My Thoughts on 'Our Prophet' Kim Clement and the Prophetic In General
It is rare that I feel actually commanded by God to give a prophetic perspective, but He has made it abundantly clear to me that this is what He wants from me, and so with a bit of fear and trepidation, I will speak into what I believe God has been showing me, both regarding Kim Clement as well as the prophetic movement in general.
The last couple of years have seen two very well-known prophets (Bob Jones and John Paul Jackson) pass on to glory, as well as at least several other prophets who are quite well-known, experiencing very serious health or personal crisis issues. Many are asking, "What is going on? Is this the devil taking out our prophets or is there sin in the prophets or what is it?" I will attempt to honestly address these questions with what I hear God speaking to me.
As many of you know, Prophet Kim Clement suffered a very serious stroke on Labor Day, September 7, 2015. As I write, he is "awake and recovering". We should all maintain faith and pray and declare that he be fully restored – and better than ever. Having said that, it could very well require an extended period of rehabilitation for Kim to come back from this serious challenge.
I do believe that I have been given a timetable for when he will come back, but I don't feel to share that as who knows what agreement in faith could accelerate on his behalf. So many things with God are always fluid as He often doesn't just predetermine an outcome but looks at responses to His stated intentions and seems to adjust from there. The Scriptures are full of this pattern both in the Old and New Testament.
Our Prophet Kim Clement
It is intentional, me listing Kim as "Our Prophet". Many, many love and respect him, as such and others have criticized and even blasted Kim for prophetic words that didn't seem to come about the way he said them, and he has been called a false prophet (something every true prophet including Jesus has been called). Here is what I heard from the Lord: "Kim was right even when he was wrong," and I understood this to be a general statement and not specifically about everything Kim has prophesied.
I was shown that Kim was sent to our nation by God (from South Africa) to prophesy "hope and life" into America. For an extended season he seemed to be the only prophet speaking hope and life into America. His name speaks into his assignment. Clement means "merciful" and he was sent to prophesy mercy over and into America, even when most American prophets could only see judgment for America. The name Kim means "brave or bold" and he has certainly exemplified that trait by boldly declaring the goodness of God over America, even when he was blasted for doing so, and he was severely blasted for doing so.
When the Lord spoke to me that, "Kim was right even when he was wrong," He was saying even if Kim missed it in some of the details of how the "clemency" of God would show up, he did not miss God's general heart that Kim was instructed to convey. Furthermore, in the future when we better understand the role of the prophetic, we will understand that it is designed to be effective in rallying the troops to believe the good things that God wishes to deliver.
A prophet is not meant to have to stand alone on a prophetic word while all else sit back and dare and even desire the prophet to be wrong. God Himself, prophesied to Moses that he and all the people of Israel would be brought into the Promised Land, yet except for Joshua and Caleb that generation of adults died in the wilderness. Mass resistance, doubt and unbelief will often bend or even seemingly break a prophetic word from God. God was not a false prophet, but there was a minimal level of agreement He required from the people of Israel which they did not give.
The next generation picked up on the prophetic word – because at the end of the day, a true prophetic word remains captured in time waiting to be activated. Similarly, though God has been merciful to America, that mercy could have had a greater level of manifestation if more had chosen to agree with the prophet, rather than to dig their heels in doubt and hoping the prophetic word failed. Kim was so in touch with God's heart of mercy that he would prophesy some of the most impossible scenarios and hopeful outcomes. The Lord says, "Kim was right even when he was wrong."
Labor Day Significance
Even as there was great significance in the passing of Bob Jones on Valentine's Day, thus validating his message on it being all about love, so too there is significance to Kim suffering his stroke on Labor Day. Labor Day is a holiday designed to provide a day of rest, fun and relaxation for "all those who labor." The Lord spoke to me that Kim, finished stage 1 of his assignment on that day.
The greatest Kingdom season ever began on Rosh Hashanah (September 13), and Kim's voice was key into keeping us on track until this amazingly, accelerated Kingdom day came upon us. He can now rest for a season. For the last 7 years, since Rosh Hashanah of 2008 when the Dow Jones fell 777.7, Kim has been prophetically warring for America's destiny – and often having to do so against the majority of known prophetic voices.
Kim has been a brave warrior experiencing more backlash than most anyone can imagine, causing many physical ills and many sleepless nights. Most of that backlash was not from witches and the occult (though they targeted him as well), but from within the Body of Christ he was attempting to serve with as much prophetic integrity as possible. After the enemy's attack, God is now letting Kim rest for a season.
The hope-filled and hopeful destiny of America, that Kim repeatedly prophesied, has been secured and so that assignment is over. So thank You God, for Our Prophet Kim and the courage he exhibited.
The Prophet of Mercy will come back as a Prophet of Glory
When Kim comes back, he will seem in many ways like an entirely different prophet. He is being rewired and reconstituted for another assignment. He will come back as a prophet of glory and a prophet of the presence. His words will be very weighty and will infuse wherever he speaks with the presence of the King. I believe we will be disappointed if we look for the old Kim to come back because a 2.0 version of himself is what is being prepared. If you look in the future, Kim looks much better than he looks right now!
On the Prophetic in General
I want to address the recent deaths as well as the recent and present difficulties of several of these key prophetic voices. Here are four distinct realities:
1) The devil is still trying to kill the prophets and attacks with everything he can.
2) God is pulling the plug on prophets who frighten and weaken His Bride.
3) Some prophetic voices' lives are out of balance (family not a priority; not taking care of themselves with proper diet, exercise, rest) and therefore have natural health risks.
4) An upgraded New Testament prophetic model must be made room for.
It is important to realize that all four of these realities are in effect. God has not suddenly lost the ability to protect His prophets. He already knows that all true prophets will carry a major bull's-eye on their back, and so when He commissions a prophet He knows the corresponding angelic help that needs to be sent to shield His servants. He doesn't just depend on intercessors, though they are important, as He has had prophets that march to the beat of another drum.
In Old Testament days most of the prophets were flying 100% solo, yet were protected for decades until their assignments were over, despite massive demonic and occultic resistance. We are shifting into New Testament understanding of prophets, but God can and will protect these as well. (I am not here to point the finger and say which prophets were in what category, only to say that those broad categories exist and it can help us process things to be aware of them and know that any one of them could apply to different situations.)
The Lord has made it clear to me that it is a very serious offense in His sight for any of His prophetic voices to be releasing fear into His Bride. He will judge that more harshly than almost anything else He will judge right now because the morale of His troops is uppermost in His mind at this time. He is demoting His leaders who don't understand that this is a primary assignment that they carry.
No General remains a General very long if all he does is tell us how strong the enemy is or how overwhelming the fight is going to be. This is particularly so, when the side they represent carries overwhelming superior firepower - as does ours. Any prophetic voice that instills any level of fear or anxiety in the troops is working against the Commanding Officer that he serves. All high-risk and dangerous scenarios are dealt with at a Commanding Officers level and you do not pass that on to the troops themselves.
Prophetic voices are to sow fear in the enemy's camp not into the Bride's camp. If you want to be a prophet of God in these days you must learn to look at dry bones and prophesy life into them (Ezekiel 37) rather than telling the dry bones how dry they are. New Testament prophets find the treasure hid in the field rather than just tell how bad and dirty the field is. We are slowly making the shift but this will greatly accelerate in 2016.
An Upgrade is Taking Place
In closing, I want to declare that we are in the early days of an overhaul of all that concerns the prophetic. As part of that we are in more need of a general, enlightened prophetic culture than even higher level prophets. We are in need of realizing the hybrid nature of Old Testament prophets because in their day the Holy Spirit was not available as the Spirit of Truth in the Believer that could test and judge all things.
Paul laid out the new standard in 1 Corinthians 13 and 14 when he said that prophesy was "in part" (i.e., some hit and miss, eat the fish and spit out the bones) and that we are to judge prophetic words ourselves. They did not have that prerogative in the Old Testament, because Jesus was not in their hearts and the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent. Therefore the standard for exactitude was severe.
So today we are to look at general fruit of a prophetic voice and ministry and not worry about 100% flawless accuracy. That was clearly, Biblically, an Old Testament standard. Appropriately, prophetic voices today need to quit carrying themselves around with the air of being Old Testament prophets.
The prophetic is not going away and will in fact only increase – but needed upgrades are coming all around. Meanwhile we honor that which has gone before us and that which is yet among us.
Lord, thank You for the courageous service of Your servant Kim Clement, and may he be retooled for his even greater Stage 2 assignment.
Johnny Enlow
Ministry of Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow