A Response to Johnny Enlow’s “Apostolic Rebuke”
There is a disturbing “apostolic rebuke” being passed around by Johnny Enlow. I have been asked what I think by a few people.
Intro
First, who is Johnny Enlow? He is a dominionist prophet, who embraces the Seven Mountains Mandate[1]. He prophesied a Trump victory before the election and then afterwards, the overturning of the election. He seems to embrace some of the very dangerous QAnon theories. Watch this short one too (because it is shocking).
He prophesied: “‘Your nation will be known as Before Trump and After Trump.’ And [the Lord] said, ‘The nations, the whole world will be known as Before Trump and After Trump.’” He compared this new measure of time to BC and AC. “The Lord said, ‘I’m really not interested in your all’s vote this time, I’m doing it. I usually give you all that option, this time I’m not. This is a rescue operation from Heaven.”
So, to be clear, he said that the presidency was not dependent on the vote of the people, but God was doing it as a “rescue operation from heaven.” Instead of repenting for giving a false prophecy, he is rebuking us for doubting ‘the prophets’ and speaking judgment over us. That would be like prophesying that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to win the Super Bowl (they didn’t in case you don’t watch football) and then rebuking everyone a week later for doubting him.
The very title of his post is troubling: “AN APOSTOLIC REBUKE AND ENTREATY FOR THOSE BLAMING THE PROPHETS” (you can read it here).
The Authority of an Apostle is Limited
An apostle can only rebuke people who are under his authority. You cannot just declare yourself an apostle, as Robert Duvall’s character did in The Apostle. The Pastor of First Baptist doesn’t have authority in Third Presbyterian. Apostles lead networks of leaders and congregations. There is no such thing as an apostle without leaders who look to him as one.
Notice Paul never wrote a letter to Cyprus. Why is that? Because when he and Barnabas were there, Barnabas was the apostle/father. After their parting of ways, Barnabas returned to Cyprus where he was the apostolic father. Paul went to the other churches.
“They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” (Acts 15:39-41)
If Johnny Enlow is an apostle, then there are limits to his sphere of authority. No one is an apostle over America. He can submit his thoughts to the body at large, as I am doing here, but he cannot release a word as if he has authority from God over the entire body of Christ in the United States. Beginning with even just the title, he is already out of bounds.
Bashing/Blaming the Prophets?
Secondly, the title indicates that he is writing to those “blaming the prophets.” He goes on to rebuke those who are bashing the prophets.
“Bashing the prophets” is not what I see happening. I see leaders doing their job in holding so-called prophets accountable. Prophets today are not like Elijah and Jeremiah were, loners receiving the word of the Lord. They are supposed to be part of five-fold ministry teams, where they are submitted to each other. (Ephesians 4:11) In Acts 13, we see a gathering of prophets, teachers and apostles (because Barnabas was there), praying and fasting together. It wasn’t just prophets.
In Acts 15, they do not call for the prophets to tell them what God is saying, but they have a “hearing” and then prayer with “the apostles and elders.” The idea of “the prophets” giving words to the nation apart from other leaders, is foreign to the New Testament.
What we are seeing today is prophets making declarations that don’t come to pass, followed by a rebuke to other leaders for seeking to hold them to account. They shame anyone who disagrees with them. One yelled in the voice of God (supposedly) that God would take away the voice of those who disagreed. Another regularly prophesies, speaking for God in the first person saying, “They mock my prophets…” and then warns of judgment to those who oppose him.
Enlow points out that the prophets have universally used (or misused, in my opinion) 2 Chronicles 20:20, where the people are told to believe the prophets and they will prosper. I have written here on how this verse has been taken completely out of context and wrongly turned into doctrine .
Enlow continues in this vein as he rebukes leaders seeking to hold prophets accountable: “[These leaders] will have their own consequences and ‘learning curve’ with God and I will just leave it at that.” For those who continue to hold prophets accountable, Enlow says, “What a pawn of darkness [you are] if you remain in that mode.”
Testing Prophecy…How?
Paul taught that prophetic utterances should be judged for accuracy, not blindly received:
For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. (1 Corinthians 14:31-33)
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good,reject every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)
Let me say this: These words of judgment (from Enlow) against those who seek to test the prophecies are not words from God but words from the flesh. How can we do our biblical duty of judging and testing prophetic words, if we are going to be rebuked and shamed when we do so? It is demonic manipulation to threaten people with judgment for testing prophecy.
How do you test a prophecy? Deuteronomy 18 says it is very simple, at least with predictive prophecy:
“But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)
God has told us how we can know when a message has not been spoken by Him: If it does not happen. In this case, they said Trump would win, be inauguarated on January 20th, and have four more years, He did not. Many prophesied that the Supreme Court would overturn Biden’s victory. Others prophesied that the House of Representatives would do this. So, they continued to move the goal posts and deceive the precious sheep in God’s flock… and shockingly continue.
However, Enlow is angry with apostolic leaders and even issues a threat as he ends: “If the ground around you unexplainably shakes know that God is pointedly giving you a sign to heed this message.” The ground underneath my feet is quite secure, because I am relying on the unshakable bedrock of the of the written word of God.
Friends, this is not the voice of God. Leaders who question prophetic utterances are not like the evil, carnal opponents of Moses who wanted to go back to Egypt, as Enlow says. How easy it is to take the Bible and compare someone to King Saul, Jonah, Uzzah (from the ark), the grandsons of Aaron (who were consumed by fire) or the evil sons of Eli. This is a misuse of Scripture and it is manipulatively exploited to shame one into submission. It is way off base.
Never before I have seen people, who have failed so spectacularly, become so indignant against others. It is not as if their prophetic words came to pass—they did not. Yet, you and I are evil for seeking truth. Don’t be afraid to resist this form of brainwashing.
Let’s be honest. If we were in the Old Testament, they would not be able to keep changing their prophetic words. They would have already been stoned to death. They want Old Testament prophetic authority without Old Testament prophetic accountability.
Enlow makes three points as to why President Trump should have been reelected:
Trump’s policies
The amount of prayer
Biden’s corruption
Okay, we agree, but what do you want us to do? The election is over! There is no mechanism in the Constitution to reinstate Trump, even if the courts at this point found fraud. If Biden were to go to jail, then Harris, not Trump, would become president. If the election process is over (and it is!), the prophets who said he would win in 2020 (not 2024) and serve eight straight years, were wrong. We do not want to stone them, but leaders do want to bring correction—and they should. How else can we grow from this epic failure of discernment?
Is God Weak?
Enlow seems to say Trump should have won because 100,000,000 Americans were praying, marching, and fasting for him to win. After the election, my friend Michael Brown tweeted:
Regarding the concerns of election fraud, I am confident that, between much prayer for God’s intervention and Trump’s army of lawyers, the truth will come to light, whatever that truth may be. Personally, I am NOT concerned that the election will be stolen by either side.
How could it be that God spoke to hundreds of prophets that Trump would win, and then millions prayed for the fraud to be exposed, and yet God did not accomplish either? You have to ask yourself, is God that weak? I understand the idea of agreeing with God’s prophetic word, as Daniel did (Daniel 9), but Daniel was one man, not 100,000,000! And through Daniel’s prayer, he accomplished something far greater in world history than Donald Trump being reelected: the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon.
But we need to come to grips with the fact that either God is weak, which I reject, or something else is taking place.
Four Reasons Trump Lost
We should be asking God at this point, “What are You saying to us? Because something is amiss! As I have said before, I will say again:
I believe God allowed Biden to win because of Trump idolatry, as can be seen in Enlow’s theology of Trump being compared to Jesus and Moses and God’s key instrument in the world today. It could be seen on January 6th, when people thought they were fighting with Trump’s blessing. It could be seen in prayer meetings, where Trump flags instead of Jesus flags (or in addition to) were being waved from the front. It can be seen in the people who believe that Trump will be president in March (yes, many believe this!) or think he is still president today.
I believe that God allowed Biden to win because people, like Enlow and others, began to see Trump in a prophetic light as leading the church into a worldwide takeover of governments and institutions that will lead to the 1,000-year reign of Jesus, but without Jesus.
I believe that God allowed Biden to win so we would get back to the mission of preaching the gospel. For months now, Mr. Enlow has mostly spoken of politics, fraud, treachery (from General Mattis and General Kelly) and crazy conspiracy theories (that didn’t happen, like Trump declaring martial law and executing traitors). What happened to the Great Commission? Should not our focus be getting the message of Jesus to people in need?
I believe that God allowed Biden to win because we have become more like Trump than Trump had become like Jesus. Many of us have become aggressive, rude and threatening. We have imitated President Trump’s bravado and lost the meekness of Yeshua.
When all the prophets agree…be careful!
Enlow points out that there was universal prophetic agreement on Trump’s reelection. Now, though, we are learning what many of us had assumed for months. Many of the prophets who have repented have admitted that they had more of a prophetic sense/inkling, and not a word from God. When they saw all the other prophets prophesying, they jumped on the prophetic bandwagon.
Additionally, in the Bible, when all the prophets agree on something, they tend to be deceived, as in the case of Jeremiah and Micaiah. (1 Kings 22) When all the prophets say the same thing, and it is positive in nature, that is a clue that things are probably be off.
So, I reject Johnny Enlow’s rebuke. He has stepped out of his domain. I continue to call for a godly accounting, full of love and compassion, regarding the Trump prophecies. But beloved, do not fear people who seek to intimidate you with threats of judgment when you are simply seeking to walk out the word of God.
[1] Not everyone means the same thing when they embrace the Seven Mountains concept. Some, like me, simply want to win people to the faith in every area of culture. But others, like Enlow, believe we are to take over every cultural institution to usher in a golden age of righteousness. This is what partly fuels their intense desire to see Trump remain president. They see him as part of that plan.
