Deuteronomy 13:1-3 NLTse (1) “Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, (2) and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’–gods you have not known before– (3) do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul.
We know there are true prophets as well as false. This past week a Pope announced his retirement. It took all of five minutes for all false prophets to rearrange their personal prophecies about this Pope which did not come to pass. Their self proclaimed calculations not found in the Bible once again proved to be false. Yet they insist they are still correct. Instead of turning to God’s Word, they invented new concepts to add to the Bible. What they are teaching is fear, and a separation of church and state which never existed in God’s Kingdom. These false prophets are unable to teach God’s from of government because they never established a relationship with God required to listen to His voice and direction.
Look at how Moses, the author of Deuteronomy led into chapter 13.
Deuteronomy 12:1-3 NLTse (1) “These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live. (2) “When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods–high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. (3) Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!
Look at what immediately follows the warning about false prophets.
Deuteronomy 13:4-5 NLTse (4) Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. (5) The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the LORD your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.
Look at the key thoughts. Obey his commands, false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray, they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who redeemed you from slavery. False prophets lead people back to slavery. How are we enslaved today? Are we enslaved by greed, record profits from oil, energy, other companies, and taxes?
Jesus died to reestablish our relationship with God. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:21-22 NLTse). When Jesus explained how to understand all parables, He introduced two categories. One shows how Satan takes away the seed, the other how seed grows and produces.
Mark 4:7 NLTse Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.
Mark 4:18-19 NLTse The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, (19) but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
Mark 4:8-9 NLTse Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (9) Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Mark 4:20 NLTse And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
All our relationships, events in life, decisions by others, and laws enacted fall into one or the other category. There are no gray areas. The solution is simple. God is giving all of us direction. He is not giving up on anyone. “This is what the LORD says–the LORD who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the LORD: (3) Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3 NLTse).
Part of the problem is, the world is used to viewing prophecy like a machine gun. Keep firing at high speed until a bullet hits a target. God does not operate like that at all. Prophecy is like a sharp shooter. It takes time, practice, patients, and an aid. A sharp shooter shots at targets out of their normal vision. To achieve their goals, they use special equipment. This is the Holy Spirit, capable of seeing things beyond our vision. Without the Spirit we are back to the hit and miss form of prophecy the world has come to love.
One condition to prophecy is to love God and His commandments. This requires individuals to draw close to God. To know God and stay in His Word. The enemy also wants to get close to us. As close as he can get. That is why the Bible refers to armor as our best protection. We have to be careful about long range prophecies. The enemy is close. Looking for long range weapons to battle the enemy with when he is already near is not what we need. Eve went into the enemies territory of her own free will. It is a lesson we should learn from.
When you make a prayer and conviction and it begins to twist and compromise within minutes, you know the enemy is already with you. We gave the enemy control over music, movies, news, media industries and the Internet all in the name of freedom of speech. Then we say we are not going let Satan into our homes. He is already there. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8 KJV).
How does the church deal with the problems we have today? Is it time to stop replying on the government to do things? How has the government taken this country down the drain? Not only here, but all over the world. The answer is clearly spelled out in the Bible.
People are used to seeing the country follow the way of the king. Look at Judah’s kings. As the king went, the country followed. David appointed priests and roles for the Levites. Solomon followed in his father’s footsteps. The world has been deceived into thinking the government is in position to control the church. People accept this as the natural order. But that is not true. At God’s direction Samuel anointed a king. When that didn’t work, Samuel was sent to anoint another. Why did God’s direct command to anoint kings stop with Samuel and David?
The church needs to relearn God’s order. God chooses leaders, anointed by the priest. Who did God choose as king the first time? A man convinced he was inadequate. When Samuel told Saul God chose him as king, Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?” (1 Samuel 9:21 NLTse).
Look at the second king, David. What did God tell Samuel? But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLTse).
We see another example in Daniel. God didn’t change Babylon’s government, but He did appoint Daniel in a top position.
We are at a point where prayer is a necessity. What is the next step? Where is God directing the church? Is God restoring the order? What is the first step?
What we need today is God’s return to government, which is on Jesus’ shoulders. Its time to put God back in charge of government. Some may argue separation of church and state. Everyone has freedom to worship as they believe, but the government must be run under God’s guidance and law. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 KJV).
What is the churches role in government?
What is the intent of separation of church and state?
What is God’s order for the changes that need to take place?
God’s order of government is simple. God and everyone else. God gave His Kingdom to Jesus, servant of all. People confused the perfect order. At first the order changed to God, Moses, the people. When people turned down God’s offer to be a kingdom of priests, the order became, God, Moses, Aaron, people. Then they asked for a king. The order became, God, Samuel, Saul, people. Saul disobeyed and changed the order to Saul, the people. Saul eliminated Samuel and God. It was the beginning of a slow change. David changed the order to God, king, priests, people. Other kings were satisfied with the order king, people. Today’s democracy changed the order to government, people, eliminating church and God. What steps do we need to follow and get the world back to the proper order, God, people. Where does the church and government fit into the proper order in this world? What is the proper order in our day? Do we lead the government back to God, or do we first lead the churches back to God, and reestablish the church’s role as the as God’s messenger?
Samuel's School of the Prophets 