Purpose of Prophecy

Today, as we were having breakfast, an advertisement came up on the TV regarding some event which included Prophecy and end time events and stuff. My husband said,"It doesn't make sense if people prophesy, and know whats to happen, but do nothing about it."
My mind quickly ran back in reference to Hezekiah, isn't that what went wrong with Hezekiah, I thought to myself. Hezekiah passed away and his son Manasseh came to throne, and he did exactly the opposite of what his father had done. (2 Kings 21:1-3).
I remembered what went wrong in Hezekiah's story. The Bible says in (2 King 20:16-19) "16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD : 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."
19 "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?"

Lessons I learnt

• Hezekiah did nothing about the Word of God that came through Isaiah the prophet-The Bible actually notes down, that Hezekiah was satisfied that the horrible event that was going to happen was not going to come about during his lifetime and he did nothing about it, since it didn't affect him.

Conclusion:The gift of prophecy is a powerful thing. It gives a person an edge over the others to know in advance. If the people in India and Indonesia had known a Tsunami was coming, they would have moved away from the sea. It is a powerful thing, especially with weather to be able to know when, how, what is going to happen. We have the book of Revelation in the Word of God, constantly warning us of the impending judgment waiting upon the earth. We've got a lot of people to be moved into the "safe zone", into the strong shelter(Proverbs 18:10), the fortress(Proverbs 14:26) and refuge(Psalm 9:9). We as believers know the way to the shelter. Are we working at sharing the route map to our Heavenly Father, with an urgency? Or are we not so worried about it, since its not going to affect us much??? On the other hand, maybe we have been trying to usher people into the right direction, through our life, through our prayers, through our actions...but we also, cannot deny the fact, that there will be some who think all that we say is a hoax. To such I'd say, I wish we'd learn a lesson from Katrina, everyone was warned, everyone was given a choice, some accepted a helping hand, others did not. To the believer who is continuing in that prayer for salvation for their loved ones I say-Don't give up. Lets continue to pray with urgency for our loved ones who have not yet heeded God's voice of prophecy, that God would continue to send them His people, His messengers until they are convinced and safe in the blood of Jesus. Their price has already been paid by our Lord, they need to know it asap. Great things can happen, as men and women of God learn to develop camel knees, in prayer.

God is ready to fight your battle

Background:Hezekiah has been recently threatened by the Assyrian king, to either give in to him and surrender or fight and die. Hezekiah has decided to fight, rather than to give in. Isaiah, God's prophet sent a reply to Hezekiah's request "6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
Soon after this word had come from God, through Isaiah, the Assyrian commander had to withdraw from Jerusalem(Judah) because the Assyrian king had gone away for another battle to Lachish. Instead of going on to fight his enemy, Assyrian king Sennacherib sends a letter to Hezekiah threatening him and discouraging him from believing God for his victory.(2 Kings 19:10-13)
Hezekiah didn't budge from him faith but goes with that letter straight to God and says a beautiful prayer "14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. 19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Lessons I learnt

1. In despair turn to God-Hezekiah turned to God when the Assyrian commander came to threaten him with words. More often than not, the enemy works in our lives with negative words and negative suggestions, or luring temptations. The way to turn away from them is to turn to God.


2. God always has an answer for any situation, in His Word-The moment Hezekiah sent his men to ask Isaiah for the Lord's Word, they got their answer. God has our answers ready, if only we turn and go to His Word. There is one special request I have made to God and He sure did answer my situation through His Word. It made me glad.


3. Enemy will not let go easily-In our walk with God, sometimes when we've heard the Word of God and found an answer for our situation, things don't seem like they're changing the way God said it would, oreading about the way the Assyrian king did not immediately go away, but in fact sent him a letter, discouraging him to believe in God, trying to cause doubt in Hezekiah, thats the 1st attack our enemy the satan tries to put in our heart, when we have and we know God has directly given in our heart His Word.


4. Take it to the Lord in prayer-Thats what Hezekiah did with the threat letter he received from Assyrian king Sennacherib. He took it to God and prayed a simple prayer, surrendering all to God. Thats what we must do when the enemy sends waves of doubt and fear, and tries to say, God's Word won't work. This is the time we have to wait in order to see God's word at work in our lives. It's the only time the enemy can make his last attempt to defeat us. Hezekiah trusted God's Word over the enemy's word and he saw glorious victory in a battle he didnt even have to fight. "35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. "

Conclusion: The essence of it all, I realise, is to stand. Ephesians 6:10-15 "10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.". God didn't want us to fight alone, He just requires of us, to wear His armor, His protection from the enemy, and "stand". God didn't say to wear all that armor and fight, but to "stand". So while we're standing who's fighting? God is.