In this blog we will look at the Role of the prophet as a Seer and how night goggles and hearing aids help equip the prophets when we need peripheral vision.
“The prophet is human, yet he employs notes one octave too high for our ears. He experiences moments that defy our understanding.”
—Abraham Heschel
How well does a prophet hear in his seasoned time of authority? Pretty darn well!
Elisha the prophet could hear the words the King of Syria spoke in his bedchamber:
Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.
Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”
And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” (II Kings 6:8-12, NKJV).
Deer have the ability to filter out sounds from background noise and give meaning to the sounds. Prophets are gifted in this area. They can block out the noise and fine-tune the holy One’s Voice at times in more significant measure. Not that His sheep don’t hear His Voice, but the prophet spends more time in solitude, rejection, and intense situations. Picture David running for his life or Joseph in the fetters in prison, Jeremiah in a cistern. Misunderstood. This time is spent listening and fine-tuning and maturing. Don’t spend this time in bitterness or anger. Be still.
Deer have large eyes. The position of the deer’s eyes on the side of their head is because they are prey in the food web. They need better peripheral vision to perceive potential predators quickly. Prophets need this too.
Prophets are prey in the food web too:
Matthew 23:37
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!”
“A whitetail’s eyes are found on the sides of its head, enabling the deer to have a field of view (FOV) of about 310 degrees. This means a deer’s blind spot is only about 50 degrees — less than a third the size of our own. In comparison, humans with two healthy eyes have a field of view of 180 degrees.”
Field of view is a prophet’s specialty. It’s part of their gifting.
The gazelle is unique in that when he runs, he turns his head back to the place from which he is running
— Zohar II, 14a
One of the Names of the Holy One is Re’eh, and it means “Behold, See!” The Zohar says that the greatest plague of mankind is that we do not see that often because we think we are so smart. We do not see what is really coming; we do not see what is really happening.
I posted a photo on Facebook a while back, and it looked like a dream boat. Everyone in the picture was smiling and had arms around one another, but no one could see the behind-the-scenes pain, diagnosis, tears, or what it took to get in the photo. I did not express this, so the comments were full of positive words.
We see, but we do not see. How can we see into the soul of another? One prophet sees into the soul of another and weeps before him. Then the prophet tells the man the horrific things he will do.
“Elisha stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael felt ashamed. Then the man of God began to weep.” When Hazael asked, “Why is my lord weeping?” he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will inflict on the men of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, their young men you will slay with the sword, their little ones you will dash into pieces, and their pregnant ones you will rip open.”
This is a unique case:
We hear, but we do not hear.
We feel, but we do not touch.
We see, but we lack vision.
A man sees his son Joseph’s bloody coat, but he does not see the blood on his other son’s hands. We often see what we want to see. We think we know. We have the story down. Joseph is dead. We have proof. No. Our vision needs training. We must ask the Holy One if what we see aligns with what we are hearing from HIM.
The Latest Science
Just how far to the left or right can a deer see? According to a new study of animal vision performed at UC Berkeley and first reported to the deer-hunting world by the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA), a deer’s eye positioning and pupils allow for an amazing 300-degree panoramic view of the surroundings. (For comparison, your field of view is less than 180 degrees.) To cover the 60-degree blind spot in the back, a deer simply turns its head slightly left or right to eyeball things directly behind its rump. The old “That buck must have eyes in the back of his head” saying is just about spot on.
If you think that’s interesting, the following snippet of deer vision info will blow your mind. According to Marty Banks, professor of optometry and vision science at UC Berkeley and lead researcher on the aforementioned study, a deer’s eyes can rotate independently in different directions to maintain alignment with the horizon.
“If you imagine a line coming out of the center of the animal’s eye, the eye is spinning around that line,” Banks told the QDMA. “So when an animal pitches its head down, the left eye has to rotate clockwise and the right eye has to rotate counterclockwise. We think we can see each eye rotating about 50 degrees. One is going 50 degrees and the other is going minus 50 degrees, so the difference is about 100 degrees. It’s a pretty remarkable ability.”
The technical term for this eye-rotation ability is cyclovergence. For deer, cyclovergence keeps the horizontal bands of vision in each eye aligned and level with each other, maintaining the deer’s panoramic view of its surroundings even when its head is tilted downward at ground level to feed or when walking nose to the ground on a hot doe trail.
“The prophet is human, but he sees things others miss. He is like the detective Columbo.
Nighttime is coming. Nighttime can be a time when things grow dark spiritually and naturally. Usually, killers and criminals come out at night to rape, rob, and murder, but some are brash enough to do it in broad daylight. Many times, in the spiritual world, we need night vision, and we need our antlers up. Sometimes we deal with people who want to kill us or shut our mouths. At times these people are, as Yeshua warned, members of our own households.
On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,” the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”
“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. (II Kings:6)
Blindness causes SIGHT. Think about the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. He had to be blinded in order to see.
“Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.” (Acts 9).
Sha’ul (Paul) sat fasting for three days, until Ananias showed up. When Ananias laid his hands on Saul, he regained his eyesight (ACTS 9:10, 22:12).
Can you hear Yeshua yelling, “You blind Pharisees? Oh, how hard to know that you, a Pharisee, a scholar, a man who knew the Torah, could need his eyes covered in mud, and the spit of the Messiah, just like the man who had to go wash his eyes. Oh, the sorrow to know that you are still not seeing.
And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
The Father made clear by the fruit. Messiah said we will know them by their fruit. If we see bad fruit, we should grieve and pray and remember we too were once blind. We must cry out as Moses did for his sister. Oh, Lord, HEAL HER!
Do the prophets you seek out for counsel have blossoms or are they making predictions and prophesying out of their own hearts? Do you seek out the eyes of the body, or do you feel they no longer exist? For more on the leadership roles in the body, click HERE:
For the prophets reading this please respond and let me know if you are seeing and hearing what I am.
Sources:Scientific Facts About How Deer See and Hear | Grand View Outdoors
I am no prophet….at this time I tend to quote Jer 6:10 and see that verses 11-15 are on the way. There are so many times that compassion fails me. i repent often! Meanwhile your article is full of very timely reminders that shortsightedness is a true danger. That picture in your story, of an ear–I stared at that for a bit to see the light that would fill a listening ear, a harp that would hear the music of the Word and lastly the ear’s shape is that of a baby in the womb…known by the world as ‘just’ a ‘fetus.’ But I am reminded that in Lev 14:2,14,25 a leper cleansed by Yahweh is eligible to have ear, thumb and toe anointed with fresh blood. So even from the womb a sinner whose ears are stopped up can qualify for healing cleansing and anointing. Good news indeed!! So I preach myself happy and have a fresh Wind of patience for those jer6:10 peeps. Our ears are His creation and He hears [Ps94:9]…and until He shuts the door we pray even if with tears. goooooood one my sister!! <3 <3
I had to pull up Jeremiah 6 and read it. Very interesting and especially the sad verses that come after 10-15, For from the least of them to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
from prophet to priest,
all practice deceit.
14They dress the wound of My people
with very little care,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace at all.
15Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they will collapse,” ouch! i love you!
All through out Scripture we read how the prophets were trailblazers, they were always setting the proper path before the people. Enduring much suffering and rejection. Image clearing an overgrown stretch of land by hand for others to travel on. Thistles, rocks and other debris can cause ones hands and feet to become tough from the labor. Not to mention the eyes, ears and skin being conditioned to the situation. And yet, the worker is well aquantied with the dynamics of softness and rough work. Obedience and much love has to be present to take on such a task. Your blogs always minister to me and widen my perception. Thank you.