Releasing God’s Prophetic Office
1 Kings 17:3-16
Elijah’s bold faith and strong prophetic anointing unleashed the power of the Living God to the nation of Israel in a single day. At one particular moment in Israel’s history the power of the Prophet entered their atmosphere. The Prophet came with a purpose, with instruction, and with demonstrated power in order to establish the kingdom of God and fulfill God’s prophetic promises to His people and to the world.
“And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near; and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God” [1 Kings 18:36-29].
The Prophetic Office is not without controversy and it is in tumultuous times that the Lord, with a purpose, sends the controversial prophetic anointing into the midst of His Church. Its purpose is to expose the religious [Pharisaical] spirit, to tear down false idols, ideas, and preconceived concepts of the kingdom of God.
Miraculous Expectation
The Prophetic Office declares and proclaims the anointing of the miraculous into the assembly with displayed power and the established glory of God. We have entered into such a season of the manifestation of the miraculous. We are a supernatural people called to supernatural power. The prophetic anointing in this season is here to break-up fallow ground and to declare a seed-faith promise in order for the harvest-to-come to be declared the greatest of its generation.
As the prophets of God begin to proclaim the death of the religious spirit in the days ahead the church must be prepared to accept a flow of the miraculous in their houses. When Elijah called down the fire of God from heaven the prophets of Baal were destroyed, and the nation of Israel experienced national revival. God is instructing the prophets to declare the falling down of His fire in preparation of the great revival events that are unfolding in these last days.
A Season of Increase and Provision
Many will see the title above and believe the season of increase and provision to be financial, as though it were a prosperity message. The Lord is declaring a season of soul-harvest. The Word of God preached through the means of the Gospel message will bring an increase of salvation to the house of God. There can be no greater cause in the kingdom of God in these last days except we experience the soul-salvation, backsliders returning to the house of God, and an increase in the manifestation gifts among us.
God spoke to Elijah in 1 Kings 17 to sit by the brook Cherith [1 Kings 17:3]. He was obedient to the God’s prophetic word and the Lord tended to Him there. However, the brook dried up and his provisions ran out since the ravens stopped bringing him meat to eat. For some, this prophetic word at its inception would have been the revelation they believed to have been seeking concerning God’s move in their lives and ministries. Once the brook dried up and the ravens no longer fed them, they would still have stayed at that place and made adjustments because they believe they were given God’s timely word never realizing that the Lord never stands still, and His prophetic declarations are ever in motion. Most prophetic people would have rested on the first word; “Go to the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.”
However, a second more powerful word was released prophetically to Elijah; “Go to Zarephath, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” [17:9]. The first word was given in order for Elijah to make preparation to demonstrate the miraculous that was birthed out of the second word: “So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar that I may drink.” And as she was getting it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
God’s commandment and the widow’s death proclamation
When Elijah approached the widow in Zarephath, she did not proclaim to him her expectation of his coming based on God’s word to Elijah that He had commanded her to attend to him. This command was a supernatural releasing of God’s will in the spirit and no natural command by audible voice was necessary. The Lord established His will in this woman without any natural verbal communique. She would obey God’s command based solely on the unction that God had placed in her heart. She had a predetermined will to be obedient to the prophet and to his declarations. Her faith in the Lord allowed her to walk into the unknown.
When prophetic people approach the kingdom of God in this way, whether temporal or spiritual, there is a releasing of supernatural power into the atmosphere and the miraculous is unleashed. The woman made a declaration to the prophet that was intended to reveal her distress. The Prophet had the word of the Lord and proceeded with the God’s declaration to bless this woman due to the obedience of her faith in responding to the man of God. She was about to experience a supernatural event, a God event, that would change her life. It is at this moment in the spirit when we are proclaiming our death, that God shows up and brings about His established will for us; a multiplication of provision and anointing declaring life.
The Second word to Elijah reaps great reward
Elijah’s obedience to God’s prophetic word, “Go to Zarephath,” brought supernatural blessing and provision into the life of the widow woman. It is not always the FIRST word of the Lord that establishes great blessing but the SECOND!
“Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be emptied, until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth” [1 Kings 17:13-14]. This miraculous release was birthed from Elijah’s obedience to the second word given to him to “Go to Zarephath.”
The Power of the Prophetic
“True prophetic ministry holds great power and can override natural law. God’s spoken word releases faith and power. Prophetic ministry will sometimes declare things so contrary to the natural circumstance that the only people who can agree with it are those who are deeply planted in the Spirit.” Releasing the Prophetic, Dr. Ryan LeStrange.
Dr. LeStrange makes a powerful statement in this decree. The church has settled into a religious ritual of traditional operation. In doing so, it has failed to give release to the gifts that the Lord has placed in its midst; the power of the prophetic office [Eph. 4:11]. The miracle of 1 Kings 17 was born from the Prophet’s willingness to obey God and proclaim His word to the widow woman. It was fulfilled in the widow woman’s willingness to accept the word and take it unto herself. If the widow woman had ignored the Prophet’s proclamation to her, the anointing would have left and the provision dried up, withered, and died along with her and her son. Her disobedience to not respond to the prophet’s utterance would have given power to her death declaration. Instead, her obedience and agreement to it, administered a miraculous event and released life into her situation. It changed her circumstances!
God has placed us in this season! Come expecting and walk in the anointing.
Dr. Steve Rocco
Dr. Steve Rocco Ministries 