Taking obscure OT passages, spinning them according to some system of symbolic i
nterpretation, linking them to current events, and promoting the endeavor with a salesman’s charm, and an evangelist’s passion, is no more “prophetic” than reading tea leaves and palmistry, but it sells books. Cultists and psychic prognisticators have been doing it for centuries. A monkey can do it. You can make a scripture mean anything you want and link it to a headline.
Let me demonstrate how easy this is, meaning no disrespect to those for whom the following events elicit pain. I just want to demonstrate how easy it is to generate prophetic nonsense.
There have been two horrific tragedies in Colorado: Columbine, and now Aurora. Columbine means dove-like. Aurora means dawn, dawning, goddess of the dawn. Colorado means ruddy, reddish, blood like.
If I was inclined, here’s how I could spin it to sound all mystical and “prophetic:”
God is saying that the days of gentle dove-like dealings are over. Columbine was the first warning, that the days of innocence are past, and now we are dawning into the divine season of blood, the dawning of increasing judgments. God is saying that a line has been crossed. These two events were warnings to the state and the nation. You have despised my gentle dealings. I tell you, those days are over. Your cities of peace and quiet shall be turned to blood, and this is just the beginning, just the dawn. It shall increase.
Oh, if I wanted to, I could back fill this nonsense with all kinds of proof texts from scripture about blood, dawn, doves, judgment, the color red, etc. and generate internet buzz about the “latest word from heaven.”
The internet and the so-called “prophetic” community of believers is full of rubbish just like this. Naive people swallow it like an addict looking for crack. Millions of dollars are spent on books and seminars and media supporting this kind of tripe. It is a preoccupation about the mystic future, while ignoring the needs and the suffering of those around us today. This type of thing appeals to a carnal elitism: a sense that we are “on the ins” with the Almighty, that we have “secret knowledge,” that is unavailable to the masses, unless of course, you buy my book which will let you in on the secrets of the future!
We should be ashamed of ourselves.
Maybe I should write a book about God’s secret end time agenda for America. I could get rich writing books of this kind of headline-driven, end-time nonsense.
But I have a problem. I have a conscience.
Don’t be duped by eschatological salesmen and their media hacks.
Copyright 2012, Dr. Stephen R. Crosby, www.swordofthekingdom.com. Permission is granted to copy, forward, or distribute this article for non-commercial use only, as long as this copyright byline, in totality, is maintained in all duplications, copies, and link references. For reprint permission for any commercial use, in any form of media, please contact stephcros9@aol.com.
This whole topic of “prophetic” community is in desperate need of light shining on it, exposure of the lies people live under and in. Good commentary, needed.
Amen, Dmitri . . . it is a mess.
It is not that prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers cannot function independently from the apostolic; rather, as far as we can discern, they are designed to function interdependently with it and each other. It is through their relationship with the apostolic calling that they will come into the fullness of their own role and purpose in Jesus’s church. – Alan Hirsch, “The Permanent Revolution.”
It is the absence of the genuine life ‘a la John17:3’ that makes people gullible to the charlatans and it is only a revealing of the true light “life” in our lives, that will make men see. This condition of the “prophetic camp” reminds me of Simon in Acts that used sorcery to make himself seem great until the genuine Holy Ghost power, life and message showed up
Stephen…AMEN….Spot On…I love how many nouns have been transformed into verbs and adjectives. Instead of Prophet we now have “prophetic” everything: prophetic” people, prophetic dance, prophetic music, prophetic worship, blah blah blah…”and my people love it so…” I suggest that what this movement really is (besides deception) is not prophetic but pathetic.
thanks for sounding a clear alarm! Blessings…
If so called “believers” spent 1/10 th the time in prayer and reading the word as they do listening to “men”, attending conferences a reading “christian” books…just maybe all this religious wonfusion would be dispelled for certainly God in not the author of confusion…
Thanks
Prophetic “children’s church” is getting really old, as is it’s apostolic counterpart.
Love!
Hi Jay, thanks for posting.
your right on my brother and friend:) good word.
Thanks you guys.
thanks
Thanks, Steve. This subject of the “prophetic” is yet another distraction
that the enemy puts in front of us to distract us from the truth of the Gospel.
thanks Ron
Reading this inspired me to coin a phrase for such drivel: prosthetic insight. (“Exhortation” needing artificial support as the would be exhorter spiritually hasn’t a leg to stand on.) 🙂
Awesome, I will steal that from you some day!
“God is saying that the days of gentle dove-like dealings are over. Columbine was the first warning, that the days of innocence are past, and now we are dawning into the divine season of blood, the dawning of increasing judgments. God is saying that a line has been crossed. These two events were warnings to the state and the nation. You have despised my gentle dealings. I tell you, those days are over. Your cities of peace and quiet shall be turned to blood, and this is just the beginning, just the dawn. It shall increase.”
Just wondering if I could post just this much on the Elijah list? 🙂
Oh, George you naughty boy, don’t you dare!!
Oh, that we might know Him; and the fellowship of His suffering; that we may learn obedience as He did. If we would just seek Him, long for Him and desire His life to be fulfilled in us, then maybe all of these other personalities would disappear and there would be our Lord Jesus Only. We truly need to decrease; get our prideful ugly selves out of His way and let this doomed world see Him for Who He really IS. He is definitely not what most of us are showing. Thank God!
Well said again Steve. Newspaper hermenutics (which gives ground to wayward eschatology) is a scorn on the church. We should let scripture interpret scripture and examine prophecy in the light of established OT prophetic language.
As you said, it doesn’t stop at general end-times hype; hyper-eisegeses makes way for all sorts of “prophetic” non-sense.
Too many stray from ‘the simplicity that is in Christ’ because getting up every day and living in Love, shining His light and communicating core truth about the eternal Word (JC) is boring to the flesh… it lacks the pizaz (spelling?) that “churches” have taught believers to pursue.
Keep up the God work brother
PS. It ends well
Thanks Bretto. Love the ps. That’s he extent of my eschatological speculations.
It ends well. 🙂
You must be Perry Stoned.
“This type of thing appeals to a carnal elitism: a sense that we are “on the ins” with the Almighty, that we have “secret knowledge,” that is unavailable to the masses, unless of course, you buy my book which will let you in on the secrets of the future! We should be ashamed of ourselves.”
Your parody would be funnier if it were not so spot-on with what I find around me. Between your blogs and Alan Knox’s (http://www.alanknox.net/2012/07/why-did-the-nt-authors-not-definedescribe-spiritual-gifts-in-detail/) it seems the abuses (as I see them) are noticed by many. I think the ‘itching ears passage says it all:
2 Ti 4:3(NET) For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.
ya know… if it weren’t so serious it would be amusing!
Actually Steve, i love the way you express yourself… too funny… ya crack me up… but you have a wonderful way of peeling back the christianly insane and exposing them for the jesters they are. I love your work. Thank you. jayne
Thanks Jayne. 🙂
Stephen, you and I are on the same page. If the body would just seek God in sincere prayer, we wouldn’t be duped so often when someone wants to incite fear to manipulate, sell books for profit or control us into giving astronomical offerings. If the one making any prophecy isn’t being guided by the Holy Spirit, any spirit will speak! Thanks for this post. It was a good read.
Thank you Steve once again for your gift of writing, for sharing what so many of us have experienced. This blog came at a perfect time, a great tool to use to help others walk through spiritual abuse and walk into the freedom of Jesus. Praying for you.
Cris
Thank you for the encouragement, Cris
Thanks a million, this is indeed enlightening.