You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies. -- Ezekiel 13: 19 (ESV)
The above link is to a new article by false prophetess Jennifer Leclaire on Charisma News, where she serves as an editor and false prophecy provocateur. Obsessed with Jezebel, Leclaire has carved out a nice little niche in the false prophecy landscape and she has been expanding her empire in recent months. She started a "school of prophets" where for a mere $300 you can pretend you are a prophet too! For another measly $300 you can join her "Ignite Prophetic Network!" Her latest scam is that she claims God gave her a direct revelation and that this prophecy is crucial for the body of Christ in this season. Given the crucial nature of such a direct order from God one might assume that we can find all the details on her website but we would be sorely mistaken. Apparently God wants Jennifer to make some money from this "crucial prophecy" so she put all of the details into a new book. Now she claims that Charisma Press is hurriedly rushing to release this book as soon as possible. So the woman who once falsely prophesied that God told her that He was restoring America's covenant, which never existed to begin with, now claims God gave her this absolutely crucial word for the body but He wants it delayed so she can make some coin off of it. Right; and I am releasing the angels of abundant harvest right now"oops. That is actually the name of the book and prophecy Jennifer claims God gave her. Notice how it is never the angels of grave repentance? It is never the angels of strict obedience? Hmm, perhaps that didn't market test well.
In this article, Jennifer is apparently upset at two reports coming out of the African false prophet network. Both were widely reported and actually quite disturbing. One was a pastor/prophet who was spraying insecticide in the faces of his congregants so they could be "healed." The second was someone having his congregants drink disinfectant in order to receive healing. Both claimed the same direct revelation card Jennifer likes to play so much. It seems "God told me" has replaced the work of a Berean in a post-biblical church era. Now let me be perfectly clear. The disinfectant prophet and the insecticide pastor are insidiously false. False in an embarrassingly obvious way. But how did they get there? Simply put, we exported our perverted false church to Africa. We exported the prosperity Gospel and now five of the richest pastors in the world hold court in Africa, one of the poorest continents on earth. We imported the false signs and lying wonders paradigm of Bethel and IHOP and now they have these idiots spraying poison for healing or instructing the sheep of the Lord to drink toxic cleaning materials. Make no mistake about it beloved. The American false church is responsible. That same false church that has allowed someone like Jennifer Leclaire to make a living by making merchandise of the flock, as our key verse warns.
Sure there may be six degrees of separation but the causal relationships are there. Are these two stories anymore ridiculous than the notion that God would make believers roll around on the ground and bark like a dog? Are these stories any more absurd than the Holy Spirit causing people to spasm and twitch violently and without control? Are Pastor Insecticide and Prophet Disinfectant any more heretical than someone punching a man with stage four pancreatic cancer in the stomach and claiming the Holy Spirit told him too so the man would be healed? These three examples are not from Africa beloved. They are from right here in the good old USA. The first one is the Holy Laughter movement that originated in Toronto in the 1990s but came to our shores shortly thereafter. People like Leclaire and the false prophets she rolls with still swear by Toronto. The second was the Brownsville Revival, which people like Dr. Michael Brown still insist was a genuine move of God. The last example was the Lakeland Revival and false prophet Todd Bentley. Now Leclaire appears to have been skeptical of Bentley but the core group of folks she swears by all called him a prophet and even went to Lakeland to anoint him such, including Bill Johnson. That lasted all of a few days when it was revealed he was having an affair. Don't worry though, Bill Johnson personally oversaw his repentance and restoration, ugh.
The point is that there is actually very little difference between spraying poison in the faces of those you claim to minister to and spreading a false gospel or peddling false prophecies. It is all a false representation of what God has or has not said and it all kills. That is the sad irony displayed when someone as blatantly false as Jennifer Leclaire anoints herself the false prophecy police because she sees something so obviously egregious yet cannot see her own venom. The key verse today is taken from the Prophet Ezekiel rebuking the false prophets of his day at the behest of the Lord. Specifically in this portion he is speaking against false prophetesses who were lying for their own benefit what the Lord had and had not said. In light of Leclaire and the pesticide prophets this verse seemed especially appropriate. Remember that the Bible says these things were written down that we might learn from them. Let us reason together and learn then.
You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread,
We should have no doubts beloved what is occurring when someone is falsely prophesying. They are profaning the name of the Lord. In the modern church we seem to turn a blind eye with a wink and a nod whenever someone is in the house of the Lord falsely prophesying. We only see things in terms of how it might affect us but we are our brother's keeper. We ought to have concern, pity and love for our fellow brothers and sisters who may not be as learned as we are. Who may be more susceptible to something untrue. Yet God is making it clear here -- they are profaning Him. How? By claiming He said something that He never said! How many people blame God for false prophecies uttered? I remember a false teacher at my old church was fleecing the flock for his offering and claimed God told him that 10 people were supposed to sow $300 each into his ministry and that a double portion harvest (whatever that is supposed to be) would occur within two months of their obedience. He got more than ten suckers that night and one person signed over his entire check. What happens when the next two months brought nothing but heartache and certainly no "double harvest?" I know people who never came back to church over such nonsense.
What is worse however is that these charlatans do this for what amounts to a handful of barley or pieces of bread. Barley is one of the cheapest grains available. Pieces of bread are not much more valuable. I am sure that $300 meant a lot to that false teacher that night at my old church. At least as much to Jennifer Leclaire when she charges the same amount to join her school or her network of false prophets. Is it worth it though? The eternal cost of a soul for a measly 300 bucks? Trading in the eternal destination of someone for a handful of barley and a piece of bread? The modern day equivalent to 30 pieces of silver to sell out your Savior? Sad.
putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live,
There it is beloved. God does not pull punches. These are no small matters we discuss. Eternal life and death do hang in the balance when you traffic in speaking for God. Note the dichotomy God employs here through Ezekiel. There are two possible outcomes when false prophets speak. They either put to death those who should not die or they keep alive those who should not live. What does that mean? The first group are the folks we already discussed. People who believe the false prophecies and then when they fail to come through fall away. They blame God. They never return to the body of Christ. How many people will attend Jennifer Leclaire's school for false prophets and realize it is a scam? Then realize that it is a scam that is widely accepted with a wink and nod by so many in "leadership." How many will actually buy her book thinking there is such a thing as "angels of abundant harvest" and then become disillusioned when the harvest never comes?" For a handful of barley. The second group is like the inverse. These are people who are not actually saved who buy the lies that they are. Ezekiel specifically addresses both groups in a later verse:
Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, - Ezekiel 13: 22 (ESV)
Disheartening the righteous or encouraging the wicked -- that is the legacy of false prophets. We should take note especially at the admonition that these false prophetesses refused to tell people to turn from their wicked ways. This is also the core message of the Gospel. It is not about nine words and a cloud of dust. It is not about finding some dream destiny thingy. It is not about your best life now. It is about the fact that we are a hopeless and wretched sinner and our only chance of seeing eternal life with our Creator is to repent from our wicked ways. When was the last time you had an itinerant prophet speak that! These days it is all about clairvoyance and magical visions. Prophets lay hands on you and swear they see angels of abundant harvest swirling over your head. Nonsense! Earlier in the chapter Ezekiel rebukes then for telling the people they have "peace" when there is no peace! Beloved, if someone is claiming to be a prophet they are claiming to speak on behalf of God Himself! That they have received direct revelation from God to share with His people. Just the notion that God would reveal a crucial word for His people but delay it so the alleged prophet can make a profit is biblically absurd!
It is just as absurd as spraying poison in the face of those seeking healing or demanding they drink disinfectant. Jennifer Leclaire can rail against these absurdities all she wants to but that does not change her own. It does not change that she now has a fake school where she seems to think she can "teach" the gifts, such as prophecy. It does not change that she has now set up a fake network for her fake prophet friends to all ply their trade and collect their handfuls of barley. In many ways, what Leclaire does is far worse than the African Poison Pastors. Most sane people will hopefully run away from the poison pastors where many will fall for the pious sounding Leclaire and the oohs and ahhs of the false signs and lying wonders network. Leclaire has now established street cred in the false prophecy world. She has ringing endorsements from most of the major false prophets. She has a bully pulpit in Charisma News, where she is an editor. She has published books and conducted podcasts. She has her new school, which is really just a rented room at the Holiday Inn by the airport, true story. If you already are prone to the entire false signs network, then Leclaire is difficult to discern because she has all of the false prophecy earmarks covered. But if you strive to discern and do the work of a Berean, the Spirit will lead you into all truth. The key verse concludes:
by your lying to my people, who listen to lies. -- Ezekiel 13: 19 (ESV)
Because at the end of the day they are lying. Ultimately the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and thus expose the lie. That is why we need to be in the revealed will of God, His Word. God already prophesied all He needed to. He did not forget something that He rushed to tell Jennifer Leclaire about. Prophesy today, which is still a gift, is about redirecting people back into the Word of God. Sadly, the false prophets of today all think prophesy is fortune telling. As we recognize the silliness of Leclaire's 2017 prophecy, let us look back at her 2016 prophecy.
