American Prophets

In a facebook post below, Dan Hawk has some interesting comments about what he calls Dominionist Prophets. I agree with most of his points, although they do not all apply in every case. However, I don’t think that you have not gone far enough to get to the main issue. Dan sees the issue as a problem with biblical interpretation, particularly eschatological passages. I see the issue as a problem with the way the prophetic ministry has developed in the United States.

The recovery of the gift of prophecy has been an incredible blessing for the church. The three or four personal prophesies that I have received over my lifetime (through Christian friends, not travelling ministries) have been a huge blessing and encouragement in my walk with Jesus.

Unfortunately, there has been no room for the development of prophetic ministries within the structures of the pastor-leader-controlled churches that predominates the western church, so the ministry of the prophet to the church and the prophet to the nation have not emerged, despite being urgently needed. Instead, prophetic people have moved onto the internet, where there is no discipline and very little testing, so the few bits of gold released in that environment have been overwhelmed by prophetic mush.

Worse still, it has become a breeding ground for false prophets.

The appeal of the so-called dominion prophets arises out of disappointment and hunger. The scriptures are full of promises about God’s victory on earth, but modern evangelicalism has not explained how this victory will come to pass. Careful exegesis has been essential for challenging crazy ideas, but unfortunately, it has sucked the life of eschatology.

Defeating false teachings is important, but it leaves a vacuum, if something equally viable and inspiring is not put in its place. We have now arrived at a point where the evangelical church does not have a feasible and motivating eschatology. Consequently, most Christians have grabbed onto the only serious option, which is dispensationalism. The evangelical movement does not have an inspirational vision of the Kingdom of God, or an explanation of how it will come to fulfilment. Instead, “Kingdom” has become a popular adjective to attach to whatever the church is doing, so the term has become an empty concept.

Sound exegesis will not expose false prophets and prophecies. Academic methods will not expose them. The only antidote to false prophets is true prophets, like Miciah and Jeremiah. They will often be ignored, but when history works its course, they will be proved right and the mistakes of the false prophets will be exposed.

A related problem is that the people of the United States have made an idol of their constitution, and the system of government that it purports to define, even though it is not clear what it is. This idolatry has left the nation vulnerable to spirits of deception, pride, violence and control. Consequently, the nation has been dogged by American exceptionalism and a belief in using military power to achieve their nation’s goals, which has created a heady environment for false prophets to work in.

The dominionist prophets are committed to the use of political and military power to achieve God’s purposes on earth. This aligns exactly with the values of most Americans. Therefore, not surprisingly, the most popular prophets in the United States are those who preach Christian nationalism, and especially the use of political and military power to achieve God’s purposes on earth. I call them horned prophets. The Bible calls them false prophets.

This is the critical issue. The United States has a serious false prophet problem. The number is far greater than the two hundred confronted by Miciah. Unfortunately, the US church and nation do not have a true prophet like Jeremiah or Miciah to confront the false prophets that are leading it astray.

According to the Psalms, the lack of a true prophet was part of the curse on a disobedient Israel.

We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be” (Psalm 74:9).

I wonder if this lack of true prophets is actually a curse on the United States.