Seers
February 2010 • by Rev. Dave Roberts.+
No, you didn’t read that wrong. It’s not
about Sears. This month’s message is
about those in the Body of Christ whom
the Bible calls “seers,” decidedly a King
James word but one that has been carried
over into the New International
Version, the New English Bible and several
other translations as well. Yet few
ever seem to question what it is.
Maybe it’s my more esoteric nature that
causes me to want to write things that
are not often taught, preached or discussed
from the ordinary pulpit or Bible
study. Even churches that are self-proclaimed
Bible-believing and teaching
have several subjects they just won’t
broach and if they do, they explain it in
terms that often obfuscate the reality of
what I believe is part of our Christian
experience and heritage.
The ministry of a seer is one of them.
And I’d like to discuss it briefly (because
of space limitations) here.
I am a Christian clergyman who
believes that the gift of prophecy, mentioned
throughout the Book of Acts
and in I Corinthians, is still valid
today. It should not be used to add to
the canon of Scripture (the Bible), but
rather to encourage, edify or warn people
about a current or future situation
or to explain something from the past.
It is the ability to know and to repeat,
when necessary, what you believe you
may have heard from God the Holy
Spirit about a situation. I’ve talked
about this gift before and while those
of the dispensationalist camp will say
that prophecy has ceased, as has speaking
in tongues, I would remind them
that the same verse (I Corinthians
13:8) they’re quoting also says that
knowledge will cease. Has knowledge
ceased? No. I believe that the utterance
gifts of God are still available for God’s
Glory and our edification when used
in the right context.
But there is one office, a gifting, that is
mentioned in the Old Testament that I
believe also appears today in some individuals
but is not readily recognized: the
ministry of a seer.
I Samuel 9:9 in the King James Version
says this: “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 beforetime called a seer.” (Other
translations of the passage read much
the same). The term is used through the
historical books of the Old Testament
and is mentioned again in Amos, generally
as a title given to someone such as
“Samuel, the seer,” but little is mentioned
about its function.
I hadn’t thought much about it until
one night in December I was talking
with someone whom I realized has
always had a pretty good grasp of the
overall plan of God as long as I’ve
known him, and that’s been about a
decade. We could be discussing something
and his take on it was from a
broader view that was almost “above it
all,” the details and particulars, and to
be able to see the general picture from
Heaven’s vantage point. In the time I’ve
known him, I’ve never heard him
employ the oft-misused terms of “God
told me” or “God showed me.” He
never needed to because when he spoke
on the level of what appeared to be his
spiritual gift, the authority God had
given him to speak something like this
carried it. (And he’s a pretty humble
guy who may not even recognize himself
as he reads this).
Recently, President Obama gave his
“State of the Nation” address. We all
know what that is. But what this fellow
was doing, however, was giving something
that could probably be called “The
State of the Church.” At the risk of
sounding like I’m splitting hairs, let me
give what I believe is a simple distinction
between the ministry of a seer and
the ministry of a prophet.
A prophet repeats what he believes God
the Holy Spirit has said to him. A seer
relates what he believes God the Holy
Spirit has shown him. One example of
each with mention of the gift of knowledge
between.
A person with a prophetic gift might say
something to the effect, “You need to recognize
that you’ve been guilty of the sin
of self-pity and repent of it.” Why that
might be significant is that it may not be
evident to the speaker’s natural mind or
knowledge that the person has a problem
in that area of their spiritual life.
As a corollary to that is a word of
knowledge, another gift mentioned in I
Corinthians 12, that would be to know
the details of a person’s physical life
experience, and might come out something
like, “The job that you lost last
week was to prevent you getting into a
worse situation with your co-worker.”
This would be valid if there was no prior
knowledge of the bad relationship in
the workplace.
But the ministry of the seer would be one
who would say something akin to this:
“The spiritual climate of that community
has always been to be blessed as opposed
to its neighboring town that lives under
the curse of never-ending entitlements.” I
can think of an example of this when I
compare two towns in Kansas, about 25
miles apart, but in two different counties.
The one that has always been a dry county
(alcohol is not sold there) has always
seemed “cleaner” spiritually and socially.
Its neighboring county to the west has a
much higher incidence of abuse-related
crimes and gangs. You may know what
I’m talking about when you are driving
through a place and sense that it just
doesn’t feel right and/or you’re just never
at peace when there.
For the person who is gifted as a seer,
they often can see beyond the “feelings”
and discern the spiritual climate of a
location or situation, be it spiritually,
politically or socially. It’s as though they
are allowed to “see” into the spiritual
realm, somewhat like what happened
when Elisha asked God to open up the
spiritual realm that was all around his
servant so he could see the reality of the
situation. II Kings 6:16-17.
I believe that at the moment of our
death, part of crossing over into
Eternity is that we begin to see fully
what has always been all around us.
During our earthly lives, our spiritual
gifts allowed us glimpses of it but only
that. In our mortal state, we couldn’t
have survived witnessing the Reality
that God has for us only one heartbeat
away. The Bible says that we are surrounded
by a huge crowd of witnesses in
the spiritual realm which, at any
moment, we’re going to enter. What the
Welsh called “the thin places,” – there
are times when it seems some of us are
allowed to sense, discern, see, feel or
hear a thin sliver of the Eternal. And
because it is a spiritual experience, it
happens in your spirit, not in your
mind. Your mind may not understand it
because the Bible has already told us
that the things of the Spirit are not
understood by the mind; our minds can
only accept that they exist and do happen
on occasion. Romans 8:5.
One of the problems I’m having about
writing my memoirs is that I could relate
all kinds of instances in each of the
above realms (words of prophecy, words
of knowledge or some which seem to be
that of a seer) that have come through
my life when I didn’t expect them. For
some reading those memoirs, or even
this message this month, it would convince
them that I’m a heretic and, if
they’re living in their religiously natural,
but not spiritual, minds they will not be
able to see it any other way. After all, if
you just want religion and emotion but
not faith and to desire earnestly spiritual
gifts, then you will not progress much
beyond your mind’s boundaries. And
that is often what faithless, but religious,
people want.
St. Paul says to earnestly desire spiritual
gifts (I Corinthians 14:12; Colossians
1:9) but especially that we may prophesy.
The latter, if it is done under the
control of the Holy Spirit, shows a sensitivity
to the spiritual realm that can
edify and bless the people of God, “the
Church.” But if it does not glorify the
Lord Jesus Christ and testify of Him
(Revelation 19:10), or given without
love and with the motive to control,
manipulate or intimidate, it is of no
value and needs to be repented of and
discarded. (I Corinthians 13:1).
There are people out there who see the
spiritual realm as well as hear from it.
There are the counterfeits but if there
are counterfeits, then there is the genuine
and that is what we are to ask God
for and to protect by making sure its use
always matches up with His Word and
brings glory to Him.
Now, stir up the Holy Spirit’s gifts that
are in you! (II Timothy 1:6).
© Copyright 2010 by Dave Roberts