When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not respect him. – Deuteronomy 18:22
When God’s real prophets make a prophecy, it comes to pass. According to Deuteronomy 18:22, if a prophet claims that something will come to pass that does not, they are not a prophet of God and should no longer be respected. In verse 19 of that chapter, the penalty for false prophecy was death. This hasn’t stopped a whole swath of today’s charismatic prophets from issuing random guesses in the name of Jesus. If their guess (which is often no more impressive than heads-over-tails) turns out to be correct, they claim prophetic prowess. If their guess turns out to be inaccurate, they move along and forget it.
Mark Taylor, co-author of The Trump Prophecies, claims that God first revealed to him that Donald Trump would be president in 2011. He first thought that Trump would become president in 2012, but that turned out not to be so (apparently God’s visions are hazy). Taylor received great acclaim for telling the world in 2015 that he had been told in 2011 that Trump would be president. It was still impressive to some charismatics, regardless of the fact that Trump had publicly toyed around with the idea of running for president as early as 2000. To charismatics, ever eager for a new Word from the Lord, Taylor is a visionary. Who else could’ve predicted something so astonishing? Isaiah prophesied King Cyrus 200 years in advance (Isaiah 44). That’s basically the same thing, right?
Taylor’s latest prophecy falls flat, however. He prophesied a “Red Tsunami.” He claimed in an interview with CBN News (posted just yesterday):
“There will be no ‘Blue Wave.’ A lot of people are talking about a ‘Red Wave,’ but it’s actually going to be a ‘Red Tsunami’ is what the Lord is showing me…”
Hours before election results came in, Taylor claimed that God showed him a “Red Tsunami.” Instead, Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, which all but ensures that impeachment will be a constant theme of conversation in the coming years. With the power to subpoena tax records, documents, and witnesses in a never-ending quest to remove the president, the majority of Trump’s time for the remainder of his tenure will be spent fending off relentless attacks of the lower chamber. It also means that financial reform on virtually any level is extremely unlikely, given the House of Representative’s control over the president’s budget and purse strings.
While Republicans had a slight gain in the U.S. Senate, the situation isn’t any more advantageous than it already was.
Likewise, of 36 gubernatorial races, Democrats picked up top state spots. There was no “Red Wave.” There was no “Blue Wave.” There was the typical and ordinary change of power in at least one chamber of the legislature, as is perfectly normal and predictable for a sitting president’s opposition party in a midterm election. That was predictable.
Except, of course, Mark Taylor and other charismatics didn’t see it coming.
Taylor isn’t the only false prophet. The founder of Destiny Encounters International, Charlie Shamp, also said:
I again looked and saw a massive red tsunami wave coming to America. Suddenly, it crashed against the shores and covered the nation. I thought, ‘No. Does this mean a disaster will come?’ I heard the Lord say, ‘I will come to America with another wave of revival. This will be the third wave and will crash against the shores so intensely that the nation will awaken to righteousness again. I will cover this nation with my blood; cities will experience the salvation of my hand. I will empower my church to preach the message of the Cross and multitudes will run to altars on street corners and stadiums as I cover the nation with the blood of my Son from sea to shining sea.”
“The Lord spoke to me again, ‘As a sure sign of these things coming to pass there will be a wave of conservatives elected during the midterm election in November 2018; it will be breaking news. They will carry the House and the Senate, and I will uproot, replant and rebuild the nation. I will tie the three branches of government together, for a person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. I will no longer allow your president to stand on his own. Even now I have called others to come along side and help bring the nation back from the dead, and they will take their seats in the coming days.
Nope. Didn’t happen. We should (metaphorically) stone him. He speaks presumptuously and is a false prophet.
[Editor’s Note: If you can find other charismatic prophets who prophesied falsely regarding election results, feel free to post in the comment thread below]
