In the 2^nd Century there arose a cult called Montanism.  It was started by a “Prophet” called Montanus.  Early church historians tell us that Montanus, prior to becoming a Christian, was a Temple Priest of the Mother Goddess of Fertility who was called Cybele.   In the worship of Cybele, the followers would dance wildly to the point of convulsing.  Also, there would be very loud music and the followers would often fall into a “trance” like state. 

Even more bizarre, was that during the course of the wild, ecstatic type worship,  some of the male followers would publicly and ritualistically castrate themselves.  Then, subsequent to their castration, these same men would take on “female” identities and begin wearing women’s clothing.  So, it was out of this spiritual environment that Montanus evolved.

Upon becoming a Christian, Montanus began to prophesy.  When prophesying, it is recorded that Montanus would fall into a trance like state while speaking forth his prophecies.  This was called ecstatic prophecy by the early church historians.  Also, there was loud music and ecstatic type worship associated with these meetings. 

A very interesting part of the history of this movement involved two women named Prisca (or Priscilla) and Maximilla.  These two women are said to have left their husbands in order to “go and prophesy with Montanus”.  Later, it is recorded that Prisca claimed that Jesus would come to her at night and sleep by her side, but He would be in the form of a woman.  And, we thought there were problems with the book “The Shack”!

Theologically, Montanists claimed to have a “fuller revelation” than that which was already given in scripture.  Montanists also believed that their prophecies superseded the doctrines of the Apostles. 

Eusebius, a historian of the early church, is said to have written when describing Montanus, that Montanus would “fall into a frenzy and convulsions” while supposedly prophesying.  This led some to believe that Montanus was actually possessed by a demonic spirit. 

When looking at the brief history of Montanism as described above, it sounds all too familiar doesn’t it?  I mean, if you consider the recent developments in the Body of Christ over the last couple of years, it seems that upon reading the history of  Montanism, you could be reading a description of our modern day followers of the “New Ecstatic Worship” and the “New Ecstatic Prophesy”.   

When watching the many You Tube clips of our modern ecstatic prophets and the modern ecstatic worship, one cannot help but draw the close comparison to what one reads about when researching Montanism.  I believe, seeing how it is so very close in comparison, that we are witnessing a revival of the ancient spirit of Montanism within the Body of Christ today.  And, this is very serious for the church. 

Some credit ancient Montanism with creating a strong backlash within the 2^nd Century church against the operation of the gifts of the spirit.  In some churches the operation of the gifts all but disappeared.  Such a reaction is the last thing the church needs today. 

I find the vulgarity exhibited by some of our modern day ecstatic prophets to be particularly damaging to the church.  Especially, this new thing going on where certain Pastors are comparing the anointing of the Holy Spirit to getting high on street drugs as these same Pastors “act out” as if they are smoking marijuana and injecting heroin as they are supposedly getting “high” on the Holy Spirit.  They are coining it “Tokin On the Ghost”.  If you don’t believe this, then simply go to You Tube and type in “ecstatic prophesy”.  See for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDOQyikIUdA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itAUIaMM5zQ .

All of this is simply an abomination.  The Bible says that God stands in battle array against the proud.  I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that people should have a reverent fear of God while He is sitting on His throne in Heaven above, let alone if He becomes angry and decides to take an offensive and militaristic posture against someone.  I believe these ecstatic folks are testing God and they are getting ready to see “fire and smoke” for sure, but it is not going to be coming from a “drug pipe”.  Wait and see.  God will not be mocked.

Another significant issue we see concerning the ecstatics is that there seems to be an emasculation of males in this movement.  The men are not men.  They act like immature boys.  They are grossly underdeveloped spiritually and they are effeminate.  This leads me to believe that, in fact, the ancient Jezebellic spirits are at work today.  You see, Jezebel and her false prophets hated the true prophets of God.  And, we see in the Bible, that Jezebel sought to do what?  Jezebel sought to kill the true prophets of God. 

The same demonic spirits are at work today.  They cause the modern day ecstatics to work themselves up into trances and frenzies just like the false prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel.   And, just as some of the male followers of Cybele would publicly and ritualistically castrate themselves back then, I believe today we are seeing these same demonic influences as they attempt to “spiritually castrate” the male leadership of the present day church.

There is no escaping this comparison.  What we are witnessing today is so close to what we read about in church history.  I want to warn the Pastors of churches today.  You ignore all of this to your peril and the peril of your church.  Do not underestimate to size and scope of this movement.  It is large, and it is organized.  There are several different organizations throughout the country that are involved in this, with each group having its own area or facet of emphasis, but ultimately, they are being motivated by, and influenced by the same demonic influence. 

Again Pastors, you cannot simply look the other way and ignore this.  I urge you to educate yourself to what is transpiring within the Body of Christ.  Do this so you can be prepared to give a defense of the true gospel when the time comes.  May the Lord empower His true servants and prepare them for the days ahead.  Amen.

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We all remember the stories about King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. We know that King Ahab was considered by some to be to be one of the worst and most evil kings to have ever ruled. We know that his wife Jezebel had set up a very large group of false prophets who were operating a false prophetic system. They were highly organized and essentially had control over the spiritual atmosphere of the day.

Let’s revisit the story of the time when King Ahab met with King Jehoshaphat and discussed the idea of going to war together to defeat a common enemy – I Kings 22. Remember in this story how King Jehoshaphat, after hearing all of the false prophets giving their false prophecies, turned to King Ahab and asked “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him?”.

And, remember King Ahab’s response which was “There is still one man Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil”.

Let’s look at King Ahab’s response very closely. Note what is implicit in his words. King Ahab says that “he does not prophesy good concerning me”. What this clearly indicates is that Micaiah had prophesied to King Ahab before. It is obvious that a relationship had developed between King Ahab and the prophet Micaiah, albeit a troublesome one. What this means is that Micaiah had given prophecies to King Ahab in times past and they were not favorable to King Ahab. And, we can reasonably conclude that because Micaiah was a true prophet of the Lord, that the prophecies of Micaiah had come to pass. In other words, King Ahab knew that Micaiah was a true prophet and that his words were the words of the Lord. This is very significant.

So, we see that King Ahab recognized that Micaiah was a true prophet. Some may, at this point in the analysis, come to the mistaken conclusion that because King Ahab was evil, that he somehow couldn’t recognize the truth or that he was unable to discern true prophecy. Not so. King Ahab was a king. King Ahab lived during a very spiritually charged time. He knew the things of the spiritual realm. The point I am making is that King Ahab did NOT make the decisions he made that day because he was spiritually unaware. No, but rather, King Ahab chose between good and evil, and he chose evil.

To make an accurate and comprehensive analysis of King Ahab’s decision, one needs to step back and look at the context of his decision. There was a false prophetic system which had been organized and set up by his wife Jezebel. And, this false prophetic system had a very large group of false prophets operating within its ranks. And, they were espousing a river of false prophecies. But, King Jehoshaphat, also being a spiritual person, had discernment to know that what he was hearing from the false prophets was inaccurate and bad information. So, King Jehoshaphat pursues the truth.

So, the question is, why would King Ahab, knowing that the false prophets would give false prophecies, be reluctant to call upon the true prophet from whom he knew he would hear the true world of the Lord? I will tell you why. The false prophetic system that his wife had set up didn’t simply happen overnight. It was very large and very influential. It had slowly gained control in the kingdom of Ahab over the years, to the point that it had become quite large and had infiltrated the entire society. Now, in the analysis of all this, one has to see that with such a large contingent of false prophets involved, there would also be a lot of money involved. Also, the false prophets had devoted their very lives and careers to this false prophetic system. So, understanding this, one can see why the false prophets would want the King to go along with their false prophecies. Also, the King himself would probably be somewhat hesitant to go against such a formidable and well established religious system. After all, he didn’t want a bunch of false prophets angry with him.
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There is a story in I Kings chapter 22 about two Kings of old who had a discussion between themselves concerning the prospect of going to war against an enemy. There was Ahab, the King of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah. They consulted between themselves about combining forces to fight the Syrians. In the process of this meeting the prophets of Israel were summoned to give a word from the Lord about whether or not they should go into battle.

The story tells us that there were around 400 prophets gathered together. They all said “go up and fight” and they assured the Kings of victory should they pursue this campaign. Then, King Jehoshaphat makes a very striking statement and says “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him?”

Upon reading this, one might think “but wait a minute Jehoshaphat, there are 400 prophets here and they are all saying the same thing. And, now you are suggesting that all 400 of them might not be giving a true prophecy”. That is exactly what King Jehoshaphat was saying. In street vernacular, Jehoshaphat was saying “I don’t believe a word of any of these prophets. Go find me someone that I can trust is truly speaking a word from God.”

Then, in a theatrical way, one of the false prophets whose name was Zedekiah made a set of iron horns for himself. It is indicated that he “put them on” and began to act as a goring bull, full of force and rage, and in the process of acting this out, he states “With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed”.

But, King Jehoshaphat still wasn’t impressed. Finally, and reluctantly, King Ahab brings forth the prophet named Micaiah. In short order, Micaiah speaks the true word of the Lord and tells of a meeting in Heaven before the throne of God. At this meeting, God is looking for someone to deceive King Ahab in order to execute judgment against him. Lo and behold, the Lord God recruits a demonic spirit to deceive King Ahab. This demonic spirit is commissioned by God to go forth and be a “lying spirit” in the mouths of all the prophets of King Ahab. Notice the word all. All means all, not part of. So, if you are a student of the Bible, you know how this story plays out. Bad things happen to King Ahab. I encourage you to read this for yourself. It is a very, very good lesson in understanding how the spiritual realm operates.

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