[Darris McNeely] Prophecy has been in the news a great deal for those of us that believe the Bible, look to the Word of God as a source of truth, wisdom, and guidance for everyday living, and also believe that Bible prophecy helps us to understand our world today and what lies ahead.

In the wake of the 2020 American presidential elections, failed prophecies have piled on to all the other speculative prophetical areas dealing with the pandemic and everything of the last year. A lot of ministries and people who do bank on prophecy made certain predictions as to who would win the 2020 American presidential election. And those prophecies failed. And that's getting some attention by people who are skeptics and scoffers who look at ministries who make predictions based on prophecy and put a figure of a president, a king, or some other figure there as a point of a prophetic fulfillment. And then when it doesn't happen, then just everybody laughs. And look, you know, it's a ridiculous field to get into, or is it?

I teach prophecy. I'll be going a few minutes from right now into class to teach about the Book of Revelation. Every time I read an article that wants to debunk prophecy written by someone who doesn't believe the Bible, I think about it. And then I think about the world and then I think about history and then I say it in my mind and then there's revelation. Everybody's fascinated by revelation. And the trap is to make predictions of all sorts, to become somewhat of a prophet. As you know, the Bible warns against false prophets. It has a lot to say about those who prophesy and their prophecies don't come to pass.

One such scripture is in Jeremiah 23:16. I was thinking about here in regard to something that I was reading, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you." He's speaking here to Israel, to those in Jerusalem. "They make you worthless. They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord." They speak a vision of their own heart, of their own mind, of their own thoughts. In other words, people will take a prophecy, sometimes a major prophecy of scripture, and then they read into it, a person, a figure, an event, set a date, do all kinds of things. God says, "Don't pay attention to those. They speak a vision of their own heart and they are not from the mouth of the Lord."

Anyone who handles prophecy should understand the entire Bible where God reveals this for the purpose of life, what man is all about, who and what God really is, and what God is bringing to pass through His human creation, and understand what God expects of us. In other words, the Word of God and have an understanding of all of the Word of God to be able to have the wisdom to handle prophecy.

Don't get caught up with speculative prophecies that seem to be vain. Very often, those who are uttering such are speaking from their own mind and not from the Word of God.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.