If You Think A Recent Disaster Is Prophetic...

Did a disaster happen recently that makes you wonder if it is an important sign? Are people saying it is prophetic? That it fulfills some prophecy in the Bible like in Revelation? Does it feel like time might be accelerating or short? Are you feeling anxious after this disaster? Then learn why that disaster is not prophetic and not a warning sign of the need to act...except for one thing that applies always.

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Ever since I was nine years old, the Bible prophecy has fascinated me. In fact, Revelation was the first book of the Bible that I read, at age nine (after being inspired to do so from a viewing of the movie The Omen).

Yet, it was a love-hate or on-again/off-again relationship. Clearly, Revelation (and Daniel) held secrets about what will happen in our lifetime (Rev 1:1-3=Dan 12:10). Yet seemingly no one could understand them (even my very sharp pastor). So after a while, I ignored these books rather than frustrate myself. Probably you can relate to these feelings as frustration with the Book of Revelation is pretty universal.

Many years later my passion for Bible prophecy was reignited by what I am sure was providence. In 1998 we took in a spiritual widow and her boys at our home. One of her close friends who listened to shortwave radio was there a lot, too. If you are unfamiliar with it like I was, shortwave has provocative free-wheeling transmissions much like we associate with the Internet/blogosphere today.

On one shortwave broadcast I heard a preacher explain part of Revelation in a way I never heard before. He said that Mystery Babylon the Great of Revelation 18 was none other than the USA. Previously, I had believed that Mystery Babylon was the Roman Catholic Church or Vatican, just as I had learned at church. The identification sure sounded good to an ex-Catholic like myself. Yet I only assumed it was correct without verifying it. With this new theory, however, I looked up the references in my Bible to find that much clear literal Scripture supported it. I was convinced that the preacher had correctly identified Mystery Babylon the Great and I happily switched my long-held view on this topic.

That was not the only part of Revelation I changed my view on. I began warming up to the idea that perhaps Revelation as a whole could be understood if I changed my approach to it. I realized that my problem with Revelation had been due to looking in the wrong places. I had limited my research to my pastor, my church friends and popular Christian writing like The Late Great Planet Earth. Shortwave radio was a radical departure from those avenues of research. It was like this because it provided a low barrier to entry for anyone who wanted to broadcast their ideas. People could teach anything without censorship or anyone's approval. Consequently, most of what is taught is not what any pastor would approve of let alone teach. This promulgates a much greater diversity of ideas than Christian churches or book publishers do. I could see that if I continued collecting more pieces of the prophetic puzzle through such channels, then possibly one day Revelation would not be so mysterious anymore. (Without a few years my hope became a reality...and then my book.)

This is why the Internet is so key to a person looking for real answers to hard questions. Yet, as you already know, there is a downside to venturing into fringe sources of information like this. You have to wade through a mountain of misinformation in the process. Some of it is very convincing, so convincing to the uninitiated that you are guaranteed to fall for a number of improbable theories. Theories that you never in a million years would have dreamed you would believe.

Catch Me I'm Falling...For Nonsense (That I Needed To Fall For)

I encountered my first false theory very soon after. In 1999, hysteria was mounting about the Year 2000/Millennium Bug (Y2K). If you do not remember, this had to do with the common practice in older computer programs of storing years like 2000 as two digits (00) instead of four digits to include the century (2000). At “rollover” you in effect subtract a higher number from a lower number resulting in a negative or otherwise wrong result (00-99 = -99 instead of 1). This was a real problem on many systems and much money was spent fixing it worldwide. The false part of it was all the speculation that the bug would not be fixed in time, possibly resulting in the collapse of our computer-based civilization.

With my recently renewed interest in Bible prophecy, I was primed and ready to believe such end of the world theories. My recent conclusion that America was Mystery Babylon the Great played right into this. Revelation 18 says that Mystery Babylon will be destroyed by a fire; specifically a fire that can be unleashed upon a large country in a single hour of a single day. Until the advent of game-changing nuclear ICBMs (Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles), such a prophecy could not have been taken literally. With Y2K looming, I wondered if America's greater reliance on computers for everything could leave her open to attack by her communist enemies? (If you doubt Russia is still the U.S.' enemy, check out what her military defectors report.)

Nevertheless, had I only listened to TV and newspaper coverage like most people, I doubt I would have been too concerned about the issue. It was websites like GaryNorth.com that did me in. They offered a plethora of convincing reasons for how and why the Y2K bug could spell The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI...a very common acronym at the time). Given that I knew from Bible prophecy that the current civilization was going shift into a New World Order somehow, I was predisposed to believe what few people did; to believe that Y2K could be it. By the way, I am proud to say it did not take me until Jan 1, 2000 to figure out I was wrong. By November, 1999 I realized something that all believers need to understand about God's end times plan to save his people. (More on that below.)

The reason people fall for doomsday theories like Y2K is the same reason a con artist can dupe his victims or “marks.” A conman plays upon what people already desire or are open to believe; that they can be that special person who can beat the odds, or break the normal rules or expectations for life and find an opportunity to make big money quickly like lottery winners do all the time. They tell their marks what they want to hear and then they provide some evidence of their ability to deliver what seems at first too good to be true. The proof may be making good on the opportunity on a smaller scale. One conman I met had a connection with a plane ticket wholesaler allowing him to get cheap plane tickets (with some restrictions like flying at least eight days out). He did one for a friend, letting her fly for free somewhere with him. Then a little later he announced that he had some tickets with the wholesaler that were going to expire if he did not use them up. He easily convinced the friend to sell the plane tickets vouchers to her friends, despite the fact that she only met a few months prior. Who would imagine that someone who had been friendly, down-to-earth and generous with you could take your money and stiff you? She was left in a mess with her friends, some even filing criminal charges against her which are still pending. She learned a valuable lesson that it really is true that when things seem too good to be true, yes, they usually are.

Until you have your own such experiences like my friend and I did, it is easy to think you would never fall for that. The tendency is to then turn and judge a those who do as stupid or naive. Yet, in reality, it can happen to us all given the right circumstances. If you think you would never fall for one, then probably the right scam has not come along yet with your name on it.

Prophetic Sign Speculation

In the more than one decade since I learned from the Y2K disaster fiasco, I have seen countless other doomsday scenarios come and go; always, of course, failing miserably. If you search the Internet for any year, you will see that every single year on the calendar has some prediction for it by someone. Currently, the Mayan calendar's end in 2012 is getting most of the attention. Once 2012 passes without event, another dated scenario from doomsayers will catch the imagination of the doom-hearers.

Yet there is an even more common doomsday scenario that can get you despite having already fallen for some date setting. Not surprisingly, it works a little differently than the Y2K's and 2012's theories. Instead of setting a date with supposed arguments and proofs to justify it, these are mostly dateless predictions based off current events. The current event is usually a disaster (either natural like the Chile earthquake; or man-made like 9-11) but can be something as benign as the election of Barrack Obama to the presidency. It gets framed as the beginning of a very bad trend and therefore serves as proof for a prediction of descent into TEOTWAWKI.

Just as every single year has speculation of doom surrounding it, so does every disaster. Every disaster ends up being cited as proof of the end, often along with Bible verses it seems to fulfill. I already covered in my last article how the recent series of three serious earthquakes in 2010 have been cited by people as fulfillments of “earthquakes in diverse places” (Mt 24:7); and how that fails to stand up to careful scrutiny when reading that verse properly in context.

BP Gulf Oil Spill: A Sign of the End?

Now with the BP Gulf Oil Spill, guess what people are thinking? That, once again, the beginning of the end is upon us.

One person wrote to ask me my thoughts on it, informed me that “this is a sea disaster of unparalleled proportions, beyond what the media is letting on. Internet scientific reports indicate all sea life on earth is now at risk.”

I also received an email with a self-proclaimed prophetess' words on what she received when she prayed about the oil spill:

I was sleeping and began to have a conversation with the Angel of the LORD. I began to ask if there was anything He wanted to tell the people concerning the Gulf oil gusher.

The conversation began with Him telling me that the oil gusher will not be stopping soon. He said there will be more plumes of oil gushing other than just from the well head. So much oil will be gushing into the Gulf that some people will begin to ask, “Is this the fulfillment of the water turning to blood?” He said the sea is crying out!

The purpose is to begin to turn our allies against us. The English Kingdom is over the American Kingdom and must be brought down before the American Kingdom is brought down.

Then I saw a vision of President Obama speaking on television. He was furious. He was super angry at the British. He was telling the people not to support England in any way. I specifically heard him tell the Americans to “boycott England.” Obama said to not support England with tourism. He was turning our British friends against us. God is bringing down the English Kingdom and turning our allies against us.

I feel bad for this prophetess as her claimed 100% accurate record seems in jeopardy. The U.K. is definitely not going to fall before America does. Bible prophecy does not predict the fall of Great Britain but rather predicts her ascendency to be the head of the Beast kingdom once America is cut off (Daniel 7:4=Rev 13:2).

Others are speculating that this oil disaster could fulfill Revelation 8:8-9 or 16:3 which say:

Revelation 8:8-9 (HCSB) — The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Revelation 16:3 (HCSB) — The second poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like a dead man’s, and all life in the sea died.

Although the argument for the oil spill being a fulfillment of Revelation is a lot stronger than the argument that it came from God to bring the end of Great Britain, it still holds no water. All we have to do is ask ourselves: Where is there “blood” water? Where are the destroyed ships? How is every single living thing going to die from oil in Gulf of Mexico and part of the Atlantic?

But more importantly, where is the first trumpet and first bowl that ought to precede any fulfillment of the second trumpet and second bowl? (This turns out to be a key test for disproving any similar prophetic speculation surrounding disasters you may hear in the future. If you have not had the unprecedented cosmic catastrophes kick-off to the trumpets described in the 6th seal by Revelation 6:12, then you cannot have anything else that follows in Revelation 8 or 16.)

Why Disaster (Fill in the Blank) Is Not A Warning Sign

One man called me up with fear and loathing over the oil spill. Even though he had read my book a few years ago, he was clearly upset and anxious about the situation. He reported people he knew losing homes and their marriages breaking up because of the enduring Great Recession. He naturally wondered how much worse it could get in anticipation of the economic impact of the oil spill. He was scared that maybe this is a warning sign that it is time to flee America.

Yet, again, this type of fearful speculation is not unique to the BP disaster. I hear it all the time. A large percentage of my time as a Bible teacher is spent reassuring people that the latest recession, latest natural disaster, latest president, or latest theory is no cause for alarm. Each case has its own specific answers that can be cited to debunk it (just as I provided for the BP Oil Disaster speculation above.)

However, rather than write an article for every disaster, it is high time I share more universal principles to cover all disasters once and for all. This is feasible because there are general points that can help you debunk just about any speculation you will hear. It is the same wisdom I learned from my own Y2K experience, alluded to above. Here are the key points you need to never worry about another sign/theory again:

1. God is not going to let the end times trap his servants without warning all his servants beforehand
2. God does not use ambiguous, unspecific, unexplained events to communicate

I'll explain each point in its own section below:

1. God Is Not Saving Only His Paranoid Servants

As 1999 came to an end, the warnings about Y2K from doomsayers reached a feverish pitch. I remember one prophecy radio ministry in particular that had been “blowing the trumpet” about Y2K and endorsing a numismatic metals dealer and other survival supplies. Their first radio show of 2000 was recorded in the last days of 1999 and played soon after January 1^st, 2000. It started out with the question “Are we still here?” Up until the very end of 1999 this ministry believed Y2K could be a real disaster. This despite having the very same prophetess on staff that I quoted above!

A couple months before that day arrived, I realized something key that the ministry obviously did not. It occurred to me that God is not only saving his paranoid servants; believers like me who listen to shortwave radio or prophecy shows or every latest doomsday theory on the internet or forwarded to their inbox. (By the way, do you ever find anything cc'ed to you to really be something you needed to know? For that reason I always request people in the habit of forwarding people things to take me off their list before it gets out of control.) The only people who were preparing for Y2K were those who could believe a prediction of the end of the world with the scantest of real hard evidence.

However, God is saving all his servants; most of whom are too busy to study prophecy or read the latest theories on the Internet. They are spending their time working and living paycheck to paycheck in order to carve out an existence for their household. They certainly do not have the extra funds to invest into saving their families from a problem such as Y2K was purported to be. I realized that if the God of the Bible really plans to save his people from the end of the world just as I read in the Bible, then Y2K could not be the end of the world. A prophet would have to have been sent out a good many years before to warn and instruct us on how to escape (Lk 21:36).

2. God Does Not Warn Us Using Ambiguous Events

The Bible tells us that one day in the future this normal routine of working and living will be interrupted by the start of end time events. Since it also says God plans to save his people, then before those events trap them, he must officially warn them of it, or none would be saved. So how does he spread this to his people?

If you would believe all the theories on the Internet, earthquakes in Chile and oil disasters in the Gulf of Mexico and other such events are the warning signs to pay attention to. The problem with this belief is that these events are not unique or all that meaningful. Oil spills have happened in the Gulf and elsewhere many times before. Major earthquakes have been with us constantly. They do not say anything unique; they just happen regularly. They are ripe for reading all kinds of meaning into as we have seen, but that type of meaning is highly subjective and contrived.

Most importantly, such speculation has proven completely unreliable predicatively. In the many years since 1998 that I have been hearing and monitoring the date setting and disaster speculation, I have never seen a single date or disaster trend prediction pan out. That should tell you something. God is not warning his people through disasters or through people setting dates. (And if he was warning us that way, it still leaves no answers on what action to take.)

Then how is he going to warn us? The Bible tells us how it will happen; the same way it has always happened. There are several prophecies of verbal warnings going out before the real global disaster events on the end time timeline; the coming of Wormwood, the destruction of America, and the start of the Great Tribulation. Here are the warnings that precede them:

Revelation 18:4 (HCSB) — Then I heard another voice from heaven: Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues.

Jeremiah 51:44-46 (HCSB) — 44... even Babylon’s wall will fall. 45 Come out from among her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the LORD’s burning anger. 46 May you not become cowardly and fearful when the report is proclaimed in the land, for the report will come one year, and then another the next year. There will be violence in the land with ruler against ruler.

Revelation 14:6-12 (HCSB) — 6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” 8 A second angel followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.” 9 And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12 This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

Note that the above commands to flee Babylon are not self-contained and active yet. In other words, on their own in the Bible, these commands are not clear enough to most of God's servants. They do not know what they mean and therefore they cannot act on them. Instead, these are prophecies of those very commands being broadcast in the future in a clear and convincing manner; a manner that can serve to get God's faithful servants moving in the right direction at the right time.

How? No doubt a prophet must be sent to issue these commands. This is how it has always been done in history (Moses, Joseph, Elijah, Jesus) and God is the same today. Thus, the three angels will deliver their messages to prophets, not to the general population. Angels are never used in the Bible to preach to the masses but only appear to a few at a time. The prophets will then deliver the instructions to us—along with qualifying signs and wonders as prophets with commands for the people have always done (Moses, Elijah, Jesus). Not self-proclaimed prophets who claim instructions from God yet cannot produce any evidence that God told them these things. Such "prophets" are as deceived themselves as those who follow them. [Note: If it bothers you to hear Jesus called a prophet, that's what he called himself (Mt 13:57) as well as the Messiah and Son of God.]

Conclusion

The Internet is a revolutionary invention that has enabled important Bible insights to be discovered and shared finally in the end times (Dan 12:4,9-10). It is hard to imagine how we lived without it now, 15 years later. But it is also a source of great deception, concerns and anxiety for Bible believers who are still developing their discernment and losing their naivete. To help you with the speculation you will encounter, remember that God is not just saving paranoid people with Internet access reading the latest theories. He must warn all his people. Whatever the latest date or disaster is that people are speculating may be an end time prophetic fulfillment or warning sign from God, it will prove wrong like every single prediction so far has. When the time comes that God needs to warn his servants on how stay alive, he will send his prophets with clear verbal messages, not earthquakes or oil slicks or (fill in the blank).

Until then, the only thing to do is what God has required of his servants of all time. We are to practice being truly different people who act in love towards God and neighbor like Jesus did, not like the world around us. Let the urgency and anxiety that comes from disasters and date setting serve as a reminder about what is truly important to be focusing on. If we do this, we will truly be God's servants in that day when his global disaster protection is needed.

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