Who Is Prophesying Unto Your Life?

The mention of Rapture often sends shivers down the spine of many Christians. But I think its related names ---Apocalypse, End time, Last Judgement and Armageddon evoke more fear. When I was a kid I dreaded the word Armageddon. I don’t know what’s in that name, it sounds too frightening.

Anyway, I thought I was the only one but a friend told me he used to have similar phobia. His was Last Judgement.

“I used to be upset anytime I heard Last Judgment,” he said.

It’s like waiting for one’s HIV test result or DNA of your kids. Indeed, end time predictions have been of old. But perhaps to say they’ve been driving many believers to nut is an understatement.

Like before those seeking prophetic answers haven’t stopped and those prophesying wouldn’t stop either, as long as their services continue to attract huge numbers and interests. I’m not a preacher you already know that. I don’t preach to the choir or the congregation you’re aware of that too. That gives you the sense that I have no sheep on my own. And I tender no flocks.

Rather I help to propagate the good news given by the preachers, teachers, pastors and evangelists to their flocks. The Bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge. Of course we need His word to live, but some prophets are using the same word as a sword to kill the sheep per their predictions.

So just like any other caring person I inform the flocks to be warry when they are out there. I help them to know what to expect when they’re in the wilderness pasturing or looking for their daily bread. And I also try to allay the fear being preached to them across the world today.

Over the weekend a pastor in Ghana weighed into the subject. Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams had a piece of advice for the world especially Christians. He literally told them something like this:

Why open your doors to any prophets to speak unto your lives? Why are you desperate looking for times and seasons for the rapture when the Son of Man himself says he’s no idea except the father? Why find solutions when there are no problems to begin with? Why are you running like a camel on heat in the desert ---chasing prophets for answers they don’t have?

“Don’t allow people to confuse you with their ‘Shebrew’ (sounding witty), Hebrew and Latin. Don’t allow any prophet to prophesy unto you and tell you that you will make it or not make it. That prophet/prophetess may or may not make it himself so don’t let anybody fool you,” he charged.

The tough talking pastor used his pulpit to drill down the message to a large congregation at the Charismatic Action Chapel International Ministry in Accra. The Founder and Overseer of the mega Church advised Christians never to allow prophets to prophesy unto their lives on whether they will make it or not during rapture.

He was speaking about the Second Coming of Christ also known as the Rapture.

The Bishop warned the congregation to be wary of the prophets who give their own interpretations of the rapture. “You are going to meet lots of teachers, prophets, evangelists and archbishops who will give you their own view of the rapture and the second coming.”

According to him Christians can be deceived: “I don’t care how long you have been a born again you can be deceived and Satan can fool you.”

So what is Rapture?
In Christian eschatology the Rapture refers to the predicted and end time event when all Christians, believers—living and dead—will rise into the sky and join Christ for eternity.

There’d been predictions and claims in the past and now--- for the Second Coming of Christ. And there are some predictions given by notable groups or individuals, including Pope Sylvester II of when Jesus was or is expected to return.

As far back as AD 66-70 the Essene sect of Jewish ascetics saw the Jewish revolt against the Romans in Judea as the final end-time battle before the arrival of the Messiah. The claim was made by Simon Bar Giora.

Also a French Bishop Hilary of Poitiers announced that the world would end in AD 365 or before AD 400. Hilary wrote: “There’s no doubt that the Antichrist has already been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will after reaching maturity achieve supreme power.” His claim was backed by another French Martin of Tour.

In 1370 Jean Roquetaillade made this claim: The Antichrist was predicted in 1366 and the millennium would begin in 1368 or 1370. Ove five hundred years on, we are still live.

Harold Camping an American preacher on May 21 2011 claimed the rapture or the end time would occur followed by the end of the world on October 21 of the same year. Camping wrote ‘Adam when?’ and claimed the Biblical calendar meshes with the secular and is accurate from 110o13 BC-2011 AD. But that never happened.

On September 28 2015, there was yet another prediction. This one by Mark Bilz who began teaching that Christ’s return would correspond with the September 28, 2015 lunar eclipse. Thank Goodness s we are still here.

So now you know this rapture thing just didn’t start today. There’d been many signs. There’d been wars, there’d been floods, there’d been famine, and there’d been wild fires. There’d been killer diseases like the bubonic plague (aka the black disease) which almost wiped the entire population of Europe. Indeed the world had seen worse things before.

And humanity has lived with prophesies for ages. We have had prophets prophesied in our lives both in a good or bad way.

Let’s have a quick look at the following two biblical examples where prophets prophesied unto the lives of some individuals:

“As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army. Every man to his town: Every man to his land,” (1 king 22: 36). Ahab had been killed the king of Israel is dead. And the people ran helter skelter. His death followed a prophecy given by Prophet Micaiah.

Micaiah had told King Ahab that he would die in a battle against his enemies Ramoth Gilead, The prophecy was made after nearly four hundred prophets of the king had said he would be victorious. But Ahab’s brother Jehoshaphat king of Judah asked: “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”

Did you catch that line neighbour? Who are you seeing, the Lord’s prophet or the self-styled prophet?

So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—numbering about 400 and asked them: “shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?’

“Go they answered, for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

Ahab died in the war. He couldn’t make it back home. Remember 400 prophets prophesied that he would return home as a victor.

“You’re going to meet lots of teachers, prophets, evangelists and Archbishops who will give you their own view of the rapture and the second coming, “said Duncan-Williams.

Another prophecy is told in the Old Testament. The Shunamite woman in the Bible had a prophecy from Prophet Elisha (2 kings 4:8) “At this season about this time next year you shall embrace a son.”

“No my Lord, O man of God do not lie to your servant,” the woman said.

But she conceived and bore a son about that time the following spring as Elisha had said that she would have a child after many years of being barren and she did have a child.

Keep in mind no one knows the date for the Rapture or the End time except the God.