What Is A Savant?

sa-vant' (n.): 1. a mentally defective person who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field; 2. a person who is highly knowledgeable about one subject but knows little about anything else.

"...the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad..." (Hosea 9:7).

"What then is genius? Could it be that a genius is a man haunted by the speaking Voice [of God], laboring and striving like one possessed to achieve ends which he only vaguely understands?"
A. W. Tozer

(*The use of the male pronoun in this writing is for convenience only. We mean no partiality to our brothers, and no disrespect to our sisters.)

Heavenly “Autism”

The prophetic savant is a person afflicted with a heavenly autism, making him nearly incapable of normal relations with those around him. Accused of being aloof, cold, and distant, he is apt to hide himself from people, withdrawing into a world of his own. He never seems to be all "there". Even if he forces himself to come down to Earth for a moment, those around him may have the sense that there is an unspoken dialogue going on somewhere inside of him, a secret communion carried on beneath the surface that never allows him to be fully "in the moment".

Explanation Of The Heavenly “Autistic” Behavior

How do we explain this? As a prophetic savant he sees, hears, and relates to the world differently than the rest of the population. They have not seen what he has seen; they have not heard what he has heard. And so he finds very little camaraderie, very little sympathy or understanding, no one with whom he can open his heart and share his soul, because he no longer speaks the same language, and they no longer speak his. Of course, he may have surface-level exchanges with anyone: he is approachable, not haughty, or high-minded. He may even be personable and likeable. Yet there is something so other-worldly in his demeanor that he is more often frightening than friendly, in spite of his best efforts. He is a spiritual autistic, and no matter how hard you try to know him, he is generally unknowable, and to a certain degree, he resists all attempts to know him.

The Prophet And The Supernatural Realm

If a prophet is anything, he is extra-terrestrial - above the Earth. He walks the Earth with others, but he is not of the Earth. He is from beyond; he is from above. If we trace his history we will find that he may or may not have had a normal childhood. He may or may not have come through extraordinary experiences. But at some point in his life, either as a child, or as a young adult, or as an old man, something from another realm broke through the thin membrane between Heaven and Earth and took hold of him. It may have been a burning bush, or a Voice crying out to him from beyond the veil, or a Heavenly Vision which brought him briefly into contact with something and Someone that he could not completely fathom.

However it happened, for one moment at least, the clouds parted and the veil was rent, and he saw something that is unseeable; he heard something that is unhearable; Heaven itself was opened up to him, and he saw into another world. The thing he saw and heard now burdens him like a mantle that has been draped over his shoulders. He feels its weight, for it is with him day and night, whether he is eating or drinking, working or resting. It is the impression that everything around him is a lie, and what he has seen and heard is the Truth, and this Truth is not static, but it is living, growing, and increasing within him from the day it comes to him in the form of a seed.

The Finding Of The Right Words

For a long time he struggles to find words and vocabulary to express the inexpressible. He cannot explain why he feels the need to try and express it, but for some inexplicable reason something drives him to open his mouth, or take up his pen, and make it known. Whatever it is, it will not permit him to savor it or keep it to himself, and it seems intent on coming to the surface and interrupting the normal course of his life. This process can be frustrating and painful, so much so that he may give up several times, content to simply walk in what he has seen and heard and leave it at that.
But try as he might, he cannot run away from what he has seen and heard, and he cannot deny the compulsion to bring it forth. On the one hand he cries out for a "normal" life, while on the other hand he knows he cannot deny what has been revealed to him.
When he does achieve some modest success in articulating something of Heaven he is pleased for a time, but soon grows impatient with it, and eventually is dissatisfied with it altogether, because it cannot do justice to what he has seen and heard. And so the process begins again, the continual search for words to more perfectly express what he is trying to communicate (and a subtle fear in the back of his mind that he may never be able to adequately express it), which leads him to invent words which may have never before existed, or to look for Spirit-inspired words in some unknown tongue that can be translated into something others can understand.

The Burden Of The Lord

The prophets of old correctly called it the "burden of the Lord", for it is like a woman who must live the rest of her life being in perpetual labor, delivering the same child over and over again. What relief there is only comes in discharging the burden, but that is not to say it ever really leaves: it merely allows the prophet time to catch his breath until the next contraction doubles him over again. The burden is with him the rest of his life, and he never fully discharges it.

The Unquenchable Fire Of God

Even when he tries to be disobedient to the Heavenly Vision and flees from the presence of the Lord he is pursued and hunted down like some kind of a wild animal who has gotten loose, knowing it is only a matter of time before he is captured again. The Voice never leaves him, the Vision never lets him go. When he refuses to speak then the fire which is already kindled only burns hotter, until he ends up doing what he has resisted doing all along, just to relieve himself of the unbearable tension and inward pressure. He cannot extinguish or quench the fire no matter what he does, he can only be obedient and find temporary relief, until the next word comes, and then off he goes. He may beg God to send someone else, and may protest his inability to speak, or to write. But he is already ruined for anything else, and even when he denies the Lord Who called him and returns to his former occupation, it is all dull and lifeless, and he meets with nothing but frustration and failure. There is no way to escape it. He knows he is called to something Higher, even when he is clinging with everything he has to something Lower.

The Strong Will Of The Prophet

Like a wild horse, he resists the dealings of the Lord and must be broken before he will obey. Eventually he learns not to resist the Lord, but to cooperate with Him. He becomes pliable and bendable in order to survive. His very life now is bound up with what he has seen and heard. He cannot be disobedient to the Heavenly Vision, and if it means he dies, then he dies. If it means a renunciation of everything he once believed, then he renounces it - reluctantly at first, then cheerfully. If it means suffering the loss of all things, then he lets them go.

The Prophet Becomes The Message!

Over time the one who has seen and heard becomes the very essence of what he has seen and heard. The Man becomes the Message. He bears the Testimony in himself, and becomes one with it. He needs no preparation to speak; indeed, preparation does nothing to help the message he brings, and it often gets in the way. His whole life is the preparation, and since he is the Message, it is with him constantly. He can no more separate himself from the Message than he can separate his head from his body. If there is an "On/Off" switch then it was long ago turned on and then disabled so that it can never be turned off again. After many seasons of God's dealings he finally perceives that this is what the Lord has sought for all along, not just to GIVE him a Message, but to MAKE him a Message; to gain for Himself a Messenger and capture him completely, embossing the Message into his very being.

The Prophet And The Voice Of God

And so he goes about his daily business, constantly haunted by that Voice, torn between the menial task at hand which calls for his physical and mental exertion, and the Higher Calling which seeks his undivided attention. He knows he should do all things, great and small, as "unto the Lord". But he also knows that Heaven and Earth are locked in mortal combat over him while he stands there in the middle, torn between the two, desiring to depart the Earth altogether and be with Christ, but knowing that it is more profitable for his brethren if he remains. Heaven calls him to rise up, but Earth tells him to keep his feet firmly planted. His heart is constantly breaking and longing to go, to ascend, to rise up, to stop seeing through a dark glass, and see face to face, without the distraction of the natural, the fleshly, the temporal, because he knows the Earth is not his home. Yet he struggles with the fact that Earth is where he must live and work.
This accounts for why he may sometimes seem difficult to be around.

The Understanding And Ability Of A Prophet

As a savant he possesses insight and skill which others do not possess. But it is a gift, not anything of himself, nothing of which he could boast of.
If you were to ask him if he considers this to be a blessing, he would probably say it is more like a curse, because it sets him apart from others even when he tries his best to be hidden and to blend in. He cannot read the Scriptures as others do, for after only a few verses the Heavens are opened up to him again and he is lost in its depths. A single passage may keep him occupied for months as Heaven unfolds it to him, and he cannot tear himself away from it.

The Message Of The Prophet

His preaching is affected, because he cannot decide in advance what he will say, and even when he would like to bring forth something new and exciting, he usually ends up saying the same thing, like, "Repent!" He often does not say what he wants to say, and does not say it in the way he would like to say it. If he wants to be serious, he finds himself laughing. And when he wishes to be friendly, he finds himself screaming at the top of his voice to a startled congregation of people, who wonder how this fellow was ever allowed access to their inner sanctum in the first place. When he leaves a place he almost never sees the result of his labor, and only eternity can reveal the true significance of what was said. For now, it is all hidden, and he has to live with the fact that his fruitfulness will never be measured in terms that human beings, including himself, can see and appreciate.

The Prophet And Religion

He cannot go through the motions of religion like most mortals. It is a dead, shallow thing to him because it cannot compare to the reality of what he has already experienced. He finds it difficult to listen to another person preach when he knows they have not yet ascended to the heights nor plumbed the depths that he has already navigated. And when he tries to lead them into these heights and depths himself he is often misunderstood or rejected altogether. So either he attends the meeting and suffers in silence, or stays home and suffers in solitude; but either way, he suffers.

The Prophetic Sight Of The Prophet

His seeing is affected by a sort of "spiritual dyslexia". While others view things from a one or two dimensional viewpoint, he sees them through several dimensions at once - forward, backward, reverse, upside-down, right-side up: life and death, light and dark, Spirit and flesh, Heavenly and Earthly - which often puts him at odds with his more pragmatic and doctrinally-correct brethren. He is so at one with what he has seen that he speaks of it as having already happened, because he has, in essence, already experienced it and lived it. It is the Prophetic Tense, which calls those things that be not as though they were. In his world, the world of the Spirit, they exist already. We call it "prediction" because we cannot yet see it with our natural eyes, but he simply stands outside of Time and views Past and Future as one unbroken and continuous Present.

The Hearing Of The Prophet

His hearing is affected so that he is increasingly sensitive to his surroundings, even though it seems as if he is not paying attention. He is listening, but he is listening inwardly. He no longer trusts his natural ears, because the Heavenly Voice and the inner witness are more reliable. Thus, he is able to hear God speaking, while the rest of the crowd says, "It thundered!" or "It was an angel!" He is also able to hear when God is not speaking, and does not get carried away with the multitudes who claim to speak, see, and hear things from God when they have not heard or seen anything from Heaven. He cannot bear to listen to them.

The Concentration Of The Prophet

His concentration is affected in such a way as to make him appear obstinate and unyielding to others. The truth is that he is actually quite flexible and pliable before the Lord, but before man he is as solid and impenetrable as a rock. No amount of persuasion or argument from man will move him - but the slightest touch from the Lord will bring him to his knees. Having discovered the One Thing that is needed, he will tenaciously and ruthlessly shun the "many things" which crowd in to seek his attention, for he sees everything else as a distraction. Indeed, he is quite willing to sacrifice the good in favor of the holy. And when the Lord has him focused on a particular thing he is as a beam of light fastened upon a singular point until everything melts before it.
Even his praying is affected, for he can no longer pray as he wills and for what he wants. He seemingly has no will of his own. Instead the Heavenly Voice bids him to pray with a Heavenly perspective, and all too often the Heavenly perspective is at odds with the Earthly perspective.
So when his brothers and sisters pray for blessing and increase, he finds himself praying for destruction and decrease; and when they are resisting and praying against something, he finds himself asking God to perform the very thing the rest of the world is against.

The Abnormal Life Of The Prophet

To the rest of the world, the autistic savant is a bit of a retarded genius, an unfortunate mixture of idiocy and brilliance, caught up in a world of its own. The prophetic savant bears a similar stigma.

But if you engage him at all, you soon discover that he sees all of this as absolutely normal; the way it is supposed to be. He no longer wishes for a normal life, because the life he has now IS normal: he has lost his own life in exchange for a new life. He lives in the Heavenlies while he walks on the Earth. He does not think of himself as special, as anything other than a regular person, but often wonders aloud why others cannot see what he has seen when it is all so self-evident and plain. To him, maybe; but the rest of us are blinded by the Light he exudes without knowing it.

Chip Brogden
www.chipbrogden.com 

Deep in my heart I feel that the Holy Spirit is about to guide us as His people to the deep water of the Heavenly Father, which is like water from a well.

The Readiness to Draw Close to the Well

When we are ready for the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth (see John 16:13-15), we draw near to the well of the LORD, which carries His deep waters for this time.
In this place we will most likely experience resistance from the enemy's camp, who wants to stop us tasting the truth of the Father in order to be able to see and discern correctly in the spirit realm (see Genesis 26:17-22 i.c.w. Psalm 34:9a).

Psalm 34,8a:
8a Taste and see that the Lord is good…

Genesis 26:17-22:
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
20 But the herders of Gerar quarrelled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, but they quarrelled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.
22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarrelled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

The Prevailing Resistance at the Well

When we are led by the Holy Spirit to the deep living waters of the Father as Isaac and his servants were led, we can expect to experience resistance from other people (see Ezekiel 10:5) who want to dispute our experience and words which we received through the LORD, because of envy, malevolence and jealousy (see Genesis 26:18-22).
The reason is a wrong heart attitude which is equal to a thieving mindset, and these people do not understand the way or procedure into intimate fellowship with the Heavenly Father (see Jeremiah 23:30).

Jeremiah 23:30:
30 “Therefore,” declares the LORD “I am against the prophets (note: false prophets) who steal from one another words supposedly from me. ..."

Jesus' Advice to the Gentiles

To taste the deep water of the Heavenly Father, which produces a correct view and mindset, Jesus showed us as gentile believers in Christ a certain approach which we can find in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob (see John 4:6-42).

Jesus Alone at the Well

Jesus first appears alone at the well of Jacob because His disciples had gone shopping; this enabled Him to have a personal encounter with the Samaritan (note: means “belonging to the watchman” = the prophetic people of God) woman. It was a heartfelt matter for Jesus to lead this woman into intimate fellowship with His Heavenly Father (see John 4:6-8).

John 4:6-8:
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The First Vital Step

Jesus instructed the Samaritan woman in the first vital step of how to come close to the Heavenly Father by showing her the importance of being willing to serve Him as the fountain of life first (see John 4:7.10).

John 4:7.10:
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” …
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

The Word of Knowledge

While Jesus explained the result of her serving Him, i.e. to receive living water, He continued the conversation and prophetically ministered the word of knowledge to her by telling her about her five husbands and man number six, who was not her husband (see John 4:10.15-18).

John 4:10.15-18:
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  …
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

The “Seventh Man”

This means the Samaritan woman was someone who longed for true love and acceptance which men could not give her.
Jesus however, now sat at the well as “the seventh man – the true lover of her soul” and proceeded to reveal to her the secret of the true love of the Heavenly Father, which is the love guiding to the true Bridegroom and the true Father (see John 3:16 i.c.w. John 6:44; John 14:6).

John 3:16:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 6:44:
44 “No one can come to me (note: Jesus Christ) unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

John 14:6:
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The Power of True Love and Devotion

True love and devotion result in the presence of real unity, so that we gain access to the deep water of the Heavenly Father, which is connected to His resurrection power, similar to the way Jacob met his first love Rachel (see Genesis 29:1-10 i.c.w. Mark 16:2-5).

Genesis 29:1-10:
1 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. 2 There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large.
3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We’re from Harran,” they replied.
5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” “Yes, we know him,” they answered.
6 Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?” “Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”
7 “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”
8 “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”
9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd.
10 When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.

Mark 16:2-5:
2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

This true love and devotion towards Jesus Christ as our bridegroom accelerates our time and we receive sudden access to the depths of the Heavenly Father so we can see and taste Him in a new way.

The Renewing of the Mind Regarding Worship

Going back to the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, who had already taken the second step in the process of getting closer to the love of the Heavenly father (note: step 1: perception of Jesus as the well of living water; step 2: perception of Jesus as the true lover/bridegroom of her soul), Jesus began to renew her thoughts regarding the practise of worship by telling her, that she wasn't really aware of whom or what she worshipped (see John 4:20-24).

John 4:20-24:
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain (note: Garizim- this was the mountain on which the six tribes of Israel declared the blessing of God for the people of Israel in Moses' time; see Deuteronomy 27:12), but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The Higher Way of Worship

Many of us as part of God's people are familiar with the prophetic being of the LORD and the power of His witness (note: Samaria means “belonging to the watchman”), which is the spirit of prophecy (see Revelation 19:10e).

Revelation 19:10e:
10e For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

Some people worship God because they want to be blessed (note: Mountain of Garizim; see Deuteronomy 11:29 i.c.w. Deuteronomy 27:12),which in itself is not wrong – but true worship is not a tool to obtain blessing for oneself but to bless the Heavenly Father.
To bless the Father means a higher path that involves worship as a way to express our love towards Him.
This is the higher pathway guiding us directly into the heavenly nature of the Father, which is true love (see 1 Corinthians 12:31b).

1 Corinthians 12:31b:
31b And yet I will show you the most excellent (note: higher) way.

Hidden Love and Grace in the Old Testament

As gentile believers in Christ we occasionally react defensive regarding the secrets connected to the people of Israel written in the Old Testament. 
We start arguing dismissively that the Old Testament was the time of the law, and we are not aware that the Heavenly Father already revealed His grace and love, which is Jesus, in it in a hidden way.
In the past many mistakes have been made regarding this issue so that the gentile believers in Christ felt obliged to keep biblical times and feasts in their own strength; but God never meant it to be this way (note: God has given us freedom and grace to celebrate His set times; see 2 Corinthians 3:17).
By the statement of the Samaritan woman at the well we can see that she also felt obliged to worship like the Jewish people, as she told Jesus she had to worship in Jerusalem (see John 4:20).

John 4:20:
20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

In answer to her “have-to-statement” Jesus however replied with a higher way of worship, which wasn't tied to a specific place, when you move as bride in the love relationship with Him in the Heavenly Father and His love (see John 4:23-24).

John 4:23-24:
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Being in Jerusalem

From God's point of view, to be in Jerusalem means to be the bride of His son Jesus, so He can shine in us and we can move as lovers of God (note: priests) in the Heavenly Father (see Revelation  21:22-23).

Revelation 21:2.9b-10.22-23:
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  …
… 9b “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

From this heavenly relationship in Him we are able to suddenly experience the power of the eternal plans, because the temporary light bows in reverence before the light of eternity.
The time of eternity is the time frame, which bears acceleration (see Revelation 21:23).

Our Heart Determines the Way We Worship

The statement of Jesus who spoke about the time that was to come and is here already, namely where the Father will be worshipped, is valid until today (see John 4:23).
 
John 4:23:
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.

How we view true worship and what it really means is ultimately depending on our hearts.
If we only go up to the mountain to obtain a blessing, we belong to the category of people who wait for the worship of the Father to start, although having the possibility in our time to actively enter into worshipping the Father.

The Renewed Mind

The Samaritan woman answered the call of Jesus to renew her mind; therefore she discovered the secret of true worship and became voice for the bride who led the people to the bridegroom so that they in turn were able to grab hold of the Father's love (see John 4:28-30.39.40-41 i.c.w. Revelation 22:17; Revelation 21:5-7).

John 4:28-30.39.41-42:
28  Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.  …
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”  …
41 And because of his  (note: Jesus') words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”

Revelation 22:17:
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 21:5-7:
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Amen and Amen.

In His Wisdom,

Daniel Glimm

Übersetzung: Margit Kelly