The prophet's handbook

perversion with the authority of the prophet’s mantle and standing off with the works and forces of darkness to defend the church, faith, and flock of God.

Discernment of heresy and heretical messengers—Detecting and correcting erroneous teaching, trendy doctrine, or Scripture dilution; marking and publicizing what is emphatically errant teaching as measured against the word of the Lord in Scripture. Prophetic drama—Portraying the word of the Lord in action, set to music or dance; depicting the invisible activities of eternity in public theatrics to demonstrate to worshippers what the Lord is doing behind the scenes. Illustrate the signs that manifest each one of the above and the particular situation that calls for it. The Prophet’s Mantle One captivating thing about the prophet’s ministry is the mantle that an officer wears. It designates him or her as God’s servant. Outward garments worn by servants reflected every ministry position in times past. They were important, and no serious worker would start a tour of duty without wearing a mantle. It is much different today. The attire donned in earlier times was meant to convey the essence of the worker’s profession, his or her sender, or principal, such as in the case of a soldier, judge, or surgical physician. In the case of most ancient officers, the sender was a deity and was therefore invisible. The god’s invisibility made it necessary for physical symbols to depict its power, authority, reputation, and image to followers. As the book of Leviticus shows, this was usually done with clothing and power tokens. Swords, clouds, stars, lightning bolts, animal figures, and such were crafted to portray the deity’s attributes. Jehovah did as much with His priesthood. In every culture, these had to be made to show the people their gods and identify their workers as members of the deity’s staff. Call to mind on this subject the Lord’s meticulous instructions to Moses about the priest’s garments, His tabernacle, and its furnishings. Thus, the servants of Baal in the Old Testament wore distinctive garb that reminded his worshippers of the god to whom they belonged. Headdresses worn were usually etched with an image—an animal, fish, or lightning bolt—to