A very common form of divination that is very closely linked with astrology is the practice of observing times or omens, as it is often translated (see Deut 18:10 KJV and NKJV), in an effort to extract prophetic insight. This type of forbidden frequency has been practiced for generations ranging from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan and Babylon for thousands of years, and is one of the primary reasons why nations such as these kept wise men (magicians), astrologers and diviners in their courts as part of their political or executive counsel (Gen 41:8; 24; Ex 7:11, 22; 8:7, 18-19; 9:11; Dan 1:20; 2:2, 27; 4:7, 9; 5:11).

 

This corrupt practice involved the reading of livers, careful analysis of the stars, moon, weather or other natural elements, examination of entrails, lungs, birds and fetuses, etc. It was mostly an inductive form of interpreting certain natural or human phenomena for the purpose of extracting divine insight or knowledge. In other words, one tapping into such a shallow and unrefined frequency usually relies on outward signs and other natural phenomena to clue them into God’s divine intent or purpose. We see this type of frequency employed very often today by some very well known and widely accepted prophets in the Church. They examine the times and the seasons, the days, weeks or months of the year, or signs in the weather, or other unusual phenomenon, in order to determine what God is communicating to a particular people or nation during that time.

 

I recently received an email containing prophetic words from a very recognized prophetic voice in this nation who attempted to take the measurements of the massive earthquakes that recently rocked both Haiti and the nation of Chile, apply numerological significance to the numbers, and then use it to provide the basis for the prophetic proclamations that followed. I have also heard prophecies regarding the recent record-breaking snowfall in the US as it being a sign of blessing and purification. These are clear examples of tapping into a forbidden frequency through the observation of times or omens – a phenomenon regarded as presaging good or evil. Again, the question here is not whether or not the prophecy is wrong or inaccurate in its content (which it probably is), but whether or not this information was received using a forbidden frequency.

 

There are some who would seek to defend this practice by claiming that the prophets are allowing God to speak to them, albeit indirectly, through these natural signs or phenomena in the earth and are not, as some would claim, practicing divination or interpreting omens as the heathen, witches and other occult practitioners do. I have no doubt that there is no evil or sinister intent in their actions, but the fact still remains that they are blind and operating at a very low frequency at best, or are willfully violating God’s precepts and tapping into frequencies of divination at worst. If the very heathen rely upon similar practices to hear from God — regardless of whether or not their description or understanding of God agrees with our theology or not — and we are conforming to their same low standards which God warned the nation of Israel through the prophet Moses to avoid (Deut. 12:29-13:18), then how do we differentiate or judge between the two? Why is theirs wrong and ours right? Is it because we speak or prophesy in the name of Jesus or because we rely upon His Spirit to speak to us through these situations? Does it mean that the practice itself is not corrupt but the spirit behind it? Then how do we judge? What makes God’s prophets different from the psychics and occult practitioners who rely heavily on inductive revelation (bones, tarot cards, palm reading, omens, numerology, astrology, etc.)? What would you think if a prophet came into your meeting and examined everyone’s palms or required to know their date-of-birth before prophesying to them? Where do we draw the line on this inductive form of revelation?

 

Many believers are totally ignorant of these various forms of divination that are practiced in the name of the Lord today, because we have been taught to believe that as long as the prophetic instrument is recognized as being morally upright, has a significant following, or has a track record of prophecies coming to pass, all is well. But God is just as concerned about the source of the revelation as He is about the accuracy of content and character of the individual receiving it, which is why He instructed us in His Word to judge all prophecy and to sever ourselves completely from these forbidden frequencies (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:20-22).

 

Let me quickly interject here that all creation operates on the fundamental principle that everything in the spiritual or invisible realm finds an outward expression in the visible or natural realm (Rom 1:20). What this means is that natural phenomena can very often be indicative of a spiritual reality. It can very often prove to be a very reliable way of extracting divine knowledge; however, there are two significant reasons why we should never seek to tap into this inferior frequency: 1) Because God expressly forbade it, and 2) Because outward signs or phenomenon can easily be counterfeited and used by the enemy to deceive us, thus rendering our revelation or prophecies false or inaccurate (Is. 44:25; Jer. 14:14; 27:9-10; Ezek. 12:24). Only an evil and adulterous generation is focused primarily on signs and outward manifestations (Matt. 12:39).

 

One of the scriptures that has been miss-taught and miss-applied in the Church today has to do with the issue of understanding times and seasons. We have taken the clause used to describe the internal disposition of the tribe of Issachar during David’s coronation in Israel to establish a doctrine of divination in the Church.

 

Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command (1 Chron. 12:32).

 

Now I understand that what I’m about to share here will not be readily received by many of the so-called prophetic camps operating in the Church today and may be rejected by many, but my assignment on this earth is not to gain the applause of men, but to expose and dismantle everything that seeks to exalt itself against the Kingdom of God and the Constitution (God’s Eternal Word) by which it is established.

 

First of all, nowhere in Scripture is the tribe of Issachar identified or singled out as being a uniquely gifted prophetic company of people above the other tribes of Israel. If that were the case, the tribe of Issachar would have had a much more significant role in the leadership of Israel, and in the company of prophets as a whole. Secondly, that particular phrase and the connotation usually associated with it was applied mostly to the heathen practice of divination, which God couldn’t possibly be endorsing here (see Est. 1:13 where a similar clause is used in description of the wise men – magicians, diviners and astrologers – who usually occupied high places in the pagan governmental structures of these nations for the purpose of providing counsel to the king through the interpretation of signs or omens).

 

In fact, it is very clear from Scripture that Jesus never took too kindly to a generation of people who depended on signs and other outward manifestations to determine what course they should take. He never encouraged any of His followers to seek out or to observe signs, even though He clearly articulated several “signs” or events that would take place before the end of the age (Matt 24). And He clearly expressed that it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority when making reference to the establishing of His Kingdom in the earth (Acts 1:7).

 

But nowhere else is Jesus’ position regarding a dependence on the frequency of signs as a means of “hearing from God” made more plainly than in Matt. 16.

 

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed (Matt 16:1-4).

 

The religious rulers of Jesus’ day – representing the sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees – decided to join forces in an attempt to tempt or “test” Jesus. They requested that Jesus show them a sign as validating evidence or proof of His Messiah-ship. He rebuked them for their hypocrisy because this was the frequency that they were accustomed to operating by. They knew how to interpret weather patterns in order to predict fair or foul (stormy) weather, but they had chosen to ignore the numerous signs – supernatural occurrences, miracles, prophetic fulfillment, etc. – that were given and/or performed by Jesus as evidence that they were, in fact, in the season of the Messiah. God had chosen to communicate with man at the lowest possible frequency so that all would know that Christ the Messiah had indeed come, yet the religious rulers were so blind and disconnected from God that they could not perceive the truth even in the midst of the lowest frequency that they regularly operated by because of their blindness. They could not perceive the truth because they had no desire to know the truth.

 

I have actually heard ministers use this passage (vs. 1-3) as doctrinal proof that we should be able to “discern the signs of the times” in an attempt to validate the “sons of Issachar” theology, but Jesus’ position regarding this issue is made very plain in the following verse (4). Jesus categorizes all those who depend or seek after such a low frequency as “wicked and adulterous.” He was not trying to endorse such a frequency, but to show the hypocrisy of the religious rulers who were requesting more signs when God had already given them ample evidence and proof. These religious leaders were not only spiritually blind, but their hearts were in a state of total disconnect, hardened and impervious to the truth.

 

God had given numerous signs confirming Jesus’ authenticity, not because He wanted us to seek out or depend on such a low frequency, but because in His love for man He wanted to make sure that all had the opportunity to come into the knowledge of the truth. He chose to validate Jesus’ Messiah-ship through a frequency that even the most blind or ungodly person could understand.

 

For example, if I desire to communicate with a deaf person, I will not only speak but use sign language that they can understand. I am not trying to endorse or celebrate their deafness, but make certain that they are able to comprehend that which I am trying to communicate to them. My desire is not that they continue to need sign language, but that they get healed and their sense of hearing restored so that I can communicate with them at a much higher frequency (the audible and intelligible sound of my voice). If the person’s deafness is caused by a massive wax build-up that has resulted in almost total deafness but can be treated, and the person refuses to receive treatment but rely only on sign language, then that person is considered irresponsible at best. But Jesus uses much stronger language to describe this type of mentality in the Kingdom.

 

To depend on signs and other manifestations for revelation or understanding is to be characterized as wicked and adulterous. In other words, Jesus was saying that they’re no better than the heathen because they choose to operate on the same frequency. In a divinely orchestrated contrast that we find later on in the same chapter, Jesus uses completely different language to describe the frequency that Peter had tapped into. When questioned as to who Jesus really was, Peter didn’t ask or refer to a sign, but recognized that Jesus was the Christ through a direct interface or download from the Father. In response to this type of high frequency or high voltage revelation, Jesus calls Peter “blessed” (Matt 16:13-17).

 

Those who choose to operate by a higher frequency and receive revelation directly from the mouth of the Father are considered blessed – meaning one who is accurately configured and whose heart carries or expresses a valid Kingdom dimension that causes the favor of God to be released upon one’s life. But those who choose to live and operate like the heathen through a dependence on signs and outward manifestations as a means of extracting revelation or understanding are considered adulterous and wicked. The word adulterous in the Greek is used metaphorically to describe a person who has been unfaithful toward God (as an adulteress is unfaithful to her husband) and those who have neglected God and their duty toward Him. It was also used to describe those who had forsaken God to serve false gods or idols. The word wicked carries the connotation of someone evil, slothful or morally corrupt. If that doesn’t put the fear of God in you, nothing will. We overemphasize this low frequency as being something very spiritual or godly, but Jesus defines this overemphasis as being adulterous and wicked. Who will you believe?

 

When Paul was addressing the bewitchment of the Galatian believers, he expressed his fear for them because of this same corrupt practice:

 

You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain (Gal. 4:10).

 

There will always be signs and seasons communicating various realities in the earth, but that is not the frequency that we have been called to operate in as His chosen people, and it is definitely not the frequency that the tribe of Issachar chose to operate in either. What the text in 1 Chron. 12:32 is describing is specific to that particular situation. It was simply referring to the ability of the leadership – the chiefs who numbered two hundred – and not necessarily the entire tribe of Issachar, who had the ability to properly assess the situation and recognized that this was the right time for David to assume leadership of the kingdom. Why this particular clause was applied specifically to the tribe of Issachar and not the others, I am not certain. But what I am certain of is that the tribe of Issachar was not a distinguishably gifted prophetic company of people because of their ability to understand or interpret certain natural or supernatural phenomena, but that they merely exercised sound judgment in this particular situation and in their decision to align themselves with David. Any other interpretation is purely fanciful and cannot be substantiated with any supporting evidence from Scripture.

 

It amazes me how some have taken this isolated passage where nothing in the history or character of the tribe provides any corroborating evidence to the belief that they were distinguishably more prophetic than the other tribes (except for some questionable extra-biblical commentary in the Targum), ignored sound hermeneutical principles, and concocted a doctrine where the tribe of Issachar becomes the singular and primary example of a group of prophetic people who are able to accurately interpret times and seasons.

 

As prophets and servants of the Most High God, we do not determine times and seasons by outward signs and manifestations. We are supernaturally activated into this understanding through an internal time clock generated within us by the Spirit of God. We are ministers of the Spirit and not of the flesh, therefore our wisdom is generated from an internal, spiritual dimension or frequency, and not through the observation or analysis of certain earthly signs or trends. This does not mean that we totally ignore them by burying our heads in the sand of our religious enclaves and not keeping abreast of current world events, but that we have chosen to tap into a much more elevated and refined frequency that is much more accurate and dependable, and which alone fuels our prophetic pronouncements.

 

When God chooses to operate and make use of signs through a valid prophetic pronouncement, He usually gives the sign before the event or occurrence ever takes place, and then He proceeds to apply prophetic significance concerning it – something the purely inductive form of divination could never do (Ex. 7:14-21; 8:1-6, 20-24; 9:1-6, 13-25; 10:1-6; 11:4-8; 16:4-19; Num. 14:26-38; 16:28-33; 17:1-11; 1 Kings 18:25-40).