What is a Prophetic Seer? Part 3

Several years ago, right as I was preparing to relocate to another city and plant a church, a prophet came to a retreat I attended in Maryland. When he came around to me, he began praying and said stuff like “You are a master musician, an Asaph” and then he referred to me as a “seer”. I actually didn’t know what either of these terms meant at that time but in the ensuing years I discovered that Asaph was a percussionist who led a band of musicians that ministered in David’s tabernacle & trained worshipers and musicians. I also discovered that a seer was a type of prophet who was extremely sensitive to his spiritual surroundings and a heightened awareness of the spirit world. These seers could see angels or demons, “smell” soon-coming rain or “hear” the trumpet of the Lord sounding in the heavens declaring a new day on earth.

I had never seen anyone like this “prophet” but every word he said was bearing witness to my spirit through a flood of tears! He wasn’t just giving my mind information but instead was somehow speaking things to my inner man and spirit that I knew were truer than the truth I knew at the time. While I had been desirous of prophetic gifts & read about them, I had never seen them exercised like this. There was such life,encouragement & light that had come to me through these words! While my mind was perplexed, what he was saying was true as he scanned my spiritual destiny and foretold things yet to come in my life. While shortly after my conversion I had begun to use prophesy, tongues & other gifts, this new level of insight perplexed yet intrigued me! I began a quest to see the powers of the age to come operating in my ministry. I was compelled by the idea that God can so quickly change someone’s life through these powerful gifts of the Spirit, especially prophesy. There is nothing like the power of God!

Let’s look at  seers and see how they operated in the Bible:

1) Seers many times are worshipers or musicians- Because musicians and worshipers are sensitive to their surroundings and perceptive of their atmosphere, many times musicians, psalmists and singers are also seers. Asaph who was David’s seer was a percussionist in the Tabernacle of David and trained musicians. Scripture says he was a chief musician and also wrote several of the Psalms.

2) The seer is one who sees the things of the Spirit but not always in a conventional way.Isaiah 29:10-For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers.

This passage distinguishes between the prophets (the eyes) and the seers (head, or all five senses).  Someone who is operating in the prophetic anointing is primarily one who sees things in the Spirit, the eyes. But the seer, a variation of this prophetic anointing, can include all the five senses of the Spirit: seeing, hearing, taste, smell and feelings or touch. A seer may “smell” a demon or “hear” the sounds of heaven” or “feel” depression or “sense” the presence of angels. These also “smell” the soon-coming rain or “hear” the trumpet of the Lord sounding in the heavens declaring a new day on earth.

3) A seer is one touched “by the feeling of our infirmities”- (Hebrews 4:15) even as the Lord is touched by these feelings of ours. It is identifying with the Body of Christ as they experience certain things. 1 Corinthians 12:26-and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. As Jesus was touched by the feelings of our infirmities, so He is also able by the Spirit to touch us with the feeling of the infirmity of that other part or member. Why does He do that? So that we can pray for and minister to the member in need. When our natural body gets damaged, the other cells rush around the part in need, fighting to restore health back to that part. If we are Spirit led we should realize some of us can “feel” these things as well. This is part of what the seer anointing is about.

4) A seer can bring “blessing and success” if heeded. Why? Trust in God’s prophets and you will have success 2 Chronicles 20:20 Gad gave David options of the Lord’s retribution when he took a census of the people and brought judgment on Israel; Gad also gave David specific details of the Lord’s prescribed worship.

5) The seers and the prophets in OT times were a forerunner of prophetic teams and a type of prophets working together like we see in the NT. David had Gad as his seer and Nathan as his prophet. They both prophesied in different ways but together.

There is no seer described as one of the five-fold equipping ministries in Ephesians 4:11, but the seer operates prophetically and it would be wise if we had a much greater understanding of this unique manifestation of the prophetic
anointing.

Prophetic actions are prolific in the Bible. Some Old Testament prophets are renowned for their strange prophetic acts. Isaiah went naked (Is 20), Hosea married a prostitute (Hosea 1:2), Ezekiel lay on one side for 390 days (Ezek 4:5).
Prophetic actions can be seen in the New Testament, too. Agabus tied his own hands and feet with the Apostle Paul’s belt as the Spirit warned him of his upcoming arrest and imprisonment (Acts 21:10-12).

A prophetic act can hold spiritual power for fulfillment or breakthrough when the Holy Spirit directs it (2 Kings 13: 14-20).A prophetic act has great significance in a number of Biblical contexts. These include:

–      Intercession (1 Kings 18:42-44)
–      Healing (2 Kings 5:9-14)
–      Warfare (Ex 17:10-13)
–      Warning (Ezek 4-5)
–      Foretelling (Acts 21:10-12)
–      Calling to ministry (1 Kings 19:19)

Jesus used symbolic action when He put clay on a blind man’s eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:6-7). He also taught His disciples the practice of anointing with oil for healing (Mark 6:13), symbolic of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
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It would be wise for us to explore these prophetic types and realize God makes each prophetic person unique and special. We are each fearfully and wonderfully made and this seer prophetic anointing is a unique weapon to further God’s purposes and reveal His glory on the earth. Pursue it!