Epidemic Of Prophetic Sensationalism!
With so much hype surrounding the upcoming solar eclipse, I thought it was important to address this issue of "sensationalizing" prophecy, in that it has become a serious problem in the church.
Let’s get right to it, the Word of God says in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 the following:
“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.”
Let me go one step further. In essence, the Lord is saying that we should not pay attention to them. Pay attention to whom? To those who make predictions, make forecasts, set soft dates, set "high watch times," or even go so far as to sensationalize something that shouldn't be sensationalized into something sensational! How's that for a dizzying sentence? But seriously, the Lord said: All it takes for a so-called "prophet" to become a false prophet is one bad prediction or prophecy. That's all it takes. It MUST be 100% accurate for it to be from God.
But what we have in the church today, and especially (recently) in Bible prophecy circles, are pastors, teachers, YouTubers, writers, and so on, who claim prophetic significance to events that have ZERO prophetic significance or meaning. They write articles that are nothing more than a hodgepodge of jargon to tickle people's ears and tantalize their spiritual senses. They take much of God's Word out of context. They try to explain their "word smoothie" with complicated and confusing charts just to prove a point. We are to avoid this kind of behavior at ALL costs. Do not fall into the trap of prophetic sensationalism. It is gripping the church and taking it by storm.
Tuesday, April 9th will come and these "charlatans", these "prophets" of judgment, rapture and the 70th week of Daniel will just reposition themselves, go back to the drawing board and start looking at the next "date" when all hell will break loose on earth or what they call "high watch time" in Bible prophecy. Listen folks: Don't fall for it. Stay vigilant. Stay on the alert as we are told to do in 1 Peter 5:8:
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (NLT)
And yes, the enemy even works in the form of veiled false prophecies, giving people false hope over and over again, only to fill the people with more and more anxiety, fear, and disillusionment as these dates come and go.
Listen: The only ONE we should put our hope in is none other than Jesus Christ Himself! Period! Look to Him. Get into His Word and trust me when I tell you: You will not be disappointed. Our nation is already under judgment. We don't need an eclipse to tell us that. Because we are living on borrowed time, what we need is for God's mercy to intervene and for us to go out and share Jesus. May the Lord bless you abundantly. May he watch over you and keep you!
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Very well said! The false prophets abound on YouTube and in the church, sadly. Thank you for encouraging everyone to read The Bible - that’s where the real prophecy and answers are.
Hey brother! Great show with Britt. Really blessed. A quick word about Y2K. I recently have been thinking about that past event because it parallels all the "solar eclipse hype" in many ways. I was nearly 30 years old when the Y2K hype started to gain traction as we approached the year 2000. Many of those who were warning about Y2K; writing books which sounded very convincing; went on speaking tours and were pre-mil, pre-trib proponents were making strong cases that this was something we needed to prepare for. Well, we know how that turned out. So, what is my point? It is simply this: that even rock solid, grounded, bible reading Christians can get ensnared in this type of hype and sensationalism. As an example [with no judgment and only love and utmost respect] was the late, great and humble man, Chuck Missler. Yes, Chuck Missler. He wrote about the Y2K issue. He authored a work titled “The Millennium Bomb - Y2K,” which includes two audio cassettes and a booklet, published on January 1, 1997. Additionally, he co-authored a book with John Ankerberg that investigated the potential crises that could be caused by the Y2K bug. Missler’s work on Y2K focused on the importance of prep. Even the best of us can fall prey. This broadcast and your admonishment to stay in prayer and in the Word is our only defense against the allurement to stray into speculation; no matter how convincing it may seem. [BTW, this is "SJ". I have this new You Tube handle]. Love you guys!