Types of Prophetic Event (6) - Confusion

Christians get confused about these four different types of judgment event.

1. Prophetic people often declare that Warning Events and Evil Events are caused by God. However, when a society that once had a strong Christian influence gets close to the tipping point, God has only limited authority to act on earth. Because most authority on earth has been handed over to the principalities and powers, the best he can do is restrain the worst of the evil. He is still more powerful, but because he is honest and just, he abides by decisions that he made about authority on earth, even when things go haywire.

2. Believing that God has caused events that are the work of the devil is seriously distorted thinking, that causes terrible confusion among Christians. If we do not know what God is doing, it will be hard to hear what he is saying. Christians who think that rampant evil and destruction are God’s perfect will find it hard to obey him, as it is hard to love and serve someone who dishes out wanton violence.

3. God gets a bad name that he does not deserve. The world blames him for warning signs and evil events that are the work of the forces of evil. They prefer to think that he is in control, even though refuse to acknowledge his authority, because this makes them feel better. The truth is that humans have authority on earth. They have allowed the authority to shift, so most evil events on earth are the result of that authority being handed to the forces of evil. Humans are responsible, not God.

4. God always works to bring good out of evil. We must not be confused by this. The fact that God continues working in the midst of evil does not hat mean that he has caused it.

5. When evil is rampant, God may not have sufficient authority to prevent evil events, but he is still omniscient and knows what the devil is about to do. He usually warns Christians in advance, so they can prepare. Some get confused in this situation and believe that God is sending the evil. They say will say, “God is going to do such and such”. This makes God seem a quite nasty, when he is actually trying to be helpful. In these situations, Christians should say, “God has shown me that the forces of evil are going to do such and such. Use the time to get ready”.

6. People who believe that God is always in control will be totally disorientated during seasons when he is not. It is hard to confront evil, if you believe that God has allowed it.

7. Many Christians ignore these distinctions and assume that every traumatic event is a sign of the so-called end times. They like things to get worse and worse, because it means that escape is getting closer. Many assume that nothing can be done, so they sit on their bums and enjoy the playing out of pain. These Christian do not like Judgment Events and Warning Events, because these might shake people back to God, which would hold back the tide of disaster, which would delay their rescue. This distorted thinking makes them powerless.

8. When David disobeyed God by taking a census of his fighting men, God gave him three choices (2 Sam 24:13-14). David chose to fall into the hands of God rather than the hands of men, and the forces of evil.

   Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; bud do not let me fall into the hands of men (1 Chron 20:13).

   This suggests that Israel was somewhere between the opening of the door to evil and the tipping point where evil gets greater control, so God was able to give David a choice between a Judgment Event and a Warning Event. David understood God’s mercy, so he chose a judgment from God over a strike from the enemy.

9. Abraham declared that God would treat the nations of the world with justice.

   Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right (Gen 18:25)?

   His faith in God’s justice led him to expect that God would be generous. Many Christians assume that a just God will be destructive. This difference is revealing. Maybe Abraham understood God’s grace and justice better than modern people.