Creativity and Spiritual Warfare

Did you know that God can supernaturally inspire you to design something that speaks prophetic destiny over those who look at it?

Back in March, I wrote about The Prophetic Potential in Creativity, but that's a different situation because no one was affected by looking at Ezekiel's model. I'm talking about onlookers being dynamically affected so that physical results occur! Did you know it's in the Bible?

In the book of Genesis, we find an obscure story that doesn't get told very often--probably because most folks don't know what to do with it. There's no beautiful moral lesson or doctrinal teaching. However, we know that God included it in His Word for a purpose. Here's the story:

Genesis 30:29-36--Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”

“What wages do you want?” Laban asked again.

Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks. Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”

“All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.” But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons, who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.

So Jacob was cheated by his father-in-law. But earlier, he had received the family blessing ("birthright") from his father, Isaac, which meant that God wanted him to prosper. What action would Jacob take to fulfill God's blessing on his life? Frankly, he did something that many of us would call superstitious. Nevertheless, it worked!

Genesis 30:37-43--Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them. Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated. And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.

Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches. But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, male and female servants, and many camels and donkeys. (NLT)

Jacob whittled away at some wood and used his handiwork to speak prophetic destiny over certain sheep. He claimed all the strong offspring for himself and was richly blessed by God as a result. The sheep were constantly kept aware of their destiny through the logs Jacob designed, and God used that tool to produce physical results.

But those are animals. What about humans?

In Numbers 21:4-8, we see the story of Moses and the bronze snake. Moses made this statue of a snake and hoisted it up a pole according to the Lord's command. Any time an Israelite was bitten by a venomous snake, they could look up at this piece of artwork and be healed. Later, Jesus said that this spoke prophetically of his own death on a cross:

John 3:14-15--Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (NIV)

Was there some supernatural power in the speckled logs or in the bronze snake? Nope. In fact, the bronze snake had to be torn down when the people of Israel started worshipping it (2 Kings 18:4). There wasn't anything special about these objects on their own. But as artistic representations of the Lord's prophetic command, they kept the promise and purpose of God before the sheep and the people in a tangible form. God used those items as instruments and was pleased to use things that his children had made with their own hands.

Be open to the Holy Spirit inspiring you to design prophetic instruments for Him to use. This can be a powerful way for Him to tangibly speak destiny into people's lives. You could be the craftsman He chooses! Imagine what could happen through your hands!

# posted by Art Thomas @ 10:13 AM 0 Comments