This article is by Asher Intrater of the ministry Revive Israel. Asher is a Messianic Jew originally from the USA but now based in Israel.

For my prophetically gifted friends, may I mention three warnings:

1. Gospel First – if we are focusing on a socio-political issue MORE than the gospel of salvation in Yeshua, then we have missed the priority.
2. Universal Repentance – if we are calling for one side of an issue to repent, claiming that we are right and they are wrong, we have already missed the point. We are all wrong and need to repent ourselves; and call both sides to repent.
3. Rebellion/Stubbornness – heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, and easy to be reconciled (James 3:17). We are called at times to disobey governments when involving religious freedom and moral absolutes. But we are also called to submit to governing authorities.

There is a delicate balance here. Peter refused to obey the governing authorities in (Acts 4), yet told us to submit to all governing authorities in (I Peter 2). Paul spent much of his ministry in jail but told us that to resist the government is to resist God (Romans 13).

It is interesting to compare Revelation 13 and Romans 13. The first speaks of a worldwide government run by a demonic figure; the second speaks of government workers as ministers of God doing a divine service.

There are a variety of ministries and gifts in the body of Christ. They are called to work together in cooperation, thus complementing and balancing one another from extremist views.

“He … 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, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…” Ephesians 4:11-13

There is safety in this teamwork. Prophetic ministries were designed to be overseen by someone with apostolic insight. A prophetically gifted person should be in a local community with pastoral oversight for their personal and family needs and also be submitted to a team with apostolic oversight for their ministry direction.

When prophets seek to operate outside this team model, they are more likely to be deceived. Some ‘prophets’ today believe they have received a word and run to social media to announce it. Many of them have no accountability at all. The New Covenant focuses on Ephesians 4 teams that work together.

Such cooperation helps prevent imbalance and rebellion. There are different structures and styles in which this teamwork can take place. I am not promoting one form or another. However, we need mutual submission to guard against extremism and deception during these times of intense conflict.

Throughout biblical history, the prophets spoke to the nation, sometimes in encouragement and sometimes in criticism. Today as well, we greatly need the gift of clear and balanced prophetic discernment in our midst.