"The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading."
Lamentations 2:14 NIV
I think most people would agree that 2020 was a very unusual year. We had barely gotten into the second month and we were dealing with 'the virus'. Then we had the election season which was propbably one of the most, if not the most, emotionally charged ever and the stakes were higher than in any past elections.
One of the things we had were the prophets and those who had dreams which were broadcast on the internet. The general message was the same. God had decreed that Donald Trump would be president for 2 terms and in January he, not Joe Biden, would be inaugurated. Many people were hanging on to the words of these prophets as if their decrees were on the same level as the inerrant Scriptures.
Well we know what happened. On the morning of January 20, we watched as President Trump and his wife, Melania, left the white house to board Marine 1 for the last time. Then he made some brief remarks before boarding Air Force 1 for his final flight.
Many are still believing that something dramatic is going to happen on March 4. Perhaps something will. But there are some interesting things that were pointed out about the prophecies that I believe we should consider.
The prophetic words reminded me of the situation described in 1 Kings 22 where about 400 prophets were making these bold proclamations that the kings of Israel and Judah should go to war against Syria. One of them had even forged horns made out of iron to use as a visual prop:
"...This is what the Lord says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.' "
Only the prophet Micaiah said anything contrary. Interestingly in verse 7 of the same chapter King Jehoshaphat asked if there was a 'prophet of the Lord' they could inquire of. It seems that he and Ahab knew that these 400 prophets were not true prophets. Ahab said in verse 8 that there was indeed a prophet of the Lord but he never said anything good about him.
It brings to mind the words the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:3:
"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."
2 Timothy 4:3 NIV
Because there were so many of these 'prophets' saying virually the same thing, many took it as confirmation. But was it actually that they were all 'speaking as one man' as described in 1 Kings 22:13?
One interesting thing is that none of these prophets said anything about our national sins; the fact that we have rejected God, sanctioned the murder of unborn babies, normalized same-sex relationships, and transgenderism, to name a few. I was shocked to find out that it has become 'trendy' for young people in the public schools to describe themselves as bi-sexual. Are parents aware of this or are they simply burying their heads in the sand? Our universities have become indoctrination systems for virtually any form of immorality you can imagine. Yet parents keep sending their kids (and money) to these universities.
I believe it was Billy Graham who said that if God withholds judgment on the United States of America he will have some explaining to do regarding Sodom and Gommorah. It is indisputable that our country is ripe for judgment, and those who profess to be followers of Christ have, for the most part, been completely irrelevant.
If God has decided to judge The United States at this time, the only thing we can honestly say is that he has been VERY patient with us.
The internet prophets didn't mention any of that. "They did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity." (Lam. 2:14)
An interesting sidebar that was brought up at a recent meeting at our church is that there were apparently no prophecies warning us about COVID-19. Even in our body we had great visions about what we believed the Lord was going to accomplish through us in 2020. By mid-March those plans were tabled.
Where were the prophets then? Were they simply telling us what our 'itching ears wanted to hear?
Now we need to be fair:
Some of these prophets have apologized and admitted they got it wrong. They are to be commended for that.
I have also heard that some have said they should not apologize because they were right; Donald Trump DID win re-election. But that the election was stolen because of fraud. Here are a few problems with that:
1. That makes it a 'misleading' prophecy. The implication of winning meant continuing as our president for a second term. The prophecies never said he would ultimately lose because the opposition stole the election.
2. We don't actually know if he won or not. There is ample evidence of fraud in this past election, but we don't know what the actual legitimate vote count was. Even if we were to make a VERY educated guess, it is still unknown.
3. The majority of these prophets weren't simply saying President Trump would win, they were emphatically saying that he would be inaugurated on January 20. Even when some wondered if the prophecies didn't necessarily mean two consecutive terms, many dug in with their predictions.
What do we do now?
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV
There's no commentary needed on this verse. I would also add what Paul said in verse 5 of 2 Timothy 4:
"But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."
Regardless of who wins elections or what happenes in our country, we need to be about our Father's business.
Test the spirits; don't be blown about by every wind of doctrine. Be as the Bereans in Act 17:11 and search the scriptures daily. Don't discount prophetic words but weigh carefully what prophets say. (1 Corinthians 14:29)
May God truly bless all of you and may He heal our land.
