Episode 154: Acts 13:1-12 - Timing and Prophets

It was in the fulness of time, the PERFECT TIMING that Christ
came. The fulfillment of prophecies from thousands of years
earlier, including the 5500-year prophecy that ancient Judaism
and the early Christians believed was given to Adam when he and
Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

The world was ready for the spread of the Gospel - a Roman Empire
characterized by peace, roads built and a unifying language
(Greek) - and the Jews had a Greek translation of the Old
Testament, the Septuagint, that fit into all of this - the
Messianic prophecies contained within and a chronology that
pointed to the time of Christ as the fulfillment of the 5500-year
prophecy. The later Rabbis removed 1500 years out of their Hebrew
Old Testament (that became the Masoretic text) to discredit the
Septuagint (LXX). Why? To discredit the belief that Jesus of
Nazareth was/is the promised Jewish Messiah!

In Acts 13, we meet a "false prophet" and interestingly, that
term is used and abused by many Christians today who have little
idea what the New Testament and the earliest Christians believed
false prophets to be. Today, misusing OT passages that NO LONGER
APPLY because they are a part of the Old Covenant that
ended/passed away, Christians often think (I call it "the
Myth of the False Prophet") that if a Christian
prophetic person/prophet misses a prophetic word or gets it wrong
that that makes them a "false prophet". Unfortunately, that is
NOT what a false prophet is in the New Testament.

Beyond the New Testament, the earliest Christians had ways that
they "tested" for false prophets - IF ONLY WE USED THEIR TESTS
TODAY! In short, if $$$ was involved, the so-called 'prophet' was
to be rejected! Supernatural ministry was not linked to finances
in the early church. OH, THE WISDOM!!! And if any supernatural
ministry today is charging money (requiring $$) for their
supernatural ministry, then RUN from it!!! Should those in
supernatural ministry (prophetic, healing, deliverance) be
supported??? ABSOLUTELY. But not "for" their the use of their
gifts!!! Charging $$$ for supernatural ministry was considered a
serious sin in the early church. 

So we delve into all of these topics - the timing of Christ's 1st
coming, false prophets vs. true prophets today and ultimately end
by discussing the prophetic times in which we are currently
living. What is God saying?