What The Lord Said To Me Today
12/19/2000
PROPHECY
Trusting In Man/Today's Sanhedrin


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I have engaged in some recent discussions with my friends regarding the "Apostolic Association Of Prophetic Elders". The name alone sticks in my craw. I've been thinking about it for the last two days and talking with the Lord about it.

We find one council in the New Testament: called a council of Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem. It was convened to resolve a dispute. We don't read of another such gathering for Godly purposes in New Testament times. We are certain that prophets were there, so that is not so much the problem. No, we see today that rather than calling a council to solve a dispute, this current council is organized to bring people together and to organize them into manageable groups. The council reaches "alignment". The rountables reach agreement. And so, they reason, they have heard from the Lord.

Could it be that they have formed another Sanhedrin?

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says, of the Sanhedrin, that "the members were arranged in a semicircle, so that they could see each other." Hence, very similar to the roundtable type of approach that is being used today in some areas. "The Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was formed of high priests (i.e. the acting high priest, those who had been high priests, and members of the privileged families from which the high priests were taken), elders (tribal and family heads of the people and priesthood), and scribes (i.e. legal assessors), Pharisees and Sadduccees alike." "During the Roman period the influence of the Sanhedrin was most powerful." After the destruction of Jerusalem, the beth-din, or courts of judgement met in various cities and were "merely an assembly of scribes, whose decisions had only a theoretical importance."

Interesting quotes these! Currently, our present day "Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders" has no authority beyond the theoretical either, but that may change over time. "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9.

As I pondered these things, my mind turned to numbers. God has a way of speaking to me in numerical ways because I am so aware of the numerical language of the Lord. For some reason, the Lord was reminding me that of the 66 bible books, only three have the same positional order in the bible as they have when alphabetized: Ezra (15th), Jeremiah (24th) and Mark (41'st). Why would the Lord be prompting me on these points and toward these books? I began to investigate and seek the word of the Lord.

First of all, the Sanhedrin came into full view during the time of Ezra. The encyclopedia says that it was "constituted by Moses and was reorganized by Ezra immediately after the return from exile. So, that explains why the Lord is leading me to look at Ezra.

I inquired of the Lord about Mark. Why that book? My eyes fell on Mark 15:1-"And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation of the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate." There we have the word council, used with elders, priests and scribes: quite a collection, and quite comparable to what we see today. It would be good to remember that a council of religious men ordered the death of our Lord.

Finally, why Jeremiah? The 24th book, both positionally among the 66 books, and alphabetically when those books are placed in alphabetical order. The number 24 is the number of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Omega: the 24th letter. He is the 24th king of Judah and Israel. The name Jesus, in the Greek, occupies the 2424th place of alphabetical order in New Testament words as evidenced by the Strongs Concordance Greek Dictionary. There are many, many other proofs.

As I was pondering numbers, I thought about the judgement number: 17. The flood of Noah began on the 17th day. As I looked at Jeremiah 17, the Lord began to speak to me from verse 5: "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when the good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is."

There is a growing tendency appearing in the new councils. We see prophecy being shared until "alignment" is reached with the prophetic roundtables. Is this agreement, or is this trusting in man? As the word of the Lord becomes scarce, and it already has, these council's will ratify the prophesy of other men and God's stamp will be placed on it, but God will have nothing to do with it.

Note first that trusting in man brings a curse. The curse has the effect of causing one to not be able to see when the good cometh, so this curse affects spiritual sight. In a time when there was no vision: for 400 years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ, the Sanhedrin became strong and powerful. Now, as we enter a time when the vision of the seer will be darkened, for a season, we are seeing the emergence of these councils. They will assure one another that they have the word of the Lord when they see nothing and hear nothing. Already, there is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord that has fallen upon those who trust in man.

Will they now go the whole way and make flesh their arm and depart from the Lord? I pray, Lord Jesus, that the seers who have no current vision will humble themselves before the Lord and claim no revelation when they have none. I pray that they will turn to you, Oh Lord, and not prophesy from their reservoir of revelation of bygone days. Lord, I know that some will not turn to you. Father, I pray that you protect the flock from those, in Jesus name. Amen.

Stephen L. Bening
a servant and prophet of our Lord Jesus Christ

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