Follow prophetic instructions from above
by Ivan Ho 9 Sept 2021
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”
Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew 2:13-23 NKJV
A lot of times, prophetic dreams are specific instructions from God which we need to follow faithfully. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and warned him to take Mary and the child Jesus to Egypt to escape from Herod’s plan to kill Jesus. God in his foreknowledge took Jesus to the land of Egypt for a period of time to stay away from imminent danger. Then after Herod died, God again spoke to Joseph in a dream to return to Israel. All these events have been spoken of by the prophets of God. God had already knew everything that would happen and spoke about them hundreds of years before Jesus was born. That is how powerful prophetic dreams are. God does not plan things along the way like man do according to the circumstances, He knew exactly what needed to be done before the enemy attacks.
Sometimes God instructs people to move to another city for a season. If you are emotionally attached to your home town and decide to stay, you are not only being stubborn, you are also disobeying God’s specific instruction. When Jesus called his apostles, immediately they dropped their business and followed him. If God tells you to stay, stay, if he tells you to wait, wait but if he tells you to move, just follow his instructions.
Coronavirus and all the evil works of the devil associated with it might have caught many people unawares but God knew exactly what was going to happen. God does not see the rise of Coronavirus and then device His plans accordingly. The so called pandemic does not take God by surprise, He knew what the devil was going to do all along. Just as God preserved Jesus from satanic attack, He protects God’s people from the demonic attacks of Coronavirus. God did not kill Herod but instead He took Jesus and His family out of harm’s way for a season. After Herod died and the threat was gone, God took Jesus back to his hometown. Covid and whatever virus variants will have their expiry date. Be ensured that God is protecting us and let’s not panic and scramble to take the man-made vaccines and look to them as your saviour like most people are doing. If you have taken the vaccine, pray and trust that God will protect you from its adverse side effects. Do not believe for a minute that the vaccines are protecting you for they are proven to be highly ineffective. Look to God for protection and healing and soon whatever virus the enemy brings up will be no more.
If Jesus the Son of God had to be taken to Egypt to avoid imminent dangers, don’t think for a minute that you are immune against the attacks of the enemy just because you are a son of God. As a matter of fact, if God’s calling is upon your life, the devil will target you even more in trying to divert and abort your God given destiny.
However, if we follow God’s instructions, we will be safe from all sorts of demonic attacks. No weapons formed against us shall prosper!
Joseph and Mary followed prophetic instructions
When we think about Bible heros, not many people would think of Joseph the earthly father of Jesus. Joseph was chosen to father Jesus for one major character: he followed prophetic instructions from above.
Joseph initially wanted not to marry his fiancée after he found out that Mary was pregnant. In a dream, an angel of the Lord told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, and also revealed to him that his son Jesus would be the saviour of man from their sins. Joseph obeyed God’s command and took Mary as his wife.
In another prophetic dream, God warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to avoid Herod’s plan to kill Jesus. After Joseph arose from the dream, he immediately obeyed the prophetic instruction and went to Egypt with his family the following night. Again, after Herod died, Joseph followed God’s instruction from a prophetic dream to bring his family back to Israel.
Praise God also for Mary when she responded to God’s prophetic word about her giving birth to Jesus. She said: “Be it done to me according to your word” and the rest was history when Jesus the Son of God was born as a human person to save us from our sins and establish His kingdom on earth!
After her marriage, God spoke directly to her husband Joseph and even though Mary did not receive the prophetic dreams directly, she followed her husband faithfully.
Because Joseph and Mary were faithful in following instructions from above, Jesus the Son of God was able to fulfill His prophetic destiny on earth!
We think that ministries and significant things we do in the public eyes are what would impress God. In truth, God is only impressed by our faithful obedience to His instructions. If Jesus tells you to find Him a colt, just obey the instruction and do it! We have no idea how, by us simply obeying God’s instructions, however insignificant they may seem, we would have fulfilled our calling for His kingdom purpose!
My prophetic journey
Many years ago, few years after I graduated from university in Sydney and returned to Hong Kong for work, God gave me a dream in which I saw myself getting off a Hong Kong minibus and seeing someone whom I met in Sydney and who had migrated from Hong Kong to Australia. In the next scene, I saw images of a traditional sandstone church building and people drinking in a pub that I only saw in Australia. After pondering on the dream, I believed God was calling me back to Australia. So I applied for Australian permanent residency and to put the story short, I found myself in Melbourne about a year later which became my home. God has also given me a dream years later while I was in Melbourne about a house which I subsequently purchased, and afterwards while in Hong Kong, God gave me another dream about a property in Hong Kong which I would have never been able to purchase if not by the grace and provision of God.
There are other prophetic dreams and prophetic words God gave me which are on its way to fulfillment, some of which I have recorded here. Even though my journey hasn’t been all plain sailing and I have made mistakes in the past, I thank God for His faithfulness and guidance over the years and look forward to continue my prophetic journey in the years to come.
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:1-2 NKJV