THE EYE AND THE EAR GATE.

Using objects in prophecy is a powerful yet simple way to prophesy. It makes use of both the ear and the eye gate. This makes it much easier for the person receiving the word to remember the word, and often gives them a greater understanding of the word. This is like the Microsoft program 'Powerpoint' that is used to display information during business presentations. Why is this program so popular? Because people can both see and hear the presentation making it easier to grasp and remember what has been said. Using objects in prophecy is a basic form of prophetic symbolism.

USING OBJECTS PROPHETICALLY IN SCRIPTURE.

There are numerous examples of both the Old and New Testament prophets using everyday objects to display and share something of the Lord's heart to His people.

In 1 Samuel 15:27-29 we see the prophet Samuel using an incident with King Saul to release a prophetic word. Saul had disobeyed the word of the Lord, and after a brief discussion with the king, the prophet turned to leave. Saul reached out to grab Samuel, tearing the hem of his garment. Samuel used this simple act to give this word:

'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else - someone who is better than you'.

Samuel used a torn piece of cloth; a simple everyday object, as a prophetic symbol of how the Lord was stripping the kingship from Saul. This took on greater significance later on in 1 Samuel 24. Saul went into a cave to relieve himself and chose the very cave where David and his mighty men were hiding. Saul was totally unarmed in a cave full of great warriors. The mighty men told David that this was his chance to kill Saul and take the throne for himself. David, however, showed the quality of his character by sneaking up on Saul and cutting a piece off the kings garment. After Saul left the cave and was a safe distance away, David came out to speak to Saul and what did he have in his hand? A piece of torn garment - the very same symbol that the Lord had used through Samuel to display the loss of Sauls kingship. Saul saw the symbolism immediately and echoed the very words of Samuel, saying that David would be king and that he was a better man than him.

Ezekiel used a lot of prophetic symbolism in his prophecies. Some are simple and easy to understand, whereas others are complex and difficult to comprehend. I love Ezekiel 37. This is the story of the dry bones; what a great passage of the bible! However, after the story of the dry bones there is another prophecy in this chapter. Ezekiel is called to take a broken stick and before the people he is to rejoin the sticks in his hand. This common object, a broken stick, was used to prophesy about how the Lord would bring together the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah and how they would become one nation in His hands.

Probably the most famous example of an everyday object being used in prophecy in the Old Testament is the story of Jeremiah at the potters house in Jeremiah 18. The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the potters house and He would speak to him there. Jeremiah obeyed, and as he watched the potter at work, the Lord gave Jeremiah an amazing word about His people being the clay, and the Lord Himself being the potter.

In the New Testament there are also examples of prophets using everyday objects to help share a prophetic word. In Acts 21:10-14 we see the prophet Agabus in action. He took the Apostle Pauls belt (thankfully Pauls pants didn't fall down!) and he took the belt and bound his own hands with it. He then prophesied that in such a way the leaders in Jerusalem would bind Paul and hand him over to the Gentiles. Interestingly, despite the warning Paul still went to Jerusalem and was bound over and eventually sent to Rome where he was martyred. Even though Paul had received a warning, he obviously felt strongly that this was the Lord's plan for his life despite the high price that he would have to pay in Jerusalem and beyond.

FIRST PEOPLES PROPHETIC GIFT GIVING.

As many of you know, I do some ministry amongst the First Peoples of Canada. It has been a real blessing and a priviledge to see the Lord moving powerfully amongst our First Nations brothers and sisters. They truly are a prophetic people, whom I love dearly. I have learnt so much from them. One of the most powerful things that First Peoples do is give 'Protocol Gifts'. These are gifts that are given as a way of displaying honour. If a First Peoples believer sees gifting, or character, or wants to show honour to someone in a position of authority, they will bless that person with a gift. This is almost always prophetic, as they have a reason for giving the gift.

In the Spring of 2009 I was at a First Peoples Summit in Ottawa and numerous protocol gifts were given. There was a messianic Jew there who was a worship leader. He had blessed the First Peoples many times through his ministry, so they wanted to bless and honour him. To do this they had bought him a new keyboard. This was no ordinary Walmart special; this was the best and the most expensive keyboard they could find. It was a huge keyboard. I could have slept in the flight case! This man's eyes lit up when he saw the extravagance of the gift.

We have all heard the term 'Indian Giver'. This is not true of the First Peoples culture. They are very much a giving people. The 'Indian Giver' label is a curse that the enemy has tried to put on the First Peoples. I believe that the understanding of honour that they display in their culture and the giving of protocol gifts is something that the Lord could use to release enormous blessing in our nation, and the enemy fears this. Could it be that the spirit of poverty that hangs over the First People is also part of the enemies plan to hinder their ability to give protocol gifts?

I was given a protocol gift at the conference. I was amazed at the freedom in worship amongst the First Peoples. I told them that I was a reserved Englishman, but was blessed to see them so free in praise and worship. They laughed and said that I would be set free to worship at the conference too. Sure enough this happened. One of the Cree believers wanted to dance, and so she handed me her drum to play while we worshiped. As I beat the drum something changed in me and I was set free! By the end of the conference I was even dancing; so much for the reserved Englishman label! To show honour to me I was given a drum as a protocol gift. I was told that 'I am a drummer', and the drum has words of worship written on it as they said I am worshiper. The drum also has an eagle painted on the front of it. They said this is because I am prophetic, and have the spiritual eyesight of the eagle, and that I will cry out for their people with a cry like the eagle that breaks open the skies. It has leaves painted around the edge of it because I will release words of healing as the 'leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations'. What a wonderful gift and what a powerful prophetic symbol. Everytime I play my drum I'm reminded of the words spoken over me when I received it.

GIVING PROTOCOL GIFTS IN THE CHURCH.

Having seen and personally experienced the power of giving protocol gifts prophetically, I wanted to bring this into the 'white' church in Canada. It's such a powerful way to prophesy, and the gift helps the person remember the prophetic word. Giving the gift publicly bestows dignity and honour on the individual and can break the curses and lies of the enemy in certain situations, and can release the Lord's healing. Since my time in Ottawa if I am invited to minister at a church I seek the Lord for a protocol gift to give. As I shop and look in the flyers I am open and expecting something to jump out at me as the Lord reveals to me a gift I should honour someone with.

Recently at a church in Tappen I gave the Pastor there a Swiss Army knife as a protocol gift along with a prophetic word. In my own fellowship I gave a young person a book as I had seen the teaching gift that she carries. In Ashton Creek I gave some good friends some candles along with a prophetic word. Each gift came with a prophetic word that was related to the gift. There is always a prophetic aspect to the giving of protocol gifts.

HONOUR IS THE KEY.

The key to protocol gifts is to give them not only with a prophecy but also with a heart to honour the person. We live in a society that lacks honour. Leaders are treated with contempt and are rarely respected. How many of us criticised our pastor this week? Or the Government? Or some other person in authority? This is not God's way. We're called to honour one another.

1 Peter 2:17 'Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king'.

Romans 12:10 'Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring people'.

It really is a delight to see someone touched deeply when they receive a protocol gift.

If you still have any doubts about how much the Lord desires us to give honour to others, consider the Lord Himself. In 1 Samuel 2:10 the Lord said this through the prophet:

'I will honour those who honour me'.

The Lord Himself desires to honour certain people, and we should do likewise. This past Sunday at my home church Ken Mather shared on the 'Holy Spirit'. Before he spoke, I prayed that he would carry the heart of the Father and the Son as they want to honour the Holy Spirit. After he had spoken, I felt the Lord saying that He wanted to honour Ken as he had honoured the Spirit. So I publicly gave Ken a word honouring him as one who had faithfully shared the truth of God's word to us for a number of years, and he has given us, as a church, a love and a passion for the written word. For this the Lord wanted to honour him, as 'the Lord honours those who honour him'. After I had spoken over Ken, the whole church clapped. Giving honour is almost always a corporate act. As you speak honour you're expressing the hearts of others for the person as well. It is very powerful. It's as if the whole church comes alongside you as you speak, as they too desire to show honour to the person.

INTERPRETATION.

So you see an object that reminds you of someone, or you have a protocol gift to give along with a heart full of honour. The next step is to get an interpretation to go along with the object. The key verse for this is found in Jeremiah 1:11. This is the very first word that the Prophet Jeremiah received as he had a vision of an almond tree. The Lord asked Jeremiah 'Tell me what you see'. As Jeremiah spoke what he saw, the prophetic began to flow and the Lord gave him a word.

Always start with what you know, and expect the prophecy to flow. What you see in an object may be different to what others see in it. This is not wrong; we all see things from a different perspective. I would never have got the same word as Jeremiah did after seeing the almond tree. An almond tree meant something different to him, and the Lord used his perception of the almond tree as a starting point for a prophecy.

Recently I was at a valley-wide intercessors gathering and I had the great honour to pray for a team of intercessors from Kamloops. As I waited to pray, someone else started prophesying over them, and they used the word 'keys'. This hit me in my spirit, and I felt like the Lord wanted me to prophesy over them using my ring of keys. So when the time came I took the first key on the ring and said 'This is the key for my van. It can safely and comfortably transport a good number of people. The Lord says He is calling you to lead this team and take them to new places for Him. My van is a Dodge, and the Lord says you'll dodge all of the pitfalls that the enemy has put in your path as you lead this team in the things of God'. Then I went to the next person, and looked at the next key on the ring and said 'This is the key to my wife's car. It burns more oil than the Holy Spirit at a Pentecostal Revival Meeting! When it needs more oil, I just pour more in. The Lord is saying don't be afraid to pray for others. You will always have something to give, when it seems like you're running out of oil the Lord Himself will pour more in and you're going to leave a cloud of His glory wherever you go!'. In this way I went and prophesied over 6 or 7 people and used each key on my keyring as a starting point. In each case I started by speaking out what I knew and then the gift of prophecy began to flow. Afterwards the Kamloops people said that I had 'read their mail' - all with the Lord's help and a ring of keys!

IN CONCLUSION.

Using objects prophetically is a powerful, biblical way to prophesy. It has impact as it uses both the ear and the eye gate, and the use of an object helps the person remember the word more easily. We can give prophetic protocol gifts to show honour and respect for others as we speak over them. We can interpret our gift or object by speaking out what we know and see, and then expect the prophecy to flow.

MORE PROPHETIC GROUP TEACHINGS    PROPHETIC GROUP MAIN PAGE