The Madness Continues As the Ministry of the Seer Comes Forth

Truth Matters Newsletter – Sept 2004 – The Madness Continues As the Ministry of the Seer Comes Forth – by Rev. Bob Liichow:

When you read the following quotes from a new “hot” selling book produced by Destiny Image,  you will perhaps not find the experience of Jan Crouch all that far-out.

NEW BOOK DIFFICULT TO KEEP IN STOCK – “THE SEER” by Jim Goll

Dear Friends,

We are getting a tremendous amount of requests for THE SEER by Jim Goll. The book has been climbing the top sellers lists… just yesterday it was ranked 864 on Amazon!  We will keep this book well stocked so everyone ordering will be sure to get it!

For years, the Church at large has struggled just to believe and teach that God speaks today.   But now the Church is beginning to grasp the many ways God speaks, including how He speaks to the seer.   

“Formerly considered “strange,” the seer anointing is becoming known as much more mainstream in the Church today. And that’s good news for you. Many of you are probably saying, “Finally, they’ll know I’m not crazy…in fact, I’ll know I’m not crazy!”

“For all those who are seers and have wondered if anyone understood you, this book is a gift for you.  Jim Goll has clearly and scripturally opened the way for the seer gift to be used in the Body of Christ. Fascinating book! You will love it” – Cindy Jacobs, Generals of Intercession. “

“Navigating the unseen realm can be both enticing and challenging as believers seek to grow deeper in the gifts of the Spirit, particularly related to that of the seer gifting.   Enticing, because it is awe-inspiring to come in contact with the power and presence of the Lord through spiritual experiences that are often part of that gifting.  Challenging, because it is critical that the Word of God and spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and intimacy, remain the solid footing on which revelation experiences are interpreted. (1)

A new ministry gift has been restored to the Church!  Now besides having the benefit of a restored prophet in your church you can also now have the revealing insights of the seer!  Truly these are exciting times for the Church (actually it is very disturbing that millions are willing to support anything mystical and new).

What is the difference between the prophet and seer you ask? Far be it from me to put words in anyone’s mouth. We’ll allow the extremists to define them for us:

The prophetic movements in church history and in contemporary life are fed by two mighty steams: the prophet, whose revelation is primarily verbal, and the seer, whose revelation is more visionary in nature. While the role of the prophet is familiar, less is known about the seer dimension. To many people, these visionary prophets remain mysterious, other-worldly, and even strange.    (2)

Now you know. The restored prophet operates verbally giving forth the word of the Lord to individuals, congregations, cities and even over nations. The seer operates in the realm of the visionary,  in other words he or she “sees” things in the realm of the spirit, i.e. sees things we low wattage Christians are not privy to apart from that which God designs to reveal to us via the seer.

Is there any biblical warrant for making such a distinction? Were there both prophets and seers in the Old Testament? The Bible makes no such distinctions: (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was before time called a Seer.) 1 Sam 9:9

Easton’s Bible Dictionary says the following:

Seer a name sometimes applied to the prophets because of the visions granted to them. It is first found in (1 Sam. 9:9) It is afterwards applied to Zadok, Gad, etc. (2 Sam 15:27, 24:11, 1 Ch. 9:22, 25:5, 2 Ch. 9:29) ( Am 7:12, Mic. 3:7) The “sayings of the seers” (2 Ch. 33:18,19) is rendered in the Revised Version “the history of Hozai” (marg., the seers; so the LXX.), of whom, however, nothing is known. See PROPHET.   (2)

The term seer (ra´ah) and prophet (nabiy′)  are used interchangeably in the Old Testament and often refer to the same individual when used. There was no such thing as a separate “ministry” of the seer or that the seer was a different type of prophetic ministry as opposed to that of the prophet.

What today’s prophetic movement  is proposing is that there is now a specific restored ministry composed of individuals who given revelation from God in the form of visions. Don Nori, the author of the article I’m citing says the following regarding this latest craze—

This gift of the seer is experienced by Prophets, Pastors, Worship Leaders, Intercessors, Teachers, and many more.  Some of you are yet to be even “caught up” or “caught away” into trance-like experiences, where God will show you amazing things to come.   (3)

Perhaps Jan being literally “caught up” in her experience with levitation and while in her catatonic state “saw” a truly amazing vision of a future Haiti makes her a prime candidate to be considered a seer.

You may well wonder who is Jim Goll and what are his credentials for writing this book?  Fortunately, Destiny Image has provided us with a brief biography of the author:

Jim (James) W. Goll  is the co-founder of Encounters Network. He has traveled across the globe imparting the power of intercession, prophetic ministry, and life in the Spirit.  He is the founder of the Heart of David Correspondence School, a member of the Harvest International Ministries Apostolic Team, and the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders. He is the author of several books, including The Lost Art of Intercession, Wasted on Jesus, and The Coming Prophetic Revolution. James and his wife, Michal Ann, have four wonderful children and reside in the hills of Franklin, Tennessee. (4)

Allow me to help the uninitiated swim through the charismatic lingo. Jim Goll is a dyed-in-the-wool Latter Rain/Prophetic Movement extremist who believes he has the ability to literally “impart” the power of intercession, to move people into becoming prophets and giving devotees “life in the Spirit.” All of these concepts came into the Charismatic Renewal Movement via a sub-movement called “The New Order of the Latter Rain.” There were initially two key individuals who started this movement, the false prophet William Branham and more importantly the false teachings of Franklin Hall. I’m out of space and will continue delving into this and the Prophetic Movement next month! ♦

Copyright 2004 by Bob Liichow

End Notes

1. Destiny Image Communiqué August 20, 2004

2. Easton Bible Dictionary on BibleWorks ver. 4.0 for windows.

3. Destiny Image Communiqué, August 20, 2004

4. Ibid.