Why Prophetic Pictures Are Given
God uses prophetic pictures to describe God’s intention through an image which helps people understand and remember the message. I have often been asked what I experience when bringing a prophetic picture to an individual.
What Do I See In a Prophetic Picture?
Often what I see is some symbolic scene, activity, or substance. For example, it could be as a rose bush, or a sailing yacht, or a shoe. It might not be describing something literal in that person’s life, but it immediately communicates the spiritual truth that God is trying to get them to see.
I might see a fishing boat run aground on the reef. God knows that the person loves fishing, but their life has felt like it was shipwrecked. The image and the message is personal, it is unique, and it tells them that Father knows them and cares.
Several times I have been shown the picture of a person changing their walking shoes for running shoes. This usually means that it is time for them to accelerate in their calling. Other times, it is a glimpse of what Father has for them in a future time.
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Why are prophetic pictures given?
Prophetic pictures are given to convey a spiritual reality or a divine intention. With these thoughts in mind, let us look at how the Apostle John experienced this prophetic grace:
Revelation 4:1 (NKJV) After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
Literally, a portal opened between John and eternity, between the world of the tangible in which he lived and the spirit world of God’s presence. And once able to see in that realm, John was given the ability to see into an aspect of the future. This is because past, present and future all co-exist in the spirit world of God’s presence. It was a prophetic glimpse.
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Revelation 4:2 (NKJV) Immediately I was in Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
John, now with his spiritual eyes opened to see, was able to see through a portal into eternity. He was able to see into the spirit world of God’s existence, and saw the throne of God! John had suddenly become compatible with that other dimension. He was ‘in spirit’!
The significance is this: Holy Spirit gave him eyes to see what was already there in the realm of the spirit but invisible to the natural eye.
God is Spirit. So, whatever it was that John saw, it was not physical. It was not tangible… but it was communicated to him in a manner that would have been meaningful to him. He saw a throne. That immediately communicated to John a king and his royal, undisputed right to rule.
God doesn’t have a physical throne anywhere in the entire universe! Therefore, it was an impression in John’s spirit imagination which Holy Spirit used to communicate the awesome power and authority of God’s person and presence. But did he ‘see’ it? Yes, he did!
Revelation 1:10-11 (NKJV) I was in Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book…”
This voice was not from the sky or from some distant place or even somewhere in front of him. It was from behind him. Which clearly indicates that he was already there! He was already in the throne room! But suddenly became aware of that reality!
As he stepped ‘into spirit’, John was no longer blinded by the natural world of his human surroundings. Therefore, he was able to see what God already saw and wanted to communicate to him! And because God’s sight is not confined to the present, John was able to see the future as well as the present. That’s all the prophetic gift really is. It is a moment in which, being ‘in spirit’, we catch glimpses of tomorrow! That’s why prophetic pictures are given.
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