relationship with Jesus.
Paul confronted this issue when speaking to the Galatians. The church was trying to be made perfect through the flesh. He rebuked them and questioned their commitment to the Spirit above the Law (Galatians 3:1-5). Stephen was martyred for allowing the spirit of God to move through him. He had miracles happen and it was the religious leaders that not only questioned him but killed him. (Acts 6 & 7).
Jesus operated in direct conflict to this spirit.
a. He hung out with sinners
b. Met their needs
c. He prayed with them and gave them the Gospel
Jezebel
Jezebel hates the prophetic so much that it will literally try to kill the one operating in it. This spirit is very powerful because if it can destroy the prophetic then there is nothing standing in its way from complete control. The thing this spirit hates the most is anything that keeps it from total domination. Manipulation is its fuel and fear its friend. This spirit is associated with control. Let me make something clear. Not everyone that is controlling is operating under Jezebel. Some people just have a dominating personality. Use discernment. Don’t confuse personality with spiritual darkness. This spirit is also associated with seduction, manipulation, and rebellion to authority (especially male). This spirit can operate through men or women.
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in the history of the Bible. Immediately after gaining a great victory where God proved Himself as well as Elijah, he found himself running scared. On Mt. Carmel he killed 450 prophets of a false god, Baal. Now he cannot even face a woman that has threatened his life. He cries out to God and complains that he is the only one left and this woman is going to kill him. The key to understand is this. When the prophetic is at its greatest height it will face its greatest challenge. Elijah was still supposed to anoint another king to replace Jezebels husband Ahab. In the end the prophetic won. (I Kings 18-22).
New Age Movements
Many of the problems with the prophetic is that it has been closely related to new age teachings, including fortune-telling, palm reading, psychics, and Astrology.
Colossians 1:16 says: “For by Him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things have been created by Him for Him.”
Revelation 4:11 says: “Worthy are you Our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; For you did create all things and because of your will they existed and were created.”
Nothing that has ever been created has come from Satan. The Devil takes what is already in existence and perverts it into something impure and unrighteous. The things that people do for their own gratification or for profit are a form of something that is more real and more pure. The biggest problem is that sometimes the unrighteous get to the new things first so we classify it as not from God. God created us with a desire to know the future. The problem comes in when we seek any method other than His presence to discover the hidden things. It is dangerous and opens a door to the enemy to steal away our destiny.
Soulish Prophecy
Many times people prophecy out of information that they have already received or from a desire to give someone something they want to hear. This is not only damaging to the recipient of the word, it is dangerous to attach the name of God to something He did not say. Usually this will open a door to a Jezebel spirit. I have met so called Prophets who meet with the Pastor prior to a service just to gain information that they can use in the proceeding service. A person flowing in the prophetic can only allow the influence of the Holy Spirit to lead them.
