About Prophetic Acts

When we hear the term "spiritual warfare" most of us think first of Ephesians 6:12 and the casting down of spiritual strongholds through prayer. But when you get down to the practical ways and methods of casting these powers down Christians from different traditions often see it differently. In our intercessory prayer group in the Madras church the methodology we used in doing spiritual warfare would have seemed to some to be bizarre, maybe superstitious or perhaps even frightening. What I call "prophetic acts" figured prominently in our methodology and that is what I want to discuss today.

There is biblical precedent for doing prophetic acts. Consider 2 Kings 6:1-7:

And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.” Then one said, “Please consent to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.” So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

Note that Elisha's first action was throw a stick on the water. The stick floated just as one would expect but amazingly the axe head followed suit.  One has to wonder, what did the stick had to do with the miracle? Obviously, the axe head floated by the power of God, but the stick was just a stick doing what sticks do. There are two principles illustrated in this passage. First, we need to grab hold of the truth that what we do in the physical has an effect in the spiritual. This is especially true when we do it in the context of faith and the Kingdom of God. One can think of many examples of actions we take in the material world that affect spiritual things. Consider, for example, the negative spiritual impact of extra-marital sex—a physical act that causes horrendous spiritual destruction. Or, on the positive side, consider the impact of feeding the hungry, homeless person in the name of Christ. This simple act builds the Kingdom of God in a very practical and precious way by working redemption in both the feeder and the eater.

Second, while the stick still had nothing to do with the miraculous buoyancy of the axe head and was in no way causative, it served as a point of release for the faith of Elisha and his friend. This is very significant for us when it comes to walking out a life of faith and especially when we engage in prophetic acts while waging spiritual warfare. (One example of releasing our faith by a simple physical act that is commonly used in the church is the practice of using anointing oil while praying.)

A third aspect of the use of prophetic acts is illustrated by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4-7. God told him to create a model of Jerusalem on clay tablets and then "lay siege" against it by building a battle scene around the tablet. He then shaved his hair with a sword and struck around some of the hair with the sword. This all was a great teaching tool that demonstrated to the Israeli exiles that God did indeed intend to bring destruction on Jerusalem. But it was more than that. Because prophetic acts are motivated and commanded by the Holy Spirit, the prophet, by performing them, participates in the fulfillment of those things that the prophetic acts point to. Ezekiel, by building a war scene around his tablet participated in the actual siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. By striking the hair (which represented the population of Jerusalem) with a sword he was, in the spirit, releasing the swords of Nebuchadnezzar’s army against the city’s people. Through these prophetic acts Ezekiel participated in the actual conquest and capture of Jerusalem. Thus the prophetic act becomes both a form of intercession and a weapon in the hands of the spiritual warrior.

1 Corinthians 12 lists several spiritual gifts that are prophetically oriented -- prophecy, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, and others. Some people operate more in the prophetic gifts than others and I usually refer to them as being "prophetically gifted". These are the kind of people who have prophetic dreams and visions, see pictures while praying for someone or simply know things they shouldn’t know. When I say that a prophet, through Holy Spirit motivated prophetic acts participates in the events that fulfill what the prophetic act points to, the prophetically gifted person understands exactly what I mean. To someone who is otherwise gifted and motivated it may seem strange, weird or superstitious unless they have had teaching or exposure to this kind of spiritual warfare.

A better understanding of what I’m talking about may come to you as I share in future posts some of our activities in Madras.