The Seer - from Aspects of the Prophetic Office
By Lars Widerberg
Long ago, prophets were called seers, 1 Sam 9:9. The prophetic dimension
is by no means ruled by laws of evolution and change, by laws of
coincidence and impermanence. The prophetic office include the activity
of a seer. The change of title by no means indicate any change of
function or objectives. Rather, the linking of the two titles builds a
bridge between different aspects of the office and broadens the
definition. It constitutes continuation and duration.
A prophet is a seer, which implies that the basic nature of his
commission is characterised by observation and watchfulness. There is no
element of the spiritistic in the Hebrew concept. There is no element of
fortune-telling implied. Shamanistic connotations may not be added.
Shamanistic methods and techniques belong to another, entirely different
kingdom. Trance states and altered states of consciousness belong to the
realm of magic and is a sign of the flesh in charge and in operation.
The practices of the diviner is, and has to be, sharply renounced and
rebuked by a true seer. Prediction for the sake of establishing a track
record, for the sake of seeming to be able to know and to have been
divinely commissioned, is no valid evidence of the prophetic.
Predictions does not substantiate claims of representing Heaven.
The Seer represents the prophetic dimension by means of his ability to
observe, by his inclination towards watchfulness. He is the watchman,
the protector. He walks the narrow paths of the border areas of the
Kingdom, drawing strength for this isolated work of defence from the
vivid visions and experiences of the heartlands of God's domains. The
prophet's home is a Mizpah, a watchtower, a place for proper judgment
and discernment, 1 Sam 7:6.
The watchfulness itself becomes a prophetic sign and a prophetic force.
It does so in an ever increasing measure as we are moving closer and
closer to the final stages of our age. "Be of sound judgment and sober
spirit for the purpose of prayer", 1 Pet 4:7. Sober praying is indeed
prophetic intercession. Sound judgment is indeed a sign of the prophetic
dimension. Sober discernment is the cutting edge of the Church of the
end times. The time of no absolutes challenged by the Absolute. The
terrible time of total alienation countered by the revelation of
Fatherhood. God is the absolute protector. The time of moral and
emotional subjectivism confronted by sober intercession. Indeed a
stimulating prospect.
The basic attitude and fundamental approach of a seer is expressed in
his eagerness to watch and listen, to wait and observe. He is made able
to cope with silence. He is made able to keep silent. He is made able to
listen and obey. The prophetic dimension brings obedience, Rom 16:26.
The seer is a man of the Cornerstone, of proper mental and moral
alignment. He is made ready to demand obedience and correction. He waits
for proper timing.
Out of necessity the presence and the quality of a prophetically
disposed people will develop in our time, the time of apostasy. The
general moral condition in our day forces true christians to react with
tears and intercession. The moral enablement, the sanctifying work of
the Holy Spirit is the dynamics of the prophetic dimension. The
particular condition in the Church defined by the horrifying word
"Apostasy" cannot but generate an extraordinary pain among the watchmen,
driving them to the heart of the Father. Out of necessity the false and
the true will grow alongside each other. Only the seer will avoid mixing
the two. Only the watchful will succeed and live. Only the sensible and
the sober are able to move in the prophetic dimension.
The seer has learnt to live the Book, the seer has learnt to pray
Heaven. He is a man of correspondence and agreement. Things seen must be
prayed into existence. "As in heaven, so on earth". The things defined
in Heaven as rule and standards must be applied on earth. The seer is a
man of definitions. Like Ezekiel, any seer is compelled to watchfulness
and analysis by the Father's urging words: "Do you see, are you able to
identify, look what they do", Ez 8:6-15.
The seer gather experience, not like any of those with ears itching, not
like those who never care to draw conclusions and never learn. Prophets
are old men, experienced men, men who have taken time and opportunity to
unveil and unmask the glittery and sensual moves and modes of the world
without and within the Church. The seer has learnt to stay silent until
the proper work of defining and labelling is finished. Prophets wait
until they have received a word from the Lord, and they keep on waiting
for proper timing. Prophets are men who have seen Heaven, have learnt to
pray Heaven, have begun to live Heaven. Such men will be able to speak
on behalf of Heaven.
The ministry, the office of a prophet takes learning, it takes the toil
of gathering experience, but it does not necessarily require the gift of
prophecy. The seer is marked by intellectual capacity and maturity.
Spiritual gifting does neither guarantee truth nor constitute maturity.
The spiritually gifted Church in Corinth was led to accept individuals
as equally gifted, who allowed themselves the strange and dubious luxury
of cursing Jesus Christ, 1 Cor 12:3
The prophetic office is given to the Church for the sake spiritual
maturity as well as intellectual and moral integrity, 1 Cor 14:28.
Dividing the two elements - the spiritual and the intellectual/moral -
is in it self a sure sign of the operation of the forces of apostasy.
The operation of the gifts of the Spirit and christian character
produced by the Holy Spirit is but the two sides of one coin. The
glorious grace shown by God through the operation of the gifts leads to
full and total submission to the law of the grain of wheat, Joh 12:24.
Watchmen are men able to give answers as Heaven answers. "Watchman, how
far gone is the night?", Isaiah 21:11. What time is it, what kind of
time is it? Watchmen serves their time and their church by understanding
and defining the mentality of contemporary phenomenons. The prophet is a
man of foundations, able to analyse the results of a common trend in
society by looking at its roots. He is skilled in the art of deduction,
interpretation and discernment. He, himself becomes a force against the
mentality of the time and he offers understanding of how to avoid the
influence of its atmosphere. This imminent force of separation and
purity is the prophetic dimension.
Seers are men of revelation. Seers are men of enlightenment. Seers are
men of intellectual maturity. The Father speaks to hearts for the sake
of increased knowledge, The Father reveals himself to the inner man for
the sake of mobilisation of discernment and for proper decisionmaking.
The seer sees as the Father sees and corrects and instructs accordingly.
The prophetic dimension is marked by submission and obedience. The
prophetic climate produces obedience. Where there is no vision, the
people are unrestrained, Prov 29:18. Where there is no seer, there is no
discipline. Where the people are unruly, where the people hail
subjectivism and the sensational, the cursing of Jesus Christ is not far
off. Where the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of prophecy is not welcome there
is no respect for the word of God, for order and heavenly protocol.
The seer is made able to read the spiritual climate. He is made able to
identify the prevalent motivational force. His role is to see through
masks and veils of pretension, to expose man's folly and evil, for the
sake of seeing the poor and needy through. The watchman is set over
men's hearts to discern motivation, and to pray for and to call forth
correction. The seer is set over men's hearts to call them to heavenly
living.
The prophet is a seer. The basic nature of his commission is observation
and watchfulness. He is prone to contemplation and skilled in the art of
deduction. He is certainly not a passive nature. As the time draws to
its end by increasing its malicious efforts, his words, definitions and
prophetic statements develop in exactitude and veracity. As the society
draws close to its final cursing of Christ, the seer turns even more
definitely away from fantasy and the fantastic and sensational. He will
focus all his energy and capability to bring the people back to the
Lord, back to the Book, back to Holiness and back to prayer.
Lars Widerberg
