When the published offered me the chance to review this book, I jumped at the opportunity.
I had read a number of Pastor Hagee’s books regarding end times prophecy, and was expecting this book to be another in that vein. I was surprised to find that the book was actually a teaching book describing the blessings available to God’s people if they would be proclaim them over one another.
The book is generally well-written and easy to read. Hagee provides abundant explanations that will prompt the reader to revisit verses that they may have known all their lives, but will now see in a different light. One of the ways that this is done is to explain the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words using in the original texts.
The first section of the book defines the Prophetic and the Priestly blessings. Even after finishing the book, I’m still left wondering at the exact definition of the two blessings. This is a major drawback of the book, but doesn’t distract from its value in enhancing your spiritual life. To that end, here’s the distinction provided:
While the Priestly Blessing is God’s direct proclamation over man as stated in Numbers 6, the Prophetic Blessing is the spoke declaration by God’s spiritual authority concerning the life of an individual.
I suppose the difference is that the Priestly Blessing is spoken by God over man, whereas the Prophetic Blessing is spoken by a human “spiritual authority” over another human.
The second section of the book describes several Prophetic Blessings and their fulfillment within the history of the Bible.
My favorite chapter was in this section, “The Eight Prophetic Blessings of Jesus”, otherwise known as the Sermon on the Mount. I came away from this chapter with a whole new concept of this powerful sermon. Whereas I was previously under the impression that the blessings Jesus proclaimed were mainly for the poor and downtrodden, Pastor Hagee opened my eyes to the fact that the blessings apply to all who follow Christ in the proper spirit.
The third and final section describes how you can apply the Prophetic Blessings to your life. Specific instructions are given on how to use the spoken word and touch to release the blessings on others and there’s a chapter on how to receive blessings from others. Finally, the book concludes with a chapter chock full of specific proclamations that can be used for specific people (such as your wife or your children) or in specific situations (such as during times of trials).
Although the first two sections were seemingly long and took me a while to get through, it is well worth making it to the third section. Here the first two sections come together in a beautiful conclusion that gives you the “hands on” and “how to” necessary to bring the Prophetic Blessings to life for yourself.
This is a book I will return to frequently for a “refresher course” on how to move forward in my spiritual life. I highly recommend it to all believers looking to break through to a new level of blessing in their lives.
(Picture source: http://worthypublishing.com/img/book/large/BookLG-prophetic-blessing.png)