prophetic Scriptures, and fulfilled Isaiah 53 without realising it! The words of the Lord to Jacob in Gen. 28:10-22 said nothing about Laban or Leah, neither did Joseph envisage an Egyptian prison after his dreams! It must have seemed as if the predictions were false! God often speaks to try us! (Ps. 105:19).

Again when the prophecy is given in the Assembly it is possible to apply to oneself words which are for someone else. If the prophecy is simply a statement of general truth all may apply it to themselves if they are helped by it. But if it seems to go further than this, and to be speaking to some individual in some detailed way, then the judging of it will make this clear, and the others will not apply it to themselves. Great care should be taken not to get into the habit of applying all prophecy to oneself without even judging it. We are not meant to govern our lives by words uttered to the whole Assembly, unless there is overwhelming evidence that the Lord is speaking to us alone, and in that case there will be confirmation in other ways.

(C) The time factor may also easily mislead us, if we jump to conclusions. Where prophecy is received under a great anointing it is so vivid that one expects its fulfilment immediately. The Old Testament prophets were perplexed by this, (1 Pet. 1:10-12), and needed a further revelation to make matters plain (cf. Dan. 12:4-9). My own experience is that The Lord gives warning or promise, not days, but years before the actual fulfilment, and as the years pass by it is very possible to forget His words or doubt them. So I was warned through the mouths of two Missionary Students in 1932 that I was to go through a period of the thickest, blackest