Counsel Guides Prophecy

There are so many people in this world, believers and unbelievers alike, who received a word of prophecy but found themselves unable to walk in the reality of that word of prophecy because they lacked the necessary counsel that would guide them in the fulfillment of prophecy. When Saul, the first King of Israel, received the word of prophecy from the prophet Samuel that he would be the King of Israel, he didn't know how to go about becoming King. The Scriptures clearly spelled out the instructions of the prophet through the Spirit of counsel that he should go back home to Gilboa and wait for the summons of the tribes. It was at this summons of the tribes that the prophet then cast lots and chose the tribe of Benjamin, and subsequently chose the household of Kish. The scripture recorded that Saul had gone to hide by this time, and the Spirit fished him out before the nation and named him King. Here we see the relationship between prophecy and the Spirit of counsel. Prophecy tells you what will happen, counsel tells you the role to play, and how to position yourself or align yourself so that you will walk in the divine guidance and prevail through the fulfillment of prophecy.

When the wise men got to the palace of Herod and announced that they had seen a prophetic star rising out of Israel, which indicated the birth of a King. Herod immediately sent for his counsellors, and it was through them that he was able to discern that the baby was to be born in Bethlehem of Judah. Herod did not use the information the right way, but we can see that without counsel, the magi would not have been guided aright, and neither would Herod be privy to the information he acted upon, which led to the slaughter of many children.
Oftentimes in the Bible, you will see warriors and prophets and kings receiving prophecy as regards a war, a diplomatic mission, or a project. This word of prophecy would then be accompanied by a word of counsel and guidance, "When you see movement by the Terebinth tree" 2 Samuel 5:22-25, or the popular valley of Berachah blessings, where the King was facing a war with a huge army, and yet received a word of prophecy informing him of victory. That information was not enough; he needed to know what to do to get that victory. He was told to assemble the choir and sing; this was by the spirit of counsel. He did so, and he had a great victory. Imagine that David listened to his brother's counsel and turned away from Goliath when he heard Goliath mocking the God of Israel and challenging King Saul. Imagine he didn't engage Goliath. Imagine he listened to counsel, Goliath would have taken the battle to Israel, or Saul would have been forced to come out and battle Goliath. He was the king at the time, and whether he fought or not, he would have been done for because the people would have lost confidence in him David has already been anointed as King, and he would have had an easier route to the throne, but he didn't listen to counsel He killed Goliath, and this led to a thirteen-year delay for him to become king over Judah and a twenty-year delay for him to become King over Israel. Prophecy without counsel can lead to delay or outright failure of prophecy. A young man met a young woman, and he wanted to marry her. He was a born-again Christian, and so was the lady he wanted to get married to. The two families proceeded to do investigations about each other in order to know the suitability of both partners to be married. His family discovered that marriage is taboo in the family of the lady. They just don't have good marriages. Most of their sons and daughters end up as side chicks, baby mamas, single mothers, second or third wives, getting pregnant outside of wedlock, and so on. It was discovered that thirty years before the time of the investigation was the last time the family of the lady had a proposed wedding ceremony, and the ceremony was disrupted during the engagement ceremony when members of her family started fighting each other over drinks. The report of the investigation was clear: the lady was unfit for marriage, and any marriage to her would not lead to a lifetime of bliss. The young man had prayed earlier that year about his future, and he was sure marriage was part of God's plan for him for that year. He heard God clearly for himself. The challenge was, he was not sure if it was marriage to the lady he was presenting or to someone else. However, in that year, even though he had other options, he had made the most progress with this lady and was determined to move his life along in the right direction. The prophecy pointed to marriage, but the counsel indicated that he should not proceed with the marriage. The family of the lady also conducted their own investigations, and the result was positive. The young man was said to have a bright future and to be of virile seed. His family had a lot of marriages, almost annually, and he was a good fit to be married to. His family members called him aside and told him not to proceed. Her family members told her to do everything in her power to get married to him. He dragged his feet. The lady went to register for marriage class and got her spiritual leaders involved in convincing the young man to be a man and commit to the plan, rather than baulk at the first sign of resistance. When the pressure from the church was not enough, the lady's father sent for the young man and encouraged him to sleep with his daughter. He said, "Get her pregnant. Once you do that, your family will have no option but to agree with you that you are man enough to determine your own future." He was torn between fulfilling prophecy and listening to counsel. He decided to go with the fulfillment of prophecy because the month was already August, and there was no other woman in his life with whom he could fulfill that prophecy at the time. He had delayed for six months, hoping another woman would walk into his life, with whom he could fulfil the prophecy of "You will get married next year" just as heard it. So he gave in, and they had an October wedding. The night before the wedding, he had a vision in which he was himself walking on a straight path towards a blazing torch, but suddenly he turned away from that path into another path without any form of illumination. He knew he had missed it, but he didn't have the courage or the confidence to share what he saw with anybody. He got married, and every day of the marriage was hell. He had fulfilled prophecy without counsel, and in doing so, he had gone the way of Jeroboam. Many of us will remember the story of Jeroboam in the Bible. He was Solomon's minister for labour, and he commanded a great influence. One day, he met with Prophet Ahujah on the road, and he was told Israel would be divided into two, and ten of the tribes would be given to him to rule over, while Rehoboam would keep two tribes for the sake of David. This was the prophecy. Jeroboam did not seek counsel as to what to do and how to go about it. Solomon sent assassins after him, and he fled to Egypt. When he was in Egypt, he saw that Egypt had many gods, and this helped the pharaoh rule by using a divide-and-rule method. When Solomon died, Jeroboam returned and was made King over Samaria. The first thing he did was to make Samaria a multi-religious state like Egypt (He had adopted the wrong counsel but embraced the right prophecy). There are many examples in the Bible that I could cite to present the case for counsel and prophecy working together to help an individual or a nation fulfil destiny. Joseph provided the counsel that steered Egypt and the World through a seven-year-long drought season, while Daniel provided the prophetic insight that brought Darius, the King of Medes and Persia, to the throne in Babylon. Prophecy clearly states the plan of God for an individual or a nation, but counsel provides the guiding light that helps the nation or individual fulfill destiny or fail woefully. As believers, the Spirit of counsel is key in our decision-making.
-GSW-