Filmmaker Matthew Thayer is on a mission to explore whether modern-day prophets are still delivering important messages.
Thayer’s new film, “Can You Hear Me Now?” tackles this timeless topic, exploring whether the biblical dynamic of prophets delivering God’s Word to humanity is still alive and active today.
The film director said he “absolutely” believes God still speaks through prophets, explaining his perspective that individuals with this ability happened to “just kind of show up in the Bible.”
“There’s nothing that actually says, ‘Oh, this is what a prophet is,’ and so what that means to me is that the ancient Middle East — they were just there,” Thayer said of biblical prophets. “So the people of that era and the people that were originally receiving the words of the Bible originally just understood what a prophet was and a prophet’s function.”
The director believes it’s been proven that people have had dreams and experiences they can’t explain — sequences that tell them what will happen; Thayer said these are often quite accurate. He believes that’s because God has enabled them, through Him, to witness elements of the unseen realm.
When asked why some people in the church world might dismiss modern-day prophecy, Thayer held little back.
“Honestly, I think it’s because the dark spiritual forces that we war against, according to Ephesians 6, knew that communications with God was the first thing that they needed to take out,” he said. “Communications are taken out in warfare first … that’s just a standard warfare practice, and, so, if we are actually in a spiritual war, it would make sense that they would target prophets first.”
Thayer advocated being careful about the sources people gather their prophecy from, as false prophets can open people up to deception. Thus, discernment is key.
“To me, it’s more about who the prophet is pointing to,” he said. “Because that’s what Deuteronomy 13 very clearly stipulates … that there’s going to be false prophets and they’re going to be accurate. But if they’re pointing you away from Yahweh, if they’re pointing you away from God, then they’re a false prophet.”
Thayer understands some of the hesitation people have surrounding prophecy, explaining that his own skepticism came when politics and prophecy collided. He said it felt like some of those making proclamations — especially surrounding President Donald Trump in 2016 — felt like they didn’t quite land. But, over time, the volume of so-called “words” surrounding Trump shocked him.
“The amount of words that were coming out just kind of made me go, like, ‘I think God’s actually trying to do something,'” he said. “He’s trying to alert people to what’s going on and so that’s kind of one of the things that I was exploring with the documentary.”
Thayer recalled being in an auditorium in 2007, when faith leader Kim Clement offered up a prophecy many saw as predicting Trump’s presidency.
“We’re all standing there going like, ‘What? Like the apprentice guy? What?'” Thayer recalled, noting how Clement said Trump would be a trumpet. “Well, what does a trumpet do? A trumpet calls to attention, a trumpet calls people to action, and that’s actually really kind of very close to what [Trump’s] doing — like he’s pointing at things that we didn’t even know existed, and darkness, and corruption that was happening within our government.”
Find out more about “Can You Hear Me Now?”
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