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Verse:Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. —1 John 4:1
Our postmodern, somewhat mystical era has fabricated many alleged prophets. One of the most famous is the French astrologer Michel de Nostradamus (1503–1566). Born on December 14, 1503, in St-Rémy, France, Nostradamus worked first as an apothecary —researching herbal remedies—and then moved toward occultism. He wrote many almanacs, which, altogether, supposedly contain more than six thousand prophecies. But his most famous work is Les Prophéties of 1555, written in a poetic style and published in English as Prophecies in 1672.
Followers of Nostradamus argue that he predicted many historical events, including the two world wars and the attack on 9/11, the rises of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, and even Donald Trump’s presidency. We may ask, “How much do people read the present into those alleged predictions?” In Nostradamus’s Prophecies X.72, he stated: In the year 1999 and seven months, From the skies shall come an alarming powerful king, To raise again the great King of the Jacquerie, Before and after, Mars shall reign at will.35 We’re past 1999, and this prophecy wasn’t fulfilled! Then, in Prophecies I.48, Nostradamus astrologically predicted, Twenty years of the reign of the moon having passed, Seven thousand years another shall hold his monarchy, When the sun shall resume his days past, Then is fulfilled and ends my prophecy. When should one expect these “seven thousand years” to begin? Bible eschatology does not provide room for such a long time prophecy! Regardless of their alleged fulfillment, all astrological predictions and enchantments are strictly forbidden by the Bible (Isaiah 47:12–15). We are also warned against false prophets and their unfulfilled predictions (Deuteronomy 18:21, 22; Jeremiah 28:8, 9).
While true prophets describe future events in a concrete way, false prophets speak in general terms and use ambiguous language —allowing for the explanation that the prophecy was wrongly interpreted.
The world is coming to its end, and the number of false prophets will significantly increase. We should be well grounded in the Bible and prepared to face those challenges.