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As we prepare to meet 2012, all sorts of "prophetic" voices are beginning to fight for attention. An iPod generation has given rise to iPredict personalities who have gladly taken upon themselves the challenging task of mastering...predictive speculation! Moreover, now that the enigmatic 2012 has finally arrived (seems like it's for a second time really, since the movie came out already once before), the "end-timers" are getting, shall we call it - numerologically excited at the prospects of what...COULD HAPPEN!

Running the risk of losing some as friends I'll mention one prophetic personality which has predicted with a great degree of certainty that "it could be possible that the world as we know it will end in 2012". It's not a very Biblical statement, but certainly brilliant approach from a marketing standpoint. Oh, and I'm sure the grand-daddy of them all, the Rev. Van Impe, would approve. And Rexella and Chuck The Announcer, too. Amen! 

Such hypothetic predictions remind me of this precious friend of our family who came over to our house few years ago, trying to sell me life insurance. He was actually really good at it and I really respect his kind of job. Certainly not an easy job! Based on my age and health records, he said, there is such and such percentage of chance I could get heart attack, brain stroke, etc, etc. If I chose to believe his "it-could-happen" predictive scenarios, largely based on actual statistics taken from real life, I would at least know what to do - I'd buy life insurance!

What I can't figure is what the Christian predictors are aiming at? I mean there are many other ways to market their audio and video products and merchandise - but these doom-and-gloom predictions? What do they get out this? Just keeping folks in a general state of distress and expecting the worst? Weird! 

Yet another question arises from such unqualified, irresponsible, wishy-washy predictions - "it could be possible that the world as we know it will end in 2012" kind of predictions. Like - what the heck is this supposed to mean? Which "world as we know it" do these people mean? The so called "developed world" as we know it? Okay, let's talk about that - what does that mean? How can you even utter such unsubstantiated statement and not give me ANY detail?

Let's see how predictive prophecies were carried out according to the Biblical record.

In Isaiah 13:17-22 a specific predictive prophecy is given regarding Babylon. The prophecy was written between 701-681 BC and it was fulfilled in 539 BC. In Isaiah 13:19, the prophet said Babylon would be overthrown, permanently. History confirms that when Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC, it never again rose to power as an empire. Before the time of Cyrus, however, Babylon had been defeated by the Assyrian Empire but was able to recover and later conquer the Assyrian Empire. However, like Isaiah prophesied 2700 years ago, the Babylonian Empire never recovered from Cyrus' conquest.

But let's take a an even closer look at the incredible accuracy and detailed predictions of Isaiah as opposed to the generalities of today's predictors.

The works of Herodotus and Xenophon are the two principal sources of historical confirmation. Herodotus (484-425 B.C.), respected by many as the “father of history,” produced the first attempt at secular narrative history. His work, which dealt primarily with the Persian Wars, is an important source of information on the ancient world. He vividly describes the overthrow of Babylon. Xenophon (c. 430-355 B.C.), a student of Socrates, was a Greek historian born in Athens. He served in the Persian army and produced several valuable literary works. One of these, called Cyropaedia, is a sort of romance founded on the history of Cyrus the Great (559-530 B.C.). It provides considerable data on the fall of Babylon.

Jeremiah said: “The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting. They stay in the strongholds; their strength is exhausted, they are becoming like women” (Jeremiah 51:30). How remarkably this conforms to the actual history. Xenophon said that when Cyrus brought his army to Babylon, he initially was perplexed as to how he would take the city, since the Chaldean soldiers “do not come out to fight” (VII.V.7). The Babylonians fearfully remained behind their massive walls refusing, for the most part, to encounter the enemy—exactly as the prophet had indicated.

Consider what the prophets declared regarding Babylon’s fall. Isaiah, writing more than a century and a half earlier, referred to Jehovah’s decree. The Lord “saith to the deep: Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers, that saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and shall perform my pleasure” (Isaiah 47:27) Later, in his famous oracle against Babylon, Jeremiah exclaimed: “A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols” (50:38). Again, “I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry” (51:36).

Now let's see how this played itself out in history. Just to the west of the city was a huge lake-basin, some thirty-five feet deep which, at the time of the invasion, was but a marsh. Cyrus stationed soldiers at the point where the river entered the city, and also where it exited. At a given time, he diverted the Euphrates from its bed into the marshy lake area. His forces then entered Babylon under the city walls (Herodotus, I.191).

And finally: Isaiah 14:23 "I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction," declares the Lord Almighty.

The buildings of Babylon fell into a gradual state of ruin during the next several centuries. Archaeologists excavated Babylon during the 1800s. Some parts of the city could not be dug up because they were under a water table that had risen over the years.

Wow indeed!

Predictive prophecy spells out God's intentions and unless otherwise made conditional, when the claim of prediction was made, it better came to pass, or that prophet risked his very life, according to the Mosaic Law. Fortunately for today's predictors, their errors and generalities will be largely overlooked and even if someone like myself took them to task, folks would right away rise in defense of the erring predictor, quoting the unwritten 11th Commandment of today's tolerance-obsessed Christian culture - "Thou shalt not judge!"

Let's take a look at couple more fascinating instances of accurate predictive prophecies, this time in regards to Tyre:

This is what the Lord says: "For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses." Amos 1:9-10

In Amos 1:9-10, the prophet said that God would cause Tyre's protective fortresses to fail, as punishment for the way that Tyre treated Israel. That prophecy was fulfilled in 586-573 BC when Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar attacked the mainland of Tyre, and in 333-332 BC when Alexander the Great conquered the island of Tyre. Alexander's army built a land bridge from the mainland to the island so that they could use a battering ram to break through the island's fortress.

Here's one more:

They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. Ezekiel 26:12:

In Ezekiel 26:12, the prophet said that Tyre's stones, timber and soil would be thrown into the sea. Ezekiel's prophecy accurately describes how Alexander the Great built a land bridge from the mainland to the island of Tyre, when he attacked in 333-332 BC. Alexander's forces took rubble from Tyre's mainland and tossed it - stones, timber and soil - into the sea, to build the land bridge.

There are more examples but for the sake of brevity I won't get into that right now. I believe you see my point.

Many of today's media personalities resort to half-baked predictions that sound less professional than an insurance agent's sales presentation. This has got to stop! There are conditional prophecies in the Bible that come with the condition of someone's obedience being the key to one or another scenario. However, when someone is giving a predictive prophecy of the "world-as-we-know-it-will-end-in-2012" kind, without giving any qualification to such general statement, Christians should know better!

iPredict 2012

And just so that no one was left with the impression I am some angry cessationist who is going after Charismatics and in particular after the prophets, let me make myself clear: I do believe that both the gift of prophecy and the office of the prophet are valid expressions of God's Spirit in the earth today. I simply refuse to accept the notion that just because someone has been successful in creating a platform for themselves through media and on the preaching circuit, it's is enough of a validation that this is what prophecy or prophets are all about! And I urge the Body of Christ to assess such speculative predictions (really, guesses) in light of the Biblical standards for predictive prophecy and to move beyond the "thou shalt not judge" mantra, demanding more accountability by their givers thereof.

For the record, I also believe in predictive prophecies. But I'd stay within the limits of what God has specifically said or hasn't said. I believe the current economic system will be indeed reset, but I have no idea when this will be or even exactly how this will happen. I have a specific word from the Lord and I have shared it publicly. But I have never claimed any timing associated with it. I have suggested specific steps individuals and organizations can take to prepare for these coming events, whether they happen in one month or in one year.

The prophetic vein we must remain in at this hour is the framework defined by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 14:3 "But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation."

True, it's not as flashy and it doesn't have a "wow" element to it, but only carnal people would be looking for those anyway. For the rest of us who are mostly concerned with Jesus' Kingdom advancement, who are only looking for His will to be done and His Kingdom to infiltrate every aspect of human existence and society, 1 Cor. 14:3 is plenty good!