Levels Of Prophetic Revelations

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

LEVELS OF PROPHETIC REVELATIONS

There are many levels of prophetic revelation. 

Impressions

Visions

Revelation

Open Visions

Trances

The beginning levels include prophetic "impressions." These are genuine revelations. They can be extraordinarily specific and accurate when interpreted by those who are experienced and sensitive to them. However, it is on this level that our "revelations" can be affected by our own feelings, prejudices, and doctrines. I have therefore resolved not to use such expressions as "thus saith the Lord" with any revelations that come on this level.

Visions can come on the impression level, also. They are gentle and must be seen with "the eyes of our heart." These, too, can be very specific and accurate, especially when received and/or interpreted by those who are experienced. The more the "eyes of our hearts" are opened, as Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:18, the more powerful and useful these can be.

The next level of revelation is a conscious sense of the presence of the Lord, or the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which gives special illumination to our minds. This often comes when I am writing, or speaking, and it gives me much greater confidence in the importance or accuracy of what I am saying. I believe that this was probably experienced by the apostles as they wrote the New Testament epistles. This will give us great confidence, but it is still a level where we can still be influenced by our prejudices, doctrines,etc. This is why I believe, in certain matters, Paul would say that he was giving his opinion, but that he thought he had [the agreement of l the Spirit of the Lord. In general, there is much more of a need for humility than dogmatism when we deal with the prophetic.

"Open visions" occur on a higher level than impressions; they tend to give us more clarity then we may have even when we feel the conscious presence of the Lord, or the anointing. Open visions are external, and are viewed with the clarity of a movie screen. Because they cannot be controlled by us I believe that there is far less possibility of mixture in revelations that come this way.

Another higher level prophetic experience is a trance, such as Peter had when he was first instructed to go to the house of Cornelius and preach the gospel to the Gentiles for the first time, and such as Paul had when he prayed in the temple in Acts 22. Trances were a common experience of the biblical prophets. Trances are like dreaming when you are awake. Instead of just seeing a "screen" like in an open vision, you feel like you are in the movie, that you are actually there in a strange way. Trances can range from those that are rather mild, so that you are still conscience of your physical surroundings, and can even still interact with them, to those where you feel like you are literally in the place of your vision. This seems to be what Ezekiel experienced rather frequently, and what John probably experienced when he had the visions recorded in the book of Revelation.

- The Final Quest, by Rick Joyner 

William James Roop

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Ascension

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I received this in a text from a friend.  He found it on the net.

When will the church be taken up to heaven in the face of great tribulation?

The Answer:

The timing of the church's ascension to heaven is one of the most controversial issues among Christians today.  There are basically three theories about this:

!.  Before the tribulation (the ascension of the church to heaven will take place before the last tribulation)

2.  In the midst of the tribulation Seeds.

 3.  After the tribulation (the ascension of the church will take place after the last tribulation).

4. The fourth doctrine is commonly known as "before the wrath" which is a slightly modified version of the second doctrine (the doctrine of the church being raised in the midst of trouble).  First of all, it is very important to know the purpose of the last trouble.  According to Daniel 9:27, there is still a period of seventy "weeks" (seven years) to come.  And Daniel's Seventy Week Prophecy (Daniel 9: 20-27) speaks entirely of Israel.  This will be the time when God will focus on Israel in particular.  In the same way, the seventy weeks, the last tribulation, must be the time when God will deal with Israel in particular.  Although this prophecy does not explicitly indicate that the church could not exist on earth at that time, it does raise the question of why the church needs to exist on earth at that time.

The most important Scriptural reference to the ascension of the church to heaven is 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18.  This passage states that all living believers and with them all believers who will be resurrected will meet the Lord Jesus in the air and will be with him forever.  God lifted his people from the earth

The term "church ascension" is used to refer to the English term rapture.  After some verses, the Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 "For God hath not ordained us to wrath, but to be saved through our Lord Jesus Christ."  The book of Revelation, which primarily deals with the last days of the tribulation, is a prophetic message about how God will send His wrath upon the earth in the last tribulation.  It is contrary to the nature of God to promise believers that He will not fall into wrath and then leave them on earth to go through the wrath of the last tribulation.  The fact that God first promises to save Christians from wrath seems to be linked to these two events and then promises to raise His people from the earth shortly thereafter.

Another very important reference to the time of the church's resurrection is Revelation 3:10 in which Christ promises to save believers in "the hour of trial" that is to come on earth.  This could mean two things: either Christ will protect believers during trials or He will save believers from trials.  Both meanings are correct according to the Greek word translated "from".  However, it is important to know what believers are promised protection from.  And this is not just a trial, but a "time" of trial.  Christ promises to keep believers safe from the time of trials and tribulations.  The purpose of the last tribulation, the purpose of the resurrection of the church, the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 and the interpretation of Revelation 3:10 all clearly support the doctrine of "the resurrection of the church before the great tribulation."  If the Bible is interpreted literally and consistently, then the doctrine of 'before the tribulation' is more in tune with the teachings of the Bible than any other doctrine.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

Gog and Magog

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Gog and Magog

                “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth…”[1]  All of the chess pieces of mankind will be set upon the table of the earth to play the last hand of man’s dramatic history.  But it will be the hand of God that will be playing the pieces at the end.  Mankind has had thousands of years to make his move, only to play the war, violence and rebellion against his God moves.  It’s always been funny how man has the audacity to think that the earth is his and he is the only player.  But in the “Last days,” God will “putting the hooks” and dragging human pieces into place to end our sinful and rebellious history His way.  Understanding this endgame is very important for all of us, but especially among the saints of the Most High.  I receive a great deal of comfort knowing that I am in God’s majestic hands. I feel safe knowing that my future is already planned out.

            Magog, Meshech and Tubal are all in the present land of Turkey.[2]  With Gog being their leader and these lands being mentioned first in the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel, this leads me to believe that the leader of Turkey will form an alliance to attack Israel.  Turkey currently has a half million man army that is a NATO member and is a first world military.  Turkey currently has seven million military aged men that could be quickly drafted for a larger operation.  With Russian allies (Gomer), they could form a formable Northern Alliance. Persia, which is currently in Syria, which also has a half million man military with eight million men that could be drafted. Both of these countries mentioned in the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel would form a very powerful Northern Alliance. A million man army with potential millions behind them. Add a few more allies like the Russians, Syrians and maybe the Lebanese we have a potent force. 

            The Southern Alliance, controlled by Gog of Magog (Turkey) would consist of Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Palestine and Ethiopia, would form a much smaller and less powerful force than the Northern one.  On its own it would form a definite threat to “land of unwalled villages (Ez 38:11), but not a fatal one. But combined with the Northern Alliance, this would be an overwhelming attack of the land of Israel. 

            This major military conflict would come before the unveiling of the anti-Christ and the beast. Satan will have us ignorant and prideful man to do his bidding and use them to try and destroy God’s people.  The anti-Christ and the beast will be revealed just after this large military campaign that God will win for His people.  Then we will have the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the two witnesses, the seven bowls.  The anti-Christ and the beast will team up for the final battle at the end of the tribulation period. The final battle, the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:16), will usher in the thousand year reign of Christ upon the earth.

            Before God’s entire plan for the last days, God will catch away His saints upon the earth for the marriage supper of the Lamb.  God’s people have suffered enough on this earth and in this life and He will see to it that His people are caught up to be with Him.  Some have said that the rapture is mentioned in the fourth chapter of Revelation.  “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven:  and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”[3]  But, this is a revelation of John’s vision; this does in no way refer to all saints on the earth.  It would be nice if it was but I do not see it in the context.  Just because John was caught up to heaven does not mean that we will be caught up at the same time as this vision is in the book of Revelation.

            In Isaiah chapters eleven and twelve we read Isaiah’s prophecy about the eventual return of the Jewish captives back to Israel. This is actually a juxtaposition of the Jewish return to Israel and the return of Jesus Christ to Israel to save His people and return as their King.  We can see this in the chapter. “…and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”[4]  Also, “The wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”[5]  This is clearly a scene in the future Millennium Kingdom, not during the Tribulation period.  As Isaiah painted a hopeful future for the eventual returning Jews in Israel, he also was showing us our future in the distant Millennium Kingdom.

            So, Satan will try to use man to destroy Israel in the beginning of the Tribulation period and will be defeated by our Lord. At the end of the Tribulation period Satan will try again to invade Israel and Jesus Christ will return in person to destroy the armies of Satan and the world and usher in the Millennium Kingdom.

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[1]Bible; KJV EZ 38:1-4.

[2]Wikipedia.

[3]Bible, KJV; Revelation 4:1.

[4]Bible, KJV; Isaiah 11:4.

[5]Bible, KJV; Isaiah 11:6.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

My hospice blog

Apostolic Theological Seminary