Prophetic Hysteria
Posted on April 14, 2020 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters
“And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3 (NASB)
It was May 21st, 2011, and outside of that, I haven’t a clue to what I was doing that day. However, to you folks who remember Harold Camping, I believe this was the day he said the church was gonna be raptured. By October 21st of that same year, he also said the end of the world would occur. However…
On May 23rd, 2011, a flabbergasted Camping said he wasn’t gonna return any donated money stating, “We’re not at the end. Why would we return it?” His congregation dwindled down to about 25 people and as time went by, Camping would pass away but his belief that all established Christian churches were apostate lived on.
Since then, repentance has happened and Family Radio has stopped predicting stuff and chastening the church…BUT that hasn’t stopped anyone else with what I call “Prophetic Hysteria”.
Social Media has been bombarded lately with verses and articles that folks are using to indicate that they believe point to the Second Coming or at least to the “birth pangs” we’ve been told are signs of the beginning of the end. I’m not sure If I’m in total agreement with all of that.
I recently argued with a friend over a passage from Isaiah 26:20-21. It was the 26th of March of 2020 and somehow this verse pointed to a current world event, the COVID-19 pandemic. I kinda thought this was a performance in Biblical mathematical gymnastics but if we’re were to take what has happened to the nation of Israel in the past under advisement, then we would be taking the full counsel of God’s Word and not a prophetic message that the world is gonna end. Like the Geneva Study Bible puts it, “He exhorts the faithful to be patient in their afflictions and to wait on God’s work.”
It also has made me seek what Jesus said about the end times. For the scholarly it is known as “The Olivet Discourse” but for you and me it’s probably the longest run of red letters in our Bibles. Matthew 24:36 is pretty clear to me, no one, not the angels, nor the Son knows the day or the hour but Jesus will sure give us a warning sign. “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.” (Matt 24:37) This tells me to look backward and read how it was back then. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)
Then He’ll go on to explain what that looks like, but for me, our hinge point lands at Matthew 24:44, “For this very reason you be ready too: for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” The message is clear, “be ready” and I think the most severe lesson about not being ready that Jesus taught us in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).
In Matthew 25:13, once again we read, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour”, then the master goes on a journey. He’ll leave something for his servants to be stewards over. One of them will get a vast increase, one will get an acceptable increase but the last one does nothing with what he has stewardship over. The first two servants hear this blessing, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.” But the third one did nothing because he viewed his master as harsh and unrelenting. He didn’t hear well done, more like cast him into the outer darkness. YIKES!!
May that not be us. With all this prophetic hysteria going on you’d think that folks would turn from expecting God’s judgment and start doing what He would expect us to do for each other. But no, we’ll just stare into His blaring headlights like a deer waiting to be run over.
I never heard if Harold Camping prepared his congregation to be about the Lord’s business when he made his predictions but I sure hope he didn’t hear into the darkness stuff either. It’s good to know Biblical prophecy, but it should serve as a reminder that we really need to prepare. This means doing what Jesus has told us to do, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) has been married for 25+ years (Kathy), has a married son (Kevin) and a daughter in college (Karen). He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can email him at cphughes515@verizon.net
Think About This: “Sometimes our view of the Second Coming is so centered on the Judgment of God that we have overlooked the joyful nature of His return for those who are prepared.” — Ray Hollenbach
The Daily Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 9-13| You can download our 2020 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
This Week’s Verse to Memorize: When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you – Proverbs 2:10-11
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the doctrinal and theological views held by America’s Keswick.
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