The high priest in the Old Testament had bells and artificial pomegranates on the hem of his garment. These were sown interchangeably so that when he walked, the bells would strike the pomegranates and sound off. In this way, you could always tell where the high priest was when he was moving about. We see this in Exodus 28:33-35:

     And you shall make on its hem (the high priest’s garments) pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around:


     a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe.

     And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its tinkling may be heard when he enters and leaves the holy place before the LORD…

     We are told in Matthew 11:13, “the law prophesied…” even every “jot and tittle,” or every detail. Because bells represented a proclamation, or a message going forth, and pomegranates were used for medicine in those times, that the high priest would have these on the hem of his garment represented how whenever Jesus, the true High Priest moved, the message of healing would go forth. This also speaks of how closely the healing and prophetic ministries would be tied by Jesus. This is also why the woman with the issue of blood knew that if she just touched the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed—she recognized that Jesus was the true High Priest.

     It is still true today that whenever our High Priest moves, the message of healing will go forth. This is because He cares so much for people that He does not want them sick or afflicted but wants them made whole. Our redemption through His cross not only purchased for us the forgiveness of sin but the deliverance from the consequences of sin.

     We may look at the Old Testament prophets and see that they were rarely involved in healing. This is true, but the New Testament is all about healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This is why New Testament prophets are so connected to the healing ministry.

     We also see through the life of Jesus that compassion was a foundation of His authority. It was when He felt compassion for the people, who were like sheep without a shepherd, that He became their Shepherd. It was when He felt compassion for the people who walked in darkness that He became their Teacher. Love and compassion is the foundation for spiritual authority in the New Testament. It was love and compassion for mankind that compelled the Father to send His only begotten Son for our salvation, and this continues to be the foundation for all true spiritual authority.

     How does this relate to the basic level of prophetic revelation—impressions? This is hard for many to understand, but the Lord wants some prophetic revelation to be subjective. I did not say “all,” but “some.” This does not mean that He wants us to distort it, but He wants us to feel what He is feeling, not just know what to do. The Lord does not want His prophets to be disconnected from the message but to be of one mind and one heart with Him.

     Again, one thing that He proved when He walked the earth was His heart for healing people and setting the oppressed free. He healed those who would not even thank Him because He loved them. This is His heart, and He wants His messengers to feel it, too.

     We have a good example in Jeremiah of how the prophets of God in the Old Testament were compelled to love those whom they were messengers to. Jeremiah had to deliver the message of the impending judgment that was to come upon Israel, and yet we see throughout the Book of Jeremiah and in his Book of Lamentations how much he loved those who were the recipient of this message of judgment. This is likely a primary reason why the Lord chose Jeremiah as His messenger. God loved Israel even more than Jeremiah. God loves mercy and always would much rather show mercy than judgment. We can be sure that when judgment comes it is because He loves us, and there is simply no other way to deal with the corruption or apostasy.

     It is a tragic misconception that prophets are always angry and that this anger reflects how God feels. We do have exceptions and examples of prophets who obviously did not love the people they were sent to, Jonah being a good example of this. Only one messenger has ever been a perfect messenger—Jesus. However, to the degree that we are able, the Lord wants us to share His heart in the matters He wants us to address.