© Copyright 2013 – Jonathan Welton

All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional age copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All emphasis is authors own. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version. Please note that Destiny Image’s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers’ styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

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“Promoting Inspired Lives.”

ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-0438-8

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Parts of this book were previously published as School of Seers, ISBN 978-0-7684-3101-8, copyright © 2013

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

The Mantle of Fire and Water

CHAPTER 2

Spiritual Senses

CHAPTER 3

Impartation

CHAPTER 4

We Can All See

CHAPTER 5

Prophets and Seers

CHAPTER 6

The Unseen Realm

CHAPTER 7

Quesions About the Angelic Realm

BOOK ONE

PILLARS

CHAPTER 1

THE MANTLE OF FIRE AND WATER

Where It All Began

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL if a well-known prophet stood you up in a church service and prophesied that you would begin to see things in the spirit, that you would have a gift for discerning spirits, and that God would even teach you about being a “seer?” As many of you probably would be, I was excited, confused, and soon-to-be quite freaked out. To give some clarification, I have included the exact prophecy I received from Prophet Dennis Cramer:

March 7, 2002

You’re a young man with a tremendous call upon his life, very, very strong call…you have had some rumblings lately of prophetic ministry. And you thought maybe you were losing your mind. You thought, Lord, my mind is going off. What’s wrong with my mind?

You’re also a man that is going to begin to discern spirits more than you ever wanted to. So, the Lord told me to tell you, Jonathan, you are not losing your mind; you are simply beginning to discern spirits as never before. There is a good prophetic call upon your life… But also, as I said, especially discerning of spirits.

March 9, 2002

Jonathan, you have a strong seeing edge already developing in your life. You are uncomfortable with this because you don’t know what you are seeing. It’s caused you some distress. You’ve almost begun to feel a little rejected. But the Lord says all He is doing is teaching you about being a seer. Your own unique seeing gift and dimension. The Lord says just keep your mouth shut; don’t get too verbal about what you are seeing because you are still in the beginning stages of understanding this. So, the Lord says a seeing dimension is going to be well developed in your life in the years ahead.

THE GIFT IS ACTIVATED

The day that I received this word, I began to see things in the spirit around me. I had never had this gifting activated before, and so I was very startled with this new experience. I began to see colors in the spirit, words imposed over the physical things in front of me, body parts randomly appearing, fire or water descending on things, places, or people. I would on occasion even see angels or demons. When I first started seeing these things, I was surprised and even confused. I had to grow, learn, and come into understanding about what was happening. Even now, as I reread the second prophecy from Dennis Cramer, I see such wisdom in his statement, “The Lord says just keep your mouth shut; don’t get too verbal about what you are seeing, because you are still in the beginning stages of understanding this.”

I was really taken aback by this whole new gifting, especially since I didn’t have anyone to mentor me in seeing at the time. There are precious few in the Body of Christ who are willing to share their experiences. The Lord had to personally teach me about the things He was showing me.

FLIPPING THE SWITCH

About a month after Dennis Cramer prophesied over me, the frequency of the visions began to diminish, and again I was confused. I thought, did I commit some sin that is hindering my seeing ability? Have I done something wrong? What is happening to my gift?

The Holy Spirit showed me that in the previous month He had sovereignly demonstrated to me the potential of my seer gifting. Now the Lord would teach me how to activate my gifting. In the spirit I saw a large switch, much like a typical wall-mounted light switch. On the switch were the words “On” and “Off,” and then in my spirit I heard the meaning. In the first month the Holy Spirit had flipped my switch “On” to enable me to see in the spirit realm around me. Now He was flipping my switch to “Off,” and things would be totally normal again. The Holy Spirit told me that He would teach me how to flip the switch myself.

WE MOVE THE SWITCH BY FAITH

With all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have a role in activating them. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will move sovereignly and heal someone, but most of the time faith must be activated. When we read the Gospels, we often see Jesus telling people to take an action—to show themselves to a priest, to wash the mud from their eyes, or to pick up their bed and walk. These were each acts of faith that, when activated, released the gift of healing.

If the Holy Spirit tells me to give a prophetic word, then I must take part in cooperating with the Spirit and deliver the word. When you activate faith, then you have stepped over into the things of the Kingdom realm: healing, prophecy, miracles, discerning of spirits, and so on. The Lord was moving me from relying only on sovereign experiences, into activating my faith to believe for the gift of discerning of spirits to function (see John 5:8; Mark 2:9; John 9:11; Luke 17:11-19).

IN MY EXPERIENCE

From my personal experience I can tell you that when God first opens your spiritual eyes as He did mine, it can be very scary, even terrifying. When it first started, I was not expecting to see into the spirit realm. I wasn’t against such experiences—I was just unaware of them.

I would look at a fellow believer and see a background of illuminated light behind him, or I would see a nonbeliever and a darkness or cloud of depression on him. I would see large demonic presences hovering on or above certain buildings. I would see large warrior angels standing guard around certain buildings and churches. There were times I could see angels dancing among us at church during worship. At other times, I would see the worship get cut off by a speaker who was not following the Holy Spirit’s leading, and I would see very sad expressions on the angel’s faces. It looked as though they were crying because they knew what we were missing out on by worship being cut short. I would see angels carry in strange-looking internal organs that they would put inside of people, and then those same people would later testify to having been healed. I found these experiences overwhelming, and I want to clarify that I didn’t read any books that encouraged or directed me in any of this.

BRAZIL

Six months after Dennis Cramer prophesied into my life, and five months after God began to teach me how I could activate my gifting, the Lord led me into the next level of training.

I took an opportunity to intern for Evangelist Randy Clark for a month in Brazil. While there, I met two seers who greatly encouraged me in my gifting. The first was Pastor Gary Oates. He had traveled with Randy the previous spring and had his own powerful encounter, which activated his spiritual eyes.

His story and experiences are similar to my own, especially in the sense that neither of us were seeking the ability to see—it was something God chose to give us. He is an excellent example of modern seership. God sovereignly opened Gary’s eyes in an encounter where Gary had an out-of-body experience, and the Lord took him to Heaven. He writes about this in his book, Open My Eyes, Lord.[1]

The second person that I met was Davi Silva, one of the foremost worship leaders in Brazil. He not only has an extensive background in musical training, but he also has an amazing testimony of healing. Born with Down syndrome, Davi was healed by the Lord at the age of six. Now in his forties, he still has the medical intricacies that Down syndrome patients have, yet without having Down syndrome. Moreover, the Lord has blessed Davi with a very strong ability to see into the spirit realm.

When I met Davi, I asked him to lay hands on me and pray for an increase in my gifting. He was in a hurry to get the worship service started, but he still took a few minutes to pray for me. After he had prayed, he went off to lead worship. The following is what happened to me in that evening worship service.

A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

I don’t usually respond physically to the Holy Spirit, not because I am unwilling, but I do not easily experience rolling, falling, laughing, or the other manifestations that people have in response to the Holy Spirit. Understanding that about me will help you understand how powerful the following experience was for me.

As worship began, I saw two angels standing on the stage, and they were unlike anything I had ever seen. They were about 15 feet tall, and there was fire coming out of them—six feet in every direction. I was standing in the front row of the church with Randy, so I was closer to the stage than the rest of the crowd around me when the closest angel began to walk toward me. I wanted to turn and run or get out of his way, but I was unable to move.

He came straight at me and reached out his hand. When he touched my chest, I collapsed to the floor on my side in the fetal position. The spiritual fire from his touch remained on me, causing me to create my own puddle of sweat on the cement floor of the church. In that moment, I began to see more clearly in the spirit than ever before.

The church held about 6,000 people, divided into six sections of chairs. Over each section I saw another angel of fire about the size of a human man, and the fire only emanated out of them about six inches. As the worship intensified I saw more of these smaller angels come down through the ceiling and join the crowd of worshippers. The worship grew so intense that at the height of worship, while the fire angels continued to join in, the crowd looked like a field of grass on fire, an extreme wild fire of worship.

Then I saw a dark cloud over the crowd, and there was lightning flashing across the cloud. I heard two words in my spirit, “New mantle.” Randy Clark, knowing that I could see in the spirit, came over to ask me what I was seeing, and I shared with him all that I have written here. Then I asked him to flatten me out on my back because I was in an awkward and uncomfortable position. He flattened me out, and I still did not have control of any of my body below my neck.

While stuck to the ground, I looked down at my body and I saw three angels on me. There was one on each of my legs holding me down with their hands. A third angel was sitting next to me using his right hand to press down on my chest. I could see that the two 15-foot angels of fire were still on the stage watching.

I felt a splash of water come across my chest as if someone had taken a water bottle and poured it on me. I looked around but couldn’t figure out who had done it. Then it happened two more times a few minutes later. This felt so real in the natural that I was actually getting annoyed. I didn’t understand what this was until later.

Eventually the worship ended, and I was able to make it back to my seat with some help. Later on, I found an interpreter and spoke with Davi. I asked him what he had seen that evening, and he told me exactly what I had seen in his own words. He even included that the large angel of fire who had touched me at the beginning had told Davi that he was going to step off the stage and minister to me. Also, Davi saw the three angels lay a mantle over me. It had flames on top and water dripping from the bottom, which is why I had felt the water on my chest and heard in my spirit the words, “New mantle.” I had been confused about seeing the dark clouds in the meeting, and then the Lord showed me in His Word about His presence coming in a dark cloud:

“…the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness” (Deuteronomy 4:11 NKJV).

“He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning” (Psalms 18:11-12).

“Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles” (Psalms 97:2-4).

Since these experiences in Brazil, I have received this new mantle in my life. The Lord has increased my vision and ability to understand what is happening in the spirit. It is from these experiences that the Lord directed me into my call to teach others about the spirit realm.

ACTIVATION

The Lord taught me about activating my faith and “flipping my switch.” In this activation I direct you to prepare your heart for the Lord to teach you about flipping your spiritual switch. As a symbol of activating your faith, I recommend that you anoint yourself with oil. Go to your cupboard or pantry and find some olive or other safe food oil. Take a small dab and place it on yourself—you could put it on your forehead or wherever. As you do this, say this prayer in your own words:

Lord, I receive Your anointing. I desire to grow in my walk with You. I open my heart for more of Your work in and through me. I desire to fulfill the call on my life. I ask for Your anointing to run down upon me now (see Ps. 133).

ENDNOTES

1.

Gary Oates, Open My Eyes, Lord (Dallas, GA: Open Heaven Publications, 2004).

CHAPTER 2

SPIRITUAL SENSES

BECAUSE THE GIFT OF DISCERNING of spirits is one of the more perplexing gifts, let me clarify some of my language about seeing in the spirit. No believer has the “gift of seeing in the spirit” because there is no such thing. The gift that is actually functioning when someone says that he or she is seeing in the spirit is the gift of discerning of spirits.

Discerning of spirits is a true gift of the Holy Spirit found in First Corinthians 12. The emphasis in this book is seeing in the spirit, which is just one way that discerning of spirits functions. Seers function in a high level of discerning of spirits, usually through spiritual sight. Later I will discuss more about the role of seers in the Church.

DISCERNING OF SPIRITS

The gift of discerning of spirits is a communication gift through which the Holy Spirit makes us aware of our spiritual atmosphere and environment around us. The main way that this functions is through our five spiritual senses that God placed within each of us at creation. To understand how we function in discerning of spirits, we must understand our spiritual senses. Most people only realize that they have five physical senses. The truth is that we have three sets of five senses.

Science has learned that the physical body has five senses that enable us to interact with the environment: taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. In addition to your five physical senses, every person has five senses in their soul and five senses in their spirit.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

…Scripture has hundreds of verses that lay out clearly that we are a spirit, which has a soul and occupies a body. We are a three-part being consisting of a spirit, soul, and body.

SOUL SENSES

Experience and culture dictate our own individual reactions to taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight through our soul. For example, smell brings back memories. If I were to give flowers to one individual, it may bring back good memories like flowers from a wedding, but if I gave the same flowers to another person, it may bring back bad memories from a funeral. This is not a physical reaction to the flowers or their smell; it is a reaction from the individual soul.

If two people are walking together and they cross the path of a dog, one individual may like dogs and begin to pet the dog; however, the second person may be afraid and begin to feel uncomfortable. This is also a response from the individual soul senses. The way we see the world, and the way we hear others, is affected by the condition of our soul. Also, the willingness to touch certain things like a snake may be easy for some or terrifying for others, depending on the condition of the soul. Even the taste of some foods will bring varied responses from different people.

The human soul has senses just like the physical body. Each category of senses has a realm that it interacts with. The physical senses interact with the physical realm, the soul senses interact with the interpersonal realm. And the spirit has senses that interact with the spiritual realm.

Although there are hundreds of books that can help develop the soul or the body, this book is focused on the developing and operating of the spiritual senses.

SPIRIT SENSES

Author and teacher Harold Eberle offers great insight regarding our spiritual senses:

Just as we have five senses that provide us with information about the physical world, we also have senses in touch with the spiritual world. The spiritual senses are just as important as the physical senses. Unfortunately, most of us have not developed our spiritual senses.

Many Christians do not even believe they have any spiritual senses. I like to ask them, “Has the devil ever tempted you?” Of course, they answer yes. Then I like to say, “Well, how did you hear the devil? You could not hear him if you did not have spiritual ears.” It is sad, but many people have more faith that the devil talks to us than that God talks to us. In reality, the Bible makes it clear that we all have spiritual eyes and ears.

When Elisha prayed for his servant, he did not pray for God to give him eyes, but he prayed that God would open up his eyes (see 2 Kings 6:17). In Ephesians 1:18, Paul did not pray for the saints to receive eyes, but for God to open the eyes of their hearts. We already have spiritual eyes and ears. What we need is to have them opened. We need to become sensitive.[1]

It is a fact that we have senses in our spirit through which we interact with the spirit realm. When the gift of discerning of spirits is functioning, it is through these spiritual senses that we receive communication.

In human communication, the two main senses we use most often for relating information are sound and sight. Communication in the natural is received through listening, as well as through body language and facial expressions. God also communicates through the other three senses (taste, touch, and smell), but most of the time He will speak through seeing and hearing. Because the spiritual senses of taste, smell, and touch are the least understood, the following examples show how, on occasion, God may speak to us through these senses.

TASTE

And He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat. Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth” (Ezekiel 3:1-3).

If we suddenly taste something sweet, sour, or salty, but the taste is not a result of anything we have physically had to eat or drink, we should ask the Lord if He is trying to speak to us. On occasion, in the Old Testament, God spoke to His prophets through experiences with spiritual taste.

SMELL

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us, spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him (2 Corinthians 2:14).

In the spring of 2005 I was helping Randy Clark and Leif Hetland at one of their book tables in Nashville, Tennessee, when a large angel appeared at the end of the table by Leif’s books, and a stir began among the people. To my knowledge, no one else was able to see what I was seeing, yet they could smell the change. I saw the angel pulling out small vials of heavenly fragrances, each one being very distinct. He pulled them from his belt and wafted them in the air. There was the scent of perfect cinnamon; then after about two minutes, a fresh scent would be put out. The scents were drastically different from one another: from the scent of cinnamon to wild flowers to baby oil and then to various spices. This continued through about 12 different smells, and by the end of 30 minutes there were about 30 people crowded together on the tips of their toes smelling the air and sharing in the experience.

TOUCH

As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched Me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against You.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me; I know that power has gone out from Me” (Luke 8:43-46).

This is a great example of the difference between physical touch and spiritual touch. According to this story, Jesus was almost physically crushed, but when someone reached out and drew healing power out from His spirit, He declared that someone had touched Him, speaking spiritually, of course.

My friend Benjamin Valence and I had a spiritual experience together a few years ago. Ben wrote out the experience in his own words as he remembers it (notice how the senses of touch and smell were both operating).

I remember it like it was yesterday. Jonathan and I were sitting in his kitchen talking about things of the spirit when we stepped into some activation. As we were talking about angels and things of the unseen realm, Jonathan suddenly told me there was something in front of me (in the spirit) on the table and that I should reach out my hands to feel what it was. To most this might seem a little weird, but he and I had been operating in discerning of spirits for quite a while, so I didn’t hesitate. I reached out my hands and began to feel what was there; I could make out something that felt like a large bowl. It felt as real as if I was feeling a bowl in the natural realm. As I was telling Jonathan what I felt, he would confirm it by seeing in the spirit what I was touching. He would then ask me what else I felt, always trying to get me to reach a little deeper. As I felt out the bowl Jon asked me to feel inside of it, and as I reached into the bowl I could literally feel a hot liquid on my hand. After realizing I could feel heat coming from the bowl when I placed my hands inside it, I tried putting my face over it. As soon as I did, my face became hot, and I began to sweat; it was incredible. After a while of playing with the bowl, Jon told me that it was oil and asked me to pick it up and to pour it over my head. As soon as I reached for the bowl and began to tilt it over my head, Jon and I looked at each other, and as if repeating each other’s words said, “Did you smell that?” At the same moment we both smelled the scent of oil fill the room. Excitement boiled inside me as I raised the bowl over my head and began to pour it out. I could actually feel the oil running down over my head and heat coming from the substance. I will never forget the feeling of the oil running over me as if consuming my senses. I felt peace, joy, and love of the Father washing over me. I will never forget that day.

FOCUS ON THE LORD

Once I started to share what I was able to see, people were very hungry to have similar experiences and would ask me how they could begin to see. Since God had sovereignly given me this gift that I had not sought out, I didn’t know what to tell them, until I found a key in Matthew 5:8.

I understood impartation through the laying on of hands; therefore I would pray for impartation to anyone interested, but I was only seeing a fraction of people receive the gifting. (I will address impartation in greater detail in a later chapter.) Over the last several years, the Lord has taught me some principles that have opened the door for more people to be able to activate their faith for the gift of discerning of spirits. The first one that I want to share is the principle of Matthew 5:8, which was the first insight the Lord gave me: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

How pure does a person have to be to see God? I believe that the answer is in asking the right question, “What is meant by purity?” The vast majority of believers hold the word pure as a moral standard that is unattainable. Jesus was speaking of purity as a key to seeing God and I believe He told us this because it is attainable.

To illustrate the meaning of pure, take gold as an example. When gold has been truly purified, it has had all the other elements removed from it. This process causes all the dross and impurities to come to the surface so it can be skimmed away. In the end, it produces gold that is one single element. Our hearts are sometimes cluttered with the dross of life, and we must remove all the distractions so we can focus our whole heart on God. For us to have a “pure” heart, our heart must be focused. If we are to “see God,” then the one element our heart contains must be a focus on the Lord.

When we focus our hearts on the Lord, we are aimed to come into the experience of seeing God. The verse is clearer if we read it this way, “Happy are those who focus their heart on God, for they will actually see God.”

FAITH AND THE EMPTY CHAIR

The following story is a favorite of mine. It is a great illustration of what it means to focus your heart on Jesus using the eyes of your imagination.

A man’s daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old man had been informed of his impending visit. “I guess you were expecting me,” he said. “No, who are you?” said the father. “I’m the new minister at your church,” he replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?” Puzzled, the minister shut the door. “I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the preacher talk about prayer, but it went right over my head.”

“I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and, in faith, see Jesus in the chair. It’s not spooky because He promised, “I’ll be with you always.” Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.’”

“So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him and returned to the church building. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon. “Did he die in peace?” he asked.

“Yes, when I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?” The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, “I wish we all could go that way.”

ACTIVATION I

For the first exercise we are going to talk to Jesus like the old man in the story did. First put in your bookmark and set the book down, then close your eyes and with your imagination, picture Jesus.

Now engage in a conversation with Him. If you cannot think of anything to say, you can always start by thanking Him for the things He has done in your life. For example, salvation, physical healing, emotional freedom, baptism in the Holy Spirit, financial blessing, reconciliation with others, divine favor, deliverance, and the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. Do not forget to listen to the Lord speaking back to you.

ACTIVATION II

For the second activation, you are going to pray a simple prayer, consecrating your senses to the Lord.

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13).

Pray this prayer of offering in your own words:

Lord,

I offer to You all the parts of my body including my spiritual senses. My spiritual ability to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch I give to You alone. I offer myself to You as an instrument of righteousness.

ENDNOTES

1.

Harold Eberle, Partnership Newsletter (Yakima, WA: World Cast Ministries, May 2008).

CHAPTER 3

IMPARTATION

TO UNDERSTAND IMPARTATION, you have to understand anointing, which in the Bible means “a smearing.” In Scripture, oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. When a prophet or priest poured, rubbed, or smeared oil over the head of someone, it was referred to as anointing that person. This actually gave the anointed person a measure of the oil that belonged to the prophet or priest. This is commonly referred to as transferring the anointing.

In the Old Testament, the oil was used to signify the passing of the anointing. In the New Testament we find that the anointing of the Holy Spirit can now be passed through the laying on of hands because the anointing abides within us: “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you…” (1 John 2:27).

IMPARTATION IS FOUNDATIONAL

The apostle Paul named the laying on of hands as one of the six basic fundamental doctrines a Christian should understand. This places it in the very foundation of our Christian beliefs. In many circles of the modern Church, impartation is ignored, if not denied all together; in the first century, it was considered a foundational truth:

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrines about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of…the laying on of hands… (Hebrews 6:1-2).

Paul also thought of impartation as part of the process of becoming established. He imparted spiritual gifts to the Roman believers to give them a better foundation: “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established…” (Rom. 1:11 NKJV).

IMPARTATION IS INTENTIONAL

In the Old Testament, the anointing was a very purposeful, pronounced event. Impartation occurs not just because of touch, but because a person places his or her hands on you by the direction of the Holy Spirit with a goal in mind. Intentionally, the impartation occurs.

To say that impartation occurs every time touch occurs would be similar to saying that if an Old Testament prophet had a leaky oil flask, then everything that he dripped oil on was anointed to be king. If it were just touch, then every time you shook someone’s hand, you would have some of him or her rub off on you. This is not biblical, and we are not promoting such superstition. We intentionally give that which we have, by the direction of the Holy Spirit: “what I have I give you…” (Acts 3:6).

IMPARTATION IS BIBLICAL

There are many other examples throughout the Bible of individuals or groups of people receiving an impartation from the Lord through another person. Let’s look at a few of these.

Joshua and Moses: Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses (Deut. 34:9 NKJV).

Moses and the Elders: So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied… (Num. 11:24-25a NKJV).

Elijah and Elisha: And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me” (2 Kings 2:9 NKJV).

Peter: Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6 NKJV).

Paul and Timothy: Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership (1 Tim. 4:14).

Timothy was deeply impacted by impartation. Specifically, as a result of impartation, he received a spiritual gift through the laying on of hands and prophecy by a prophetic presbytery of elders: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6 NKJV).

IMPARTATION IS INDIVIDUAL

Does everyone receive the same level of impartation when hands are laid on? Some have thought that if a famous Christian leader lays his or her hands on an individual, then the receiver will get an impartation that instantly gives them an equal portion of the anointing.

It is the mercy of God that protects us from receiving more than we can handle. As Pastor Bill Johnson of Redding, California, says, “Revelation always brings responsibility, and hunger is the thing that prepares our hearts to carry the weight of that responsibility.”1 Our character must be able to uphold the amount of power we carry, or else we are a danger to those around us. So the answer is no, not everyone receives the same level of anointing in impartation. God knows what you need, and what you can handle.

IMPARTATION IS A SEED, NOT A FULL-GROWN PLANT

The parable of the sower (see Luke 8:4-15) teaches us how the farmer spreads the seeds for salvation, and it also teaches us a principle of how we receive from God. Our heart is the soil, and Father God is the farmer who spreads seed, which is the Word of God (or, for our analogy, impartation). He casts it into the soil of our heart. Then the birds, which are demonic attacks, come to kill, steal, and destroy.

This is where the variation in impartation can occur. The difference in how any seed grows depends on the soil in which it is planted and how prepared and ready that soil is for seeds to grow. After the seed is planted, it can grow very quickly if it is given the proper water (time in the presence of the Holy Spirit—see John 7:38-39) and sunlight (Jesus is the light that the seed needs to grow—see 2 Cor. 4:4).

To my knowledge, those who have some of the most powerful impartations are among the following: those who are hungry for more of God, pastors who are tired and burned out, and people whose ministry is desperate for a breakthrough. They are people whose soil is eager for seed, and almost as soon as the seed hits the soil, something sprouts. The soil is already prepared with water and sunlight, but the impartation is needed to move into producing. In contrast, there are those who have no hunger for God, do not spend time with the Holy Spirit, and do not walk in the light of Christ, leaving their hearts as hard as rocky soil. Usually, God has to plow this ground before any seed can grow there.

One other factor in farming is the needed pressure that dirt places against a seed so that the shell cracks open and the seed can begin to grow. Seeds that have never sprouted, because they have never been planted in dirt, have been found in the tombs of pharaohs. Some of these seeds, which are over 4,000 years old, have since been planted in dirt and have sprouted and produced. That is why seeds of salvation can be tossed out on the ground of peoples’ hearts day after day with no results, but when the trials of life give the needed pressure, the seeds crack open and life sprouts.

This pressure comes into the impartation discussion because not only spiritually hungry people get powerful impartation. Sometimes it is a person about to lose his or her ministry, or someone about to give up from difficulty. Someone under tremendous pressure in life may be the most ready for the seed of impartation to be planted in his or her heart.

YOU CAN ONLY IMPART WHAT YOU POSSESS

It is crucial that we understand this next point: you can only impart what you possess—if you possess it, you can impart it. If you don’t have it, don’t lay hands on another and declare impartation. If you only have olive anointing oil in your flask, you can’t declare and impart cedar anointing oil to someone else. Yes, pray that God would give it to them. But don’t go claiming to impart what you don’t have in your own life. You cannot impart resurrection power to someone if you have never raised the dead, but you can declare and prophesy it over someone if the Lord directs you.

“The double portion,” as it relates to impartation, is a phrase commonly heard in some church circles. To understand the double portion correctly, consider the following scenario. If an Old Testament prophet was sent to anoint a king and the prophet has ten ounces of anointing oil in his flask, he can only give the king ten ounces. If the king asks him to give him a double portion of all the anointing that the prophet had, this would mean that he wanted not 10 ounces, but 20 ounces. He cannot give 20 because he only has 10. That is double the portion of all the anointing that the prophet has. This is what Elisha did when he asked for a double portion of Elijah’s anointing. Elijah responded by saying, “You have asked a difficult thing” (2 Kings 2:10a). Then, because an individual does not have the ability to give a double portion to another person, Elijah puts the responsibility on God by saying, “If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not” (2 Kings 2:10b). This is a proper understanding of the concept of the double portion referred to by Elisha. Notice that even the prophet Elijah was not able to freely give away the double portion; he responded, in essence, that God would have to do it. It may prove wise to use this term with a little more caution.

First Timothy 5:22 raises another important question regarding the practice of impartation: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” If pulled out of its original context, this verse can seem very contradictory to everything I have presented in this chapter. A large part of First Timothy is written about setting church leadership into positions of authority. All of Chapter 3 lays out detailed qualifications about what type of person is to be put into leadership. A few verses earlier, Paul writes, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages.’ Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning” (1 Tim. 5:17-20).

In First Timothy, Paul is writing about the laying on of hands for setting leadership into positions of authority. This has nothing to do with the concept of impartation. It would not make sense for Paul to write in Hebrews 6 and Romans 1 that he wanted to lay hands on baby Christians that “they may be established” (Rom. 1:11), and then to warn in First Timothy that you can share in the sins of others by laying hands on them. If he is referring to the same type of laying on of hands in both passages, then wouldn’t he say to “keep yourself pure” by not laying hands on people who are not yet “established” (1 Tim. 5:22; Rom. 1:11)? There are two different types of laying on of hands: one for setting leaders into places of authority, and the second for imparting and transferring anointing. There are qualifications and restrictions on the first type, but the second type actually propels you toward being qualified. Transference of the anointing by the laying on of hands for impartation is for each and every Christian and is not held back; in fact, it exists to help you grow.

ACTIVATION

There are many Scripture verses that validate the fact that impartation can occur through the touching of physical objects (see Matt. 9:20; 14:35-37; Acts 19:11-12). The exercise for this chapter will be a prayer for receiving impartation. Place one hand on this book, while placing your other hand on yourself. Put this prayer in your own words and stir up your faith:

I receive an impartation right now from the Holy Spirit for an increase in discerning of spirits. I receive anointing for my eyes to see (see Rev. 3:18), I receive an impartation for the eyes of my understanding to be enlightened (see Eph. 1:17-18), and I receive an impartation for greater vision in the spirit realm.

ENDNOTES

1.

Bill Johnson, Dreaming With God (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2006), p. 60.

CHAPTER 4

WE CAN ALL SEE

You Can Learn

MANY PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND that spiritual gifts can be taught. The apostle Paul said that he didn’t want us to be ignorant about the spiritual gifts (see 1 Cor. 12:1), and what corrects ignorance better than teaching?

Some say that Paul was only referring to teaching about the gifts in a general sense rather than activating the gifts as in a classroom setting. If Paul was against the idea of activations so that all may learn, then why would he say, “For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged” (see 1 Cor. 14:31 NKJV)?

The gifts can be taught, learned, and activated. Paul also set a precedent by encouraging his spiritual son, Timothy, to activate his gifting: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6). I believe that this charge applies to us as well; we are to activate our giftings, not merely to wait and hope that the Holy Spirit will cause our gift to activate: “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).

HOW MANY GIFTS DO I HAVE?

Many have been taught that they only have access to one (possibly more but not all) of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This teaching has limited the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Church because believers will not step out in faith to use a gift, since it might not be “their gift.” When they do not step out, they do not find out what their gifting is, and satan has effectively immobilized the use of the spiritual gifts.

There are two main verses that have been misunderstood and misapplied, and this has caused most of the confusion surrounding the spiritual gifts. These verses seem to say that we as individuals have a limited access to the gifts that have been given to the Church.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all…distributing to each one individually as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NKJV).

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10 NKJV).

There is a teaching that expands on First Peter 4:10, stating that each Christian has been given only one gift (possibly two or three but not more), and this gift is resident within the individual and can be called on at any time. First Corinthians 12:11 also seems to be in agreement with this concept. I agree with this teaching, but only when it is balanced by a seemingly contradictory idea.

THE FAITH LEVEL OF OPERATION

Although First Corinthians 12 gives us a list of nine spiritual gifts and says that the Holy Spirit distributes to each one individually as He wills, we find what seems to be a contradiction. It also says of the gifts that “… God works all in all” (1 Cor. 12:6). How can the Holy Spirit give you a gift, uniquely yours, if He also gives everyone that same gift?

Another seeming contradiction is prophecy. It appears on our list of nine special gifts given to individuals, yet we read, “For you can all prophesy…” (1 Cor. 14:31).

And what about the gift of healing? Is it a gift that only some have, or should we all lay our hands on the sick and see healing? As Mark 16:17-18 says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: …they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” If I don’t have the gift of healing available to me, how could I be responsible for not praying for the sick? Yet I am commanded to heal the sick in Matthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” How can God be “just” if He commands me to do something for which He has not equipped me?

Lastly, what about discerning of spirits? Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” But if only some Christians have been given the gift of discerning of spirits, then how can God ask that we all discern good from evil?

THREE DIFFERENT LEVELS IN THE GIFTS

The missing piece here is that there are three different levels of the spiritual gifts. Take prophecy, for example: On the highest level you have the office of the prophet mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-13; on the middle level is the gift of prophecy found in First Corinthians 12:10; and on the lowest level is the faith level where Paul says, “you can all prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:31). The progression works like a triangle; at the bottom, everyone can prophesy; as you move to the middle of the triangle, some people will have the actual gift of prophecy; lastly, there will be a few people at the top of the triangle who have the calling of a prophet. Just because you can prophesy does not mean you have the gift of prophecy, and just because you have the gift of prophecy does not mean that you have the office and calling of a prophet.

Let us take the triangle of three levels and apply it to discernment. On the top of the triangle we find the office of the seer; at the middle there is the gift of discerning of spirits; and at the bottom we have the faith level referred to in Hebrews 5:14: “those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” As with prophecy, just because you can discern does not mean that you have the gift of discerning of spirits, and even if you can see in the spirit and have the gift of discerning of spirits, this does not mean that you are in the office and calling of a seer. Many have operated in the lower two levels and have declared themselves to be prophets and seers in the Body of Christ, and this has brought much unnecessary spiritual warfare against them. It is spiritually dangerous to declare that you are a prophet or a seer unless you truly are one. A surefire way to know if you are a prophet or a seer is to look at the one passage that gives the New Testament job description of a true prophet: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12 NKJV). The New Testament prophet is supposed to be equipping others for the work of ministry; if you are not equipping others in prophecy, then you are probably not a prophet.

“HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE?” (Mark 8:18)

Many verses in the Bible state that all Christians can and should have their spiritual eyes and ears open and functioning. We often pass over clear references to spiritual sight because we have been told that seeing in the spirit is not our gift. Here is a quick overview of seven sections of Scripture that speak of how every believer should have their spiritual eyes operating.

1. Hebrews 5:12-14: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (NKJV).

This shows that a sign of all mature Christians is that they will be active in using discernment. This is not only available to us, but it is also a sign of maturity. It is time to grow and start using our discernment.

2. Ephesians 1:15-18: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (NKJV).

If Paul believed that only certain Christians could see in the spirit, then why would he be wasting his time praying for all the Ephesian believers to have the eyes of their understanding enlightened? Obviously, Paul believed that all of them could have their spiritual eyes opened.

3. Second Kings 6:15-17: “And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (NKJV).

Elisha didn’t pray, “If it is my servant’s gifting, open his eyes.” No, Elisha knew that God wanted to open the eyes of the servant, as God always wants to open the eyes of His servants. There is no question that God has given us all spiritual eyes that would have worked perfectly before the Fall of Adam—why shouldn’t they work in every born-again believer?

4. Revelation 3:17-18: “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (NKJV).

Spiritually we are poor and naked, and God wants to spiritually clothe us and give us spiritual riches. But the third part of the verse still causes offense to some—that we are blind and that God wants us to anoint our eyes with eye salve so that we may see. But we are spiritually blind, and God has provided an anointing that can open the spiritual eyes of every believer. God has not excluded even one person by limiting His gifts to only a few. This anointing of Revelation 3 is available to all, as is the clothing and gold that He has provided for us.

5. Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed…”

This verse is rarely thought of as referring to spiritual sight, but let us look a little closer. Jesus said that He was anointed to preach good news to the poor, which is a spiritual activity. He was anointed to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and to release the oppressed. I propose that this does not refer to actual prisoners and oppressed people, as evidenced by the fact that Jesus was not literally opening jail cells to set captives free. Instead, He healed and freed hearts and delivered others of demonic oppression. This leads to the conclusion that perhaps Jesus was not only healing the physically blind, which He certainly did, but also the spiritually blind.

6. Matthew 7:1-5: “Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Clearly Jesus, using metaphor and hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point), is not speaking of the physical eye. He is speaking of how we see the world through the eyes of our heart, and how at times we get a speck or a log that hinders our seeing. This also speaks of how hypocrisy operates.

7. First John 2:9-11: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

When a Christian hates another believer, does that Christian go physically blind? Of course not! This is speaking of how hate blinds our spiritual eyes. We must operate our discernment through love. Hate hinders, obscures, and destroys Christ-like discernment.

AN OPEN HEART

The issue of who has what gifts and how many one person can operate in has been the topic of much debate in certain church circles. I hope this quick overview of seven examples of God’s desire for every person to operate in spiritual sight has helped to open your heart and your mind. There is so much more available to us, and we must remain open to finding new truth in the Word. We should heed what the apostle Paul said and “…eagerly desire the greater gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31). Now that we understand the levels among the gifts, we can truly pursue greater gifts.

ACTIVATION

The words revelation, interpretation, and application can serve as a simple and straightforward way to process information from the spirit realm. First, God shows you something. Second, you ask the Lord, what the revelation means. Third, ask the Lord what you should do with the information that He just gave you.

Revelation: Ask the Lord to show you a picture in your imagination.

Interpretation: Ask the Lord what the picture means.

Application: Ask the Lord what you should do in response. Perhaps you should just receive the picture and be encouraged, but He may say that the picture is for someone else and that you should encourage that person with what He showed you.

Write out in your journal the revelation and the interpretation and application, this will keep the revelation for future encouragement. These three steps can be remembered as the acronym R.I.A. and can be applied to any vision, dream, or picture from the Lord.

CHAPTER 5

PROPHETS AND SEERS

THE QUESTION THAT I get asked the most is, “What is a seer?” The response I give is different, depending on who is asking. There are three general categories of people who ask this question, and I answer according to which group they are a part of.

If the person asking is not a Christian, then I cannot use Christian lingo to explain it. I use terms they might understand and mold my answer to make sense to them. I might respond by saying, “A person who operates as a seer can see into the spirit realm around us, similar to a psychic person. The difference is that a Christian has legal access to operate in that realm because Jesus lives inside of a Christian. A psychic has no right to operate in that realm, and it is dangerous for them to do so. God communicates to seers through visions, open visions, and dreams, as well as many other ways.”

If the person is a Christian, but they have no familiarity with prophets and prophecy, then I would probably say something like, “Remember how in the Old Testament Samuel would have visions and speak God’s Word to others? Well, that is what a seer and a prophet do. God talks to seers and prophets in different ways; then they take those messages and declare them to the Church to bring vision, direction, and encouragement.”

When a person who is very familiar with prophets and prophecy asks, “What is a seer?” there are usually a few other questions implied. The implied questions are various: “Does it matter that we distinguish between seers and prophets?” “Are seers in the New Testament?” “Who are the seers in the Bible?” and “How are prophets and seers different?” Since the previous two groups have just been answered, I will answer these questions in more detail.

Q: Does it Matter That We Distinguish Between Seers and Prophets?

A: The Bible is our example. If it is important to God, then it should be important to us. Scripture is not arbitrary in the use of the titles seer and prophet. Individuals were referred to as one or the other. This was not a synonymous term that was thrown around interchangeably. Here is an example of Scripture very specifically separating the two terms: “As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer…” (1 Chron. 29:29). God clearly distinguished between Samuel and Gad as seers and Nathan as a prophet. If it is important to God, then it should be important to us.

Q: Who Are the Seers in the Bible?

A: There are nine people identified as seers in the Old Testament. There are many others who operated at times in the gifting of a seer such as Balaam, Elisha, Daniel, and Zechariah, but they were never given the title of “seer” in the Bible. Only nine people have been given the name, title, and calling of seer. Listed here are the nine, the scriptural reference of their title as a seer, and the main position that they fulfilled.

Samuel

1 Chronicles 29:29

Governmental Advisor

Gad

1 Chronicles 29:29

Governmental Advisor

Zadok

2 Samuel 15:27

Chief Priest

Hanani

2 Chronicles 16:7

Grandson of Samuel

Iddo

2 Chronicles 9:29

Priest

Amos

Amos 7:12

Sycamore fig picker, marketplace minister

Asaph

2 Chronicles 29:30

Worship leader, author of Psalms 50 and 73-83

Jeduthun

2 Chronicles 35:15

Worship leader

Heman

1 Chronicles 25:5

Worship leader, author of Psalm 88

Take note of the positions that the seers fulfilled. One-third of them were governmental or marketplace oriented, one-third of them were worship leaders, and one-fourth were in formal priesthood ministry. Also we can see from Hanani that the seer anointing can be passed generationally. Many times the title of seer is applied to others such as Ezekiel and Elisha, but these nine are the only ones in the entire Bible who God refers to as seers.

Q: Are There Seers in the New Testament?

A: According to First Samuel 9:9, “Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: ‘Come, let us go to the seer’; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.” In our modern day we can lose the history and context behind biblical words. This verse shows us that in the progression of the Hebrew language; they blended the word seer into the word prophet and called them the same thing. A prophet and a seer refer to the same calling, yet the way that they receive their revelation from the Lord functions differently. The seers continued to minister in Israel, so this was not a dismissal of seers but merely a change in language trends. This is similar to the fact that there are electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, civil engineers, and many other kinds, with a world of difference between them, but for convenience we just say engineer.

When we read the New Testament, we find no reference to the word seers. This is because the first-century reader understood that the word prophet was inclusive of both prophets and seers. (If First Samuel 9:9 had eliminated the use of the term prophet in favor of the word seer, then we would still have five New Testament offices listed in Ephesians 4:11, but prophet would be included under seer). When first-century believers read the words of Paul in Ephesians 4:11, they technically saw six ministries, not just five: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets [the word prophet is inclusive of seers], some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). Seers and prophets still both exist, and they are both called to deliver the prophetic word of the Lord, but they function differently (more on that later).

Q: How Are Prophets and Seers Different?

A1: A simple way to determine whether someone is a prophet or a seer in the Bible is to watch for the prophetic prefix they use. If, when they prophesy, they say, “The Lord would say,” then it is likely they are hearing the word of the Lord bubble up inside of them as a prophet. The root word for prophet is nabi. Dennis Cramer gives a great explanation of what nabi means:

The Hebrew word for prophet (occurring 300 times in the Old Testament) means a suddenly inspired person. The word implies one who bubbles up, one who flows forth. Some might call this biblical phenomenon prophetic effervescence—the sudden bubbling up or flowing forth of the prophetic message from deep within the human spirit. Many prophetic believers, whether they are prophets or merely prophetic, will experience this type of prophesying. “Nabi” style prophecy is a spontaneous bubbling up, a sudden inspiration to prophesy with little or no foreknowledge.1

A2: A seer would more often say, “The Lord showed me,” or “it was likened unto,” or “I saw,” and then an explanation would follow. Paula Price, the author of The Prophet’s Dictionary writes of seers,

The Hebrew word for seer is one who receives communications from God more from visions and dreams than audible words. Prophets who say they saw the word of the Lord more than heard it is an example of this type of prophet.2

Well-known prophetic author Cindy Jacobs writes in her book The Voice of God,

Prophets in the Old Testament at one time were called “seers.” This means that they literally or figuratively saw things in the Spirit. Some of the prophets were more pictorial in their gifts than others, such as Ezekiel who saw visions of heavenly creatures. Certain prophetic people today receive their prophetic words mainly through pictures. Their prophecies will often be interpretations of pictures or inner visions they see.3

Typically, prophets and seers teach others to receive revelation in the way that they receive it. For the prophet, this would be hearing the inward voice of the Holy Spirit. For the seer who receives revelation in a more visual way, this would be taught as dreams, mental pictures, visions that appear before their eyes (sometimes called an open vision), angelic messengers, and experiences in Heaven or in the unseen realm.

There are many different ways that God talks to seers, so each seer is different. Some seers are almost strictly spoken to through dreams, whereas some have the ability to use their spiritual eyes and see into the unseen realm as Elisha did:

And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).

ENDNOTES

1.

Dennis Cramer, School of Prophecy, Level One (Williamsport, PA: Dennis Cramer Ministries, 1998), 54.

2.

Paula A. Price, The Prophet’s Dictionary (Tulsa, OK: Flaming Vision Publications, 2002), 494.

3.

Cindy Jacobs, The Voice of God (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1995), 223.

CHAPTER 6

THE UNSEEN REALM

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

WE HAVE IN THIS PASSAGE four different words that are important to understand: seen, unseen, temporary, and eternal. The seen is what we call the physical realm, that which is visible to the physical eye. This realm can be studied and experienced through our natural five senses of taste, touch, sound, sight, and smell.

The unseen is another realm. Like the physical realm, it also can be experienced with the five senses. The five senses of our physical body do not interact with the unseen realm, but we have five senses in our spirit that interact with this realm. The physical realm and spiritual realm are what Paul was writing about when he refers to the seen and unseen.

Then we have the eternal and the temporary. The eternal is any realm other than the physical. For example, ten billion years ago, God existed in the heavens and in the spirit. Ten billion years from now God will still exist in the heavens and in the spirit. When Paul writes of the temporary, he is speaking of this physical realm that began in Genesis 1 and continues only until it is replaced with the New Earth in Revelation 22. If you were to draw a line to represent time and it extended infinitely into the past and infinitely into the future, and if you were to put a one inch mark on this line, this would give you an idea of what the time-span of the physical realm looks like from Heaven’s perspective. This is a good perspective to have when considering the reality of the spirit realm.

Many have stated that the spirit realm is just as real as the physical realm; this is in fact a huge understatement. The truth is that the spirit realm is far more real than the physical realm. In fact, if you were to die this very second while reading this book, you would immediately be dwelling in the spirit realm. You are one heartbeat away from existing entirely in the spirit realm. Yet some live their entire lives denying the existence of the spirit realm.

When an angel appears in the physical realm, people generally think that the angel came from Heaven. It is true that the Lord’s angels do have their home in Heaven with God, but they can also surround us on the earth in the unseen realm, such as with Elisha and his servant in Second Kings 6. They sometimes manifest in the seen realm to speak a message, and then step back into the unseen realm, such as with Balaam in Numbers 22. At times this delivery of a message can take much time and warfare that we may not be fully aware of. For example, the angels Michael and Gabriel had to war together against the prince of Persia (possibly a regional evil spirit) to be able to finally break through 21 days of warfare and deliver a message to Daniel (see Dan. 10:13).

DEFINING THE TERMS

Some teachers in the Body of Christ have coined new extra-biblical terms for explaining three different realms. [Authors note: “extra-biblical” simply refers to things not in the Bible. This is not the same as anti-or unbiblical] Based on Paul using the phrase “third heaven” in Second Corinthians 12:2-4, they have extrapolated that if there is a third heaven, then it would stand to reason that there must be a first and second heaven, neither of which is mentioned by name in the Bible. Theologically, this is not a wrong assumption. However, when we begin to create new extra-biblical terms, we usually scare and divide from other parts of the Body of Christ. I have chosen to use biblical language as much as possible that I may be able to bring other more timid parts of the Church into new experience with the Holy Spirit.

When people refer to the first heaven they mean what the Bible calls the seen realm. When the second heaven is spoken of, it is what the Bible calls the unseen realm, which surrounds the physical realm. The term third heaven is only mentioned one time in Scripture and it is referred to as an experience that had happened once in 14 years and the author could not even describe this precious experience.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

Because the third heaven is only mentioned once and without description, I chose not to use this term casually. Consider that the third heaven must be something profound—in that it was indescribable and unusual—in that it happened once in 14 years. While we do have access to the heavenly realm and experiences, according to Paul the third heaven is altogether something different.

EXAMPLES OF THE UNSEEN REALM ELISHA AND HIS SERVANT

“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:13-17).

In this story Elisha had been surrounded by enemy forces during the night. When the servant awoke and realized that they were surrounded, he was full of fear. Elisha, however, was calm, cool, and collected. He directed his servant not to be afraid and informed him that there were more forces on their side than the enemy had on his side.

Elisha was seeing into the unseen realm of the spirit. He prayed that his servant would be able to see as well. The servant received this impartation and was able to see what Elisha saw. My friend Harold Eberle has an interesting insight about how we see things in the spirit and how God communicates with us:

To see how spiritual dynamics relate to natural consequences, consider how the prophet Elisha and his servant became surrounded by enemy soldiers. When Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened to the spiritual world, “he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17 NKJV). Knowing that God was with him, Elisha had no fear. He prayed that God would strike the enemies with blindness, and they immediately went blind for a season.

This story is enlightening concerning how the spiritual realm appears to the one who can see into that realm. God communicates through visions. He uses pictures we can relate to in order to communicate what is going on in the spiritual world.

Concerning Elisha and his servant’s vision, it is difficult to say whether horses and chariots actually existed in the spiritual world or if the horses and chariots that they saw represented the power of God that was available to defend them. For us today, horses and chariots would not be a very effective representation of God’s power because one modern military machine such as a tank could defeat thousands of horses and chariots. Perhaps, then, if God wanted to reveal His power to us, He would show armies with all of the latest, most deadly equipment.

That reveals how realities in the spiritual realm are communicated to us in the natural realm. It is similar to the pictures one sees in dreams. There are true messages behind spiritual images, but the images are merely a form of communication.[1]

DANIEL SEES IN THE SPIRIT REALM

Daniel lived a life full of incredible spiritual experiences. In Daniel 10, Daniel sees into the unseen realm, but the men who were with him did not share in his experience. He had recently had a vision about a coming war and was emotionally disturbed by it for several weeks. One day, as Daniel was standing on the bank of the river Tigris, he began to see into the spirit realm:

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves (Daniel 10:4-7).

Daniel saw, and although the men didn’t, they did sense a very strong presence, so strong that they actually fled and hid. How incredible that they were standing next to Daniel one minute and suddenly had the overwhelming urge to run away and hide! The vision continues with Daniel all by himself:

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling (Daniel 10:8-11).

Daniel managed to stay for the vision, but he was physically overwhelmed. From the outside, this must have been interesting to watch. Here is Daniel with a group of guys, when suddenly they bolt, looking terrified. Daniel is the only one left, and he turns pale and drops to the ground. Then trembling, he rises to his feet, yet in the physical, nothing is visible to make sense of this.

THE APOSTLE JOHN

The apostle John was under religious persecution and had been exiled to the island of Patmos. He wrote that on the Lord’s Day, he was in the spirit (for perspective on what “in the spirit” means, see Chapter 14, “Worship in Spirit and in Truth”). Suddenly, he entered into a prophetic experience where he saw into the unseen realm.

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:9-18).

When it says that John “fell down as though dead,” his physical body actually fell down in the physical realm. As he stood in the physical realm and watched a vision before him in the spirit realm, he was affected physically. In Revelation 1-3, John is in his physical body watching a vision with his spiritual eyes. It is not until the beginning of chapter 4 that John leaves his body behind. In Revelation 4, God calls John up and out of the earth: “Come up here” (Rev. 4:1), and the experience becomes an out-of-body experience.

BALAAM AND HIS DONKEY

This is one of the most mysterious stories in the Book of Numbers. Balaam the prophet was rebelling against the word of the Lord. He had set out on his donkey and had two of his servants traveling along with him. The Word tells us that Balaam’s donkey saw into the spirit realm and saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword. The donkey turned away to save itself, but Balaam, who was dull to seeing because of his disobedience, became angry with the donkey. He began to beat the donkey to go down the road. Again, the donkey saw the angel and tried to get away by pressing up against a wall, thus crushing Balaam’s foot. Balaam beat the donkey again. A third time the donkey saw the angel, and this time it just sat down under Balaam. This angered him again, and again he beat the donkey.

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her again. Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff (Numbers 22:21-27).

This story gets really weird when God gives the donkey the momentary ability to speak. The donkey asks why Balaam is beating her, and Balaam responds that the donkey is making a fool of him. He foolishly says that if he had a sword, he would kill his talking donkey. The donkey reasons with him that she has never acted in this way, and Balaam concedes that this is true. Then suddenly the Lord opens Balaam’s eyes to the spirit realm. There standing in the unseen realm is the angel that was sent to kill him. The angel says that if the donkey hadn’t turned away, he would have killed Balaam and would have left the donkey alive.

Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her” (Numbers 22:28-33).

This opens up a discussion about animals and the spirit realm. Pastor Roland Buck, author of the classic book Angels on Assignment, shares about his dog having an awareness of the spirit realm:

Queenie, that’s my dog… a purebred Great Dane… quietly “woofed” as she pressed her wet nose against my face. The time was 2:00 A.M. I knew what was up by now. That is the way she rouses me when she becomes aware that angelic visitors are in the house.[2]

Perhaps Balaam’s donkey had a heightened awareness of spiritual beings because of the proximity of the anointing over time, or perhaps it is part of the nature of animals to be aware of the spirit realm.

From this sampling of Scripture we see that many Bible characters experienced and interacted with the unseen realm. As New Testament believers, we also have access and should experience this realm in our lives.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There are a lot of opinions about whether the spirit realm is good or bad, but as we look at Scripture we find that both angels and demons operate on this plane of existence. Even Jesus appears to Daniel and John in this realm. The unseen realm is neither good nor evil, in the same way that the physical realm is neither good nor evil. It is merely a plane of existence. Just as in the physical realm, the beings that dwell there can be good or evil. To say that everything in the unseen realm [or second heaven] is demonic is not biblical and we will be cutting ourselves off from a legitimate way that God speaks to us. Since we do not live in awareness of the spirit realm on a constant basis, we must use discernment when interacting with this realm.

ACTIVATION I

Put this prayer in your own words:

Lord,

I want communication from Heaven in my life. I ask that You would open the unseen realm to me. Lord, please remove all fear from my heart—fear of the unseen and fear of spiritual encounters. Lord, I want to receive all of the spiritual blessings that You have provided for me. I make myself available to Your many forms of communication.

ACTIVATION II

This exercise may take some more time.

First, ask the Lord to bring to your mind a friend or family member.

Second, ask the Lord to show you something about or around that person in the spirit realm. This could be an angel standing by them, Jesus, a demonic presence, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, objects such as weapons or chains, a special outfit such as armor or tribal clothing, etc.

Third, ask the Lord to give you insight into what you are seeing and how this translates into a word of encouragement for this individual.

Fourth, write down what you saw and what it means as if you were writing a letter to this person.

We will come back to this letter at the end of Chapter 8, “Discerning of Spirits.”

ENDNOTES

1.

Harold Eberle, Victorious Eschatology (Yakima, WA, Worldcast Pub., 2006), 156–157.

2.

Charles and Frances Hunter, with Roland Buck, Angels on Assignment (Houston, TX: Hunter Books, 1979).

CHAPTER 7

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ANGELIC REALM

THERE HAVE BEEN literally hundreds of books written about angels. I have read dozens of them. My goal in writing this book has been to provide fresh perspective on age-old truths. Rather than addressing basic questions that can be answered by reading almost any book on the topic, (e.g., What do angels look like? How many angels are there? Are there bad angels?), I will focus in this chapter on some of the more difficult, unusual, and even controversial questions about the angelic.

Q: Do You See Angels All the Time?

A: As with all gifts of the Holy Spirit, we must step out in faith to activate the gift. For example, while the Holy Spirit will sometimes move sovereignly to heal someone, most of the time we must engage our faith. Jesus often commanded an act of obedience in order to activate faith for healing. For example, He said, “Go and show yourself to the priest,” “Go wash the mud from your eyes,” or “Pick up your bed and walk.” In each case, physical healing occurred after the person responded in faith by obeying the command.

When the Holy Spirit gives a prophetic word, we must take part by cooperating with the Spirit and delivering the word. When you act in faith, you are stepping over into the things of the Kingdom realm—healing, prophecy, miracles, discerning of spirits, and so on. I don’t see in the spirit realm all the time, but I can activate my faith, and I know that the Holy Spirit will meet my faith, and the gift of discerning of spirits will operate through me.

Q: Do You See Angels Like You See Other People?

A: When I am seeing angels, I see them in a manner similar to Elisha, Balaam, or Balaam’s donkey. I see them superimposed over the natural realm. I do not see them as clearly as a person in the flesh, but my spirit eyes see them.

As we studied in the chapter on the spirit realm, there is scriptural precedent for one individual seeing an angelic being while the others standing by do not.

Q: Does Seeing in the Spirit Realm Mean That One Sees the Demonic as Well?

A: Yes, once your eyes are open, and you are able to see, you should be able to discern the spiritual roots of diseases, perhaps things in a person’s past, or even at times the presence of demonic spirits. This is a good thing, because as we walk in the authority of Christ and the demonic shows up in our path, we can deal with it and push the Kingdom of God forward.

I have talked with many people who started seeing the dark side before they began to see the angels and the light side. I don’t have an explanation for this, but I have a few speculative theories.

First, entertainment in our culture is full of horror and violence. This has polluted the spirit eyes of many and needs to be repented of so that cleansing can be released.

Second, a familiar spirit might be hanging around a family or individual because of a generational curse. This can be broken off by the blood of Jesus.

Third, satan is fully resisting the gift of discerning of spirits. If he can scare a person away from using his or her gift, then he has succeeded. As you continue to mature and press forward in your gifting, the other realms of discernment will begin to open up as well.

Q: Are There Female Angels?

A: There is no reference to an angel being a female in Scripture. This is an important point because the New Age movement has brought so much confusion into the Church in the Western World. Angels are most commonly portrayed as females—closely followed by a fat baby cherub with a bow and arrow—both of which are unscriptural.

There are female spiritual beings in Scripture, such as those mentioned in Zechariah 5:5-11. These verses are commonly used to teach that there are female angels. But if we study this passage closely, these beings are never referred to as angels.

Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is appearing.” I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a measuring basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.” Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed the lead cover down over its mouth. Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth. “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me. He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When it is ready, the basket will be set there in its place” (Zechariah 5:5-11).

The angel standing next to Zechariah in his vision is referred to as masculine. Then he sees two women with wings like those of a stork appear and fly away.

The first wrong assumption is that angels commonly have wings; therefore, these must be angels. In the Bible, seraphim (see Isa. 6:2) and cherubim (see Ezek. 10:8) are clearly described as having wings, but they are a different class of spiritual beings, not angels. Angels are a specific class and order of being—not to be confused with other spiritual beings such as cherubim, seraphim, the four living creatures (see Rev. 4:8), and the seven spirits of God (see Isa. 11; Rev. 4:5). If you look over the many references to angels in the Bible, you will find that the majority of them appear looking like men (not with wings). Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” If all angels had big Hollywood wings, then this verse would not make sense.

An interesting detail is that Zechariah says that the wings were like those of a stork. Nowhere else in the Bible does it say that angels have wings like a stork. If Zechariah were trying to say that these two women were angels, he could have said that they had wings like an angel. Instead he chose to describe them as something completely unique to his vision. As an additional note, God had told the Israelites that the stork was an unclean and detestable animal, so this vision was a negative picture (see Lev. 11:19).

Could it be that Zechariah was confused—perhaps he had never seen an angel, or he couldn’t tell that they were female angels? This is an invalid assertion because he is standing next to an angel during the encounter. When looking at the whole of his book, Zechariah is not ignorant of the angelic realm. Zechariah could have said that two female angels came in a vision, but instead he described what he actually saw in this interesting vision—that is, two women with wings like those of a stork.

There is no direct reference to an angel being represented in feminine form in the Bible, but there are many references to feminine spirit beings. Examples include the two women in Zechariah 5, the Jezebel spirit in Revelation 2, the woman and the dragon in Revelation 12, the whore of Babylon in Revelation 17, and the spirit of wisdom, which is referred to in the feminine throughout the Book of Proverbs (see Prov. 1:20-33; 4:5-9; 8; 9).

Q: Do Angels Have Gender?

A: Let’s look at a passage that is commonly used to say that angels are without gender:

That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching (Matthew 22:30-33).

Many have stretched this verse to mean that angels are without gender because they neither marry nor are given in marriage. What is this verse really saying? When Jesus says that people will be like the angels in heaven at the resurrection, how does this have anything to do with gender? If we are to believe that angels are genderless and we are going to be like them, then once we are resurrected will we also be genderless? Obviously not!

Consider that every single reference out of the hundreds in Scripture always refer to angels as masculine. To conclude that angels are genderless and that is why they don’t marry is like saying that people with the gift of celibacy (see 1 Cor. 7:7) are genderless and that is why they don’t get married. Some have gone so far as to assume that since angels do not reproduce, they must be without gender. The truth is, angels are not a race, they are individual creations and that is why they do not reproduce.

Suppose we were to stretch the meaning the other way and say that since every reference in Scripture shows that all angels are masculine, if we are to be like them, then all women will turn into men at the resurrection. Surely no one would argue this as a valid point.

When Jesus says that we will be like the angels, the statement may have more obvious implications, such as having eternal life, glorified bodies, and sinless living. Perhaps Jesus was actually answering their question, which had nothing to do with the gender of angels. He might have been saying that we will live in the heavenly realm like the angels and not have the difficulties and complications of this earthly life, such as death, marriage, and remarriage.

Q: What Is a Typical Physical Response to an Angelic Encounter?

A: I believe that everyone reacts differently. I would like to quote from one of my favorite books on angels, Angels, Elect and Evil by Fred Dickason:

When angels do appear, their presence produces various effects upon men. No special effect is noted upon Joseph except the allaying of his human concern about Mary and his obedience to the revealed will of God (see Matt. 1:18-25).

Mental and emotional agitation came upon Mary when Gabriel announced to her the news of the virgin birth of Christ. Nevertheless, she conversed with him and accepted his message as from God (see Luke 1:29, 34, 38). Zacharias was troubled and gripped by fear when an angel appeared to him in the temple (see Luke 1:12). The shepherds to whom the angelic messenger announced the birth of Christ were very much afraid (see Luke 2:9) at first, yet they rationally investigated the news and marveled at the message (see Luke 2:15-18).

Mental and physical weakness, sometimes accompanied by complete lack of composure, results from angels’ presence. Consider the Roman guards who saw the angel who rolled back the stone from Christ’s tomb. They trembled from fear and became as dead (see Matt. 28:4). When Daniel saw an unusual manlike creature of brilliant appearance, he was left without strength and comeliness (see Dan. 10:8). Even those who did not see the vision trembled greatly. Strange sensations caused them to flee from Daniel’s presence with fear. Animals may in the will of God see angels and so hesitate or fall, as did Balaam’s donkey (see Num. 22:26-28, 31).[1]

Q: Why Didn’t Jesus Die for the Sins of Fallen Angels?

A: Many theologians have suggested that the main difference between humans and angels is that angels are not a race of beings. Humans are a race of beings; we reproduce, we die, and we have a bloodstream in our body. When Jesus came and died for us, Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus became a part of the human race. Romans 5 speaks of how Jesus established a new bloodstream. On the earth now, there are two races, those who are in the bloodline of Adam, the fallen first man, and those who are in the bloodline of the second Adam, Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor. 15:44-49). That is why we are new creatures and why Second Peter 1:4 speaks of us being partakers of the divine nature. As a race, Jesus could die once for all (see Heb. 10:10) and establish a new race.

Angels, however, are each an individual creation. They are not a blood line (they may not even have blood), and they don’t reproduce. If Jesus were to die for their sins, He would have to die for each fallen angel individually, over and over again, perhaps millions of times to be able to die and resurrect for each one.

Q: Is It Imbalanced to Focus So Much on Angels?

A: I have been writing this book for many years, and I have felt odd at times writing so much about the spirit realm and angels. In fact, there has even been an outcry in certain church circles against the prophetic movement and its focused teaching on the angelic realm. I have sought the Lord about if we are in imbalance by talking about and giving focus to angels. The response I received from the Lord was surprising.

In essence, the Lord showed me that the root issue of those who have a problem with talking about angels and the spirit realm is that they do not accurately understand what a Christian is. The Lord took me to Hebrews 1.

So He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father?” Or again, “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son?”

And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” In speaking of the angels He says, “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.” But about the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has set You above Your companions by anointing You with the oil of joy.”…To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:4-14).

The Church understands that Jesus is greater and higher than the angels, but there has been confusion as to whether we are higher than the angels or vice versa. The answer is simple: If you are in Christ, then you are higher than the angels. We are to be “hid with Christ in God” (see Col. 3:3), and if we abide in Him, then He will abide in us (see John 15:4). Christ is higher than the angels, and we are in Him; thus, we are in a higher place than the angels.

Several other passages shed light on the concept that angels are lower than believers. The apostle Paul tells us that we are going to judge angels, “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Cor. 6:3). The Book of Hebrews tells us that angels have been sent forth to serve believers, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14). This being the case, consider the words of Jesus: “No servant is greater than his master” (John 15:20). Clearly, this is just a sampling of many verses that show that in the Kingdom of Heaven, angels are not in a higher position than a believer. If we are put off by trying to understand beings like angels who occupy a lower place, then we clearly have not grasped the Kingdom that we are a part of.

Christians need to stop being so impressed by those claiming to have seen an angel and realize that every time we look at a fellow believer, we are looking at a being with a divine nature (see 2 Pet. 1:4). A Christian is of much greater stature than any angel. When I am looking at a fellow believer, I am literally looking at the only type of being that has ever been given the very mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). In fact, Scripture says that we have been given such a high level of insight into the Kingdom of Heaven that, “… even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:12). A believer simultaneously dwells in three worlds because they exist in the physical realm, the spiritual realm, and the heavenly realms with Christ (see Eph. 2:6).

Consider this: In the beginning only God existed; then at some point, He created the angels. This was God’s first act of creation. Then God created earth and its inhabitants: This was God’s second act of creation. The third and most recent act of creation in all of eternity past was when through Christ’s bloodline God created new creatures in Christ Jesus (see 2 Cor. 5:17). You, as a new creature in Christ, are literally the most recent creation God has made in all of history, and we are the only new thing on this old planet. We have been left on this planet as ambassadors, priests, kings, and oracles to mold and transform this planet until God comes back and performs His fourth and final act of creation, giving us a new Heaven and a new earth that is more suitable for such amazing new creatures to inhabit with Him eternally.

Until our perspective shifts to seeing ourselves and each other properly through God’s eyes, we will still be overly impressed with those who have seen angels and operate in the spirit realm. The spirit realm needs to be demystified and understood by the average Christian, keeping in mind that the average Christian is much more amazing than we have been made to believe.

A FINAL WORD

In this chapter I have responded to eight very difficult and interesting questions regarding the angelic. I may have caused more questions to come to mind as you read this chapter. My goal was not to answer every question about angels; this book is not an in-depth study of angels. I just wanted to get you, the reader, curious and thinking more about this subject. It is fine if you disagree with my answers, I have tried to answer not from a personal preference or bias; my desire is to base my answers upon a biblical foundation. If you would like to know more of what the Bible teaches about angels, I would highly recommend above all the others, Angels, Elect and Evil by Fred Dickason.

ENDNOTES

1.

C. Fred Dickason, Angels, Elect and Evil (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1975), 37.