Prophecy Fails of 2020

Is it just me, or was 2020 the biggest embarrassment for public prophecies in recent history? Akin, perhaps, to Hal Lindsay's epic fail in predicting Christ would return in 1988. 

If you don't know, I'm writing this as someone who believes that the gift of prophecy is still in operation today. I believe that because the New Testament makes it clear that we should "pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy" (1 Cor 14:1). The exegetical attempts I have seen from Cessationists to argue that spiritual gifts have been discontinued are, well, about as embarrassing as all the failed prophecies I have seen lately. 

So the Bible is clear on spiritual gifts, and I have experienced prophecy's power firsthand. One time a prophetic speaker I had never heard of before called me out of a crowd and said that God had planned a trip to Israel for me that would be significant. I actually started laughing out loud midway through his words because I already had my ticket for Israel at that moment! Two months later, while in the holy land, God spoke to me in a powerful way that was indeed significant. Survey says? Prophecy success. (Remember Family Feud?)

Although I am not a "prophet," last year I was praying over someone and saw a picture of a fireplace. I told them this and interpreted it to mean that God would make their home a warm place of His presence. This person began to laugh (just like me) because they had just marked out a place in their living room that week to build a literal fireplace, and they had prayed that this would make their house more warm and inviting. God still speaks, and in these cases it was exactly as the Scriptures teach: "...the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation." (1 Cor 14:3)

However, there is a reason the Bible also commands, "Don't despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good." (1 Thess 5:20-21) That 's because when strange and inaccurate prophecy begins to abound and we don't test it, we inevitably begin to despise it. Thus, the importance of testing words--especially words that garner massive public attention. 

Enter 2020. To be honest, I have never in my life heard so many public prophecies first go viral, then fall completely on their faces as objectively false. I know: ouch. But remember what I said--if we don't test words we will grow cynical against all prophecy and despise it, and that's not cool (according to the Apostle Paul). 

To keep this short, I'll spare you more teaching on the prophetic (though this is massively needed) and give a few specific examples of what I mean. 

First, covid. This past week I watched several videos from 2019 giving 2020 prophecies, and guess what? No covid. Not even mention of a plague, pestilence, or some other biblical-sounding word close to what happened this year. That might've helped us a little. Instead, they prophesied blessings, wealth being transferred to the righteous, growing church services, and vague warnings of "shakings" which basically are true in any given year. This is shameful. Unless the person has a tried and true record of accurate prophecy, I advocate we ditch the whole "prophesy over the New Year" thing which is starting to remind me more of horoscopes rather than Isaiah of the Old Covenant or Agabus of the New. 

Second, Trump's reelection. I get it--some are still holding on to this one. If some wild, unprecedented, historical turnaround occurs, I am happy to eat humble pie in a part II to this post. But for now... I have never heard more prophecies about an election in my life, and they all fell flat. And please, don't tell me that "technically Trump won because of voter fraud, so the prophecies were true." Don't make an embarrassing situation more embarrassingly juvenile. The prophecies unanimously claimed that he would serve a second term, not some loophole scenario where he technically wins but is still replaced by someone else. Can we call a spade a spade, keep our integrity and just say that these words were wrong? A couple of these prophets have already apologized, and I appreciate that. Even so, damage has been done. 

What about the infamous Dana Coverstone prophecies that went viral? As one blogger with common sense said, "I think it should be obvious to everyone that none of what Dana saw in his dream literally came true." Attempts to make it symbolic, when Dana himself originally claimed no such thing, are slightly pathetic and undercut the true gift of prophecy that stuns people with God's supernatural insight. (see 1 Cor 14:24-25)

Finally, the strong chorus of words that chimed in after covid was a thing in March to proclaim that it would end by Easter of 2020. Survey says? Prophecy fail. 

Friends, you know my heart: I love the true gift of prophecy and sincerely desire more of it, as 1 Corinthians 14 urges. But if we don't get honest about some of this cheap, GMO, McDonald's version of prophecy going around, we'll end up either throwing our brains away or despising it altogether. Or worse, despising Christianity in general.