Ahab began to rule northern Israel 852 years before Christ was born. He married a pagan princess from Sidon named Jezebel. After their wedding, He built a beautiful temple to her pagan gods. Their goal was to turn God’s people into pagans. They legislated on behalf of those who rejected God, and persecuted God’s loyal people.
Did Ahab and Jezebel succeed in canceling faith in God? Did they cut out the tongue of God as Mao Zedong, the father of communism in China, once vowed to do? No, they failed. And so will every government that takes up arms against God.
God sat in heaven and laughed at Ahab and Jezebel’s scheme to dethrone Him. God was not going to abdicate His throne to such a filthy and vulgar couple. It is just that for God a thousand years is as a day. In due season, they would perish. [2]
Proud people do not intimidate God. God told the empire of Edom that though they made their nest in the stars He would bring them down from there. No nation’s wealth, weapons or technological advances can cancel God. “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.” [3]
Elijah and seven thousand others refused to bow their knees to the pagan gods of Ahab and Jezebel. By God’s Spirit and Word they defied the dark overlords of their day. They got used to being labeled as outlaws. As being politically incorrect! “An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.” [4]
Elijah and his fellow prophets continued to honor God. They obeyed God amid mockers. They did not compromise with compromisers. They kept serving God when the majority of the people in their nation focused on serving themselves.
Ahab and Jezebel wanted God’s servants dead. So, God’s people gathered in obscure places to avoid being arrested. Obadiah told Elijah that he hid one hundred prophets in caves to spare them from being killed by Ahab and Jezebel. Can you imagine incurring that kind of stress to talk about God? [5]
While in China, we met with believers at night. We often changed our meeting venue to avoid being arrested. We never advertised in print the time or address of our services. That information was shared by word of mouth sometimes just hours prior to the meeting’s start time. Each meeting had the potential to be our last. Some of us might not be seen again. Our phones were bugged. Agents followed us. Officials visited us for the purpose of information gathering. We had to learn how to tell the truth, but not the whole truth to protect one another. Our primary objective was to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The ministry of Elijah and his fellow prophets still exists. Not in the sense of writing new books of the Bible. Jesus said, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” [6] The prophetic ministry exists as a gift of the Holy Spirit to bring forth messages of God that are relevant to people’s navigational needs to hear from God.
Peter told a crowd of thousands from all over the world: “It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maid servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” [7]
The gift of prophecy is mentioned in multiple places in the New Testament. God says to us, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” God says to us, “He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” The word “edify” here means to build up. I enjoy being around people who move in the gift of prophecy. I know they make God happy because He says, “Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy.” [8]
When Jesus spoke to the seven churches of Asia Minor, He said to them, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Prophecy is hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches. [9]
Don’t be afraid to receive the gift of prophecy. Moses and Jeremiah expressed their concerns about it to God, but God told them that He would be with them. Prophecy is an unmerited gift of God’s grace that operates in people via the indwelling Holy Spirit. Moses murdered a man and yet is considered one of the greatest prophets that ever existed. David murdered an innocent man and committed adultery, yet Peter declared David to be a prophet of God. David even prophesied of Jesus when he wrote that the Messiah’s hands and feet would be pierced. Isaiah said that he was a man of unclean lips, but God touched his lips and helped him to prophesy of the coming Messiah with incredible accuracy. James wrote of Elijah saying: “Elijah was a man of like passion with us...” If God had to wait until someone was perfect before He could use him, His work would never get done. [10]
Don’t fear what people will say. Once, God took of the Spirit that was on Moses and laid it on seventy others and they began to prophesy. Two of the seventy were elsewhere when the Spirit fell, but they still prophesied. When Joshua saw these two men prophesying, he reported them to Moses. Joshua got on Moses’ case, and said, “’Moses my lord, forbid them!’ But Moses said to him, ‘Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!’” [11]
The New Testament speaks of prophets in multiple passages. Philip the Evangelist had four daughters who prophesied. The harlot Babylon persecutes God’s prophets until Christ returns. The Lord wants people to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Prophets are a tremendous band of Word warriors. During the end times, the beast kills two prophets and leaves their dead bodies in the streets for the world to see, but God raises them back to life while everyone is watching. [12]
Now, is the time to pursue the prophetic mantle just as Elisha pursued it. [13]
Before the Holy Spirit filled them, the followers of Christ remained in an upper room steadfastly praying for the promise of the Father. Are we waiting for the promise of the Father? If not, why not? The devil is leading so many people astray from God. Are we going to let him win without a fight?
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down of strongholds. With them we defeat arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And with them we bring every thought into captivity to obey Christ. The battle for the minds of people must be won. [14]
The prophetic mantle empowers God’s people to overcome the lies of the enemy. To be focused on the author and finisher of our faith Jesus Christ. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. [15] God is able to accomplish by His Word and Spirit what we cannot.
So are you ready for a fresh anointing of God’s Holy Spirit? Lift up your hands! Open your mouth! Be an empty cup before Him. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesy!
[1] 1 Kings 18:4
[2] Psalm 2:4; 2 Peter 3:8
[3] Obadiah 1:4; Isaiah 40:15
[4] 1 Kings 19:18; Proverbs 29:27
[5] 1 Kings 18:4
[6] Revelation 22:18-19
[7] Acts 2:17:18
[8] Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 13:1; 14:1–4, 39
[9] Revelation 2-3
[10] Exodus 4:10; Jeremiah 1:6; Acts 2:39-40; Psalm 22:16; Isaiah 6:5; James 5:17
[11] Numbers 11:25, 28-29
[12] Acts 11:27; 13:1; 15:32; 21:10; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:3, 13, 22; 11:7-12; 18:20
[13] 2 Kings 2:1-12
[14] 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
[15] Revelation 19:10
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