After last week's "Prophets And Prophecy" series I began thinking about the role that miracles will play in the near future as we begin to see several of the major end times prophesies fulfilled.
Let's look at some Scripture first to see what God tells us:
Matthew 24:24 - - "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
Revelation 13:13-14 - - "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
Matthew 7:22-23 - - "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 - - "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee."
In each case, Christ's admonition is that we should have a healthy skepticism of miracles because miracles may produce deception. It is not that the miracle does not occur. The more important point is, does it witness to the truth? Does it witness to the ultimate reality, the will of God?
In both Jesus' instruction in the New Testament (Mathew 24:24; 7:22-23; Revelation 13:13-14) and in Moses' teaching in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 13:1-5), it is clear - - regardless of the wonder done - - if a person even implies that we are free to disobey God, the miracle is not a demonstration of God's truth. A miracle it was, but it is not validate God's truth.
We must be prepared for what's coming and pray for discernment so that we're not part of the "elect" who are deceived, and so that we can help others properly interpret things
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What We're Praying/Talking About
March 30, 2009
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2 Comments:
Ok, so the green light thing is freaking me out! Call the ball on this one please.
One 11 News viewer in Carroll County e-mailed to say she "spotted a large fireball in the western sky. It started out being about star brightness, then increasingly got brighter and greener. As it got green, it had an orange sparkling tail...We saw it go almost all the way to the ground before losing sight of it in the trees."
These are important warnings, and they may be needed very soon. You may be interested in this attempt at popularizing the prophesies about the End Times, including the ones you deal with in this post: a free e-book called Walkabout: The History of a Brief Century. If it's any help in spreading the word, feel free to share it with others.
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