Edition 393: November 28^th 2017.

Prophetic Pitfalls and Promises:

Introduction:

From the mouth of God to the heart of man!

The problems come along in that transfer from God to man. God is not confused, and if we hear His voice correctly, we will transfer it to our hearts correctly and also to others.

There is absolutely no chance that the devil will not try to interfere with and confuse Bible prophecy in these days of his fast approaching demise, or, for that matter, your own growth in Messiah.

Bible prophecy can be the most exciting, nourishing and encouraging thing ever, but it can also be a mine field if the laws are not applied correctly.

In fact, in these days if you ignore Bible prophecy, or are ignorant of it, you are like a ship without a rudder, in a huge approaching storm, with rocks ahead.

Simple rules in dealing with Bible prophecy:

●Know your Bible backwards. ●No novices allowed in prophetic ministries. ●Keep things in dispensational context. ●Don’t try to make it say what you want it too. ●If the simple face-value meaning makes sense, seek no other. ●Prophecy will not contradict other verses or doctrine. ●Keep Israel in its biblical place. ●God’s word only comes to life for the humble, broken and cross-bearing seekers. ●Know the enemy well, his tactics, and ways, and stand solidly against him. ●Know the news and what’s going on especially in the Middle East. ●Know the failed predictions and why they failed. ●Immediately reject anyone who says “God told me, it’s 100% for sure,” and the like, when their predictions fail. ●Be careful of receiving prophetic interpretation from people who always get duped!

The prophet’s test:

There are numerous verses dealing with this, which I’ve dealt with many times, but here is another amazing truth.

The test of the modern prophet or watchman is accuracy. How many things has he said that came to pass? How many failed predictions has he been responsible for?

1 Samuel 3:19 “So, Samuel grew and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground!  And all Israel knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.”

The verse above is truly profound and so relevant for today! Samuel was establish and recognised as a prophet because his words came to pass!!!!! Do you see how this verse applies to today? He had no failed prophecies because the Lord was in them! If they fail – the Lord is not in them!

Another sure test of a prophet / watchman is seen in how accurately he deals with the word of God. Does he twist or incorrectly apply it?

Here is a serious warning:

2 Peter 3:16 “Paul has written to you in the epistles of these things. Some are hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the scriptures.”

The danger of “confirmations:”

God often gives confirmation of His word – not always! Bear in mind that Satan also gives confirmation of a false word or prophecy to hoodwink believers.

Be careful of putting undue emphasis on confirmations, but don’t reject them all.

The message of 1Kings 22:5-13 is incredible indeed: Jehoshaphat inquired of the prophets of Baal if he should go to battle. Four hundred of them said – yes. But he had a check in his heart so he called on the prophet of God – one man, who said no!

Satan’s four hundred were a powerful confirmation, but all wrong! One man, God’s man, was right!

The number of deceived confirmations in agreement with you matters nothing. Learn that lesson fast! Do not follow the masses. A general rule of thumb is that the masses are wrong.

The greatest confirmation is the still small voice in your heart, as long as it lines up with the word. Being led by “confirmations” will get you into trouble.

Very often, people who seek confirmations are manipulators.

But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater! Godly confirmations are of God!

Some pitfalls:

False prophecy or failed predictions create doubt, discouragement and then disinterest in the subject. They destroy hope and turn people off.  When your guard is down you are in danger. For this very reason, failed rapture predictions endanger many, especially new believers.

On the positive side of things, failed rapture predictions and prophecies identify who to beware of, and warn you not to trust them.

Extra biblical sources may have some validity sometimes, but be very careful. I can’t tell you how many times I heard teachers say that the constellation alignment of the computer program, Stellarium, was in the Bible. It was not!

It was presented as a “great sign” found in the Bible! It was a great lie. I’m not saying there was no constellation alignment; I’m saying there was no prophetic significance or connection at all.

Prophesy is not presumption!

Often great weight or emphasis is placed on non-Bible sources or extra-biblical signs.

Christian “prophets” with a YouTube ministry (and others) convince the gullible, time and time again to receive and follow their good-sounding errors.

The “God told me”, brigade and “its 100% for sure,” crowd were all 100% wrong and caused great confusion, discouragement and a host of problems for the body of Messiah.

I believe in a soon-coming pre-tribulation rapture. I will always watch for the signs of it coming, but I will also always watch for the word of the devil thrown in to the mix.

What for me has become infuriating is all the many, numerous date sets for Nibiru / Planet X to strike and destroy the earth. Again, it is all deception, and dangerous delusion, in this case, carrying a curse to its believers.

Here is one of the verses used by these deceived Nibiru deceivers:

Numbers 24:17 “I see Him, (Messiah), but not now: I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of the tumult. Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. Out of Jacob, One shall have dominion, and destroy the remains of the city.”

This in no way speaks of Nibiru / Planet X striking the earth. It speaks of our Messiah, Yeshua arising out of the Jewish people! Talk about getting it wrong!

If you lay two railway lines and they are not parallel, further down the line the separation will grow wider and wider. You need to go back to the start and get it right there.

Many giant delusions throughout church history have been built on one flawed doctrine or verse application after another, making the foundation flawed - and anything built upon it.

Lions, white horses, a donkey, a sword and a bow:

Deception is one of the major characteristics of the end-times, of which the Bible warns repeatedly.

Satan is referred to as a “lion seeking whom he may devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) Our Lord is referred to as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah, coming to devour and destroy” the world in the tribulation period. (Revelation 5:5) Both of these lions, eternally different, come to devour!

The Bible speaks of two white horses charging onto the world stage in the end-times. You don’t want to get these two mixed up!

Revelation 6:2 “I looked and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”

In the verse above we see Satan (antichrist) riding onto the stage with a bow but no arrow. That’s the giveaway! He is a deceiver. His main end-time power lies in deception. He will get the masses to receive him. “He deceives the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9)

Now, we come to the true white horse rider. But firstly, He comes to Jerusalem on a donkey. The donkey is a type of the cross. It’s the donkey before the white horse. The white horse rider, who is the antichrist, has no donkey experience. He has no cross and no salvation. He only has deception as his weapon.

Now, well after the events of the cross, we see our Lord flying out of heaven at the Second Coming to complete the job.

Revelation 19:11 “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and Him who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.”

By the way, the worldwide spread of the gospel is also seen as a white horse.

The powers of light and dark:

2 Corinthians 11:14 “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light...”

Satan is a deceiver. His “light” is in fact dark light. It is spiritual darkness masquerading as light. It is “light” without truth!

So we have a white horse rider with no cross, and light without truth for the end-time drama.

Romans 1:20-21 “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things nature has made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse...They did not glorify Him as God...and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

People in darkness fall over obstacles because they can’t be seen! In spiritual darkness you can’t even see the deceptions that you are falling over!

Bear in mind that God never annoints error and those peddling biblical errors. - Never!

Revelation 13:13 “He (Satan) performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast...” Behold, I have told you before.

It is people in the dark that have no truth or understanding of it. In spiritual darkness, you will accept the devil and his ways. It will look and sound reasonable and right.

John 8:43-44 “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desire of your father you want to do...There is no truth in him.”

Tragically, most people of the unsaved world love the darkness, because they love evil, which is the fruit of Satan’s darkness.

John 3:19-20 “This is the condemnation, that light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Everyone practising evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.”

John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

Truth stands forever:

Today, the thoughts, aspirations and dictates of modern man are a growing satanic onslaught on the church. Many churches are even supporting it. Because their error has a white-washed veneer of truth, they legitimise it all.

In the next edition I will share with you some amazing things about the fast growing globalist agenda and its concerted attacks on truth.

I often go back and re-read old books that I read in the 70s and 80s. Some like the books of Charles Finney were written 250 years ago. Some like Watchman Nee’s “Love Not the World” and others of AW Tozer and Derek Prince were written many decades ago and yet they are more appropriate for today than ever before! The truths they contain cut deeply, but also nourish and encourage.

The world is dark and getting darker fast. Many are lost and stumbling around looking for truth.

The Bible will be forever true. Man’s Spirit-less presumptions and assumptions are variable!

Do not trust what the modern world has to say. Do not trust what much (not all) of the modern church has to say. Do not even trust yourself to run your life.

Proverbs 28:26 “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks in (godly) wisdom will be delivered.”

Jeremiah 17:5-9 “Cursed is the man who trusts in man...The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind...”

Jeremiah 10:2 “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them.”

Recent prophetic pitfalls:

Joel 2:30-32 “I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord...For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance...”

So what are these signs in the sky and when do they appear?

The verses above reveal clearly that they are signs relating to Israel, Jerusalem and the end of the tribulation period. The next few verses continue the same theme:

Joel 3:15-16 “The sun and moon and will grow dark and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake. The Lord will be a shelter for His people and the strength of the children of Israel.”

Do you see what the sign is? It is the sun, moon and stars growing dark before the Second Advent. And that word “before” does not mean now in the church age! It is not natural occurrences of constellation alignments!

Now let’s have a look at a prophetic abomination:

Isaiah 66:8-10 “Who has heard of such a thing? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children...Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all you who love her.”

The above verse is one of the central, key verses used by the Revelation 12 signers to “prove” that the church is this child, to be born again in the future, in one day – the rapture! This is perhaps the worst bit of exegesis I have ever encountered.

The parallel verses destroy their doctrine! Here it is:

Isaiah 26:17-18 “As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we (Israel) been in Your sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have as it were, brought forth wind; we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.”

Please note that if this is a reference to the church, it is in fact saying that the church has been a failure. No sir- it is applying to Israel, the nation born in a day. She has been a failure in not recognising her Messiah and taking that good news to the world. But we know that Israel will soon see her Messiah and be saved, as indicated in the rest of these verses and in numerous others.

But, please note that these great errors all have consequences for Israel and the Jews and their coming salvation.

Don’t tell a Jew that Isaiah 66:8 does not refer to the birth of Israel as a nation! In fact this verse and other parallel verses refer to the coming salvation of the Jews as well.

●April 2018 sees the 70-year celebrations of Israel’s birth in a day. Spectacular celebrations are being planned, centred around that verse!

The great tragedy is that many Christians, including some of you reading this now have slapped Israel in the face. You have said these verses are not for Israel they are speaking of the coming “new birth” of the church. – Garbage!

Don’t mess with or change the term “new-birth.” There are many verses that you have to change if you do.

You have interfered with the birth of Israel as a nation and their coming birth and salvation. You have not repented. You have set yourselves up to fall into the pitfall of more prophetic errors.

You are developing a most dangerous new form of replacement theology, knowingly or not.

The purpose of prophecy:

●It is to reveal Messiah and His plans, purposes and will.

●It is to shed light on the road ahead for the church, Israel, and the Jews.

●It is to shed light on the attacks and obstacles.

●It is to present grave warnings to all concerned.

●It is to light the path ahead, where to go and where not to go, and grow well and truly.

You know the adage: “You can’t keep a good man down!” Well, that is true for all Bible prophecy. So you might as well just yield to it!

Safety today:

It’s actually very easy to put together a few verses of scripture and make them say what you want them to, while they are not saying that at all and get others to follow you.

There are certain Christians who are immune to falling for false prophecies and big errors. It is those in tune with the Spirit of God!  Deception, especially from within the church doesn’t come from people deliberately trying to deceive. It is that they are themselves deceived in the first place.

In the middle of all the turmoil stands the truth and the true believer rooted securely in a godly foundation, like a pillar in the temple and like a bright light on a dark hill.

I wish I could stress just how important it is in these days specifically to know your Bible backwards and to have a humble heart in the fear of God.

Here is one of the great prophetic promises for you:

2 Peter 1:19 (Amp) “We have the prophetic word made firmer still. Pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal, squalid, dark place, until the day breaks through the gloom and the Morning Star arises in your hearts.”

Finally

There are always two main ingredients to growth in Messiah. It is your heart - soft and broken before God. And it is your head – full of the knowledge of God.

Brokenness is a powerful thing. It let’s God’s light and truth in. You must not be soft and broken before the devil. You must keep his dark light out!

John 14:29 “Now, I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”

Matthew 24:25 “See I have told you beforehand.” (Warnings about false prophets)

●If you are with our Lord you will be gathering with Him and His church, if not you are a counterfeit and your main fruit is scattering and causing division.

I took the background picture in the “Wolwedans” (dancing wolves) area of the Namib Desert and inserted the highly endangered Black Rhino painting done by yours truly (my old style.) If you would like to see more pictures of this incredible area and the beautiful game lodge, click HERE

Shalom and grow in His Grace!