From a recent Internet Newsgroup Discussion...
The following was recently forwarded from Bridges for Peace in Jerusalem to dozens of private and public email lists:
PRAYER ALERT! Terrorism in Israel this week
A member of a "Prayer for Israel" group in Vancouver, Canada has had a very clear word from the Lord that there is to be a major act of terrorism on Yom Ha'atzmaut (which could be either Thursday or Friday).
There was something about "3"--whether 3 suicide bombers in one place or three separate events we don't know. We feel we must do three things to counteract this.
#1. Notify friends in Israel to be very, very careful and don't go anywhere or do anything without praying about it first.
#2. Contact everyone we know who prays for Israel to encourage a tidal wave of prayer for the safety of all Israelis and tourists. We who are on Pacific Time must be sure to pray on Wednesday because Israel is ten hours ahead of us.
#3. Remind everyone in both groups that such things are averted through prayer. When God spoke an unconditional judgment against the Israelites in the wilderness, Moses interceded and God immediately forgave them. Ezekiel taught us to "stand in the gap". Let us be faithful watchmen, praying unceasingly and giving God no rest.
P.S. xxx: The leader of this group is a dear friend and she and her prayer group are serious intercessors for Israel. We too sense the need for such worldwide prayer and are therefore calling upon you to join us in this wall of prayer.
A Response by Uri Marcus in Jerusalem
Having now lived in Israel for the past 16 years, and having been a member of the Body of Yeshua the Messiah for 26 years, all the while witnessing these false prophesies as they come and go, and never seeing anyone do anything about it, I think that it is time to stand up and cry out...
"STOP THIS EVIL NONSENSE, REPENT AND RETURN TO YOUR TORAH, FOR THE ALMIGHTY G-D, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, BLESSED BE HE, WILL COME UPON THE EARTH SOON AND HE HAS DECLARED THAT HE SHALL JUDGE THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH FIRST!"
He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: (Mismor [Psalms] 50:4).
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. (1 Cor 11:31).
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of G-d; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of G-d? (1 Peter 4:17).
Is there no fear of G-d amongst you? Is there no one in your midst who can spiritually discern these things? Is there no one who has understanding? Is it so difficult to test these prophecies, as Scripture requires, before they are aired publicly or passed on?
Having a zeal for Israel and a concern for her welfare does not give license to sound false alarms or speak presumptuously in the name of G-d. Someone must stand up and cry out against these actions because the Torah itself cries out against them. There is sin in the congregation, and someone needs to alert us, that we might not all be judged. Would that more of you share this alarming concern.
Who am I to speak up? I am no one special. Only a member of the Body of Mashiach, living in Jerusalem, and that should be enough to ask for your attention to these matters.
Of course, I expect that many of you will write and criticize me for speaking out against these things. Yet how many of you would bother to write against the false prophets in our midst, and help purge their sin from amongst us! Those who disseminate such false prophecies will no doubt continue to do so openly and without embarrassment, thinking themselves to be spiritual, and yet, they heed not the severe warnings of judgment in store for those who would speak presumptuously in the name of the Lord.
Simply study the prophesy issued above, in the 27 April message. They assign their feelings, intuitions and political guess-work as having the same authority as words that come from the very Mouth of G-d, and yet no such authority has or can be established for this false prophecy.
In so doing, do they not realize the damage they cause to the Body of Yeshua? They turn true Prophecy along with the Holy Office of Prophet into nothing more than a pit-stop at a 7-11 store on the way to visiting the Oracles at Delphi.
Dabbling in political predictions which they do not understand, and sprinkling them with a dash of Scripture, they end up playing with our lives and with the lives of our children who live in Eretz Israel, hoping that they can somehow add to their own spiritual stature and appearance.
In the meantime, their prophecies remain untested, unproven and unfulfilled. They employ tricks that the ancients Hellenists discovered long before them, which render them fail-safe. If the attack spoken of had, G-d forbid, taken place, they would have said, "we didn't pray enough." But, since the attack DID NOT take place, they will undoubtedly say, "our prayers must have averted the evil decree." Yet they have no proof of either case.
"A very clear word from the Lord."
Take a look for yourselves once again, and learn the signs of the false prophecy.
A member of a "Prayer for Israel" group in Vancouver, Canada has had a very clear word from the Lord that there is to be a major act of terrorism on Yom Ha'atzmaut (which could be either Thursday or Friday).
"A very clear word," and "there is to be a major act of terrorism." Sounds pretty definite to me. How come it didn't take place? If our own security forces foiled the terrorist attempt, was G-d fooled by their ability to do so? Besides, have you ever known a word from G-d to be "unclear?"
With such a "clear word" one might think that G-d would reveal its timing to be far more specific than simply guessing that it "COULD be either Thursday or Friday." Yonah the Prophet, brought a very specific prophecy to the people of Nin'vey timed to the exact day! Such is what one would expect from the G-d we serve.
Yom Ha'atzma'ut, by the way, was celebrated in Israel ONLY from Wednesday evening until Thursday evening, last week. Friday was taken off by many, but not all workers, so that they could enjoy a longer weekend.
There was something about "3"--whether 3 suicide bombers in one place or three separate events we don't know.
There is "something about 3?" If the word from G-d was so clear, why was "3" so nebulous? Was there a radio transmission failure or was someone jamming G-d's signal? The Prophets of Israel were never so unsure of themselves or their prophecies.
We feel we must do three things to counteract this.
#1. Notify friends in Israel to be very, very careful and don't go anywhere or do anything without praying about it first.
Believe me, with this prophesy or without it, not a single day goes by where everyone of us is not already accustomed to praying before we "do anything or go anywhere" outside of our homes, because here, this is a way of life. There might be a terrorist attack tomorrow morning, and there might be one next week, though it is unlikely that G-d will grant some believer in Vancouver advance warning on our behalf. Instead, G-d has already warned us and continues to warn us, as He has done through-out the 4000 years of our history, that we must turn back to our Torah, to avert the evil decree. This is our ONLY hope.
#2. Contact everyone we know who prays for Israel to encourage a tidal wave of prayer for the safety of all Israelis and tourists.
This was the only good thing that was written in the message of 28 April. Instead of behaving like a false prophet, deserving a stoning, the person should have let his/her "yes" be "yes," and his/her "no" be "no" through-out the entire message. There is nothing wrong with stating concerns in manner worthy of a humble calling to serve the household of faith in this Land. Out of a genuine love and concern for us, perhaps we should be warned with what you THINK might occur. Instead of claiming that G-d says "there is to be a major act of terrorism", wouldn't it be better to say, "We are concerned due to the political situation, and we fear that there might be a major act of terrorism..."
#3. Remind everyone in both groups that such things are averted through prayer. When God spoke an unconditional judgement against the Israelites in the wilderness, Moses interceded and God immediately forgave them. Ezekiel taught us to "stand in the gap".
Where is it written in the Torah that "such things are averted through prayer?" Even if such a verse exists, all the Prophets and even Yeshua himself specify exactly who must be doing the praying in a situation like this. It is those who are offending, namely the Nation of Israel, who must pray in repentance.
By the way, in the case of Moshe, thousands died by the time Moshe's prayer was heard and the plagues stopped. It is true that Moshe did intercede for the people when they sinned and judgment came upon them. But they were also repentant. Israel today has not yet repented, and this is what your focus of prayer should be on our behalf, before it is too late.
Is the originator of this "prophesy" greater than Moshe Rabennu? Can his/her prayer avert the judgment that must come to pass upon all Israel, as the Prophets foretold, simply because of his/her intercession, but without the necessary ingredient of our repentance as a nation?
Yonah pronounced judgment upon Nin'vey, and yet Yonah DID NOT intercede. The only thing that averted the plan of G-d was Nin'vey's own repentance. Is this Vancouver "prophet" greater than Yonah? Is he/she more worthy than the people of Nin'vey, of whom it is written:
"and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth." (Yonah 3:5)
The writer of this message further states that, "Ezekiel taught us to "stand in the gap."" But what does he really teach? Let us correctly handle the Word of Truth:
Quoted is Ez 22:30, but when you backup to verse 28, and you find the real context, for which the Prophet writes. He, like many of us in Israel, is sick and tired of false prophets:
Her prophets whitewash these deeds [of wickedness] for them by false visions and lying divinations.
They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'
when the LORD has not spoken. The people of the Land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and ill-treat the alien, denying them justice. "I looked for a man among them [that is, one of Bnei Israel--the Children of Israel--living in the Land] who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the Land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD." (Ezekiel 22:28-31).
This paints a different picture, doesn't it? So, does Ye'hezke'el really teach that foreigners can intercede and repent in lieu of Israel's repentance so that disaster can be avoided? No, I don't think so. Pray? Yes! By all means. But pray for our national repentance, and quickly!
Let us be faithful watchmen, praying unceasingly and giving God no rest.
Faithful watchmen we need. But who is this person that assumes any man has the ability to give or withhold rest from G-d (as if He needs anyone's permission to take it)? Instead, you will need the rest yourself after you have finished making up for all the lost time that should have been spent listening to the true Prophets of the Almighty.
This message from April 27, though it may have been well-intentioned, has only backfired, and someone must be held accountable. Whoever wrote it unashamedly told us what we must do. But I have a better suggestion for them:
#1. Pray before the Holy One of Israel, that he might be merciful to forgive for speaking presumptuously in His Name about something that He DID NOT say.
#2. Pray that He would not bring destruction for prophesying an event that DID NOT take place. This false prophesy never contained any word from G-d that the event MIGHT NOT take place, if enough intercessors prayed against it.
#3. Act quickly and repent, so that His anger will not aroused against.
Some Objections Received by Uri Marcus, with Replies
Comment: A friend emailed your letter saying that some precious believers who have stood with Israel against many odds from all corners should be stoned.
Uri: I didn't say "precious believers who have stood with Israel should be stoned." I said, "Instead of behaving like a false prophet, deserving a stoning, the person should have let his/her "yes" be "yes," and his/her "no" be "no" throughout the entire message."
It should be clear enough that I was referring to the person who spoke and/or discriminated the false prophesy. Now, if someone has a problem with the type of punishment that is deserved here, perhaps they should take up their argument with G-d. He is the one who placed this judgment upon false prophets in the Torah. I didn't make this one up myself.
Comment: They KNOW the Lord and His love flows through them. Two of them spend 2 hours in prayer for Israel every night. Precious answers to prayer have taken place over the years. They have ministered God's love to Israeli believers... these precious believers have helped and blessed.
Uri: Unfortunately, you won't find anywhere in G-d's instructions that false prophets and false prophesies are to be excused because the prophet KNOWS the Lord, lets His love flow through him, spends hours in prayer every night, gets answers to his prayers, ministers G-d's love to Israeli believers, or has helped and blessed others.
In fact, just the opposite is the case. The Scripture promises that false prophets are going to come with all the glitter and glamour and spirituality we would expect from True Prophets. The only difference is that the false prophet's prophesy either won't come to pass, or his sign and wonder show will lead us to follow a G-d WE HAVE NOT KNOWN. (D'varim [Deut] 13 & 18).
Comment: I really am glad that prayer was raised up by their warnings. It might have taken that to remind people all over the world to pray.
Uri: In other words, the means justify the end. As long as we get people to pray for Israel, it really doesn't matter if they utter false prophesies or speak presumptuously in the name of the Lord, is that right?
You've got to be kidding? If G-d himself does not take this kind of activity lightly, why should we tolerate it, just because it gets people to pray for Israel? G-d can raise up prayer for Israel from the Pagans, if He wants to. Do you really think He would have members of the household of faith violate His own Torah, so that prayer can be generated?
Comment: ...we all might not put the right words on things, but, Uri, we most certainly can afford to be kind to each other.
Uri: You are definitely right on this. Kindness should never be sacrificed, but it should also never be given at the expense of obedience.
Words are everything. That is why Yeshua is called "The Word" in Jn 1:1 and why He said, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken." (Matthew 12:36) That is why there is such a high price put upon those who would presume to speak in the name of G-d, when in fact He did not speak.
How many times have you been misunderstood or misquoted in your life, by someone else who spoke in your name, presumptuously? It is a serious matter, and you know it. If we don't "put the right words on things" when writing an email, that is one thing. But if we fail to "put the right words on things" when we are directly quoting the Holy One of Israel, Blessed be He... that my friend, is a different matter. The later requires accountability and disciplinary measures.
Comment: The middle wall of partition has been broken down and we have been brought nigh to the Lord (see Eph 2:12). We are no longer strangers in that sense. We are in the same family.
Uri: You are correct. You who were once far off, and who previously had no knowledge of the Holy One of Israel, now have been made citizens of the commonwealth of Israel. It is now upon you to learn about the G-d whom you now serve, His requirements and His instructions. You can't just take His salvation and then go on living just as you have always lived. You must take upon yourself the lifestyle and the rules that govern the Family into which you have been adopted by faith.
Comment: Please forgive us if we don't use the right terms always.
Uri: It is not to me that you must ask forgiveness. It is not me who has been offended. Anyone who falsely prophesies, or even heeds or defends these false messengers, must ask Hashem for His forgiveness.
Comment: Be careful who you are calling false prophets for you are talking to people who have already paid a very high price to be obedient to the Lord in standing for Israel.
Uri: What price? Have they YET shed their blood? Did they loose a couple friends? Has their family ostracized them? They're still breathing, aren't they? If so, they should take a good look at D'varim [Deut] 13:6-8. The text says that even "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him."
This is the Word of G-d! I didn't invent it. According to this passage, these people who pass on false messages from a god I have not known are to be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly, so that this evil will not spread in the congregation. Even if this person turns out to be your very own wife whom you love!
It would seem to me that today, the very least we can do is hold these people to accountability and/or subject them to disciplinary action so as to prevent such offenses from happening again.
But look at us. We make up every excuse in the book to justify them, and to be kind to these people and to forgive them, and let them off the hook, not holding them accountable or subjecting them to scrutiny, the Word of G-d or discipline. And all of this is at the expense of obedience to G-d's instructions, because after all, they have paid such a high price for their own false spirituality.
We would do well, to read our Bible again, and better understand that G-d does not change, nor does He lie, like a man. He is the same today, and He will judge the same tomorrow, and though Yeshua has paid the price for our sins, we of the household of faith shall not all fare so well on the Day of Judgment.
Comment: Please, Uri, go to the Lord with this before you answer. Ask him if you should cut yourself off from us who are praying much for you.
Uri: I never asked you to stop praying. But if the price of receiving your prayers is that I must listen to false utterances and heed the warnings of false prophets, well... as for me and my household, we shall serve the LORD. It is you who cut yourself off from the Root. Be careful. "You stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if G-d did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either."
Comment: These precious believers are not false prophets. They might have got excited and even garbled their words, but...
Uri:
"But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. (D'varim [Deut] 18:19-22).
To my knowledge, G-d never introduced some sort of 'error factor' for Prophets in the Post New Testament age.
Comment: they did raise up lots of prayer and spent many hours in prayer themselves.
Uri: So what? G-d doesn't need to send ANY false prophet to anyone to get them to pray for Jerusalem daily...This has already been commanded, and all we had to do is be obedient to His word. Besides, obedience is far better than spending hours in prayer for Israel, if one has to choose.
In addition, the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is the One who draws us into prayer. I wasn't aware that mere humans could "raise up" prayer, unless prayer has now become yet another 'social activity'.
Comment: "...And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for [the Messiah's] sake has forgiven you..." Eph 4:32
Uri: Please quote in context. Read the verses both in front of, and after those which you quoted. G-d forgives when we turn from our evil ways and repent!
"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."
[I found that such sensationalistic warnings as were issued in the false prophesy in discussion, tended to promote fear and not faith or edification in the recipients.]
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of G-d, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of G-d, as dear children; And walk in love, as Messiah also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to G-d for a sweet smelling savor.
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints." (Ephesians 4:26-5:3).
Some Prophet-able Thoughts
by Elazar Brandt
It is hard to see in the original prophetic message released, anything other than a false prophecy, and I don't throw that term around lightly.
This message gave no clear details. In fact, it did quite the opposite. A warning about a terrorist act which "could be Thursday or Friday" and has "something to do with '3'" is hardly a clear word. These "details" added nothing to the message.
In addition, my friends in California who are already concerned enough about me had the added anguish of a feigned prophecy telling of an attack out where they knew I was sure to be. I rather resent such grandstanding darkening my or my friends' celebration of Israel's Jubilee--and that in the name of the L-rd.
Had the originator of this message been a true prophet, he should have contacted Prime Minister Netanyahu or Chief Rabbi Lau or some other such person in authority in Israel and told it to them, subjecting the word to public scrutiny, as the biblical Prophets did. Furthermore, the person delivering the alleged word ought to have put his or her name with it, as the biblical Prophets did. We know from scripture that prophecy is not a private matter. The "prophet" must be subject to the scrutiny of the leaders of the people, and take the consequences that go with his office. Whoever does not have the stomach for that is no Prophet. Whatever may have happened in the safety of a prayer meeting and got passed around anonymously by email to believers who are already too gullible hardly stands in the tradition of biblical prophecy.
Appropriate disciplinary action should be taken (no I don't mean stoning) to warn our people that false prophecies and spiritual grandstanding in the name of the L-rd will not be tolerated among us. It only makes us look like idiots in the eyes of Israel and the world, and fosters fear and superstition among the "believers". At the least, I would expect to see a statement of (and evidence of) repentance issued from the source of this "word", in the name of the person who gave it, and distributed along the same paths that the original message went.
It is a serious business, attaching the name of the L-rd to a message that He did not speak. This is especially true when the transgression is of a public nature, as this one certainly was.
Can we afford to be wrong when it comes to false prophecy? This person's response is typical of the cheap grace approach that too many believers take nowadays to serving G-d. What, if their intentions were good, and they do other good things, then it is OK for them to publicly propagate false prophecies? This was not an over-zealous jumbling of words or using incorrect terminology. They gave a "clear word from the L-rd", and it did not come to pass. Which of those graduate school of theology terms did they not understand? The Bible warns us against our zeal leading us into sin where the gifts and ministries of the Spirit are concerned. This is what the letter to the Corinthians was about.
One person who objected to calling attention to this false prophesy alleged that the propagators "KNOW the L-rd". Pardon my Yiddish, but who is he to make this determination. He can cite testimony, but passing judgment in such matters is for the One who knows the hearts of people. One might argue that, if they are giving false prophecies, then they DO NOT know the L-rd, for they are presuming to speak in His name. Perhaps these people who pray 2 hours nightly and give to the poor are like those Pharisees who fast twice a week and are "wonderful people". Or perhaps they are like those who knock at the door on the last day saying, "L-rd, open to us; we did many wonderful things in your name." To which He replies, depart from me you lawless people (who act contrary to the Torah), I never KNEW you". A person's works--even miraculous ones--are no guarantee that they know the L-rd.
What is most disappointing in this whole episode, is that everywhere it is apparent that there is no sense of repentance or wrongdoing. Not even the possibility is admitted. There is only justification based upon their (other) works. According to James, this does not work. He who commanded us to love one another, to love Israel, etc., also commanded us not to speak in His name when he has not spoken. And the scripture gives a clear test for how we know when G-d has indeed spoken. The word comes to pass. What is hard to understand about this? These brethren, if they want to receive grace, ought to have responded with confession and repentance, not with self-justification. Someone who loves G-d and Israel ought to be mortified at the thought that he might have given a prophecy in G-d's name that was not authentic. But their response, is that they will keep doing what they are doing despite the objections of people like us. As far as I see, no one is yet saying who these dear brethren are. They ought to at least come forward and speak for themselves. The "beast" speaks through a false prophet. G-d's prophets speak for themselves, publicly.
May 6, 1998.