Prophetic word by Prophet Glenice Mills, Australian Coordinator for Women’s Apostolic Alliance
After searching through my folders I came upon this prophetic word I wrote in October of 2017 and felt it was applicable for now.
I’ve been thinking about the prophets. God is raising up His prophets in this hour with the clarion call of His heart. We live in exciting times where we are witnessing the coming together of the apostolic alongside the prophetic. This is and must bring adjustment and change to how and what the prophets speak. The prophet’s words will carry greater weight because the apostles bring a dynamic that empowers the prophet to speak from a depth not seen before. It is a depth of revelation so profound that God’s people will know it is a word from the throne room of God.
We know from recent times that the prophetic came first, and now we have the apostolic, however we daren’t miss the prophets’ voice, and think only the apostles speak.
This has been a problem throughout church history where we have majored on one aspect of the Lord at the expense of another. Yes we are seeing the unfolding of the apostolic with the apostles taking their rightful place in the body of Christ. However, we need to be very careful that this is not at the expense of the prophet.
The apostles must have an understanding and love for the prophet so that together they will do all God requires in this hour. The apostles cannot bypass the prophets because of past bad experience with them. As the apostles and prophets come together we will see reformation, change in culture, and the coming back to God’s ways in a greater measure. This will only come about through difficult times. It won’t be in the ‘good times’. History shows this.
I’ve been thinking about Agabus. He is a type of the prophets that are for this hour. He is the first mention of the gift of prophecy found in Acts. This has significance. There are some important things we can learn from Agabus that will be more applicable for coming times.
Agabus is mentioned twice in Scripture. It is believed he was one of the seventy disciples of Jesus.
We first find Agabus mentioned in Acts 11:28.
And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Agabus was well regarded by all who knew him. They recognized him as a prophet and believed the words he spoke. When Agabus foretold there would be a famine, this enabled the disciples to plan to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. Agabus’s words came to pass.
We see Agabus appear in Scripture bringing a word to Paul fifteen years later. This time Agabus used powerful symbolic action along with his word.
Acts 21:10-14
And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” So when we would be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”
Agabus came at a significant time for the apostle Paul. Agabus’ word was directional and I believe confirmed to Paul what he felt the Lord was saying to him about going to Jerusalem. The symbolism of Agabus actions would have been very powerful to Paul and those with him. The word was difficult for the others with Paul to come to terms with, however without the word they could have been a stumbling block to Paul fulfilling what God required of him. They came to accept Agabus’ word.
I wonder, did Agabus speak prophetic words during the fifteen years between speaking to Paul the first and the second time?
Scripture doesn’t say, however he was a man of good reputation whose prophetic words were known to be accurate.
So if we relate this to today how would an accurate prophet who spoke such hard words be received in this day and age? Imagine if a well-known prophet spoke a word that said famine was coming throughout the world, or a weighty word foretelling destruction. How would the body of Christ react to such a word of warning?
1. Even if the prophet had credibility would their reputation be questioned?
2. Would they be told that the word is not a very encouraging, exhorting, comforting word? Would the word be dismissed as having no importance?
3. Would the prophet be told it’s not a very loving word, and they do not believe God would speak like this?
4. Would many go into great warfare praying and declaring the destruction would not come even though it has been prophesied. God’s Kingdom purposes will prevail. Prayer and warfare can limit the drastic effects however if God has a purpose then who are we to tell God what we think should or should not be done?
Yes it is right that prophecy should exhort, edify and comfort, Scripture tells us this. There is a time and place for this. However, we should not camp at speaking these words only. As prophets grow in maturity their words will carry great weight in the Spirit.
Now is the time that prophets like Agabus are and will speak confronting words of warning, correction and challenge that will bring separation between those who only want to receive the ‘nice’ words and those who know that God is speaking warning.
Let’s be prepared and willing to receive the words from Agabus type prophets.
Glenice Mills
