The World Population Clock estimates that there are almost 8.2 billion souls on Earth. No doubt, it uses a simple algorithm weighing births against deaths and showing a net gain over time. But is that the end of it? Are things as simple as that? In his famous work, Paradise Lost, poet John Milton (1608-1614) wrote:
Millions of spiritual Creatures walk the Earth
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep:”
Of course, just because the famous muse penned this doesn’t mean that it is true. Yet, each of the two testaments in the Bible seems to suggest that there was more than a grain of truth to Milton’s comment.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Some of these “spiritual Creatures” are agents of God, others in league the devil, in what the Apostle Paul calls “active opposition” to God. Some spiritual creatures cannot lie, others cannot help but lie. As we watch the tense drama of an approaching election—one which promises to be a watershed event–there are bad actors, both “above and below” who are seeding our mortal minds regardless of our political affiliations with hate and fear, based largely on lies which often seed conspiracies and lead to felonies. Some people are willing participants in these lies. Others are nothing more than gullible victims. It can get ugly.
FALSE PROPHETS AMONG US
There are people among us who see themselves as prophets and who try to convince others that God speaks to them. I wrote a similar post years ago so the problem doesn’t seem to be going away.
Some false prophets tell us things we already know. Mass migration will continue to be a problem next year. Artificial Intelligence will play a bigger role in our lives. King Charles will be another year older. Russia will still be in Ukraine.
Other people claiming prophetic words may be simply intuitive (the Chicago Cubs will not be in the World Series. Nor will the Chicago Bears be in the Superbowl.)
Still others are more flattering (“I can tell you are above average in intelligence” or “It’s too bad more people don’t listen to your advice.”)
Some who claim to hear voices may be schizophrenic and the voices they hear come from the dark recesses of their troubled mind.[1] And no one is spared from mental health problems (clergy, included.)
Some “prophets” get carried away, perhaps through wishful thinking, such as those who predicted Donald Trump would win the Presidential election in 2021. We all know from the dozens of federal courts that got involved, the Republican governors and Secretaries of State who became involved and so on, that Donald Trump did not win. But some of his spiritual advisors might have kept this lie burning in Donald Trump’s soul for the past four years, though Trump now admits he lost. It seems that there is always someone late to dinner.
Other “prophets” come up with lame excuses to explain their error. Watch the first twenty seconds of this video. The speaker plainly says “Prophetic promises are not guaranteed.” Well, of course they are! That’s the purpose of it all. What kind of prophecy fails except for a false prophecy?
A few, to their credit, apologize and admit they were wrong. We seldom hear from them anymore, and perhaps we should not.
Then, occasionally, some prophet wins the lotto. But their utterances are not necessarily from God. The most famous prophecy in history came from the Oracle of Delphi[2] who said circa 550 BC: “If Croesus goes to war, he will destroy a great empire.”
προφητεία
Without going into a detailed word study on the Greek word προφητεία (prophéteia), you should know that prophecy has a dual meaning. It can mean to apply the Word of God to a specific situation. For example, when the prophet Nathan confronted King David about David’s adultery (much as John the Baptist confronted Herod Antipater about his), he was prophesizing in some sense. But the original and most common sense of the word is to tell in advance (pro) the mind of God, or foretelling of the future (i.e., before events happen. See Matt. 15:7;John 11:51;1 Pet. 1:10;Jude 14.) If you can’t get this right, then you clearly don’t have the gift of prophecy.
But in times like these, people want to know what the future brings. They need reassurance that dawn will follow this dark night. Thus, we have a “market” for people who claim they can prophesize,” and the Web gives the means to spread their error.
Some “prophecies” say that God says that Donald Trump is His “beloved.” In this case what Trump believes is what God believes as far as an agenda for the U.S. for the next-four-to-five years. Read a short comment from Donald Trump’s interview with Dr. Phil. Notice also how this “prophecy” equates Trump’s policies with the policies of God. In Trump’s interview with Dr. Phil (8/27/2024), the dialogue went as follows:
Well, God believes that, I guess. We’ll have to see. . .”
Speaking to media host Mark Levine several days after the Dr. Phil interview, Trump said “And I’d like to think that God thinks that I’m going to straighten out our country,” So whether any of this is true or not, Donald Trump believes he is on the side of the angels.
To people who believe this, they see the differences of opinion between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris as a holy battle between good vs evil. One program is good (those goals of Trump) which means that the alternatives and policy differences that Harris brings to the table are evil. Does God really have a political position on child care costs, cryptocurrency, work-from-home, electric vehicles, whether the House of Representatives should pass a clean resolution (or not) on funding the government through the end of the year? Certain we learn from Scripture and the ministry of the Holy Spirit that there are “core values” important to God which guide us through life. But there are not always easy solutions when we apply them. Certain passages in Scripture make us wrestle with our consciences. For example, one passage alone in Romans leads us to a fork in the road. St. Paul writes:
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:6-8
As I mentioned previously, one sense of the word “prophesy” is to apply the Word of God to a certain situation. And this might mean “tough love” for someone on the receiving end. In the same verse, another gift of the Spirit is mercy. So, when do we as mortals pronounce judgment and when are we bidden to be merciful? In World War II, Germans were reminded over and over that the Bible requires they obey their government (Romans 13:1ff.) But if my neighbor back then was a Jew and was hunted by the Gestapo, would I be sinning to show them mercy and hide them in my home? Thank God for those “free-thinkers: back then in the Church who chose mercy over law.
BACK TO THE THEME OF THIS POST
These contemporary “prophecies” I mention often conclude with a threat. If anyone opposes God’s appointed or anointed servant Donald Trump, there will be divine punishment. Ostensibly, then, anyone who criticizes Trump criticizes He who sent him. Anyone who campaigns against Trump strives against God. Even any vote for Harris would qualify someone as being in a state of rebellion.
Other “prophecies” today use contemporary political slang. Here, we are to believe that God uses words like “swamp” in reference to the federal bureaucracy. Or “Demo-rats” to identify Democrats. These people would have us believe that God uses the term RINO as well. I have trouble believing that God speaks like Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity.
Some “prophets” are very strident, using martial terms. Often the writer is careful to couch the terms as a spiritual struggle, much as Muslims would say that the term jihād in some secondary sense simply means “struggle.” Tell this to al-Qa‘ida, ISIS and Hamas.
These posts I mention convey a sense of real danger if something is not done. This “something” is either drastic, revolutionary, or utilitarian. The posts suggest that God would lead any future battle, but He needs our help. Words like “patriot” are apt to come up as well in these messages, and I doubt they are intended to apply to Adam Kinzinger, Mark Kelly, Tammy Duckworth, Liz Cheney, Tim Walz or Ted Lieu.
Probably more troubling than anything else is the tendency for some self-anointed prophets to elevate what they think they hear from God to the same level and granting it the same authority as Scripture! Maybe they think “God told this to David and we call that Scripture and God told this to Timothy and we call that Scripture, so why is what He told me any different?” That is chilling. Remember, that many people who believe God talks to them are locked away in asylums. This is because they believe God tells them to do violent things, like murder prostitutes, maybe kidnap children or such. They are too dangerous to turn loose in the streets.
St John tells us in the fourth chapter of his first letter:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
Don’t automatically believe every dream you have, or what you read on the Web, or what your neighbor with a blue Harris yard sign or your other neighbor with a red baseball cap says. Find out the facts for yourself, pray with an open mind and an open heart about how you should behave in times like these.
Don’t let anyone or any teaching or prophecy lead you into bondage. You are still a Christian if you go to a Trump rally, and you will not go to Hell if you vote for Harris this November. Just whatever you do, let it be done in humility and thankfulness for your salvation, remember (as God does) that we are mortals (Psalm 103:14) just trying to do the right thing. And remember the words of Pau:l “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” II Corinthians 3:17.
[1] I had a student a long time ago who told me that whenever she stuck her head in a certain clothes drier in her dormitory, she would hear voices.
This is where the Oracle of Delphi lived (in better days.) Photo credit: Tamas (Adobe)
[2] I have a healthy respect for the ability of at least one oracle of Delphi. And actually, Delphi had a resident oracle for the better part of two centuries, so there was a string of oracles, some likely closer to the mark than others. According to Greek mythology, the Greek god Apollo had a grudge again a huge python capable of prophesy, and he strangled it and threw it to the ground where it fell through a crack in the earth, and laid there decomposing for many centuries. It was over this crack or crevice that a Temple to Apollo was build. When the resident oracle wanted to prophesize, she would squat on a device (a tripod) over the crack and inhale the fumes of the decaying serpent. This is why when in Acts 16: 16-18 as Timothy, Paul and Silas were walking through the marketplace in a city called Thyatira one day and a young woman confronted them with prophetic exclamations, Luke says she had a spirit of a python. In other words, she got her inspiration from the same source as the Oracle of Delphi did. The information in this case was true, but not from God. Plus, the verb tenses in the passage open to door to the possibility that the slave woman was actually a pest, following them around the city, shouting and interrupting their conversations.
