2 Timothy 4:2
King James Version
2 Preach the word;
be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all long suffering
and doctrine.
Most probably, every day folks in the past, upon seeing a prophet of God approach, they'd say something like:
"Oh boy, here comes trouble!"
For it's true.
A prophet, will have to say things, as God had instructed them.
He will not conform to what people want, which are:
Smooth talk.
Isaiah 30:9-10
King James Version
9 That this is a rebellious people,
lying children,
children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers,
See not;
and to the prophets,
Prophesy not unto us right things,
speak unto us smooth things,
prophesy deceits:
Lies.
Jeremiah 5:30-31
King James Version
30 A wonderful and horrible thing
is committed in the land;
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests bear rule by their means;
and my people love to have it so:
and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Fair speech.
Romans 16:18
King James Version
18 For they that are such
serve not our Lord Jesus Christ,
but their own belly;
and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple.
Fables.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
King James Version
3 For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts
shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned unto fables.
People are skeptical.
People are hard-hearted.
People are afraid.
People are unaware.
People don't know what to believe.
People don't know who to trust.
People have not been born of water and of the Spirit.
Some, simply don't care.
And there are many false prophets.
But that's for another post.
Atrocities committed against the WORD of GOD will receive its own punishment.
Jeremiah 5:13-14
King James Version
13 And the prophets shall become wind,
and the word is not in them:
thus shall it be done unto them.
14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts,
Because ye speak this word,
behold,
I will make my words in thy mouth fire,
and this people wood,
and it shall devour them.
GOD will not allow anyone to misrepresent Him.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22
King James Version
20 But the prophet,
which shall presume to speak a word in my name,
which I have not commanded him to speak,
or that shall speak in the name of other gods,
even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart,
How shall we know the word
which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord,
if the thing follow not,
nor come to pass,
that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him.
God is always clear about His instructions.
It is not for man to dilute the Gospel, or to take out from it.
JESUS was very clear how we are to handle His revelations:
Revelation 22:18-19
King James Version
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth
the words of the prophecy of this book,
If any man shall add unto these things,
God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life,
and out of the holy city,
and from the things
which are written in this book.
Simply put?
We are not to mess around with the Word of God.
Prophets must not mask, edit, or modify God's message.
Prophets deliver precisely.
Just as God wants it.
And it is not the message the world wants to hear.
Such as -- REPENT.
For that is often the case.
We need to repent for our iniquities.
For the day of the Lord draws near.
Updated 3 April 2023