BYE BYE, BABYLON

George Offerman

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me ”Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the vine of whose fornication to dwellers on earth have become drunk,  And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earths’ s abomination.  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”.   Rev. 17:1-6

“And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot: they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled.  And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth”.  Rev 17:15-18.

(For the sake of brevity, I skipped verses 7-14, but they give a clear interpretation of this beast, and leave no doubt about whom it is and what the makeup of this vision entails).

The above verses clarify for John, the distinctions between the two beasts that appear in the visions.  The beast quoted above is very distinct from the beast in chapter 13, in that it is a unified beast that is scarlet in color and none of the heads have a mortal wound.  The seven headed ten horned beast rising from the water is the man made Babylon, lead by the devil, which is represented as the seven headed ten horned beast that ultimately kills the whore who has been riding on its back up until now.  If one notices, the whore is dressed in purple, which in scripture is the representation of religion and religious authority, and the scarlet color is representative of power, as well as the blood of the saints and martyrs.

This whore is responsible for the man made chaos up until this point, and was given its authority by the beast it is now riding.  The beast hates the whore, and the force behind the first Babylon, with its seven heads, represented by seven religious systems and ten horns, represented by civil powers and authority, were the ‘glove’ that fit over the real beast which was the ‘invisible hand’ behind the power.  However, now that the beast has total control over the world, there is no longer a need for the seven religious systems, and the hour of judgment for them has now come.

By now, the majority of those who have God’s seal and most likely all of the 144,000 have been martyred, and for the first time since the beginning of the trumpets, Satan has full control over the earthly kingdoms.  Since the majority of Christians that believe the devil is real, also know the devil has no tolerance for ANYONE getting ANYTHING that he believes is his.  So, as the religious leaders, who up to this time believed this false Christ was on their side, will now find out to their utter despair that they are to be eliminated immediately.  Since Satan now presents himself as king of kings and lord of lords (representing both religious and political systems) he will not tolerate any competition or split loyalties among his followers.  It is only now that these leaders, on the brink of their own destruction, realize they were deceived, and despair overcomes them.

The imagery used in scripture pertaining to the end of this human Babylon is ominous, but in some senses, well earned.  It is also clear that God has put it in their ‘hearts’ to obliterate these people who instigated so much human suffering, and deceived multitudes into eventually taking the mark of the beast.  Now they will be subject to the same humiliating end that they subjected the 144,000 and those sealed by the living God.  The difference in this is there will be NO ONE to come to their aid or assistance; hence their end will be ‘naked and desolate’.  Those that slay these ‘religious leaders’ will do it with great zeal and without mercy.  Those who benefitted from this false group will mourn and weep over lost opportunities.

At this point in the story it would appear that all of mankind has chosen their fate and it is near time for the seventh trumpet that will ultimately ‘seal the deal’.  However, Babylon will continue on in form, but now lead by the 8^th king, the Anti Christ who will seat himself on the throne with great pomp and circumstance and there will be absolutely no human power that will stop him.  The Anti Christ will install his 10 king puppets and they will have their one hour of time ruling what is left of the once great Babylon.  It will be a great time of dread for all alive and great fear will rule the hearts of men on that day. 

HERMENEUTICS 101: WHAT IS HERMENEUTICS?

George Offerman

***  I am starting with this posting, as it is a good review of the hermeneutical process, as well as giving a live example of ‘debunking’ an interpretation of the then burning oil well. ***

Using proper hermeneutics when reading the Bible is as necessary as following a recipe of your favorite dish.  Change one ingredient, and you have a whole different food and experience.  Proper hermeneutics is a relatively straight forward process, and this process has been passed down for millennia and has been used for all of that time.  This is a large undertaking, so let’s get started.

The Bible has 73 books (Catholic version) approximately 40 authors and was written over a time span of about 1600 years.  The vast majority of Catholic theologians and many Protestant theologians state the Bible is the inspired word of God, which is reflected in the fact that the time span reflects differing philosophical and societal changes, which in turn reflect the writer’s personal influences as well.  That being said, the Bible is the most consistent and intact Book on the planet concerning the Nature of God and the story of creation and our existence, as well as the most accurately written record of prophecy, and the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Because there are cultural and philosophical influences in the writings, it became imperative to come up with a way to read and interpret, as well as teach what the Bible says.  This in turn, gives us an understanding of what God wants, how we are to behave, how we are to treat our fellow man, and ultimately what becomes of us after death.  This in essence, is what hermeneutics is all about.

The proper definition of hermeneutics is the study of interpretation of written texts in the areas of literature, religion, law and prophecy.  It also incorporates the times, history, context and language used, with emphasis on symbolic meanings.  Hermeneutics looks for consistencies in texts, and applies these consistencies into contemporary life in order to guide and direct those who seek to know the truth.  The central tenets of the Bible transcend time and society, and thus, are applicable to all peoples at all times.

Hermeneutics has evolved over the centuries, and the further removed from the Biblical times, the more the interpretations have changed and been influenced by our times.  The main framework however is intact and the art of interpreting the Bible can be broken down into these four structures: literal, allegorical, moral, and eschatological/mystical.  Literal interpretation would read the texts as straight forward as written.  Allegorical interpretation would read the text as having symbolic meanings, as poetry, or as relating to secondary symbols, with the symbols being defined in other texts.  Moral interpretation would read the text as teaching the faith, such as dogma, and are reflected in most of Jesus parables. Eschatological/mystical interpretations go into the ‘deep thoughts of God’ and involve the future and end of time, as well as salvation, condemnation, heaven and hell and the spiritual realm. (This is also the most dangerous of the four interpretation methods, as it has been the genesis of many of the heresies that will be covered in future postings)

Where many expositors get into trouble is when they use one of the interpretive methods on passages where it does not apply.  For instance, the Beast rising out of the sea in Revelation is not a literal seven headed, ten horned monster, but is an allegorical description of a one world religiously lead government.  Likewise, many of Jesus parables, that are clearly in the moral interpretation category, have been misinterpreted as literal, and end up causing problems among believers.  A modern example of this point would be our colloquialism of “I feel Blue”.  Anyone would understand that I am not literally the color blue, but the use of the word blue would be seen as symbolic of a mood that most everyone could relate to.  Those who would take it literally would ultimately end up on a wild goose chase, and look very foolish.

The art of reading and interpreting the Bible needs to be understood in light of what passages and contexts are being addressed. When one knows which of the four interpretive methods to be used, the Bible reads fairly straight forward and clear.  When this does not occur, it brings about confusion.  We had a phrase in seminary for this called ‘fractured scripture”, and the funniest example I ever saw, was in a girls’ dorm room in which they printed up on a banner “Now, I will make you fishers of men”.  On a more somber note, another example of fractured scripture is from the heretical “Gospel of prosperity” which misquotes 2 John 1-2 in wishing “for you to prosper as your soul  prospers”.  This is a personal greeting, standard for those times, and (intentionally) misinterpreted to be a theological reality and promise of prosperity to some believers.  That would be analogous to taking the command from God to Moses to “strike the rock with your staff” and produce water, which was time specific and meant only for Moses. (I don’t see anyone striking rocks now a days believing water will flow from it.)

I will end this discussion today by going over one of the responses I received from the oil spill posting.  This individual accused me of misinterpreting the oil spill, and insisted the burning platform did fulfill the burning mountain being cast into the ocean, that a third of the sea creatures will eventually die form the contaminated water, that also has a red hue which fulfills blood, and eventually, one third of the ships will be destroyed, by being dry docked or out of commission due to ocean conditions.

I will give this person the benefit of the doubt (despite the fact the first trumpet did not take place, and that it was not a cosmic event).  John the evangelist had a vision and was told to write it down as he saw it.  John saw a burning mountain being cast into the sea, the sea turned to blood, one third of the sea creatures died and one third of the ships were sunk.  In order for this individual’s interpretation to be correct, there would be an interchange of both literal and allegorical interpretations going on at the same time.  For instance, the burning platform being the mountain would be seen as a literal interpretation, but the platform sank, and was not cast down.  The sea has many colors from the spill, one of which is red, but the dominant color is black.  So the word ‘blood’ would have to be allegorical, as it would be symbolic and not literal.  As of this time, there are not the massive deaths of sea creatures, and not one ship has sunk or has been destroyed.  If one decides the sinking of the platform fulfills the word ‘cast down’,  then the problem is what does one do with ships being sunk?  Both the platform and ships float, and John would not have used different words to describe the same events.  Casting down is different than sinking, and we have the literal interpretation method being used for the first part of the prophecy, and then switching to allegorical, back to literal with the sea creatures, then back to allegorical for the ‘destruction’ of the ships.

An asteroid fulfills the prophecy in totality.  It is cast into the ocean from the heavens, burning as it enters the atmosphere, vaporizes trillions of gallons of water instantly, sending a massive tsunami in all directions that washes out coastal areas, killing most of the sea creatures in the ocean it hits, and sinking all the ships in the vicinity. The water would turn red from the blood of the dead sea creatures, as well as possible red algae plumes due to de oxygenated waters.  This interpretation is using the literal method, due to the fact that there is neither allegorical language used, no moral teachings involved in this verse, or eschatological principles.  It describes a deliberate event sent from God, and therefore, qualifies as a literal event in its totality and should be read as such.

I hope this was not too long, and hope this made sense.  See you next week for the next addition.

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION, PART 1

George Offerman

As promised, I will spend the rest of the month of June writing on Revelation.  I had to address the Bilderberg meeting, as it in some ways is fulfilling prophecy as we watch.  As mentioned before, the beast is a one world religiously lead monster that arises in response to the first four trumpets.  This monster doesn’t come together ‘spontaneously’, but is meticulously constructed by its master the devil.  It does not have ultimate authority yet, because its hour of time is not here.  But don’t be fooled, this group is changing the course of humanity and is doing it in a way that is detrimental to us all.

The study of Revelation is really the study of all the books in the Bible.  Without a comprehensive knowledge of the whole story, Revelation makes no sense whatsoever.  I can only compare this to a short story I read while in junior high, “The secret life of Walter Mitty”.  This short story continually flows between real life and imaginary and grandeur daydreams that counter this man’s horrible reality that he is nothing other than a coward by choice, and his struggle in dealing with this reality by seeing himself in lifesaving and life altering situations.  Without understanding this interplay, this short story would be impossible to understand.  Yet that is what many expositors of the book of Revelation do.  It is through their intellectual laziness and need to sensationalize that causes the problems we are seeing today concerning prophecy.

There are three areas of study I know well.  Psychology, as that is what I do for a living.  The second is the silver market, in which I have studied for nearly twenty years, and my greatest passion, prophecy, which I have studied for the past 38 years.  I have written about all three on many occasions and the highest standard I require of myself is to have informed and well researched positions in order to minimize any misunderstanding or misinterpretation that would result in the reader getting hurt.  I am not asking anyone to agree with my conclusions, but to definitely read them with an open mind and consider them.

However, it is the responsibility of the reader to form his mind to do critical analysis of any material presented.  For instance, someone with a strong opinion on a matter does not carry the same authority on a subject as someone who has researched and used solid methodology to come to a differing conclusion.  I have experienced this way too often in this matter of working on Revelation.  It is unfortunate and seems to be the majority of times that many allow themselves to be swept up in a sensationalist view of current events, and allow themselves to be duped into believing expositors that either use poor hermeneutics, or sensationalize matters in order to make a buck.  For people to allow this to happen consistently only reflects their own ignorance on the whole aspect of prophecy in scripture.

That is why I don’t have a high tolerance anymore for those who will make ‘bold’ proclamations concerning Revelation that do not come true, and then don’t have the integrity to admit their mistakes.  I also no longer stay quiet when anyone throws out statements like “this event is just like the second bowl’ or ‘the mark is here!!!’ when there is absolutely no evidence, and their claims do not fulfill all of the criteria of the prophecy as written.  I hear this all of the time now a days, and it strikes me as very ironic that these so called “Christians’ become most uncharitable in their language when called on their error.  I ask these folks a very basic question:  Please show me the fulfillment of the other trumpets and bowls?  They don’t respond, as in EVER in the positive.  

Because there is a need to understand the nature of Biblical prophecy in its entirety, it is essential that a tried and true methodology be utilized.  38 years of due diligence has taught me a few things about this book and it has lead me to see a solid picture of how God operates in our time and how to read the current times and see where they fit in the timeline set in Scripture.  So, tomorrow, I will go over the hermeneutics used and some of the struggles I’ve encountered in the matters of interpretation.  There is so much I could write about that an introduction to this book could take weeks.  It is more important to get this information out than to tell my personal journey over the past 38 years.  So stay tuned, and keep an open mind concerning this material.

 

GOD IS NEVER LATE FOR AN APPOINTMENT

George Offerman

The more one studies the Bible and notes how God moves throughout history; it will become very apparent that God’s timing and attention to details is perfect.  Juxtapose that to many people who are currently claiming to be prophets and note most of their track records, which are pock marked with incomplete or unfulfilled prophecies, and it becomes painfully apparent these people are not the ‘real deal’.  This sets up major problems for many believers; they begin to get the sense that God is not actively involved in day-to-day life and that He is not concerned whether all details in prophecy revealed by him are met.

There are many who seem to believe we are in the beginning or middle of Revelation, and that parts of Revelation have been mitigated by prayer.  There are also many who believe nearly the opposite that we are not on the verge of major change, and that as ‘blessed’ people; we will be renewed without any seeming efforts on our part for this to happen.  There are others still who want to set dates and proceed on with times as if they are certainties, and if proven wrong as their dates pass, will downplay or deny the significance of these claims.

No matter which camp one may fall into, one thing we can know for sure is that God is never late for any of his appointments.  When anyone of any of these camps wants to violate this principle, they are in error.  If those claiming to get messages from a holy source, whether angels, the Holy Spirit, or Jesus Himself, it must be consistent with the precepts and principles of God and revelations as given in the Bible.  Otherwise, confusion and lack of faith and trust would reign, and it would not make sense to look at the Bible as a prophetic and accurate book.

Revelation, when it starts, will begin on time and will follow the prophetic timeline exactly as written.  In this way, there will be no doubt about it and there will not be any mistaking it for anything other than what it is.  But for those used to changing the times and places of prophecy, they very well may miss this, and very well deny the interpretation of what seems to be a clearly written series of events.  Similar to the first advent, those entrusted with Sacred Scripture will most likely miss this and will be way off concerning the meaning of the 14 events.  They, however, will command a majority of the world’s population in their errors, and through lack of understanding, they will lead many to perish.

God is clear that His goal is to save as many souls as possible.  This cannot be accomplished if He sends a prophecy that is not fulfilled, or that is changed at the last minute.  In order for either of these scenarios to take place, would be an admission that God is not omnipotent and not omniscient, and does not know the beginning from the end, and has no ability to control the outcome of anything.  In order for God to complete his mission of saving the maximum number of souls, it is essential that God keeps his word, and events occur precisely as He predicted.

It will require patience on the part of the believer.  We can be assured our sinful age will not go on forever, and most likely will not go on for much longer.  We are entering a vortex of time, in which something needs to give; God either is alive and interactive in the world, and needs to intervene, or we will find out God has been a myth, and the evil people and beings will win this war hands down.  Evil is in all places and in nearly all of the world’s institutions.  The common man has less and less ability to do much, if anything about these evil institutions.  The world is getting more unpredictable and unstable as the days go by, and there is very little hope for man to solve man’s problems by himself.  The time is ripe for intervention by a being that is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, and there is only one Being that meets these qualifications: the Triune God.

God has promised salvation and help to those who put their trust in him.  God is not sleeping, daydreaming, watching sports, playing the markets, incompetent or late.  God will show up on time with great majesty and do exactly what He said he would do.   God keeps his word and there ought to be no fear in the believer concerning this aspect.  What we may need to watch out for is the tendency to want to rush judgment or hope we see it.  These are not pleasant times, and it will get much worse before it gets better.  But we as Christians can be assured that as long as we ask for God’s assistance, He will keep us in the shadow of his wings.

HERMENEUTICS 101: DOES GOD CHANGE OR MODIFY PROPHECY?

George Offerman

There seems to be a major increase in people claiming to have visions, locutions or various revelations by God, Jesus, Mary, various saints and angels that pertains to the future. While there is no doubt that God can do what He pleases, and can reveal information as He chooses, are there boundaries that even God Himself will not cross? This question is very relevant in today’s world, as there are multiple numbers of people, along with several ‘apparition’ sites that have popped up, and messages about the future abound. If there is not a methodological way in which to assess these happenings, it can cultivate a crisis of faith and cause doubts about what is real versus illusion.

As covered in the previous hermeneutics posting, the answer and backdrop must be Scripture. Since God is unchanging the messages He passes on must fit into the substance of his being and will for us as revealed through Scriptures. If this was not the case, confusion would reign, and His word would be in doubt. Now, there are those who have argued that God, in fact, has changed or modified prophecy in the Bible. While on the surface, this could be seen as truth in the few occasions in which this point is brought up. But if one does a diligent study of these passages, this assertion is proved to be untrue.

Case Study: Jonah and Nineveh

Many have attempted to use the story of Jonah and Nineveh as an example of God changing, or modifying prophecy. In the book of Jonah, the main proponent, Jonah, is commissioned by God to preach to Nineveh that total destruction of Nineveh will occur in 40 days. Upon the people’s repentance, God “changed his mind’ and called off the imminent judgment on Nineveh. On the surface, this seems to be a clear cut case of God changing or modifying prophecy and this has spurred on others to take it upon themselves to look for exceptions to Biblical principles. When this is done, it then places the expositor in a position of having ‘special knowledge’ and he becomes the sole arbiter of what is taught or what message is conveyed by God to the masses. The Bible does not covey or teach this.

The story of Jonah and Nineveh has two significant lessons. The first being Jonah’s reluctance and distain for the people of Nineveh, and by extension, his mission given by God. The second piece of this story, which is much more important, is the role of forgiveness and repentance, and the power it has. When taken in its full context, the book of Jonah paints a very complete picture of the nature of God, and how He views fallen man, and how we are given every opportunity and benefit of the doubt when it comes to the finality of Judgment.

Jonah was commanded by God to preach to the Ninevites that Nineveh and its inhabitants were to be destroyed in 40 days. Because the Ninevites were hostile to the Jews, and were a sinful lot, Jonah wanted to see them destroyed. Jonah as a Jew was not following the percepts of Judaism in presenting salvation to the gentiles. He was too busy condemning them, and not looking at his own behavior which was just as despicable in the eyes of God. Jonah took a human, not a divine look at the Ninevites, and it was not the message God wanted to convey to these people. This is why God was so harsh on Jonah, as he did everything humanly possible to disobey God’s command and not bring God’s message to Nineveh.

After spending time in the belly of the fish, Jonah ‘got it’ and followed through with his mission. What Jonah did not expect was the people in Nineveh, from the king on down, to put on ashes and sackcloth and repent of their evil. From this perspective, it looked like God ‘changed his mind’ when postponing judgment, and making Jonah look like a ‘liar’ However, had Jonah been more in touch with his own faith and understood the message of salvation, he would have rejoiced in seeing the Mercy of God being exercised on these sinful people. Instead Jonah could not get past his very human hatred of these people, and asked God for death, despite just experiencing the greatest evangelization ever recorded in the Bible.

Because Jonah was not plugged in to the Divine will of God, he was very confused and angry at God for not following through on his judgment of destroying Nineveh. What Jonah failed to realize is, that God was actually very consistent in keeping his word, that those who have a contrite heart will be renewed and forgiven. That is how God reacts to those who call on him for forgiveness. This judgment was not ‘changed, nor modified: it was postponed. The sad truth is Nineveh was destroyed as God prophesized about a century later due to the Ninevites falling back into the same pattern of sin.

So, it is God who stays consistent, and keeps perfect accountability with his words and actions. Being a prophet is a great privilege; but also carries great responsibility in that the one bringing the message must be working within the context of God’s will. But within this context also lies the premise that God is unchangeable and would not deceive the elect with contradictory statements or messages. Discernment is necessary and even Jesus taught that we are to test the spirits. And one way to know whether the message is from God is the consistency it has with the Word. There cannot be contradictions, and there are always accompanying signs that go along with prophecy.

It is possible for God to postpone judgment if man repents and is contrite. So when people have asked me whether I believe Revelation can be stopped, it is only on these grounds, that we repent and are contrite. But if we get to the point of filling our cup of iniquity, the great clock of Revelation will start, and we will go through all of the 14 events prophesized and in the order written. Revelation will not be modified nor changed as proven in the Bible, but can be postponed.

So, for those who have made claims that “God told me’ that parts of Revelation have been cancelled, or that certain events are trumpets outside of the revealed order, you are making false claims and need to cease and desist in your error. There are those who make these claims, and some have also claimed it came to them in a supernatural fashion, by spirit beings, dreams or locutions. Despite the supernatural means, which is very powerful and convincing, it still contradicts Scripture, and sows doubts about the Nature and integrity of God. These are the tools of the enemy, and when the enemy utilizes them, he causes chaos and confusion among the faithful. We’ve been warned that in the end times, delusions will be sent that would even deceive the elect if that were possible. Be on guard against these prophecies and teachings, test them, and do not be afraid to either challenge those making these claims, or just simply outright reject them. However, those that pass the Scripture test ought to be weighed with great gravity and acted upon.

HERMENEUTICS 101: ESCHATOLOGY AND PROPHECY

George Offerman

Over the course of the last several postings, we have looked at many of the formative people and events that have set the stage for where we are in the current scheme of things. We are beginning to get a larger perspective of the global aspects of eschatology and prophecy, but if it is not ultimately applied to the individual in real time, this knowledge is as useless as a migraine headache. The REAL story of the Bible is the PERSONAL relationship with the revealed God that is mandatory in order for one to attain paradise. There will not be a ‘collective’ salvation offered, but an individual, which means the individual is responsible for his own decisions, and ultimately will stand alone in front of the judgment seat of God.

Since we all know there will be an end point to this form of existence, eschatology holds great importance to all of us. Ascertaining where we are concerning the prophetic time line is very important, but of even greater importance is the personal preparation that must go along with this. In our current times, we have been too indoctrinated into the collectivist mentality: someone else will take care of me; someone else will do the heavy lifting for me. Likewise, with the church, there are many who ‘defer’ their responsibilities to the pastor, committees, prayer groups, letter writers or donating to various causes. Personal involvement in many facets of our faith is becoming scarce to non-existent, yet we are being taught we ‘are making a difference’. This is not what the Bible teaches, and we are required to be active participants in this real war.

Without knowledge of eschatology, there is not much purpose in standing out, or taking a strong stance on any issue. If one does not understand or grasp the end results of this life, and that judgment will follow death, and there will be a possibility of eternal damnation, mediocrity will be the order of the day. If one takes a look at the current times, mediocrity rules, or if we want to use the modern colloquialism “politically correct’. Either term used demonstrates a lack of concern over what God has commanded and what Jesus preached. The fact there is perfect accountability for every thought and deed and that this will determine the eternal destiny of the individual is lost in today’s world. Without proper understanding of eschatology, the ides of prophecy will be doubly lost.

Prophecy is history written in advance for the benefit of those alive, in order to know the will and actions of God. If one already believes he will be going to heaven no matter how he lives his life, most, if not all of prophecy will not make sense to him, nor will it affect the way he lives his life. This individual will not be able to grasp, yet believe a God of ‘love’ could possibly send judgments and kill people. So, the lessons of the Bible are constantly in question and generally minimized. Those attempting to teach what the Bible says about man and his condition are ostracized, persecuted, mocked and distained by the ‘sophisticated, enlightened modern man’. When this is done, those believing in the ‘new ways’ are truly lost, and living in a very dangerous delusion. Once captured in this strong delusion, it will only take an ‘act of God’ to wake one out of this stupor. That is why the 14 events of Revelation are so harsh and overwhelming. It takes that much suffering and destruction to overcome these delusions, and it is God’s will to save the most as possible.

The Bible is all about our condition, and the consistency of prophecy proves this aspect of reality. Prophecy is always accurate and exact, when originating from God, and the most accurate and sure prophecies are found in scripture. Yes, there are those who have visions and locutions, but these are considered ‘private’ revelations, and this refers to the fact these prophecies have occurred outside of the cannon of Scripture. Private revelations do not have to be believed, and must be consistent with Scripture, not contradict Scripture to even have a shot at being from God. Many people unfortunately believe private revelation over the Cannon of Scripture, and this is truly a dangerous condition. It generally embraces sensationalism over the purity of the Word, and is contingent upon the ‘seer’ and not what is scripturally sound.

On top of that is the moral relativism embraced in society as a whole, and within the church in part. It is rare for anyone in the church to preach a straight up ’Thus says the Lord’ and be straight up with what God expects. In this way, an individual with the courage to preach the truth really could be considered a prophet in the sense they have a very accurate picture of the future if behaviors don’t change, and true seers and locutionists will verify this. So it is the private revelations that will be supplemental to Scriptural prophecies.

If one considers the above-mentioned criteria, it will soon be clear that both eschatology and prophecy are fairly dead in our time. Not many want to know the real score; they want to believe the way they do their lives is acceptable to God, and don’t want to know or hear they are in error and need to repent. Without a good sense of God and what he wants, all the eschatology and prophecy will not help those already closed off due to their pride in believing they ‘know how things really are”. Eschatology and Prophecy exist for our benefit, but we must know that we are sinful creatures who need instruction by a being that knows the beginning from the end, unlike us.

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.