Posted on 03/09/2009 9:24:55 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
The Bible says, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).
David Wilkerson will cause a good many hearts to pound faster with his pronouncement that “AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.” New Yorkers especially will swallow hard: “It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut.”
What shall we make of this? The part that depends on the Bible we should take with absolute seriousness. You don’t need to have special revelation to know that the rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord is the norm in America. Therefore, we stand under the judgment of God and it is only a matter of time till the present judgments (Romans 1:18-32) give way to spiritual awakening or punitive calamities (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8).
But the part of the prophecy that goes beyond what the Bible says, we measure by biblical standards. Two things give me pause in Wilkerson’s extra-biblical specifics.
First, it does not resonate with my spirit when he claims that God told him to “lay in store a thirty-day supply of non-perishable food, toiletries and other essentials” because when disaster comes “grocery stores are emptied in an hour.” God might have said this. But it doesn’t smell authentic to me. Too prudential. Too reminiscent of the embarrassing Y2K excesses.
Second, my confidence level drops when the Scriptures are not handled carefully. Wilkerson says, one way we can respond is: “As David says, ‘He fixed his eyes on the Lord on his throne in heaven—his eyes beholding, his eyelids testing the sons of men’” (Psalm 11:4).
This does not have the feel of authority to me because what Psalm 11:4 really says is: “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.”
So my take on this prophetic word is that the scare will probably do good for a lot of people. The Bible is a scary book. And the future that is coming on unbelievers is scary beyond anything any preacher could conjure up.
But my own effort to be discerning says: Stick with the Bible, David. It is scary enough. And it is absolutely true. And your credibility will never fall.
There are few pastors I hold in higher esteem than Piper and Wilkerson.
I’ll take the wait and see approach.
I thought Wilkerson’s prophecy sorta indicated that it was he himself who was suggesting the 30 day supply of food, not that the Lord told him to do it.
A convenient qualifier.
Piper says some good stuff, but when he spends as much time as he does in tearing down biblical gratitude, and denigrates this as a “debtor’s ethic”, I’ve had to get out my salt shaker every time my church plays a Piper DVD lesson.
The 3 Mile Island Nuclear plant? Let's face It - the NY politicians aren't the brightest birds in the barnyard (To them, 9/11 was simply a political inconvenience), and it wouldn't be very hard for obomas muslim brothers to sneak in there.
I am with Alex...Wilkerson has been doing this for years.
Well, Wilkerson’s article definitely scared a couple of my family members into sitting up and taking notice. I was beginning to think we’d have to start setting food aside for them, too. Today I got a call from my sister who was already doing a bit of preparing, telling me where I could purchase dried milk in bulk. It’s my husband’s side of the family that is just about 100% oblivious as far as I can tell.
It's not a bad idea, anyway. We've witnessed Obomas first 2 months, and it's only going to get worse.
"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences" ( Proverbs 22:3 )
One more comment. I welcome Christian leaders weighing in on the world crisis we are in. We’ll know soon enough whether or not Wilkerson’s prophesy is true, but at least he’s acknowledging that something is really, really wrong out there. Walking into my church is like visiting the Twin Towers on September 10. My pastor has yet to even acknowledge what is going on. Our family and friends in the church have been taking various steps to prepare for hard times for months now. A few families have even researched moving to other countries. ALL OF US ARE SANE and mature Christians! But I walk into church wondering if I’m the crazy one, are my fears and emotions getting the best of me, how do I keep a balanced view of all this, where does God fit into the picture of the scariest possible future ever, but I get a sermon on “Blessed are the peacemakers.” OK, how does THAT fit in with a possible future where desperate people are trying to break into my house to steal our meager provisions? Now THAT might be helpful. Sorry if I seem sarcastic, but I’ve been feeling this way for several weeks now, and each Sunday think, “Maybe today’s the day we’ll hear a sermon that will give us guidance right now.” In the meantime, my friends and I share ideas for food storage, how to make homemade laundry soap, and we constantly check our sanity levels with each other.
That's the way I understand it. Right now, Israel is being pressured into dividing the capitol.
I saw a program a while back where the Jewish scholars were thinking the place of the old temple was actually off to the side of where they always thought it was. If they're right, they could still build it even if the capital is divided.
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