Popular Bible prophecy circuit watchmen individually do have interesting insights when they stay in their own area of expertise. However, they invariably pile on with material coming from other prophecy circuit watchmen that frequent the same Bible prophecy circuits. Thus, they often lose credibility because of piled on sensationalism.
By piling on, they may create a more sensational video program, seminar, or book for those looking for sensationalism, but I think they often lose serious Bible scholars. Bible scholars do not give much credence to Bible prophecy circuit teachers because they cannot believe some things that are being said. The more prophecy circuit teachers pile on with teaching of others on the circuit the more that becomes likely.
For example, one prophecy circuit watchman has done a lot of research on the Nephilim and he has extremely interesting views about that topic and what it could mean for the future. If he stayed on this topic I would have no problem with his teaching. However, he piles on by claiming that current storms, earthquakes and every troubling event on earth is a sign of the end. He even suggests that potential future disasters (like an eruption at Yellowstone or a massive Californian earthquake) supports his view that we are at the end of the age. If that is not enough, he piles on the blood moons and the Shemitah year nonsense as even more proof that the fallen angels and neo-Nephilim will reveal themselves to the world any second now.
This example of piling on by prophecy watchmen of the prophecy circuit seen on media and seminars is not the exception it seems to be the rule.
Maybe this happens because they want to get invited to each others programs, forums and Bible prophecy conferences. How better than to pile on their own material with the conjectures of those traveling the same prophecy circuit? I think some also do it to make their material more sensational. Sensationalism obviously sells.
Some even contradict their own teaching by their piling on the conjures of others doing the same prophecy circuit but they do not acknowledge it.
For example, some of these teachers will correctly say that modern-day Israel is not now practicing Judaism. (That is true, most in Israel believe in nothing. Even most so-called Jews practicing religion are following the Babylonian Talmud not the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus railed against these blind rabbinic shepherds.) Even so, these Bible prophecy watchmen pile on with conjectures from other prophecy circuit watchmen that claim that unbelieving Israel is the apple of God’s eye and is being restored right now. True Jews are Hebrew believers. Having an arbitrary percentage of Hebrew blood does not qualify anyone as being one of the children of he promise.
If God did not have plans for Israel in these last days, He certainly would cast these unbelievers out of Abraham’s promised land again. Contrary to what some are teaching, Israel is still under the curse. There can be no Jewish religion without sacrifices and a Temple. And sacrifices will not be acceptable to God without God’s chosen high priest. He was cut off from Israel around 33 AD.
Jesus made it clear that God will not bless Israel again until they accept Him as their Messiah. Daniel explains that 70 weeks of years are determined for Israel to fulfill its transgressions. A study of this prophecy shows that there are seven years still remaining for Israel to fulfill. Those in Israel are not now fulfilling end time prophecy. The final seven years where God deals with Israel again starts with the Antichrist signing of the seven-year covenant. We now are in the period of grace to the Gentiles. God is not restoring Israel. More likely Satan through the world system he controls is being allowed to bring all calling themselves Jews back to the Land because God knows that Satan will attempt to destroy them there. God will use the tribulation fire coming to refine true Jews. (Many calling themselves Jews are Satanic plants. They are the Tares that Jesus talked about.)
Once the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, the last seven years of chastisement takes place on those in the Land that dare to restart and practice the religion of Judaism in Jerusalem without God’s chosen High Priest being present.
The prophetic time clock for Israel stopped when Jesus was cut off and it will not be started again until the Antichrist confirms the covenant for seven years. This is the covenant of death with the wicked Shepard that will not spare the flock. Israel will not be restored until they accept the Messiah that God sent them. That does not occur until the end of the 70th week of years.
God foreknew that Jews would come back to their land but this return and their present prosperity is not happening for a blessing. They are still under the curse. Those living in Israel are just as blind as other non believers in the world. The remnant true Jews will hear the two prophets of God, believe, and be refined through the fire of Jacob’s trouble. All others in the Land will be cut off (Zec 13:9).
Those claiming to be Messianic Jews are no longer Jews and if they are Jews they are not Christians. Yet, on the Bible prophecy circuit so-called messianic Jews are almost worshiped. They are put on a higher level than other Christian teachers even though some teach some very foolish stuff that comes from proof-texting and crazy exegesis. Some of these even claim to get direct revelation from God.
Bible prophecy circuit watchmen that claim to have understanding about eschatology often pile on with conjectures from false teachers and false prophets. Why would God give Jubilees, Shemitahs, blood moon signs, etc. and start birth pains when the woman called Israel is spiritually dead and rejects the King that will bring in the Kingdom? The leaders of Israel said that they have no king but Caesar and they still display nothing else.
Non Christians in Israel do not know God. They might know something about God because of the scriptures but they do not intimately know Him through Jesus Christ. And those that think that God is dealing with Gentile nations in the same way that He does with His covenant people have ludicrous theology (even if they want to be called Messianic Christians and Rabbis). Yet, some prophecy circuit watchmen that often have good insights of their own just pile on this false paradigm.
You will never get a critical review of the theories and conjectures of those that make the Bible Prophecy circuits from those teachers that make the Bible prophecy watchmen circuit. You have to go outside of their peer group to hear any criticism of their conjectures.
When I criticized The Harbinger nonsense. I had at least two fairly well-known names in the Bible prophecy circuit take down their link to my site. I wrote a number of emails explaining why I opposed the book but it was to no avail. One hosting the prophecy circuit said we needed to part ways because that person believed what Cahn taught in The Harbinger and I did not. Do Christians always agree on everything? It seems that some will shun you if you do not believe everything said by teachers on their prophecy circuit. Was Cahn’s writings in that book or his following book ever proven correct? I think not.
The reality is more that this person wanted the exposure that Cahn and his crony’s would bring. You see, the person that wrote The Harbinger nonsense was written by a so-called Messianic Jew, and this person hosting Cahn is also a so-called Messianic Jew. I suppose, since he was a so-called Messianic Jew, suggestions of direct revelation from God also become believable to Cahn’s followers. And any of us criticizing Cahn’s terrible exegesis and silly conjectures and fabrications were opposing God’s Messianic Jewish prophet to America!
Another thing, is that they will never ever admit that they were wrong. Cahn is still selling one nonsense book right after the other as do some others on the prophecy circuit. Even after they are proven wrong their new books keep piling on each others sites because scratching itching ears with sensationalism sells.
You cannot get these prophecy circuit people to police themselves either. For example, the late J.R. Church had a book that claimed that the first one hundred psalms were also prophetic about each year of the 20th century in America. It was total nonsense, but the book was still selling on some prophecy circuits less than a decade ago. The Bible Code nonsense of yesteryear was debunked by Hebrew text and statistic scholars, but some were still selling the theory on the Bible prophecy circuits decades after it was debunked. That happened because some on the prophecy circuit bought into The Bible Codes and they included this stuff in their own books. It seems that selling old books is more important than not selling them anymore or writing a revision.
Those that claimed the end would come by 1988, 2000, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, etc, will still be teaching on the Bible Prophecy circuits as long as they can talk. Unbiblical speculations are how they make a living. Few in the post modern world will hold them accountable for their past false teaching. The more popular a contemporary prophecy circuit person is, the more that peers include their material into their own teachings and conjectures.
While I am on the topic of Bible prophecy watchmen (hopefully for about the last time). I will add that all of the weekly Bible prophecy updates that you find on the media have almost nothing to do with Bible prophecy.
They should call their programs something like, “Weekly news updates and future conjectures from a Dispensational Theology Christian worldview” because that is what they are. I actually do like hearing news from this Christian perceptive. However, there is very little Bible prophecy updating going on because contrary to what these prophecy watchmen say, Bible prophecy is not being fulfilled each week in the news headlines.
There may be some stage setting but we really cannot be sure about moveable props. Things can change quickly in the world. In fact, all future Bible prophecy can be fulfilled between the opening of the first seal and the second coming without much stage setting occurring at all. Keep in mind, that we really do not know that everything between the opening of the first seal in Revelation and the coming of Jesus to rule, occurs within just a seven-year period. There really is little foundation for that belief. It is more likely that it will be a longer period than seven years.
No credible Bible prophecy teacher can claim that they know with any certainty that the Ezekiel 38 39 war, the Psalm 83 prayer, the Isaiah 17 destruction of Damascus, etc, occurs before the opening of the first seal. And until that first seal is opened, Bible prophecy updates almost always lack any actual fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
Anyway, that is my Bible prophecy update about media teachers doing the Bible prophecy circuit.
I’m in agreement with everything you’ve stated. Although these prophecy circuit preachers are mostly wrong and do sensationalize just about everything they write and talk about, there seems to be some entertainment quality to it all. That’s the draw for those with itching ears. Tabloid magazines comes to mind.
But, on a serious note, I’ve often thought that Jesus being about 33 yrs of age when he left the Earth, and the fact that 7 yrs are needed to complete Daniel’s Prophecy, that when He returns to collect the bride,(the rapture) the clock would restart. That does not mean it has to occur exactly 7 yrs before the end of the tribulation necessarily.But more importantly, that when he sets foot on earth to begin his reign, he should be about 40 Earth yrs old by that time. He could spend some time, in different realm’s, but 7yrs in the vicinity of Earth itself.Reason being, is that to be king of Israel, that person had to be at least 40 yrs old, and King Solomon, as well as King David also began their reigns at that age. Even though David was ruling over only the southern Kingdom 3 years earlier, he began rule over a united Kingdom at 40. This is only some of my own conjecture based on historical events, and future prophetic events.
Good insights. As I suggested in the article, I do not think the time between the opening of the the first seal and the return of Christ as King will be limited to just 7 years. As Jacob Prasch suggests the Rapture could at the sixth seal. Thus, if the 6th seal marks the beginning of the seven years that are left for Israel the Rapture could also occur exactly seven years before the second coming. It is impossible to be dogmatic about these things.
I think what you said about the age of David is very interesting. It could work out that way.
Don, thank you for your article. I’m hoping you can help me understand something. How can it be that so many (like yourself) who seemingly seek after the Lord and His truths, who prayerfully study prophecy and scripture, who genuinely believe in Christ and have the Holy Spirit, come to completely different conclusions.
There is another watchman who I had discovered about a year ago. You may be familiar with him, Daniel Valles. Based on observable evidence, I have never heard a more sincere believer/teacher… and he is so loving toward others. Yet it appears that he’s errored on his projections and timelines, and some of his teachings, while rooted in Bible, seem to be a little out there (he references calendars alot and, lately, planets/stars). His findings certainly contrast with yours. You definitely get a sense of urgency in his message. It is clear that he sincerely anticipates the coming of the Lord at any moment (to be clear, I’m not implying that you don’t.) He believes it to the degree that he leaves a fresh basket of snacks out with a detailed packet of information in it for those who have been left behind and would need comfort (what a sincere display of Christian love for others!) His ministry is intense, providing new, detailed information almost daily, without advertisements or requests for money or products to sell. It appears as though, like you, he does it out of genuine love and obedience to the Lord to teach others.
So here’s the question… if he is genuine, and you are genuine, (and let’s assume others like Cahn are genuine) and true followers of Christ, but you are not unified in your understanding of scripture, then this would lead me to only two possible conclusions: 1. The Holy Spirit communicates contrasting, sometimes erroneous messages into the hearts of believers, which is, of course, impossible; or 2. None of us can be sure of our salvation or our standing with the Lord because if we were believers, we would have unity with each other. We may think we are believers but, the Spirit would speak truth into our hearts and we would have unity. The Spirit would not speak error into hearts of those who seek Him and His truth. Here are just a few verses that support a unified spirit…
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:4-6)
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (I Cor 1:10)
That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21)
I am a perfect example of one who believes in Christ, who truly wants to follow Him, who desires understanding, who prayerfully seeks His truth daily, who studies, prays, and pleads for understanding and for peace when there is no clarity. Yet I struggle with basic areas like salvation (election, calvanism, loss of, etc)….fulfilled prophecy…church, Bible inerrancy, etc. To understand and agree with other believers on future prophecy seems impossible. But it shouldn’t be if we are led by the Holy Spirit.
It ties in with the problems we are all having with finding a church that teaches truth. The easy out is, “well, this person has an area of unconfessed sin,” or “they were influenced or deceived by Satan because they’re not walking closely enough with God.” But for those of us who are truly seeking Him, would He give us a rock or a serpent? Of course not. Wouldn’t he reveal His truth to His true followers?
(Sorry for the long post….again)
Julie,
I’m sorry to have to break this to you, but the difference between Don and this Valles guy is, Don is a theologian. Daniel Valles is a false teacher. He is prone to so much unbiblical teaching, date settings, and more, I find it extremely difficult to believe you can’t tell the differences. Not only that, but the guy is teaching the Earth is flat. No, really, he is! Here is the description for one of his YouTube series on that subject:
” This is an intro to the Biblical Flat Earth Series. … By Daniel Valles, 06/19/2015 –
See more at: … ”
I won’t post the link, but, after just a cursory investigation of this guy, he is far, far worse than the people Don talks about in this article. To be honest, I personally think the guy is off his rocker. And the whole point here is, a false teacher is a false Christian. Charisma and excitement are not what define a good, solid follower of Christ. It is the Bible, God’s Word, that speaks to a believers heart. No one today is receiving direct revelations from God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. If they are claiming that, then it’s more evidence they are not who they claim to be.
I do not doubt the sincerity of most of these people. Sincerity is not the issue. Truth comes from hearing what God said through the scriptures and applying it in the context revealed. Learning always takes due diligence. Learning proper understanding of the scriptures is hard work. Understand comes via having a broad knowledge of all revealed truth, meditating on what God said and receiving illumination via the Holy Spirit. Not all are gifted to be teachers, in fact the NT warns that all should not seek to be teachers.
Those that have bad exegesis have it for a variety of reasons. Probably the most common reason is that they start with a premises and then search scripture for something that supports their premises. They then take that text out of the proper context (That is called proof texting). A prime example of this would be Word of Faith and prosperity teachers. They twist scriptures to make it say what they are teaching. Some Bible prophecy teachers obviously also proof text.
Your conclusions are not valid.
1. The Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion.
2. All believers can be assured of their salvation. Unity means we are unified in the same Spirit because we have been born of the Holy Spirit. It does not mean we will be unified on all points of doctrine. We have to study to show ourselves approved. Even so, nobody has everything correct.
Every Christian that seeks truth struggles with learning correct doctrine. God gave the five fold ministry in the Church to equip the saints for that reason. We are not saved by knowing correct doctrine. We are saved by believing in the Savior that God sent. If you confess Jesus Christ with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. The gospel of salvation is that simple even thought some people want to complicate it.
As for Daniel Valles, I know nothing about his teaching but from what you said it sounds like he goes beyond what scripture actually teaches. Anyone who does that is going to go off into error.
I hope he don’t get too close to the edge.
Interesting. About a month ago I accepted a friend request from a man who said he is a Messianic Jew. He explained that is a Jew who believes Yeshua is the messiah. I thought that was pretty cool as I don’t have any Jewish friends. I thought he might be interested in Michael Heiser’s “Unseen Realm” so I referred him to the video. He didn’t seem to be very impressed so I dropped that line.
He had mentioned that Jonathon Cahn was his favorite rabbi. I knew about “The Harbinger” so I didn’t respond to his statement.
Next, I had said I was concerned about Trump winning. My friend told me not to worry and referred me to a website. I don’t remember the website now but it was a prophetic website where someone was talking about God told them Donald Trump was going to be the next president and blah blah blah. I never told my friend I had checked it out.
A few days ago I posted an article about Beth Moore being a false teacher. It disturbed my friend and we had a short discussion about it. That’s when I learned he attends an Assembly of God church. I told him I knew some dedicated Christians in that denomination (I do) but I didn’t agree with all their theology and we would have to leave it at that. He said he didn’t agree with all of it either.
Yesterday he posted the 2 Chronicles 7:14 verse. I ignored it. Today he posted an article by Franklin Graham. I ignored that one too.
My friend is a very nice man but I don’t want to argue or appear to be correcting him all the time. I just don’t know what to say. I think he’s really sincere but confused. I have to be careful here. I can’t respond to things I know to be false but I have a desire to steer him to sound doctrine.
I think I need some Divine Intervention and a lot of discretion.
Funny how this article ties in with a situation I’m now in.
You really do not need to directly criticize his views. You can let highly qualified teachers do it for. Find articles from those in well known discernment ministries such as Berean Call and post a link. I think that needs to be done not just for him but so others within your social network are not misled by the good intentions of this fellow. Good articles that have opposing views can usually be found on the Internet by doing a keyword search.
That’s a great suggestion Don. I would add that there are several different groups under the Assemblies of God and she might find one who wrote about the correct interpretations on what ever subject comes up. But, as an ice breaker, she might ask him about his conversion story. Let him define himself a little bit more.
That’s exactly my point, David L., I do think Daniel Valles is off his rocker. But there’s no doubt in my mind that he is sincere in his convictions and that he prayerfully seeks truth from the scriptures. He has not claimed personal revelation as far as I know. Regardless, I stopped referencing his info awhile ago when things seemed off.
But that’s where I wrestle with this whole thing. Daniel is easy for us to identify as a “false teacher” so I struggle to understand how it is that this sincere man, who so clearly loves the Lord and confesses Him with His mouth, is a false Christian as David suggests? And there are plenty of false teachers who are more subtle or complex in their delivery and harder to spot (this would describe all of the churches/pastors in my area).
So back to David’s assertion that false teachers are false Christians and the idea that all who follow them are lumped in as pseudo Christians. ok. But that seems to fly in the face of Dons assertion that salvation is simple. If you were to review Don’s article about pseudo Christianity from last month, it seems that, regardless of a person’s claim to know the Lord as their Savior, certain behaviors and beliefs provides us insight into their real spiritual condition as a pseudo Christian.
So while salvation is simple, the belief in one’s heart is the sticky part. How much belief (grain of mustard seed comes to mind)? Can that belief fluctuate? When faith is weak, we are still saved, right? And let’s not forget who is responsible to place the belief in our heart to begin with. It’s not us. What about those who believe but who are weak minded and stray into error. And as far as equipping, it would appear that the five fold ministry designed to protect the sheep is suffering greatly leaving believers feeling stranded and isolated, and not knowing who to trust as far as teachers because of the subtle errors and falsehoods we, who are sensitive, are able to detect.
I do not doubt the sincerity of so many who believe the gospel of salvation but also believe in Cahn’s blood moon nonsense among other junk. Does that make them pseudo Christians? According to Don’s last comment, our doctrine doesn’t have to be accurate for us to be a Christian.
So back to my conclusions, which may not be valid but I haven’t found another that makes sense:
Daniel Valles claims to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and confesses Him with His mouth. He is saved. But the Holy Spirit has left Daniel Valles completely in the dark (along with countless others who have believed in their heart and confessed with their mouth the Lord Jesus). He is not revealing His truth to them for whatever reason.
Or they are pseudo Christians.
How do you know what Valles actually believes? Every person that leads a cult seems sincere. They may even think to themselves that they are sincere but they still are sincerely wrong. They twist scriptures, deny other scriptures and go beyond what the scriptures teach. Many so called prophets believe that they are prophets but they are not. It is the same with teachers. If they teach others falsehoods, they are false teachers.
How much belief is necessary to be saved? Anyone that doubts that Jesus paid for sin on the cross and rose from the dead do not really believe. An unbeliever has not been saved. It is quite simple. Either you believe or you don’t
Some can believe in Christ and go off into doctrinal error. We should try to correct those. The Holy Spirit will only do what the person allows. There are some that are unteachable because they are full of themselves. They think they know better than Godly teachers and they deceive themselves.
So based on your premise, either you believe or you don’t, I am an unsaved unbeliever because I have times of doubt. I’ve always wondered that… how can doubt and faith coexist in a heart? It can’t, right? But the guy in Mark 9:24 always offered me a glimmer of hope. I don’t necessarily doubt Christ or His work, but I sometimes find myself doubting scripture. Not because I want to, but because when I study the Bible I am faced with concepts or seeming inconsistencies that don’t make sense to me. I’ve always agonized that my struggles in this area meant the absence of the Holy Spirit. Which is why I doubt my status as one of the elect.
I have dry periods when I struggle with the horrible way women were treated in the OT like David’s raped concubine. Those poor women were raped in public and then punished by living out the rest of their lives in seclusion, unable to marry or have children. Think about how this would play out today, with our own daughters? We would be mortified at the injustice! And the action of rape seems to have occurred as a result of the command by God Himself (2 Sam 12:11). And then there is God’s own command for Jewish armies to take virgin captives for wives. They were instructed to let them mourn their families for awhile (Deut 21:13), and to kill the women who’ve already slept with someone (Judges 21:10-24). How they determined who was a virgin or not is another subject entirely. Don’t get me started on Judges 19! Yet we condemn the muslim for similar behaviors. Of course the difference is Jesus. But it is not as though His coming as a human changed the character of God. God cannot be wronged for the instructions He gave with regard to women of the past. But certainly Christ’s respectful treatment of women is not at all consistent with the past. This would lead me to believe that the change in the treatment and status of women was a result of the change in culture. And if culture is the deciding factor in law, relationships, treatment of one another, etc, that opens up a big old can of worms. For example, why don’t Christian women wear coverings on their head when they pray? Is it because of the culture of equality and women’s rights? And similar to our change in attitude of obedience to the OT laws (the cleanliness of menstruating women, dietary and movement restrictions, etc) maybe the laws regarding homosexuality should be relaxed also because of changes in culture? Why are only certain laws unapplicable or changeable?
Regarding salvation, a dead soul cannot have faith. It is clear that it is solely God’s choice to breathe life into our dead soul. Our lifeless soul cannot choose to become alive. In that respect, we have to acknowledge that this is not our choice as Christians seem to think (“I made a decision for Christ”). Once a soul is alive (regenerated), He would then have to kill it again if that soul then chooses not to believe. So that means regeneration and belief are synchronous and 100% from Him.
If I am an unbeliever, it is not because I want to be. I want to believe more than anything else on this earth. I obsess over it. I pray for it. I feel life is stupid and useless apart from Him. He is my only hope. I desire Him. I want Christ to be who He says He is and I cling to that as truth. Yet my mind never stops, no matter how hard I try.
Don, although it hurts, I appreciate your honesty. You had said, quite rightly, that I cannot expect people who know nothing about me to help me, especially on the internet. But after an unsuccessful 20-year exhaustive search for meaningful fellowship with other true believers, and my own salvation in question, that does leave me in a hopeless state. Not that this can be solved by you or anyone else. I am well aware that my fate, as well as yours, is in God’s hands and God’s alone. He is the potter and I am the clay.
Jesus Christ is who He said He is. There are many proofs of that and any serious seeker can find them. Jesus displayed the nature of God because He is God. You doubt Christ because you have no faith that God is righteous. That thinking really is not logical. If God is not righteous, why should anyone put their hope in such a Being? Who would want eternal life with an evil God. That would be eternal hell.
One of your problems is that you have no understanding of the scriptures. After 20 years you have not learned what you need to learn because you learn from false teachers.
Sin is never acceptable but it exists in all cultures. We should not promote homosexuality in any culture because it brings early death along with other evils.
Just saying words that you do not believe means nothing. One must believe in their heart. That means your soul must believe and then you communicate your belief through the words of your mouth. What you say shows that you have never trusted Christ for your salvation because you really do not believe – as you suggest yourself.
I suggest that you sit under some good teachers for awhile and get some understanding of the nature of God instead of listening to unbelievers and false teachers. Maybe you will even come to trust in Him and believe.
By the way, you cannot get to God through human rationalization. You must believe that God is loving and righteous to save those He created from sin and death. Jesus displayed that. Believe it or not. Even so, if you reject the righteous God displayed by Jesus you will be deceived by the evil god and reap his fate.
We are getting off topic here so that will need to end. Julie asks for help but then she attacks those trying to give it. I removed her last extremely long attack against me and another organization that tried to help her and her over the top argumentation. This is not my first encounter with Julie. Nobody can tell her anything. The comment section of my articles are not the place to fix Julie’s problems with unbelief. She will not be commenting here anymore if her comments depart from the post topic. Those that think my comment section is their soap box will soon fall off.
By the way, many believers have doubts about their own salvation but believers are. However, those that doubt Christ are not saved.
Hi Don,
Good article. Yes I also have for brief time’s have listen to various watchmen on the wall then something wouldn’t sound quit right in my spirit and over time I would stop adhering to that person. Or their suggested timeline wouldn’t come as projected and I would say to myself.. “there goes another over zealous teacher”
Myself I’m just occupying until He comes.
—
Don,
Since I’ve been reading your articles, you have been very keen to point out the apostates and heretical “teachers” among us….and you have made us aware that they are plentiful.
I think this article is in that same flavor of warning.
Personally, I do not trust the vast majority claiming to have sound Biblical teachings whether they be pastors or authors.
You certainly have shown us ‘caveat emptor’ in regards to this.
Right now, it seems that the Christian media circuit, with Russia in Syria, etc…is adamant that Isaiah 17 (destruction of Damascus) is about to happen and Ezekiel 38, 39 are at hand….hey, it might be so, but to be dogmatic about it is pure sensationalism.
No doubt in my mind the “season” is at hand but to be dogmatic about it in a panicked timeline is sensationalism.
Another Pastor / Teacher that I do regard highly is John MacArthur, who, like you, is keen at pointing out the apostasy of today….just watch his “Strange Fire” series…I was appalled at what I saw being past off as Christianity…how can anyone buy into this nonsense or anything these apostates say is beyond me.
Bottom Line, I think one of your strongest messages you have consistently made us aware of over the years is the apostates, the heretics, and as you put it in this article, the sensationalism being promoted today.
Another great article Don, I can’t add much to the topic at hand, other than to tell you I found it very insightful. It’s made me start thinking a lot more on what I listen to, so thank you
John MacArthur seems to believe in Lordship Salvation. He is a good preacher and evidently believes he is right about his beliefs. Harry Ironside was a good preacher who also believed he was right about his own beliefs. Two different teachings. Which one is correct? I have my biblical opinion but I will keep it to myself. There does seem to be division for the saved sometimes.
Both men certainly are good teachers.
The only correct salvation teaching for the Church in this age of grace is the one that Paul taught.
Which one preached Paul’s view? One says the proof is in the pudding. The other says the pudding is irrevelent until the pudding is ready. Both agree that the pudding is there. Age old disagreement. Will you clarify it for us again? Thanks
Paul preached the revelation that he was given by God for the the salvation of Gentiles into the New Covenant Church.
It is up to Christian teachers to properly interpret the Salvation Theology of Paul. One probably would not even be interested in Salvation Theology if they have not already believed and been born from above. So what anyone claims is not very relevant to those already born again. Scripture is clear that one is saved by hearing and believing. I wrote a long article explaining this.
One problem is that many teachers throw in scriptures to the Jews as if they were written to the Church. The mystery of Church was not even revealed before Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to the father, and the Holy Spirit was given to believers.
I think MacArthur is wrong about what he suggests with his Lordship salvation doctrine. I am not familiar with the salvation theology of Ironside so I will pass.
There are many teachers available that properly teach what Paul said. They would base their Salvation Theology mostly upon proper exegesis of Romans, Galatians and John. MacArthur and others might even call these teachers easy believism teachers but the truth is that salvation is easy for us. It is a free gift. All we have to do is believe it and receive it.
Hello Don: I’m not sure if I can recommend two books? If so; one is *A Gospel of Doubt: The Legacy of John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus* by Robert Wilkin. Dr. Wilkin does not attack John MacArthur. He soundly refutes MacArthur’s “Jesus ‘Plus’ Works” doctrine. Wilkin uses (in my opinion) sound exegesis, and points out the many fatal contradictions in Lordship Salvation. Well worth the money. It’s also available as an inexpensive Amazon Kindle download.
My second recommendation is a book titled *Grace: Salvation & Discipleship. How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages.* By Dr. Charles C. Bing. I have only recently learned the crucial difference between Salvation (Free to us; not by works; costly to Jesus. A one time experience), and Discipleship (After salvation. Costly to us; we may be called to sacrifice. It’s a lifetime growth experience.) We can sleep our Christian life away, remain “babes”, and we are still secure in Christ. However; we will have very little or nothing to show for our Christian lives at the Bema judgment. Or; we can choose to actively follow him; wherever that takes us; whatever is costs us. We “run our race” as Paul described it. Dr. Bing takes troublesome passages, and compares an “A” truth interpretation (is it a salvation verse? i.e for unbelievers) with the same passage as a “B” truth (or is it a discipleship passage? i.e for believers) The proper interpretation is crucial. Context is everything. Many Christians have been needlessly upset, and beaten over the head with “hard” verses that are really teaching discipleship. (Intended for believers)…and falsely concluded that their salvation was in jeopardy. (It wasn’t a salvation passage.)
The two books work well together. Some of the letters in the comments section above touched upon “loss of salvation,” and “Lordship Salvation.” These two issues have caused–are causing–a lot of confusion, and much grief for many Christians. These two books provide solid, balanced teaching, and will put a lot of people back on their spiritual feet–and discover/rediscover the joy, fullness of life, and security we have in Christ. Salvation–properly understood–leads us toward a life of joyful service (discipleship). We serve the Lord out of a grateful heart; not fearfully because of a “loss of salvation” threat. There is no biblical basis for that.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your constructive contribution to the topic.
Don, thanks for posting your long article on hearing and believing mentioned above. I agree with all that was said. You sound like Ironside.
poor Julie. Not disagreeing with the moderation at all. I guess there is a history there. So much to respond to.
I knew about Valles before I stumbled upon this site. I’m torn between Julie’s position and David L’s. I lean closer to David L who says quite bluntly that Valles is a false teacher. Julie sees Valles as a sincere Holy Spirit sealed born again believer. Valles to me looks like a fairly obvious false guy.
Shouldn’t it be a very serious charge when we are talking about who may be a false convert? How best to keep it Scriptural and respectful of the character of Christ likeness? Of course those who want to be teachers, pastors, and influencers ought to be held to a higher standard. Don has written before that pseudoChristians need to be ministered to as well, but they shouldn’t be running the show.
1 Timothy 3:6 comes to mind (“Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”). Valles seems to defend a false partial rapture theology, that sinners or true Christians who don’t have enough works will be left behind.
I didn’t know Valles does a flat earth psyop until I saw David L’s post. Flat Earth is an obvious red flag. The Bible doesn’t say that the earth is flat. The Earth is round. If Valles does teach a flat earth deception then we have a real problem and something substantial to work with there in trying to “prove” (as reasonable as possible) that he is a false guy. In the past I have worried that Valles may be one of these bondage preachers who uses the spirit of fear, like an Alex Jones who promotes the spirit of fear.
Flat Earth deception is a psyop. If the Bible does say that the earth is flat (it doesn’t), then this is a very serious issue that undercuts the infallibility (2 Timothy 3:16) of Scripture. Flat Earth psyop also seeks to make Christians look anti-science or anti-intellectual.
“many believers have doubts about their own salvation but believers [they(?)] are” this is key and it prompted me to to search for those terms (“many believers have doubts about their own salvation”) and the first page of Google turns up some good articles that are strong in Scripture.
I am trying to keep this post brief. Don, we traded emails recently on this general topic of false teachers and the problem of pastor search committees. He did end up getting the votes, as I fully expected would happen. The final score was 18 yes votes to only 2 no votes (and 1 abstain). I had made my peace with it but still, I am disturbed that the church where I attend is gonna get all new world ordered up.
This leads me to the final rabbit that I am chasing briefly tonight. Don, what do you think about the possibility of a false rapture before the real pre-tribulation rapture? Matthew 24:24 says that if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived. Ephesians 6:13 and Revelation 3:10 come to mind.
There are extra-biblical references such as Project Blue Beam, and the Illuminati game cards “Church of Middle America” and “The Tape Runs Out.” I know we need to be careful with non-biblical material. The question is would God allow such a thing? It seems like one of the major advantages (for the globalists) of such a hoax would be to glorify/vindicate the post-trib guys like Alex Jones and others, also to prop up the “liberal Christians” who believe that Christianity means submission to UN, submission to Islam and washing the feet of Muslim-only refugees who are mostly young men of military draft age.
Sorry if that was all over the map. There are many sub-topics and I see so clearly how they all inter-relate, to make that more clear would take another ~100 words. I think you understand though. Keep in mind I am a much younger true believer (Jesus saved me almost 2 years ago), that is why I benefit greatly from fellowship and prayerful study with believers of 20 and 40 years etc.
Welcome to the blog
Yeah you’re all over the map, so I am not going to comment on most that was said.
I do not believe in any false Rapture. Who would go? God certainly is not going to allow his people to be taken. If unbelievers were taken, the true Church would obviously know that they did not go. They would know the disappearance of unbelieving people had nothing to do with God. I think things like you mentioned more likely foreshadow worldly answers for the true Rapture.
God will allow a great deception and that deception could include a so-called alien disclosure. Satan and his angels will be cast down unto the earth and they will deceive those on earth. That kind of supernatural deception certainly would change the beliefs of all unbelievers on the earth. They will believe luciferian claims.
I need to remind myself not to start new stuff so late at night. I realized it (false rapture) is not something to worry about. God will keep those who belong to Him, He will show us the right Scriptures for intense situations like that. I think you are right and it is more that they are setting up the story for those left behind.
This has certainly wandered far and wide.certainly,if any prophetic teacher attracts accolytes,instead of God being given the glory,or anything not based in scripture ,one must beware.Thank you,Don for reminding us.the wolves are among us,and we all need to exhort and comfort one another
I am astounded by the amount of acrimony,fear,depression,and anger in the Body.we all need to hold on,folks,and run the race to the end.doctrinal differences..and people argue over where to dot the i’s and cross the T’s,are not as important as being able to say with confidence that Christ died,was buried,and was resurrected the third day.so I hope we can hold in to that..
One thing caught my attention though and I really thought it should be corrected.you did not have to be 40 when you became King of Israel/ Judah.Jehoash was seven,Jehoshaphat was thirty five,Saul.is described as a young man,Manasseh was twelve,Josiah was eight. Jesus is eternal,I’m not sure you can give him a human number of years beyond the crucifixion.so I guess the whole point of making him forty human years escapes me.and so it goes..so.many questions to ask him once we are with Him!
Faith
I would not say that these Bible prophecy circuits have a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing among them. Wolves would not be acceptable on almost all Bible prophecy circuits. Many of these teachers just build on the house of God with material that will not last.
I think the forty years might be valid for a king that foreshadows Christ as David and Solomon did. Solomon could have had the same promise as David but God said Solomon blew it. I do not believe Kings after that were ever promised eternal lineage. I might be wrong about that, but I do not recall any such promise.
So perhaps, both you and David L. are correct from your own perspective.
I tend to believe the breaking of the first seal in Revelation 6:1 is the removal of the restraint and the revealing of the man of sin. If I am right the Church age will have been completed and the last period of Daniel’s prophesied history will have begun.
You might be correct. That is the standard classical dispensational position. Most with this theology make all of the unfulfilled events in Revelation and Bible prophecy occurring in the last seven years. Lahay, Lindsay, Van Impe, Thomas Ice, would be prime examples of modern teachers with this view.
I do not think all that is said about the end times can fit within just seven years. I explain this in my Revelation commentary. I think the first seals are opened prior to the start of the seventieth week of years. Israelite’s are not even mentioned in Revelation until the seventh seal.
Can the opening of the first five seals revealing the riding of the four horsemen with the hell on earth that they bring, that is followed by a great persecution, occur at the same time that the the two prophets are preaching in Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years? Think about it. These two preach in the first half of the last seven years for Israel and they have all power until the Antichrist is allowed to kill them.
It could be that the Church will go through worldly tribulation and persecution just like her mother Israel but she will not go through the last seven years for Israel because that is earmarked for Israel and unbelievers. The last seven years is not part of the Church age. While in the Church age the Church will receive persecution from government and from the religious Harlot like now occurs in some locations and has occurred in the past. But, even more so as we near the end.
Anyway, there are all kinds of theories on the end times. I am not convinced that the classical dispenstational view is totally correct. There is a newer school call progressive dispensationalism with the “now, but not yet” progressive fulfillments. I would not say that they have it correct either. In fact, I do not think we can be dogmatic about much of this.
Hi Don,
Could you recommend some of these people writing about “progressive dispensationalism”
I would be very interested in reading some of their stuff, as I’m largely in agreement with your views on the subject. Thanks, no hurry though.
I do not recommend progressive dispensationalism but it is being taught in well known seminaries and Bible colleges. I think it tries to bridge the gap between Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology.
Darrell Block, Creig Blaising, and Robert Saucy are three that teach it.
Progressive Dispensationalism (Bock and Blaising).
The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism (Saucy).
I applaud this latest blog of yours. Once again you nailed it! I truly enjoy clicking through the web sites of the prophecy circuit watchmen (I’m not placing you in this camp), but I am unconvinced by many of their suppositions. As I read their briefs or listen to their youtube video I do so with a critical mind set and sometimes a bemused disposition. And this because even in these shorts it is clear that most will go far beyond Scripture. I try not to judge their motives or their salvation, however they do make it difficult for one not to assume that their agendas are to sell books. I hate to even ponder this thought, but for better or worse I write here: a few in the “watchmen” ranks may actually have an agenda that is diabolical. Who are mere book sellers seeking to make a buck and who are fiends? No comment. Besides, unlike fiends, I don’t think that most started out to promote a money making agenda . As an example, the research done by Marzzuli, et al., clearly proves that the giants where in fact giant hybrids. And it puts to rest the nonsensical mainline teaching that the seed of Cain somehow poisoned Seth’s godly line. However, in closing my comments to him and to the others is this: get over it; you made your point and publishing greater and greater sensations only helps to heap on ridicule. While your newest sensation may be hermeneutically sound can I humbly state, if you just spend the same amount of time proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples the Body of Christ would be the better for it.
I felt some unease watching JD Farag earlier this year and decided not to follow his stuff. I think he means well but after 3 or 4 weeks of watching him he was beating the coronavirus vaccine is the mark drum to much for me. He was nearly rabid in his insistance that it would be the mark. He went so far as to say people need not concern themselves with forced vaccines because that isnt going to happen before the rapture. Here we sit 6 months later with a vaccine due in short order and in trails around the world. I stopped by his forums out of curiosity. He has a large following and many of them are now afraid tribulation is starting, wrong about rapture or running with this attitude that vaccines wont be their problem. Maybe they will not but we can not know that. Back when the riots were just getting going he also said he was letting go of this country and not going to pray for it anymore. To me, that seems like to much of a sit and wait attitude and after listening to Andy Woods and Jack Hibs go through the Biblical foundations of our country as well as civic duty I just think it is the wrong attitude. He used a picture of lightning striking the Washington monument as evidence of his position. Lightning strikes there numerous times throughout the year. He wants people to get saved, I got that from him. I just dont think sensationalism is needed for that. He is popular maybe others have a different opinion? I am admittedly imature in my walk and could have this wrong.
Hi Dawson,
I watched Farag for a short period a couple of years ago but stopped when he kept claiming the Gog war was about to start each week. I think John Holler has a much better Bible prophecy update if you wish to call it that. It really is a weekly analysis of current world issues through a premillennial dispensational Christian worldview.
Most of these bible prophecy “teachers” are jokes. People like Joel Richardson come and say things like Mecca is the city talked about ruling the world in Rev 17 and 18. I don’t know how they come up with this stuff. Farag is a nice guy but like Dawson said he is way too eager to jump to conclusions. So many believe the covid vaccine is the Mark of the beast. How can someone even believe nonsense like this? They give astute watchmen a bad name. Yes it’s clear we are very likely close to the end times but not for the reasons these men say.
It now looks like a Biden win is more likely, we will have to see the recounts. Maybe a Harris/Hillary admin wasn’t too far fetched after all. Can you imagine these two demons preciding over this global “great reset”?
I watch Farag off and on, but he seemed to have taken on a very negative stance against Trump which I didn’t get. I can’t believe he would actually vote for Biden and their Democrat anti God manifesto. Who knows, maybe he did. Seems like a lot of people did go for Biden. So sad. Have you updated your list of astute Christian websites and blog ministeries and who’s who in Bible prophecy lately, or is it current?
Hi Adriana,
I do not have a who’s who in Bible prophecy list. Someone else does that. Also, I have not checked out all the sites recently on my astute Christian websites page so there could be issues.
Hi Jim,
The U.S. is not likely to preside over the global reset plan. With the Democrats running the nation we will be in the midst of a death spiral.
On or around 2009-09, I found an Assemblies of God Church that seemed to coincide with the Pre-Trib position, at least that was stated when I looked up their Statement of Faith and Beliefs. At the time I thought that I may have found a church home for my family. It took all of about 3-4 years before all of the terminology and positions held by most of the big “Born Again” churches transpired: Campuses, Missions for social justice, and most disturbingly, a blase attitude if not a sneering toward a Pre-Trib Rapture. Why is Gods name do these people WANT to be around for a period in time that JESUS HIMSELF said to pray that you could avoid that time? This seems to be the prevalent attitude most churches have today. This is the single most reason why I havent been able to find a church in the last 5-6 years. And this is the singlemost reason why I am so adamant to a Pre-Trib position…because so many are denying or scoffing at it. Think Noah, Lot, and in my opinion, Jude and the Apostle John. It was fortold a long time ago.
Hi Michael,
Many Assemblies of God and other Pentecostal churches bought into the signs and wonders and Word of Faith movement. In other words they bought into Kingdom Now Theology thinking they would be getting spiritual powers to take the world for Christ.
On the other hand, most of the reformed churches always had a form of kingdom now theology called amillennialism. They think the Church is the promised Jewish kingdom. Like do the Catholics, they retain an allegorical interpretation of Bible prophecy.
Now some Mega baptist churches and many others started compromising with the reformed and are buying into the concept that the social justice movement is how the Church builds the kingdom on earth.
This happens because people depart from the consistent literal interpretation of the prophetic scriptures. Instead they just make things up as they go along. They assign a spiritual or allegorical interpretation to what was said and twist what God actually said.
You might want to check out a Calvary Chapel at your location. Almost all of them get basic end time theology correct.
Anyone have thoughts on the craziness of this election? It couldn’t be more clear of the spiritual battle we’re in. Thank God he is in control. I’m curious to see how this all pans out and how it could set up prophecy events.
In old reposts we especially need to stay on topic.
One more thought. Despite what most prophecy buffs claim, I Don’t think the signs of Matthew 24:4-8 are isolated events occurring more frequently over decades. My opinion is these events may coincide with the first four seals.
Hi Jim,
That is also the way I see it.
Thanks Don, I will seek out any Calvary Chapel branches near us.
Michael, Ive shared some of those sentiments. It feels lonely, but I am encouraged by 1st Kings 19:18 and Romans 11:1-5. We may feel alone, but we are not. Though not many there are more faithful than we see, many feeling as we do. We are not alone. I hope you can find a church that is following the calling today, but if not, you could consider starting a home group. Its just a suggestion. I think in these trying times having a small group to belong to like that is a good idea anyway as it helps us adhere to Hebrews 10:25. I hope you find the fellowship you desire.
Thank you Dawson for your suggestions and encouragement . Maranantha!
Hi Don,
My sister just sent me a video of Annamarie Strawhand. I’d never heard of her or the “prophet” Kim Clement who she talked about. I Googled Annamarie but only got that she’s a “prophetess, T.V. host, faith leader. This is not someone I would listen to. Here’s my dilemma. She says God’s big plan is to deliver us from bondage. Trump will serve two terms. Watch Nov. 11. I don’t know what to say to my sister because there is still a possibility that he can prove evidence of voter fraud. If he does coincidentally then my sister will likely become a follower of Strawhand. I can’t hope Trump doesn’t prove voter fraud.
Hi Caitlin,
I prophetically claim the following for your sister.
Just tell itching ears what they want to hear and with a little luck they will make you a media prophet for the rest of your life and gullible people will hang on your every word. People like to forget or they disregard the false reports such people have made in the past, as will happen if Trump loses.
Hi Caitlin,
I think what Don is getting at, and will be more practical to you, is research this false teacher, find her failed predictions of the past, then share those with your sister. Hopefully, she’s willing to listen? But, at least with proofs, you’ll plant the seed of doubt.
Hi Don and David L.
Thanks guys. I’ll do what I can.