7 reasons why you should ignore most prophecies for 2016

The arrival of a new year has always excited all sorts of futurologists, including Christian "prophets", to give their prediction of what will happen, and the year 2016 will be no exception. But there are 7 reasons why you should ignore predictions by most of these "prophets".

1. Can you remember their prophecies for 2015?

The chances are slim that you can actually remember their prophecies for 2015, not even from your favourite prophets. But if you can’t remember their prophecies for 2015, that probably means that they didn’t have much value.

2. Did their prophecy for 2015 come to pass?

Before you put too much weight on anyone’s prophecy for 2016, it is advisable to review the prophecies by that person for 2015, 2014, 2013 and so on. If they didn’t come to pass, you should ignore what they will predict for 2016.

3. Is it even possible to know whether their prophecy for 2016 will come to pass?

Most “prophecies” for new year by Christian “prophets” are written like horoscopes. They are seemingly precise, but when you analyse them in more detail, you soon realise that it is nearly impossible to know whether they have come to pass or not, as there is nothing that can be measured.

Here is a a sample of “prophecies” from a well-known charismatic prophet for 2015:

“I understood there is a focus of God upon us individually and corporately concerning our inability to understand the hosting of His presence.”

This sounds great, but I don’t need a prophet to tell me that the Holy Spirit wants to have a more intimate relationship with me, as it’s clearly in the Bible. Put simply, this is not a prophecy.

“In the economy, it is an important time to put our affairs/debts in order. The economy of Europe is going to be shaken again in order to be reset and recalibrated.”

This sounds more like a “prophecy” but in truth, there is very little in the word that can be measured. Something will for certain take place in Europe that will make it look like this word could have been fulfilled, but I don’t need to be a prophet to tell you that. The level of prophecy is as ambiguous as most horoscopes.

“The graveyard should no longer be the place where the majority of dreams end up. Buried desires will receive a Resurrection of Hope.”

I don’t even know what this means! And there will never be a way of telling whether this “word” has been fulfilled or not!

I could go on all day, but I hope that these short examples would demonstrate the horoscopic ambiguity of most of these predictions.

4. God doesn’t follow man’s calendar

In my book Five Movements: Winning the Battle for Your Prophetic Gift I touch on how God’s perception of time is completely different from us. God sees time from the perspective of His purpose. That’s why He will determine the beginning from the end. When He talks to us, He usually structures the order of His communication determined by His purpose rather than the chronological order of the linear time.

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

Here is an excerpt from Five Movements: Winning the Battle for Your Prophetic Gift:

“Time is the fourth dimension of the created universe. Physicists call any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum spacetime. God is outside spacetime but He also sustains it. Imagine holding a cube in your hands. You can roll it around and inspect every side. The whole universe, including time, is like a four-dimensional object in God’s hands. He can see every aspect of the four-dimensional object, spacetime, including every moment of time, simultaneously. Like you can see the whole side of the cube simultaneously, God can see the beginning, middle and end of time—and every point of time—simultaneously. Physicists say that there is no inherent reason why time could not go backwards. Time is simply the fourth dimension of the universe, and like height, width and depth you should be able to move in both directions.

In the moment of creation, all time came into being—not just one moment, but all of it. We experience one moment at a time, but God created it all in one moment. When God tells the future, He simply looks at the time dimension of the fourth-dimensional object in His hands. There is no beginning, middle or end.”

God simply isn’t following a manmade calendar. He’s following His own calendar.

5. Jewish calendar isn’t God’s calendar

Many “prophets’ are referring to the Jewish calendar in a mistaken assumption that it would somehow be more sanctified than the Western calendar. Breaking news: the Jewish calendar isn't any better in predicting the future than the Christian calendar!  

Even the Jews acknowledge that their calendar originates from Babylon. For example, Tammuz, the fourth month in the Hebrew calendar is also the name of a Babylonian god.
 
I know this might hurt some of my readers, but the Jewish calendar is not God’s calendar, but a Jewish calendar—based on the Babylonian calendar, and developed over the centuries, notably by Maimonides less than 1000 years ago.

6. You might be tricked by Balaam

In Revelation 2:14 Jesus says to the Church in Pergamos: “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”

The original Balaam Jesus refers to here was the prophet in Numbers 22-24 who tried to curse Israel for money, but ended up blessing Israel. But in Numbers 31 Balaam is killed by Israeli soldiers, and Moses said,

“Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.” (Numbers 31:16)

It seems that Balaam had a genuine prophetic gift, but what motivated Balaam was money. Even when he knew that God would bless Israel, he still found a way to curse Israel!
 
In many ways, today’s prophetic movement has become a movement of Balaams.  I know many prophets who have given me or people I know accurate personal prophecies, but who are worthless when it comes to prophesying anything else than that. By and large, they travel the world prophesying blessings and revival to people and churches, mainly as that secures new bookings–and money.  Don't ever listen to a money-motivated prophet.

7. You might open yourself to deceiving spirits

In  1 Kings 22 Ahab, the King of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, want to go to war against Syria, but Jehoshaphat wants to inquire the prophets first. Four hundred prophets predict that if they go to war, God would give them victory. But Jehoshaphat wants another opinion, as these prophets aren’t prophets of God. Reluctantly, Ahab calls the prophet Micaiah.

Initially, Micaiah parodies the false prophets and promises Israel and Judah victory, but then he tells that they would face defeat.

“Then Micaiah said, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. And the Lord said, “Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?” So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.  Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, “I will persuade him.”  The Lord said to him, “In what way?” So he said, “I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” And the Lord said, “You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.” Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.’” (1 Kings 22:19-23)

But Jehoshaphat wasn’t really looking for God’s will but for divine success for the plan he had already made, and he went to war regardless. The end result was a disaster.

The problem with the Christian “horoscopes’ for 2016 is that they promise to give us an insight that would help us to to secure success instead of guiding us toward more obedience to God’s Word and will. And when you are looking for success rather than God’s will, you will always be vulnerable to the work of deceiving spirits, as the story in 1 Kings 22 indicates.

So, this year, rather than reading any "prophetic" horoscopes for 2016, spend  time with God's Word and in prayer, seeking His will in quietude, until God speaks to you. God's predictions won't always follow our calendar year but they have the benefit of coming true. And I'd rather have one word directly from the Lord than a thousand words from any prophet, even when they are prophets of God. 

Jesus said,  "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." (John 14:26). Take the time to listen to Him, and He will give you all the guidance you will ever need!