“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.””
Deuteronomy30:19-20NKJV
I am not here to refute any specific prophetic words about what is happening in our country, but want to give context to prophetic words spoken from a biblical perspective.
There are many of us that have received or heard prophetic words over our lives. This is true of many in the Bible, that their lives were spoken about prophetically. We know that God is sovereign and His word will not return to Him void. However, most of God’s word and promises are conditional. The only prophesy that has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled despite man or Satan is the prophesies of Jesus. Other prophetic words about our own lives is contingent on our faith, actions, and obedience to God’s word. We can nullify God’s promises and even His prophetic declarations over our lives.
There are some prophetic words that we will have to wait and see if they come to pass. For example, there are some prophesying that Trump will be President for the next four years and until January 20, 2021, we will not know for sure if these words were true or not, when the inauguration takes place.
If these prophetic words are proven to not come to pass, it does not mean that these were false prophets. Prophets know in part and prophesy in part. We are ultimately responsible for any prophetic word spoken over our lives by obeying God. Disobedience will nullify these words.
In Deuteronomy, God tells the children of Israel they have a choice to make – life or death. When we receive a prophetic word we still must make a choice. In Deuteronomy 28 God clearly explains what will happen if we obey Him (blessings) and what will happen if we disobey Him (curses). So if you receive a prophetic word choose life and obey God so that word will bear fruit. If you disobey God you will nullify that word and it will not bear fruit.
We have several examples in the Bible. Samson was chosen by God to judge the Israelites, but when Samson allowed his hair to be cut, the Lord departed from him. Eli was chosen as a prophet but his sons lived wickedly, so God chose another. King Saul was chosen and it was promised his family would reign, but King Saul disobeyed God, and God rejected Saul as King. King Solomon was told to obey God but he failed and Israel was divided. There are others who were chosen by God but did not experience the promises of God because of their disobedience.
It would be easy to label these men and women as false prophets but the word is given as seed form and we have to cultivate it. If we give a prophetic word to others let us encourage them to obey God and move in faith. We should also bring correction to them and remind them of the word spoken over their lives. Ultimately it is our choice to work out these words in our lives and experience the fruit of God’s promises.
Finally, if we are going to publicly declare a prophetic word from God let us make sure it aligns with the testimony about Jesus. The world desperately needs to hear the prophesies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Reflections 