The Disturbing Trend of Second-Heaven Revelation: Prophecy Unchecked
In April 2017, the Holy Spirit sparked an urgency in my spirit to sound an alarm for France.
It would be the first of many alarms He would lead me to sound in efforts to gather intercessors to cover the revival history-rich nation. I could not see the entirety of the enemy’s plan at the first stirring, but I heard the Lord say:
The enemy has marked France for destruction because of its spiritual heritage. If My intercessors will rise up and build a spiritual wall around the nation—raise up impenetrable borders around the country through repentance and praise—I Myself will raise up a standard that will stem the tide of this onslaught.
I Myself will rise up and cause France’s enemies to be scattered. I Myself will empower the politicians and police with strategies to eradicate terrorists from the land and thwart future attacks. I Myself will do it.
So begin to pray now with greater fervor because lives are at stake, economies are at stake, and your spiritual heritage is at stake. Begin to cooperate now with My grace and My agenda and My plan for your nation, and I myself will fight with you and for you.
Fast forward about two years, and I received yet another warning in 2019. When I stepped into Paris, I heard the Lord say, “France on fire.” Within weeks, Notre Dame burned in front of the eyes of the entire world. The devastating fire in France’s capital made headlines in Christian and secular media alike. As I reported on this drama for Awakening magazine, I was not convinced in my spirit that it was the last strike against France. And so we kept watching and praying.
Judge the Warning
How do you handle warnings that seem too hot to handle? With the wisdom of God and a good dose of common sense. The first thing I do when I hear a warning of destruction is to judge the warning. There’s a disturbing trend in the Body of Christ with new prophetics rising up without much training or understanding of the ways of God or how to judge a prophetic encounter.
What we’ve seen in recent years is Christians releasing second heaven revelation that is breeding fear in the Body of Christ. A second heaven revelation is something the enemy shows you. It’s usually scary and has no hope or redemption in it. Remember, the principalities are raging in the second heaven, whereas God reigns in the third heaven. Revelation from God originates in the third heaven. Revelation from the enemy comes from the second heaven.
Again, second heaven dreams, visions, or voices will offer dire representations of what “God is going to do” or the destruction that is to come without any hope. Second heaven revelation is laced with fear, offers no strategy or way of escape, and knocks the wind out of people. The vain imagination that hits the minds of less experienced watchmen is, “What’s the use of praying?”
Make no mistake, second heaven revelation is not revealing the will of the Lord but the plans of the enemy. Remember, when the Lord gives a warning of destruction His intention is for intercessors to rise up and push it back. God always provides a way of escape (see 1 Cor. 10:13).
Look for the Redemption
Next, look—or listen—for the redemption of God. Yes, ultimately there are times when God’s judgment will fall. There comes a day when enough is enough and there’s no averting God’s decision. We see this with Nineveh. God sent Jonah the prophet to release a warning to the ancient city, knowing the king and his people would repent. God was right.
Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes (Jonah 3:4-6).
The king took the alarm seriously and issued a proclamation that every person and every animal would enter a time of fasting in hopes of turning away the Lord’s fierce anger. As a result, the Lord spared Nineveh—for a season. But Nineveh, like Israel, turned back to its wicked ways and was ultimately destroyed in 612 BC by a Babylonian-led coalition.
While the “France on fire” word was not a warning of judgment, it was a warning of destruction. So my first course in handling a word that’s too hot to handle is to find God’s underlying plan. In the first France warning, years earlier, God said, “The enemy has marked France for destruction because of its spiritual heritage.” But He also gave hope of averting the enemy’s plan through intercession and promised to involve Himself in the battle and fight for France.
In my book Prophetic Protocols & Ethics, I offer a protocol I titled, “Do Seek God for Redemption Amid Hard Words.” I’ll share that protocol with you here:
God is a God of redemption. After all, in Christ we have redemption through His blood, and forgiveness of our sins according to His riches in grace (see Eph. 5:7). Over and over in the Bible, we see Scriptures pointing to the redemptive nature of God. Here are just a few to drive the truth home.
Colossians 1:14, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” And Titus 2:14, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” And “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
God is not just a God of redemption under the New Covenant. He has always been a God of redemption. The Old Testament Scriptures prove it. Psalm 111:9 tells us: “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.” And Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”
What does it mean to redeem? The Greek word for redeem is lutroo. According to The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon, it means to release on receipt of ransom, to redeem, liberate by payment of ransom, to liberate, to cause to be released to one’s self by payment of a ransom, to redeem, and to deliver from evils of every kind, internal and external. God is good. He is a redemptive God.
Pray Before Releasing a Warning
Next, pray into the warning. By that I mean pray and ask the Lord to share more. He may or may not, but sometimes you have not because you ask not. Be spiritually curious and ask the Lord for additional prophetic intelligence that can help you pray more effectively.
With the “France on fire” word, for example, I had very little to go on. How can I take action on a word that I don’t know how to apply? So I prayed.
Many times, God shows watchmen information and waits to see if they will ask for more information. Spiritual curiosity is a prerequisite of a successful spiritual watchman. God deems the ones who dig deeper into the prophetic warnings from the Holy Spirit trustworthy to pray and take Spirit-inspired actions on the revelation.
The ones who ask, seek, and knock on the Holy Spirit’s door of revelation will get more—if not all—of the prophetic insight they need to see God’s Kingdom come and His will done on earth as it is in heaven. Sometimes, we are on a need-to-know basis with God. He only tells us what we need to know so we don’t get presumptuous, overwhelmed, or afraid.
Search and Keep On Searching
Sometimes, our prayer journey will lead us on an investigative journey into the news or world history. When I heard “France on fire,” I had no frame of reference for what that could mean. Initially, I pondered the positive side of this expression—being on fire for God. We were in talks to launch an Awakening House of Prayer in France and I hoped this was what God meant, but I knew there was more to it.
I discovered revival wind hit France around 1100 AD through the Albigenses, known as “reformers before the reform.” Another group called the Waldenses were evangelistic reformers who took the gospel into Spain, Germany, Poland, and Bohemia.
Of course, we must remember the Huguenots, French Protestants whose numbers rose to about 2 million by 1562 and openly displayed their faith despite persecution. France also saw an awakening in the late 19th century and Pentecostalism spread there in the early 20th century.
France’s Christian heritage is indeed rich—and France has seen more than its fair share of terror attacks dating all the way back to Christmas Eve 1800 when a bombing left 22 dead and over 50 injured. All told, there were seven deadly terror attacks in France in the 1800s.
I knew in my spirit, though, this wasn’t about revival. As I walked the streets of Paris, round about the area where the Eifel Tower stands in all its majesty, I just could not shake the words “France on fire.” As is my custom, when the Lord stops speaking I start seeking. I started researching historical fires in France and came up empty. Most of the fires in France are in the last 20 years and two of them were Channel Tunnel fires. What was God saying?
As I walked the streets of Paris, I kept seeing signs protesting President Emmanuel Macron. I saw an economic justice movement and discovered its participants are called Yellow Vest Protestors because they wear yellow vests. I stumbled on news reports of protestors setting fires in France. Just days prior, I discovered, Yellow Vest protestors continued setting shop fires in what marks the 18th week of unrest in the European nation. News reports indicated France is unprepared for the riots that have ensued. The Associated Press reported:
French yellow vest protesters set life-threatening fires, smashed up luxury stores and clashed with police Saturday in the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron. Large plumes of smoke rose above the rioting on Paris’ landmark Champs-Elysees Avenue, and a mother and her child were just barely saved from a building blaze.(1)
I still did not know Notre Dame would burn. But at least I got intercessors praying. Notre Dame could have burned to the ground. It didn’t. I believe intercession helped save the iconic figure.
What’s the Time Frame?
After all that prayer, I had no time frame on this warning about “France on fire.” Was it imminent? Within 30 days from now? Next year? How long did we have to pray against this fire? Sometimes you just don’t know. Other times you do. Let me give you an example.
When the Lord started speaking to me at 6:30 in the morning just two weeks before the 2016 Summer Olympics, I wasn’t even aware the Olympics were coming down the pike. I was knee-deep in my role at Charisma magazine. I heard the Lord say:
ISIS and other dark forces have formed a confederacy that will orchestrate a coordinated attack at the Olympics. The plan calls for attacks on every side and in diverse manners. Suicide bombers are being trained to infiltrate the perimeter with new tools and tactics and with mass carnage in mind.
Even areas in the outskirts of the city will be targeted to bring mass chaos and spread thin responding forces. Demonic alliances are being forged even now because the attacks in the minds of these terrorists surpass the resources any one group has collected on its own.
Underground networks are being formed even now to strike several cities on the same day, even though the Olympics are the primary targets of terror.
I saw fire, lots of fire, and people being trampled as they tried to race away from the sites. I saw chemical weapons being deployed that suffocate victims. Other chemical weapons were deployed that led to a slower, more painful death. It was clear to me that this coordinated attack is not depending or relying on any one method or strategy or group. This is a cadre of groups unified for one evil purpose.
When I researched this out, I discovered the Games in Rio run from August 5 to August 21. I also read news reports indicating Brazil has beefed up Olympic security after the Nice terror attack and how security services foiled a French delegation at the Rio 2016 Olympics. In other news, a Brazilian extremist group used the Telegram to pledge allegiance to ISIS.
While I understood some of the news may be just chatter, I felt in my spirit some of it was likely real and I was convinced there was much more going on behind the scenes. I still remembered watching in horror the aftermath of the terrorist bomb attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Olympics. The attack ultimately killed two people—one immediately and a second had a heart attack while running to the scene—and injured 110 others. In other words, we’ve seen terror attacks on the Olympics before. Now, in an age of terror when we see violence every week, we need to take this warning seriously.
The timeline on this was two weeks. Two weeks didn’t leave us much time to thwart this terror attack. God would not have warned if He did not want to intervene. I chose to believe we could take authority over these demons before the manifest in the midst of a global scene. We rallied intercessors. Within two days, fervent intercession had led to the arrest of 10 people plotting terror on the Rio games. Meanwhile, Brazil police smashed an ISIS plan for attacks on the games. But keep praying. Al-Qaeda is calling for lone wolf terrorists to rise up.
When to Release the Warning
We live in an internet era, a new media age. For all the dangers of social media among emerging prophetic voices who carry great zeal but may lack wisdom in what to share or when to share it, it’s critical we do discern when to share and use various forms of media as a vehicle to get a prophetic word, dream, or vision to the masses.
This is especially true when a prophetic revelation carries a warning or a call to prayer. When a prophetic message is urgent, it’s vital for as many people as possible to hear the prophet’s cry. In the Old Testament, they blew trumpets and sounded alarms at critical junctures. Consider The Message translation of Jeremiah 4:5-7:
Sound the alarm in Judah, broadcast the news in Jerusalem. Say, “Blow the ram’s horn trumpet through the land!” Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!—“Close ranks! Run for your lives to the shelters!” Send up a flare warning Zion: “Not a minute to lose! Don’t sit on your hands!” Disaster’s descending from the north. I set it off! When it lands, it will shake the foundations. Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover, ready to rip nations to shreds, leaving your land in wrack and ruin, your cities in rubble, abandoned.
Not every warning needs to be blazed abroad with urgency, but we must use media to our advantage, including blogs, e-mail lists, social media, radio, mobile apps, group messaging, and so on. I believe if Jesus walked the earth today, He would use media. In fact, God used a form of media—a book—to record His will for the ages. It’s called the Bible.
So when do you release the warning? When God tells you to. There are some warnings God may have you release to just a few intercessors who can pray with fervency and confidentiality. This is especially true when the warnings are about individuals in private matters. When the prophet Nathan approached David with about his sin with Bathsheba, he did so privately (see 2 Sam. 12:1-14). Other times, the warning needs to be judged by other watchmen and prophets in the Body of Christ. Still other times it needs to be released loudly and as far and wide as possible as quickly as possible.
That was the case in 2016 when I was on my way to the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. When I flew into D.C., there were so many secret servicemen on the plane I wondered what was going on! I was texting with some colleagues about it when suddenly I looked up, and President Jimmy Carter was standing in front of me, extending his hand so I could shake it. It was an interesting encounter that had me pondering many things.
When I landed in D.C., I got caught up in the Carter entourage but finally made it to my cab. That’s when I heard an urgent warning in my spirit over D.C. I heard: “Danger, danger, stranger danger. It’s not coming from where you think.” I could not shake it. I actually stayed behind in my hotel room, skipping the evening festivities to pray. I discerned it had something to do with an attack on the president’s son and sounded the alarm, not with fear but with a sober mind and encouragement that we could push back the darkness. And we did.
Even if you don’t have a timeline from the Lord, He can tell you when to release it. You may also feel an urgency in your spirit—like what Jeremiah called fire in his bones (see Jer. 20:9). Past experience working with the Lord helps you discern between fervor in your soul and fire in your bones. It’s not always black and white, which is why we can rely on the counsel of elders when we do not know if or when to warn. If it’s urgent—if it’s about a terror attack or some tragedy—I’d rather release it even if I am wrong than to find out later I was right and did not release it. I do not want the blood on my hands. That said, when we’re wrong we have to take responsibility or we’ll lose credibility.
Don’t Spread Fear
I can’t stress this point enough. If you look for the redemption in the warning, the strategy, or the way of escape, you are less likely to spread fear. Novice watchmen hear the word of the Lord or see what the enemy is doing in the spirit and the spirit of fear comes on them. Then, when they release their warning it is cloaked in a spirit of fear that hits the hearts of the listeners. That does not foster prayer.
If the warning scares you, press into God to get the mind of Christ. God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind (see 2 Tim. 1:7). God gives us warnings because He loves the human race and He wants us to avoid the snare of the enemy. When He warns, He does not do it to spur fear in our hearts. There is no fear in love, and God is love. When He warns, He is motivated by love.
Develop Prayer Points
Once you discern the Lord’s direction, it’s time to develop prayer points. How can you rally intercessors if you don’t give them a clear assignment? You develop prayer points by seeking the Lord’s will and His strategy. When possible, use Scripture. Here are the prayer points I developed for the threats of terror on France.
Pray for the hedge of protection to rise up around France. Pray for an end to terror in France. Pray against this constant attack on France’s spiritual inheritance; bind the hand of the thief that is working to dampen fervor for another awakening. Pray that intercessors on the land will repent for the sins of the land and work as agents of healing. Pray that the Lord would empower politicians and police with strategies to eradicate terrorists and thwart future attacks. Pray that intercessors in France will not grow weary.
When I was in London shortly after Notre Dame burned, I met a lead intercessor from a prayer network in France who thanked me for sounding the alarm. She had hundreds of intercessors praying. You never know who is going to hear your warning. That’s why I release the warning with a solution—specific prayer points that inspire hope and faith that the enemy’s plans can be thwarted. If you’re always warning but never offering a prophetic solution, you can steal the hope and faith of people.
Release the Warning Confidently and with Diplomacy
Remember, God is looking for people to stand in the gap and make up the hedge to avert destruction. But how can they pray if the watchman doesn’t issue the warning? Paul said, “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8). The watchman needs to release the warning with certainty and boldness if he wants anyone to believe him.
The flip side of boldness is diplomacy. What is diplomacy, you ask? Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines it as skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility.
As I write in my book Prophetic Protocols, being a diplomatic prophet means you are “exactly reproducing the original” and “employing tact and conciliation especially in situations of stress.” Tact is “a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offense.” Delivering words of warning must done with diplomacy to avoid perceptions of judgment on a person, as if they are in some way to blame, etc.
Forthtell Old Warnings
We’ve spent a lot of time in prophetic ministry foretelling, but forthtelling is also part of prophetic ministry. Forthtell means “to make public” or to “publish abroad,” according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. You could also say to “tell forth.” One aspect of forthtelling is to say what God has already said. I call it re-prophesying the warning.
There is so much emphasis on predicting in the prophetic realm, and that’s valid, but what about prophesying the warning God already gave until people actually hear it? At times, the Lord will have a watchman release a warning from another watchman that was issued a decade ago. John Paul Jackson’s Perfect Storm message is a great example. People are re-issuing his warnings, as well as David Wilkerson’s. You can re-prophesy the warning. You can keep decreeing it until it lands on ears that hear.
Note
1. The Associated Press, “Yellow vest protesters set life-threatening fires and clash with police in Paris,” CBSnews.com, March 16, 2019, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-riots-mother-child-saved-from-bank-fire-champs-elysees-avenue-today-2019-03-16.
