WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

George Offerman

Now that we know the BP oil spill did not usher in the end of the world, and we now know that it also did not qualify as the second trumpet (big surprise there), where are all the ‘prophets and seers’ that so confidently alluded to this event being ‘prophetic’ in nature? (None of them PREDICTED this event) it is this disingenuousness (and in some cases outright fraud) that is harming the name of Christianity and God, and to speak as a prophet when one is not is one of the gravest sins one can commit. There are a boat load of people out there that have to make it right with God and with their fellow man, with whom they may have lead astray. I stated earlier I was not going to let them get away with this, but I will not use names (at least at this time). This does nothing but harm our faith, and leads many astray.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I have not, nor do I now, claim to be a prophet. I have never had visions, locutions, dreams, heard voices telling me things or even allusions to the manifestations of any spirit being that has told me anything about the future. I am a former Seminarian who was trained in the proper method of hermeneutics and have been a diligent student of the Bible for some decades. What I know is what ANYONE can know, but they must be diligent and persevere in their studies to learn and apply these methods. Unfortunately, for many of these ‘sensationalist prognosticators’, they are intellectually lazy and let pride get in the way of seeking the truth. Then when they are proven wrong, they make up any excuse, and often attack those pointing out their errors. Yes, the sign of GREAT INTEGRITY.

These prognosticators have resubmerged, and will reappear at the next media reported event. They will use ‘fractured scriptures’ to make some peripheral allusion and attempt to fit current events into the Biblical schematic of the end times. These events will not meet the criteria necessary to qualify, yet they don’t have enough intellectual integrity to see they are using relativistic thought processes and applying them to absolute truth. They think they have the intellectual firepower and ‘God given’ knowledge to ‘over ride’ some of the prophetic features, and leave out those pieces of prophecy that do not fit into the event, all at their discretion. They are very keen at self promotion, and very quick to judge and condemn those who ‘dare’ to question them. They do not want to be held accountable for their ‘misses’ and continue to claim “God is talking’ to them despite the errors.

As stated previously, prophecy is in the Bible, and is a written record of the future before it happens. This written record is not ‘partially true’ or ‘mostly true’, it is TOTALLY true. God doesn’t reveal in some sort of code, and leave it up to us to determine what is gong to happen. In terms of Revelation, there are 14 very distinct events, and they are numbered by trumpets and bowls. Since God knows how to count, it is not He who is confused about the times we live in, it is us. These 14 events are cosmic in nature, and thus, cannot be man made. (Yes, there are plenty of man made events, but the events of Revelation are not such events). This is so basic, that a chimpanzee taught to read would come to this conclusion. Yet there are those who want to distort very clear prophecies into something they are not, and then brag about how much they think they know.

Yes, there has been a great increase in spiritual manifestations and many have claimed to receiving messages from this realm. However, these messages cannot contradict Biblical principles and prophecies, and be God given. Much discernment must be done in matters of eschatological significance, and this cannot be taken lightly. This is where discipline has broken down, and there are those who make outrageous claims without contemplating the ramifications of their actions. One has to rely on Biblical principles to be the defining judge of most of the messages forwarded now a days. But this requires some solid education on how to read the Bible, and then apply it successfully, even if it means disqualifying the event as non prophetic.

I keep going back to gravity as an example, but gravity is a clear metaphor in making this point. Everyone understands gravity, so if someone made a point to step off a tall building, everyone would be aware of the outcome, the person hitting the ground at a high rate of speed. This is not prophecy, but principle. Prophecy would be predicting who would jump, when they would do it, where this would take place, and the outcome of the event (death or surviving). Applying Biblical principles is very distinct from prophesying and one ought to stay in this realm if one is clear they are not a prophet (which the vast majority is not). This leads to anti sensationalism, but also leads to clearer and predictable outcomes, which is what God wants for us anyway.

So for those who insist they ‘know better’: you would be way better off keeping your mouth shut, and spend more time listening, praying, reading and learning than starting trouble you are not up to dealing with. And at least have the integrity to go to those whom you fed this tainted information, and ask for their forgiveness, and learn from your behavior. Life is difficult enough and people don’t need to be unnecessarily burdened by drivel that has no chance in hell of ever being accurate and happening. It will only lead to disenchantment and distain for Biblical knowledge, something that God definitely does not want to happen.