What we need now is to be people like the men of Issachar,” who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). You might wonder if a person can really hope to know the meaning of the prophecies. The Wise Men found the Newborn King because of the accuracy of prophecy that he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:4-5); and those who followed The Messiah did so because they recognized that his life and message were the fulfillment of specific prophecies (Matthew 1:22-23; 8:17; John 1:41; 7:41-42; Acts 9:22). God is always eager to teach his children, to shine new light on his Word, and to help them sort out the relevance of events in the modern world. He does not want us to be ignorant but well-informed.
Other Prophecies
This book is about biblical prophecy. Little notice is taken of prophecies that were not recorded in God‘s Word. Biblical prophecies were spoken by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21; Hebrews 1:1-2). The Old Testament penalty for giving a false prophecy was death (Deuteronomy 18:18-20). Jesus himself warned that there would be false prophets in the End Times (Matthew 24:10-13, 24). There is, however a ―gift of prophecy,‖ described in the Bible. This is the supernatural ability that is given to some people at certain times to reveal God‘s will or to predict future events. It is explained by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 as one of the ways that the various members of the body of Christ work together for the benefit of the whole Church. Strict rules are given about the use of this gift so that it is not abused. One of the main restrictions is that any prophetic statement should be approved by the others in the group who also had that spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 14:32-33). It is not the purpose of this book to consider these “other” prophecies. Individual Christian groups should weigh such utterances carefully and not tolerate any abuse of this gift.
Astrology and Fortune-telling
There are many other non-biblical prophecies that can not be taken seriously, and are therefore not considered at length in these pages. Astrology is probably the most obvious of these non-biblical methods of telling the future. Astrology is an occult perversion of the true science of Astronomy. Astrology is strictly forbidden by the Scriptures (2 Kings 17:16-17; 23:5; Psalm 81:12; Isaiah 47:13; Jeremiah 10:1-2; Daniel 1:20, 2:27; 4:7; 5:7). However, the Bible does say that the lights in the heavens were to be used for signs and seasons (Genesis 1:14), and it indicates that God, who created them, calls the stars by name (Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 147:4). Psalm 19:1-6 says that the heavens tell of the glory of God. According to John 1:14, Jesus revealed the glory of God. Therefore, this could mean that the heavens foretell the coming of Christ. Some respected Bible scholars believe that, before there were written Scriptures, God may have used the clustering of stars that we call constellations as object lessons about his future plans for salvation and other prophetic subjects. This theory is sometimes called, ―The Gospel in the Stars.‖4 There is a fascinating correlation between these cosmic images and the biblical story of the birth, life, and work of Christ. This theory has merit because it relates only to biblical prophecies, and gives a more meaningful and coherent story than the mythological imaginations of astrology. There is no connection between this concept and the modern attempt by astrologers to predict the course of events of living individuals. Fortune-telling and occult practices of predicting the future are usually phony theatrics to separate gullible people from their money. Worse yet, they may be evil messages, sometimes containing half-truths, revealed by demonic mind-control. Séances, use of Ouija boards, Tarot cards and other methods of telling the future apart from the Bible should be avoided at all costs. Some new age writers claim that their messages are ―channeled‖ by supposed ―ascended masters‖, or avatars. If these spirits really exist, they too must be demons.
Nostradamus and Other Psychics
Michel de Nostredame (Nostradamus) was a French chemist who wrote a book of prophecies. His ―quatrains‖ contained mysterious and apocalyptic elements that have frequently been cited after some important historical event as proof that he could foretell the future. One example of this is a hoax spread on the Internet that he had prophesied the destruction of the World Trade Center. The truth is that his prophecies were too vague, and could be twisted to mean almost anything after the fact. None of his prophecies have been used to accurately predict something important before it happens. Edgar Cayce and Jean Dixon claimed to be psychics. They often made predictions about near future events, and were sometimes right; the same way a good political analyst could list probable world developments, and sometimes be correct. Benjamin Creme has been predicting the imminent appearance of Maitreya, a supposed messiah who has been living secretly in London since 1977. These and many other psychics of our generation were predicted by Jesus: At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. – Matthew 24:10-12
Mayan Prophecies and the Year 2012
Students of Mayan culture in South America have always known that the unique dating technology of the Mayans included a ―Long Count‖ calendar that ends on Dec. 21, of the year 2012. It is doubtful that the Mayans themselves thought that this end would bring great disasters. Mayan scholars think they just expected a new beginning. But later speculation, New Age teaching, and some prophecies have led to unrealistic claims about the destruction of the earth in 2010. Without scientific evidence, some have claimed that the magnetic poles of the earth will reverse at that time. This, of course, could cause unimaginable consequences, but we need much more scientific proof before believing this will happen. In 2009 Sony Pictures released ―2012,‖ a major movie, with a production budget of $150,000,000. In the movie, neutrinos from a massive solar flare cause the earth‘s core to overheat, triggering a catastrophic chain of natural disasters. Ironically, the movie chose to portray the survival of some 400,000 people aboard huge ―arks.‖ that could survive the cataclysm and allow the human race to start over. See the discussion of coronal mass eruptions in Chapter 13 – The Plot Thickens. Many New Age devotees see this date as the beginning of their ―golden age,‖ or ―the Age of Aquarius. A Google search returns millions of matches for a Google search of ―new age‖ and 2012. One site claims to channel a message from ―Master Quetzalcoatl‖ claiming that this date will mark the official return of the Christ / Imam Mahdi / Buddha Maitreya and other ascended masters. This interest in the year 2012 is a windfall for New Age authors, who have many different ideas about the importance of the coming date. See the discussion of New Age spirituality and the Age of Aquarius in Chapter 5 – Satan’s Final Empire: Global Governance and Religion. Bible students can agree that there are dreadful events ahead, but there is no logical or biblical connection between the prophesied disasters of the Tribulation and the imagined events of 2012.
Islamic Prophecies
Islam has a highly-developed belief in End Times events. To the surprise of many Christians, there are important correlations between their prophecies and our own biblical revelations. For example, they believe in an end-times battle between good and evil, and Jesus (Isa) will return to help Muslims overthrow the false messiah (Dajjal).5 But it must be remembered that Mohammed lived hundreds of years after Christianity had become a major influence in the world. He had access to the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) and the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). He and his later followers could borrow freely from these sources, changing things as necessary to predict a favorable outcome for Islam. Some Muslims claim that prophecies from the Qur‘an (Koran) and the Hadith have come to pass. Examples include the invention of the light bulb and the establishment of Israel, but on close examination they fail to be convincing.6 David Reagan, from lamblion.com lists 18 endtimes prophecies that are generally taught by Islam. They are mostly variations of biblical prophecies. In the Shiite branch of Islam there is a prophecy about a coming messiah. According to their history, ―The Twelfth Imam,‖ Muhammad al-Mahdi, was hidden by Allah until the end of time. They believe that he will return to save the world when it is in a state of chaos.7 See ―Nuclear Iran‖ in Chapter 7 – Historical Developments.
About the Name “Antichrist”
” It is common practice in today‘s end-times literature to identify an ―unholy trinity‖ of Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet. This evil trinity does exist in Revelation chapters 12 and 13. In chapter 12 the devil, or Satan, is symbolized by a red seven-headed dragon that persecutes Israel. In chapter 13 there are two other beasts. One of these is the second person of the ―unholy trinity.‖ He is a seven-headed beast from the sea. He receives his power from the dragon, and becomes a global military dictator. The other beast has two horns like a lamb, symbolizing his religious nature, but he speaks like a dragon. This third person of the ungodly threesome is called ―the false prophet‖ (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; and 20:10). In Revelation 16 the three entities are all mentioned together, but the name ―Antichrist‖ is not applied here or anywhere else to any of them. 13Then I saw three evilspirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. – Revelation 16:13-14 In his epistles, the Apostle John writes that there are already many antichrists. To him this word signifies deceivers who deny that Jesus is from God (1 John 2:18; 1 John 4:3 and 2 John 7). But in writing the Revelation, he does not use the word ―antichrist‖ at all. Instead, he uses the expression ―the beast‖ regularly from Revelation chapter 13 through 20. There are many other biblical names for ―the beast.‖ In Daniel 7:8 he is called another (eleventh) horn that speaks boastfully. In Daniel 9:26 he is referred to as ―the ruler who will come.‖ In Daniel 11:21 he is described as ―a contemptible person.‖ In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 the Apostle Paul labeled him ―the man of lawlessness,‖ and ―the lawless one.‖ And in Revelation 6:1-2 he is seen as the rider on the white horse. Everything considered, the person most prophecy writers call ―Antichrist‖ is ―the beast.‖ But from John‘s perspective ―the false prophet‖ would also be an antichrist. So, for the sake of accuracy, we have usually called this end-times dictator ―the Beast‖ in this book. In the next chapters we will consider biblical teaching about Israel and the Church. Unless we understand them we will not be able to make sense of the great prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled.
