Dangerous Reaction

I was praying and felt the Lord give me a warning for His bride.

I saw a ship cruising at a quick/efficient speed. The ship had a handful of seats at its front, overlooking the foreword progress. Saws (blades) were affixed to the ship’s main mast; their purpose was to sever tethers that were suspended over the ocean. This was the ship’s purpose. As I kept watching it soon became apparent that the blades along the ship’s mast were not being guided accurately, and that the tethers would soon entangle the ship to point of rendering it immobile. This happened; the ship became hopelessly entangled, and all forward momentum was stopped.

Pondering this, I wondered why the ship was not able to accurately position/guide its main purpose. I then saw, transposed above the ship, a Bald Headed Eagle, but it was struck by lightning.

Here is how I interpret this.

The ship symbolizes a ministry. Its quick speed reveals that the ministry was making efficient progress, most likely succeeding within its ministry. Initially, it was effectively achieving its purpose by severing the suspended cords/tethers. The handful of seats at the ship’s forefront shows that the ministry’s leadership team was relatively united. It wasn’t a one man show; they had a decent team effort, probably within the Five-Fold-Ministry. Though, they no longer had an eagle, or prophet. The result was failure.

Why was an eagle struck by lightning above the ship? The ministry was most likely in relationship with a prophet in the past. The prophet, then, either fell morally or actually physically died. The ministry did not align itself with another prophet in time, resulting in the loss of all forward momentum.

I gleaned a few main points with this vision.

First, the necessity of prophets to help council and guide ministries, ministries will fail from short-sightedness without them.

Secondly, prophets can, and most likely will to some degree, fail or stumble at some point in their ministries. Some failures can be easily rectified, yet others can be quite devastating to a ministry. As with every minister, prophets need accountability and wise council too. They aren’t infallible.

Lastly, despite the struggles and hardships produced by prophets who make mistakes, and potentially lead people astray, their ministry role is vital to the Lord’s body. God has stationed His prophets as pivotal voices in the past, and He has stationed them as pivotal voices in the present (Ephesians chapter 4; 1 Cor. Chapter 12).

In these last days there will be many voices claiming to speak prophetically for God, but are not of Him and will lead many people astray. In Matthew 24:5 Jesus said that “many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many”. Christ means ‘anointed’. So basically, people will claim to be anointed and proceed to lead many people astray. With this said, it is vitally important to not blindly receive or accept someone as a prophet simply because they claim to be anointed, or even are anointed to some degree. If we are plugged into the community of Christ’s body, then we will be surrounded by many trustworthy, wise, discerning people who can keep us on track and balanced with our personal walks.

If the unfortunate circumstance happens where some are led astray for a time by false prophecies, then it is vitally important to not react by this sour experience and divorce from the prophetic ministry all together. Despite the pain and disillusionment produced by man’s problems let’s not forsake God’s ordained structure for His body.

The Prophet Contrasted with the Prophetic

There is a difference between being prophetic and being a prophet. Paul says in 1 Cor. 4:1 that everyone should desire to prophesy. I interpret this as meaning that everyone has the potential to prophesy. A prophet is different. The prophet is one of the five-fold-ministry callings. Paul says in Ephesians chapter four that the prophet is a gift from God to men. A prophet is commonly depicted as an eagle mainly because they can see great distances. I feel that God showed me an analogy distinguishing the prophet from the prophetic. I feel that He showed me that as a chicken can jump decently high and float for an extended moment that this is comparable to the prophetic. The distance that a chicken can jump, and the length of time they can stay afloat is equivalent to their ability to catch glimpses into the prophetic realm. They may see accurately the things that are within their vision’s range, and their vision will effectively minister to those that are within their sphere of influence. However, they will never see with the clarity and vision of an eagle. An eagle literally lives in the heavens. When they aren’t flying at great heights, they are resting in their nest which is also at great heights.

I feel that God showed me without the partnership of the eagle that ministries won’t survive these coming days. Some ministries may feel that they have a strong grasp on the prophetic, and they very well may. Though, in order to survive the coming crises they will need an eagle’s vision. Without the eagle they won’t be prepared for the drastic worldwide changes that are quickly approaching, and the result will be catastrophic.

In 1 Cor. Chapter 12 Paul strongly encourages the bride to embrace the various members of the body. I believe that in this illustration the prophet represents the body’s eyes, and we will need their vision in the coming months and years.