If you believe all prophecy is to be encouraging and without ever issuing a warning, this message will challenge your current understanding. That misconception is part of the problem with our understanding of New Covenant prophecy. There are times when prophetic words will warn us and disrupt the status quo.

When the prophet Obadiah was tasked to deliver an invitation to Elijah to meet with Ahab, he did it under the threat of death. Ahab delighted in killing prophets and silencing their voices.  When Ahab saw Elijah approaching, he said, “Is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel” (I Kings 18:17). The trouble Elijah was delivering to this evil ruler happened because Elijah was speaking what the Lord commanded him to speak. It was the word of the Lord that created the trouble, not Elijah.

As Ahab stood before the place where an altar would be constructed to test the prophets of Baal, Elijah prayed. Part of his prayer included these words, “Prove that I have done all of this at your command” (vs. 36). The fire of God fell that day after the prophets of Baal failed miserably to ignite their sacrifice.

We see something similar with the prophet Agabus who prophesied a coming famine much like it was when Elijah forecasted a famine when Ahab and Jezebel were ruling the land.

^“Now at this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius” (Acts 11: 27-28). Claudius was a Roman Emperor who would rule during 46 and 47 A.D when the famine took place as prophesied. The prophetic word Agabus spoke to the Church would also apply to Rome and the wider culture under the control of Roman rule.

The trouble Ahab spoke of was created by choices Ahab made that would lead the Israelites away from God to worship false gods and to promote himself. It was a trouble that was created by his disobedience. 

Today, like it was in Elijah’s time, a true prophetic voice will not held captive by a desire, even a demand, to make people feel good by painting illusionary images regarding the future. Some prophetic words will at times cause trouble for those who are leading people, both within the Church and in civic government, into dark places.

As the darkness around us increases, the light of God’s truth will become even clearer in contrast to the deepening darkness.  We need hope in these times, but we should never reject prophetic voices that are speaking words contrary to the popular prophetic status quo. In those few voices, the Lord is speaking to those of us who have ears to hear what the Lord is saying. It is wisdom to heed the message those voices are delivering.