IYAR 13
The Price of Divination
“… and her prophets divine for a price.” (Mic 3:11)
We have been given an example of one man, attempting to garner riches
from his prophesying, revealed to us in the pages of Torah. Bilʽam (Balaam) was a ‘prophet’ hired by a king to
prophesy curses over the nation of
Israel, while they travelled to their final destination of the Promised
Land. Though Bilʽam was promised great wealth and riches at the completion of his
‘employment’, he was never successful in cursing those whom our Creator had
set-apart and blessed (see Num chapters 22-24).
Torah also records for us the death of Bilʽam by the Israelite army, a consequence (I believe) of his attempting to
curse and destroy the people of Elohim (see Num 31:8).
Do we not have those that are similar in our world today? 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 the feasts of our Creator as laid out for us in Lev 23,
and will wear the tzitzit (fringes)
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. The one section that stuck with 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 cautioned us about being obsessed with 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
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 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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