In an early-morning encounter, the Lord highlighted three types of prophets that I believe are being prepared in this hour. Although no two prophets are alike, there are similarities but diversity in flow, function and personality.
I saw the Samuel prophets, who carry a building anointing and a hybrid gift mix of apostolic and prophetic function. They serve the body by teaching, training and grooming the next generation of prophets. I also saw the launching forth of the power prophets, flowing in uncommon levels of demonstration and power in the areas of signs, wonders and miracles. These daring prophets will be on the front lines of the next great move of God. They are instruments of revival and catalysts of change in the earth carrying a heavenly authority.
Then the Lord unfolded the seers to me, the detailed revealers. This breed of prophets possesses insight that unfolds through the word of knowledge, word of wisdom and discerning of spirits in a breathtaking way. Calling out names, phone numbers and other personal facts, along with God’s heart, plans and purposes for individual people and groups, is the calling card of these prophets. They are entrusted with mysteries and secrets.
Samuel Prophets
The Samuel prophets occupy a high-ranking prophetic office, operating in a strong level of wisdom and discernment. This mantle is a result of years of experiential lessons in prophetic ministries. The Samuel prophets are apostolic builders by nature. They pour into people their skills, styles, values, strategies and experiences; establishing prophetic academies where their testimonials become life lessons. Samuel Prophets have many students to their credits because of their wealth of revelatory grace to unveil mysteries; they replicate themselves. These prophets carry a hybrid prophetic, apostolic anointing. They often start quite early in church, as we see Samuel with Eli in the temple. They learn skills in church; they learn the voice of God in church. Samuel heard his voice three times to confirm. These prophets are nurtured by senior apostolic leaders, training and equipping them. Just as Samuel was a civil leader, these prophets have concerns for the welfare of the people in all ramifications: health, wealth, marriage, family.
Examining the life of Samuel, we see that as a child he was given to the Lord’s work, carried in the womb of travail. He was the last and greatest of the judges to rule Israel. He served the priest Eli and through him God brought judgement upon Israel. Samuel prophets carry the emotion of the Father and the heart of God.
When Eli’s sons were desecrating the temple, no one in the nation brought them to order. Samuel’s rise and installation of his office brought judgment on the people. Samuel was both a prophet, priest, Nazarite and a civil leader. The prophetic mantle was to mediate for the people; the civil leadership mantle was to meet the welfare of the people and the Nazarite mantle was to be separated unto God. As a priest, he atoned for the people. Eli began to lose his vision, but in the secret place, God was raising a young man with a vision. Samuel prophets will rise when an older generation is losing its vision. Samuel prophets are born to ignite a fire, to kindle a weakened generation and to bring back lost glory. They bring the Shekinah where they meet an Ichabod. While Hophni and Phinehas deposed the things of God, God was raising a young boy to grow in favor and wisdom. When there’s rebellion in any generation, God will raise up reformers to birth revival. Samuel was called to set up the fire. The word of the Lord was rare in those days, Samuel was the conduit through which God spoke to the nation of Israel. He was set apart as a Nazarite; Samuel prophets are set apart from the world.
In the time of Eli, the Israelites made false gods. They were oppressed by the Philistines, but when Samuel came into leadership, he commanded that all false gods be burned down. Samuel prophets pull down altars, strongholds, religion and powers. They rescue people under demonic attack. They set captives free; they preach the liberty of men in Christ. Samuel prophets are not scared to pull down, root out, throw down and destroy.
Samuel prophets must willingly impose the same discipline on their children (biological and spiritual). Joel and Abijah, the sons of Samuel, did not follow the footsteps of their father. As a result, the leadership did not fall on them. The Samuel mantle is not hereditary, it falls on an obedient generation. Samuel prophets are very patient prophets, even though they have strong personalities. Samuel warned Saul over and over again about his leadership model, but Saul rebelled. The Lord instructed Samuel to ordain a younger prophet, David. They are generals in the spirit who can affirm or demote an authority that has lost place in their call. These servants are not intimidated by fat offerings and honorariums, they will not compromise truth for fat seeds and pledges. They value obedience over everything. Obedience is the key to Samuel’s ministry.
Samuel said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, a listening ear than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).
Samuel prophets are also intercessors, watchmen who lift up the people’s queries before the Lord. They love order in the house and are not afraid to confront. Even though Samuel saw Saul’s weaknesses, he kept interceding for him, he kept on praying for Saul as much as he could. Samuel prophets carry the heart of the people and also the heart of God.
Power Prophets
As the name implies, the power prophets have an unusual anointing to make things happen. They have such an authority to shut the heavens, make the sun stand still, cause drought, send fire from heaven, send dew and more. They are known for these things because of their high standard of intimacy with the Lord. These are prophets of prayer, intercessors, who terrorize hell. Power prophets have a declaring mantle on their lives; they operate strong in the gift of faith and working of miracles. We saw Elijah personally shut heaven (1 Kings 17:1); we saw Joshua make the sun stand still (Josh. 10:12-13).
Power prophets are known to always decree and declare. Their words are a gift to the church. Often, God would say to prophet Ezekiel, “Son of man, decree.” Power prophets are action prophets; their ministries are confrontational. They confront structures, systems and strategies that try to thwart the plans of God. Power prophets are not about articulation or demonstration of words, as Paul rightly put it, but of power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:4).
Moses was a man who was called forth to bring redemption to the Israelites. While Samuel grew up in the house of the Lord; Moses grew up in the house of a king. Power Prophets carry a heavy mantle on setting captives free. They understand the Egyptian stronghold, either because they were in the system or because they are given divine revelation about the captivity of people. Power prophets deal with the people; they are about the liberty of people. Power prophets understand power! They use their experience of earthly power to decree.
Power prophets have a unique working of miracles mantle. They spend time with the Lord and carry His glory. When the Lord wanted to reach out to the people, He invited Moses to the mountain. Moses went up into the mountain and was covered by the cloud. The mountain is a supernatural dimension where the glory dwelled. When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone because he had been in God’s glory. When Jesus appeared on the mount of transfiguration, we saw Moses and Elijah (power prophets) come down in that shining glory. These prophets are light-bearers. Power prophets speak light in the dark places because light sets free. These are freedom prophets; they care about setting people free.
Power prophets decree and declare. Most of the Power prophets did not have anything special about their personality, but were only vessels the Lord chose to do His will (James 5:17). Moses came to the burning bush with his insignificance, but the Lord began to pour encouragement into him. Prophets need these encouraging words from God. Power prophets have such a unique gift of faith. It’s interesting how the Lord says Moses was the meekest man on the earth, yet he carried such a tough personality. This is because of his heart for the people. Power prophets build the people while they look at the promise. They demonstrate power.
Revealing Prophets
The Revealing prophets, the seers, have the ability to see into dimensions. These prophetic graces operate outside of the dimension of time. They see into events with precision and accuracy. Revealing prophets see, hear and witness heavenly activities, engage angelic beings and operate in a high level of the word of knowledge. Every now and again, the Lord will relocate these prophets into supernatural realms to see what He has for His people. When the Lord allows this, they see what has never been revealed because these prophets flow outside our time constraint. Revealing prophets can flow between dimensions. They have a precise predictive gift because they have seen it unfold in the supernatural realm. The revealing prophet only sees, hears and feels when the Lord gives him/her access. When the Lord does, it’s precise.
There are a few people in the Bible with an ability to see into dimensions. These prophets have access into portals. Revealing prophets are those prophets who reveal things that are past, things in time and things to come. They see deep into dimensions and can predict when the Lord shows them His plan for what is to come. The revealing prophets have a mantle for sight. They see in visions, dreams, trances and possess other abilities to see.
The story of Elisha and Ghazi comes to mind.
Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).
Elisha sees into deep realms that cannot be seen with the physical eyes. Revealing prophets have the gift of sight. God uses the revealing prophets to reveal the things He has lined up for His people.
Revealing prophets are wired to see. Their eyes are their gifting to the body of Christ. Prophets like Daniel, Joshua and Jeremiah possessed revelatory mandates to see. Both Daniel and Joseph were summoned before kings; they used their revelatory abilities to reveal what was to come. The revealing gifts function as the word of knowledge in today’s church age, through which God speaks His desires and intentions on the earth. Revealing prophets work with the Samuel and Moses prophets to unfold what the Lord is birthing on the face of the earth.
As a phenomenal new wave of the apostolic and prophetic movement arises, there is an emergence of powerful prophetic voices. As with David, many have been tucked away in a wilderness place spending valuable time becoming intimate lovers of Jesus. They have faced rejection, criticism, frustration and other battles, but they have been forged in the fire and have a critical role in this emerging move. Jesus wants to use the prophetic voice and office to bring forth His testimony in profound ways in the earth (Rev. 19:10). There are three types of prophets that we believe are coming to the forefront in this hour. There are so many different types of prophets, prophetic ministries and flows, but there is something happening now, in this moment, with these three expressions. {eoa}
This article originally appeared at ryanlestrange.com.