The Caveat Card of the “prophets”
There are a few in the Christian community who have a win-win gig going. They prophesy doom and destruction for an entire year and when it doesn’t happen, they play the “Caveat Card.” The Caveat Card is the great fudge factor of the prophetic circuit. They say that while they specifically implied a time frame for fulfillment, they really didn’t put any specific dates on what they said would happen, and the events could happen at any time. Then their supporters rally around and personally attack those who dare challenge the veracity of these proclamations. The revenue stream from books and conferences aside, they often trade off of intrigue and fear when sound doctrine should be the focus.
The real prophets that we read in the Bible had no Caveat Card. They heard from God and their words were consistent with the word of God, and their prophesies were true–often in many layers such as the present, the intermediate future, and the distant future. Prophecy aligns with the word of God in its context. This means that the context of the scripture needs to be considered with regard to prophesy. Context, or Exegesis, must be applied as opposed to daisy-chaining verses together to validate a point or to support a certain doctrine, called Eisegesis. Eisegesis is the process of interpreting a text in such a way that the process introduces presuppositions, agendas or biases into the text.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they draw to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” You see, the world is watching. And when false prophets make their case to tickle people’s ears, and they end up having to play the Caveat Card, Christians and prophecy lose credibility, and in turn, perhaps many souls are hardened in the process. What will happen, for example, if Christ doesn’t return when these prophets and teachers say he will? Do you trust Christ to take you out of peril or protect you, or will your faith falter and your heart fail?
Bible prophecy is an extremely important aspect of today’s living. There are events occurring every day that reveal the pace of prophecy. But what did Jesus answer first when asked about the sign of his coming and the end of the world? He said in Matthew 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” He further warned that there would be many false prophets that “shall deceive many.” It is easy to get excited about the times in which we live. At the same time, we all must be very careful as to not overstate or inflame the events before us into something they are not. Prophecy always aligns with God’s word. The challenge is to not take someone else’s word for God’s word, but know it yourself. No one will have a Caveat Card when they stand before the Lord on that day.
