Iyar 12
The Price of Divination
“… and her prophets divine for a price.” (Mic 3:11 ISR)
What of today, in our
present day and age? I remember – years ago – watching a popular tele-evangelist
during his weekly broadcast, prophesying.
He would hold his fingers to his forehead, and declare, “someone within the sound of my voice is
being healed of cancer, BUT if you send such-and-such amount to my ministry, I
will send you a prayer cloth to insure
your healing.” I am guessing, that at that time, this particular minister had
a viewing audience of close to one million people, and was most likely very
successful at soliciting funds in this manner.
I have seen (and heard) other prominent ministers use much of the same
method – that of broadcast prophesying – to insure financial solvency. But is it right? Is it Scriptural?
First and foremost,
we must remember the guidelines set out for us in Torah concerning the office
and person of the prophet. And the
number one rule that is never to be
set aside is that a true prophet of Elohim will always adhere to, endorse, and
confirm the Torah, the divine instructions of righteous and moral living (Deu
13:1-5). Always, no exceptions. Do I
believe that an anointed and appointed prophet of the living Elohim will keep
the Saturday Sabbath? Yes, I do, and I
also believe he/she will keep all of the feasts of our Creator as laid out for
us in Lev 23, and will wear the tzitzit while
doing so (see Num 15:38).
Years ago, I read a
copy of what is known as “The Didache”, or “The Teachings of the Apostles”. This small book is believed to have been in
circulation during the second and third centuries CE, and supposedly, was an
accompaniment to the texts carried by most of the first evangelists. Whether it is true or not is not relevant to
me; the one section that did jump out at me concerned travelling “prophets”. According to the Didache, if an apostle or
prophet stayed in one place for longer than three days, he was a false
prophet. If said prophet asked for
money, he was a false prophet.[1] Interesting to think on, in light of the
times we live in.
The Apostle Paul cautions
us concerning financial gain: “For the LOVE
of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some, by longing for it,
have strayed from the belief, and pierced themselves through with many pains.”
(see 1Tim 6:10) Why would all of these
people – including all of those mentioned previously from our opening verse of
Micah 3:11 – have such a love and obsession about money? It is really quite simple, when we stop and
think about it: for the power it
brings. Those people of great wealth
most generally are people of great power, and have no qualms about using
it. And there is your motive for the “prophets
who divine for a price” …
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