BLOOD MOONS

Demystifying the Popular Prophecies About
Jewish Sabbaths and Blood Moons

A book review of Dave James' timely new book Biblical Guide to the Shemitah and the Blood Moons: Discerning Popular “Prophecies” in the Light of God’s Word  

By Gaylene Goodroad

Dave James new book, published by Berean Call, 2015

The book, The Mystery of The Shemitah, by Jonathan Cahn—a runaway sequel to his bestselling book, The Harbinger—has nearly rivaled the success of its predecessor[1]—and has proponents of these ancient mysteries eagerly anticipating the economic destruction of the United States this September (when the “Shemitah” cycles end), in fulfillment of the apocalyptic and calamitous judgments, predicted in the so-called hidden end-time Jewish prophecies, Sabbaths (Shemitahs, pronounced sh’mee’-tah), and current Blood Moon Tetrad (aligned with Jewish feast days), detailed in Cahn’s books.

Jonathan Cahn warns of pending “Shemitah” judgments coming to America
on Sid Roth’s television program, It’s Supernatural[2]

There is extraordinary publicity ramping up over the dire events that are predicted to happen the last few weeks in September this year, 2015. Charisma, for example, just ran an article titled “10 Things That Are Going to Happen Within 15 Days of the End of the Shemitah,” which attempts to prophetically connect the Jade Helm military exercises, selected United Nations conferences, and even the Pope's upcoming visit to America events to the Blood Moons prophecies that have been popularized by men such as Jonathan Cahn, Mark Biltz and John Hagee.

Article in Charisma News, 8/20/15, by Michael Snyder.
The caption to this photo reads: The Shemitah is rapidly approaching.

However, not everyone agrees with these dreadful predictions. Dave James, who previously authored  The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? (a critical review of Cahn's The Harbinger) initially reviewed Cahn's book The Mystery of the Shemitah in an article he posted last September on his blog, the Alliance for Biblical Integrity (ABI).[3] He has continued his careful, methodical, and in-depth debunking of this phenomenon, which was recently published into his 206-page critical book review: Biblical Guide to the Shemitah and the Blood Moons (hereafter referred to as BGS). James explains his reasons for doing so:

My purpose for evaluating and critiquing The Mystery of the Shemitah is twofold:

First, because so many have been influenced by The Harbinger, and because this new book is already a bestseller, the Body of Christ needs to see that there is another side to the story that may not be completely obvious at first glance. And even for those who may sense that something isn’t quite right, the time it takes to work through the frequently slow and laborious, yet necessary, task of fact-checking is probably more than most readers will want to invest.

Second, just as one of my goals in writing The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? was to model the process of discernment, the same is true of this booklet. First and foremost, discernment involves checking against the Word of God to make sure that all the arguments, theories, and claims are biblically sound. Beyond this, discernment also frequently involves evaluating the logic arguments, the veracity of assertions from a historical perspective, and even the proper use of statistics, which, unfortunately, can be framed in such a way that the true picture is obscured or hidden from the reader, even if unintentionally.[4]

Graphic from the Zions Gate blog[5]

Here is a brief synopsis of the issues involved and questions raised by these Blood Moon prophecies, according to Dave James:

Are “Blood Moons” a harbinger for a catastrophic “seventh Shemitah” in America?

INFORMED CHRISTIANS and serious students of God’s Word would certainly agree that America—and the rest of the world—is prophetically on “borrowed time.” With increasing speed, the signs of the times are drawing nearer and growing clearer. Unfortunately, while the church should be encouraged by Bible prophecy and exhorted to greater personal holiness and evangelism, there instead exists a cadre of prophets and pitchmen creating confusion in the body of Christ. Prominent pastor-authors pronounce their warnings—while eager publishers promote their wares. In his latest book, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Cahn boldly purports to reveal a previously unknown and undiscovered “3,000-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY that…

• Revealed the dates and the hours of the greatest [financial] crashes in Wall Street history…
• Determined the timing of 9/11…lies behind the rise of America…and its fall…[and]
• Holds the key to what lies ahead for the world and for your life.”

IF TRUE, these astonishing claims are nothing short of divine revelation. IF FALSE, then millions of believing Christians are the victims of brazen marketing hype at best, spiritual deception at worst—or both. But how can one test such claims? Is it even possible to know the truth of these matters? Unequivocally, unhesitatingly, YES! In contrast to the swirling clouds of “mysteries” touching down in churches across America, readers will appreciate the calm, clear reasoning of international Bible teacher Dave James as he demonstrates the process of spiritual discernment for all readers who desire to…TEST ALL THINGS [AND] HOLD FAST WHAT IS GOOD. - 1Thessalonians 5:21[6]

Previously we have referred to this unique style of endtime hysteria, crisis hyping, and adrenalin-charged marketing as prophecy mongering. We reminded readers that

evangelicals are susceptible to prophecy-mongering because disaster is indeed imminent! We don’t know the day nor the hour (Matt. 24:36), but Jesus is going to return and before that happens Scripture states that things will wax worse and worse (2 Tim. 3:13). Believers are told to “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3). There are plenty of “wars and rumours of wars” (Mark 13:7) and many other things to indicate that the time is getting close. In fact, potential disasters are a dime a dozen. Every day brings hundreds of new catastrophic scenarios that loom on the horizon. The Christian Right gets all worked up about the environmental crisis advocates' claims of global warming, but they have their own calamitous commotions. Should Christians get all revved up about these things – even before they happen, IF they are going to happen? Jesus’s answer to this was very short and sweet: “see that ye be not troubled.” Why? Because “for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:6).

What is a “Shemitah”?
The first question that comes to mind for readers unfamiliar with Jonathan Cahn’s mysterious end-time teachings is what is a “Shemitah”? Dave James explains the biblical meaning of “Shemitah” on pages 12 and 13 of his book Biblical Guide to the Shemitah: 

In addition to the Sabbath day, the Lord also instructed Israel to observe every seventh year as a Sabbath as well. During the Sabbath year, the Israelites were to allow the land to “rest” by leaving it fallow. In other words, there was to be neither planting nor harvesting, and whatever grew on its own was to be left for the poor among them (Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:1-7). Just as God had provided a double-portion of manna on the sixth day of each week while the Israelites were in the wilderness so that they wouldn’t have to work on the Sabbath day, He actually tripled the harvest in the sixth year—which would carry them through the seventh year, and all the way to the harvest in the eighth year, the first year of the new seven-year cycle. Not only was it an agrarian cycle, but it was an economic one, as well. On the last day of the Sabbath year, lenders were required to forgive, or “release” (the meaning of “Shemitah”), borrowers from the obligation of repaying their debts… Over time, the last day of the Sabbath year, and then the entire year itself, came to be known as the “Shemitah” (pronounced sh’mee’-tah).[bold added]

As James further explains, the Lord God imposed a forced “Shemitah” on Israel when the Israelites disobeyed Him in allowing the land of Israel to rest for the prescribed period of time: 

Although the Sabbath year was to be a source of blessing to the Israelites as they relied on the Lord’s provision each seven-year cycle, they failed to observe the Shemitah for a significant portion of their history as a nation in the land. Between the time the Law was given (approximately 1445 bc) and the time God judged the southern kingdom of Judah through the Babylonians, they had failed to obey this particular law for a total of 70 cycles (490 years)—which is precisely the reason for the specific 70-year length of the Babylonian captivity…

In practical terms, this meant that the Babylonian captivity functioned as a God-imposed Shemitah, because with few Israelites left to cultivate, plant, and harvest, the Promised Land experienced a forced “rest”—a rest that totaled the exact number of years that the Israelites had failed to voluntarily allow the land to rest as the Lord had commanded (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).[7]

This IS a Shemitah Year- With the Final ‘Release’ Date in September 2015!
Graphic from the Zions Gate blog[8]

What is the “Isaiah 9:10 Effect”?
This biblical background of the “Shemitah”, then, forms the hollow backbone of Cahn’s The Mystery of the Shemitah, as he attempts to prophetically link Israel’s past with modern-day America. Dave James summarizes Cahn's basic premise, which requires decoding current events in a confusing admixture of ancient mysteries and recent (or future) national crises:

The fundamental premise of [Cahn's] The Mystery of the Shemitah is that not only did God require the nation of Israel to observe the Shemitah/Sabbath year but that there is also a far-reaching “ancient mystery” connected to the Shemitah, which the author, Jonathan Cahn, has just recently discovered. Cahn’s treatment of this “ancient mystery” suggests that there is a seven-year cycle woven into the very fabric of history and into the order of the universe following the Hebrew calendar—a cycle that can and does affect other nations besides Israel—and even affects the entire world. According to Cahn, this mystery manifests itself through various calamities, including natural disasters, wars, and economic crises that tend to occur according to this seven-year cycle and are most evident when God is trying to get the attention of a nation to warn her of impending judgment…

Thus, just as God had imposed seventy forced Sabbath years upon the nation of Israel as a judgment during the Babylonian captivity, He has likewise been visiting calamities upon America as warnings of impending judgment through stock market crashes, economic crises, and various other cataclysmic events—all because of the “mystery of the Shemitah.” Throughout the book, Cahn goes to great lengths in his attempts to demonstrate that this has been going on for at least a century in this country. And, as he did in The Harbinger, the author contends that the most recent cluster of devastating events began with the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and United Airlines flight #93 (which he collectively refers to as “the first shaking”).[9]

But as James continues his explanation of Cahn’s prophetic teachings in The Mystery of the Shemitah, this “cluster of devastating events” in recent American history “collectively referred to as ‘the first shaking’”, have also “been working in conjunction with what Cahn calls the “Isaiah 9:10 Effect” or a “second shaking” which culminated in the American stock market crashes in 2001 and 2008—events that purportedly took place on the last day of the Jewish “Shemitah” (Sabbath) in both years. Much of this theory was described in detail in Cahn's first book The Harbinger. James summarizes
Cahn's speculations:

Furthermore, Cahn claims that the mystery of the Shemitah has been working in conjunction with what he calls the “Isaiah 9:10 Effect”—a theory he proposed in The Harbinger as “The attempt of a nation to defy the course of its judgment, apart from repentance, will, instead, set in motion a chain of events to bring about the very calamity it sought to avert.” According to Cahn, the “Isaiah 9:10 Effect” has manifested itself as a “second shaking” with the precipitous fall of the stock market on the last day of the Shemitah year in both 2001 and 2008, according to the modern Hebrew calendar.[10]

But as James demonstrates at length in his critique of Cahn's first book (The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?[11]), none of these things can remotely be found within the text or context of Isaiah Chapter 9.

What is the “Blood Moon Tetrad”?
Further building on these best-selling end-time mysteries and frightening hidden prophecies, at some point, Cahn’s Harbinger and Shemitah revelations became intertwined with the “Blood Moon Tetrad” teachings reportedly discovered by Hebrew roots Pastor Mark Biltz in 2008, and later popularized by Pastor John Hagee (both have published books on the subject)[12], which say “that there is end-times prophetic significance to a set of four consecutive lunar eclipses falling on Jewish feast days in 2014 and 2015”—even portending the timing of the Tribulation—although these men deny that they are setting firm dates for these events to occur.[13]

Worthy Publishing, Oct. 2013

There are plenty of concerns about this trio of end-time prophecy pastor-authors and their “’non-datesetting’ datesetting”, as David James explains in his Biblical Guide to the Shemitah: 

Jonathan Cahn has also been a regular guest on The Jim Bakker Show in connection with both The Harbinger and The Mystery of the Shemitah. And in [The Mystery of the Shemitah], he, too, makes a connection between the Shemitah and the blood moon tetrad. This would suggest that he, Bakker, and Biltz are all on the same page regarding the likely timing of the Tribulation, although Cahn tends to try to appear more noncommittal by saying things like, “I’m not putting God in a box,” or “I’m not saying it has to be this way,” and “It could be earlier or later.” However, in spite of these disclaimers, he spends the majority of the time speaking as if it will happen according to the dates of the Shemitah cycles, the Blood Moon Tetrad, and the two solar eclipses of 2015.[14]

WND Books, Mar. 2014

One of the most compelling arguments against the Blood Moon prophecies, according to James, is that none of these Blood Moon speculations fit the biblical pattern of a supernatural event. He rightly points out that the timing of the Blood Moon Tetrad is “completely natural and predictable… for thousands of years in the past to thousands of years into the future”: 

Although the Lord has frequently used nature to bring warnings and judgment, the events themselves were anything but natural. The many biblical examples include Noah’s flood, the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and Joshua’s long day when the sun stood still. Then there are all of the future cataclysmic events in nature described in the book of Revelation. Although they involve God’s use of nature, none of them were or will be merely natural, predictable events but will be supernatural manifestations of His wrath and power. The present blood moon tetrad is a completely natural and predictable event. NASA has calculated the precise location and the exact timing (to the minute) of every lunar and solar eclipse for thousands of years in the past to thousands of years into the future.[15][bold added]

This becomes an especially important point, because it means that the current Blood Moon teaching is totally incompatible with the biblical doctrine of imminency, i.e., that Christ could return at any moment for His Church. James elaborates on this crucial issue: 

The immediate problem is that if people think the Rapture, the beginning of the Tribulation, or the Second Coming of Christ are directly connected to these completely natural events, then they don’t have to be concerned with the idea that the Rapture could happen at any moment—which, given human nature, means that some won’t be prepared and will be caught off-guard. Those who haven’t trusted in Christ for salvation will enter into the Tribulation and experience the worst cataclysmic events this world has ever seen as God pours out His wrath in a series of devastating judgments.[16]

Advertisement from Tom Horn & Gary Stearman’s SkyWatch TV[17]

Blood Moon Prophecies: Fact vs. Fiction
Dave James examines, analyzes, and elaborates on these and other issues associated with Cahn’s Harbinger, Shemitah, and Blood Moon teachings throughout his careful book review, including the fact that:

• There is no true biblical support for Cahn’s fearful teachings[18]
• Cahn’s theory’s do not support the biblical pattern, i.e., in “the first major component of the imposed Shemitah was that the Lord forced Israel to allow the land to lie completely fallow by having much of the nation carried away into captivity— there was no one to work the land. However, in America there has been no collapse of the agricultural sector nor any other sectors that might be considered modern-day economic equivalents… When God imposed a Shemitah on ancient Israel, everything was wiped away. This is not what happened in 2008 [in America]”[19]
• U.S. experts failed to notice the so-called recurring economic patterns and shifts that Cahn proposes in his books[20]
• Other Christian believers before Cahn did not recognize such important biblical signs[21]
• God apparently chose to impose “Shemitah” judgments upon America while giving Israel a complete pass[22]
• God also supposedly decided to keep America in the dark about what He was doing—and then imposed judgment on her anyway[23]
• God purportedly revealed these mysteries (that are not clearly stated in the Scripture) to Jonathan Cahn—making Cahn a prophet of God. If so, then why would God send him such after-the-fact revelation—years after the judgments were already imposed?[24]
• In order for Cahn’s theories to work, he must treat America like a second Israel—something not found in Scripture (a phenomenon James’ terms ‘Parallel Israel Theory’)[25]
• The modern Hebrew calendar is out of sync with the ancient one, making a precise timing or calculation of such end-time events impossible[26]
• Cahn’s TMS is short on documentation, and much of what is documented comes from Wikipedia.[27]
• Cahn engages in “marketing fear” to massive audiences worldwide[28]
• Cahn redefines the biblical meaning of the imposed Shemitah: “The biblical Shemitah involved the cancellation of all debt owed to creditors. However, Cahn has completely redefined it, with no scriptural support whatsoever, to include the wiping out of savings and investments.”[29]
• Cahn “fudges the numbers” in order to prove that his revelations are true, as the author shows that “…the stock market crashes of 2001 and 2008 came nowhere close to the Shemitah that God imposed on Israel.”[30]
• Arguing for precision in the economic crises in America, Cahn misleads readers by switching back and forth between the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars.[31]
• There is no clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Cahn’s The Harbinger.[32]

Promotion from Bill Salus’s website[35]

Cahn’s end-time teachings collapse under the weight of such in-depth analysis. As with the Blood Mood Tetrad theory, one of the most compelling biblical arguments in BGS, against Cahn’s The Mystery of the Shemitah, deals with the issue of Sabbath keeping:

The Sabbath day and the Sabbath year, the Shemitah, were exclusively part of the Law of Moses. If God had any expectations of man with regard to the Sabbath day or a seven-year economic or agricultural cycle apart from the Law, there would be corresponding revelation. However, the Scriptures are silent on this, both before and after the Law. The New Testament neither prescribes nor describes any Sabbath-keeping for believers after Christ’s death on the cross…

Those who are in Christ by faith have entered into the Sabbath rest that God has promised and prepared. Apart from Christ there is no Sabbath requirement, meaning that because Christ fulfilled the Law, God does not impose a Sabbath day or a Sabbath year (the Shemitah). God no longer expects Jews to continue keeping the Sabbath day or Shemitah. Rather, His desire is that they would enter His Sabbath through faith in Christ. Gentiles were never required to keep either Sabbath. Therefore, there is no biblical basis whatsoever for Cahn’s theory concerning an imposed Shemitah. Quite the opposite is true—his theory runs counter to the Word of God and the gospel.[33]

Discernment Tips
For further consideration, David James has also dispersed eleven sound “Discernment Tips” throughout his book review to help readers with future encounters of such mysterious and calamitous biblical revelation (James elaborates on each tip in his book):

1. Strive to understand what the author is saying well enough to be able to summarize it in a few sentences. [pg. 17]
2. As someone has rightly said, “Context isn’t the main thing—it’s the only thing.” [pg. 33]
3. Beware of claims of “newly discovered” truth in the biblical text that no one has ever seen before. [pg. 36]
4. Despite the title and words of the song “Every Promise in the Book Is Mine,” this really isn’t true—and if we fail to recognize that certain things concerned only ancient Israel, our understanding of the entire Bible will be fraught with problems. [pg. 41]
5. Take nothing for granted and be willing to do the hard work to check any and all assertions and fact claims, even by “experts,” especially if there are other red flags. [pg. 46]
6. Beware of those who become too bold in predicting the precise “what and when” of future events. [pg. 52]
7. Always judge a book by its cover. [pg. 55]
8. Think. Think biblically, think spiritually, think logically, and think theologically—because these aren’t at odds with one another for the believer. [pg. 61]
9. Someone has rightly said that if you torture statistics long enough, you can get them to confess to anything. [68]
10. Beware of an author who fails to document assertions and fact claims when they are critical to his argument. [pg. 70]
11. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10) [pg. 74]

Conclusion
Dave James book Biblical Guide to the Shemitah is a compelling and well-written read, worthy of serious attention. The issues at hand are quite sobering—with potential eternal consequences. James sums up the dire situation:

There are two significant and very real dangers associated with the hype surrounding the total lunar and solar eclipses this year and next. The first danger is that because biblically the Rapture really could occur at any moment, many could be caught unawares if they think they can legitimately wait until the Feast of Trumpets on September 28, 2015, to do something about their spiritual condition.

The second danger is that if these predictions fail, as have all others in the past, for how many will this be the last straw—with the result that they decide to have nothing more to do with prophecy teachers, with the Bible, or even with God? Because of disillusionment and the resulting skepticism, many could easily fall into the trap described by the Apostle Peter in his second letter:

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
(2 Peter 3:3–4)[34]

“Watch therefore:
for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come”
(Matthew 24:42)

For further review, below are the Chapter titles for BGS:

1. Origin of the Shemitah
2. The Theory of Shemitah Cycles in America
3. "The Revelations Came Rapidly"
4. America as the Second Israel
5. The Hebrew Calendar
6. "Non-Date-Setting" Date Setting
7. What's in a Title? The "Mystery" of the Shemitah
8. The Blood Moon Tetrad
9. A Surprising Lack of Discernment
10. Marketing "Fear"
11. The Second Shaking
12. The Isaiah 9:10 Effect
13. The Financial Collapse
14. The Shemitah Connection
15. The Case for the Shemitah
16. Fudging the Numbers
17. Biblical Realities & Inescapable Conclusions
18. Signs of the Second Coming?
19. The Imminency Problem
20. A Potential Danger - and a Word of Caution

Biblical Guide to the Shemitah is available from The Berean Call as a downloadable PDF [link: http://thebereancall.com/products/biblical-guide-to-the-shemitah-downloadable-pdf] 

Endnotes:
[1] WND (formerly WorldNetDaily), “'Mystery of the Shemitah' hits publishing milestone: Jonathan Cahn's followup to 'The Harbinger' hotter than first book,” posted Sept. 9, 2014. WND is strong supporter of Cahn and major purveyor of his teachings; http://www.wnd.com/2014/09/mystery-of-the-shemitah-hits-publishing-milestone/. See also the copy from the DVD combo package of Cahn’s works from The Jim Bakker Show website; http://jimbakkershow.com/lovegifts/the-mystery-of-the-shemitah-final-update.html.
[2] Graphic taken from the Berean Research blog post of Amy Spreeman’s Sept. 22, 2014 review of David Jame’s lengthy article on the “Mystery of the Shemitah”; http://bereanresearch.org/book-review-the-mystery-of-the-shemitah/.
[3] David James’ article, “THE MYSTERY OF THE SHEMITAH: Is it real?,” was initially posted to his blog on Sept. 19, 2014; http://www.biblicalintegrity.org/2014/09/19/mystery-of-the-shemitah/.
[4] David James, Biblical Guide to the Shemitah, pp. 5-6.
[5] See: https://zionsgate.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/the-mystery-of-the-shemitah-book-review/. The author of this dominionist blog, Santos Garcia Jr., gives a favorable review of Cahn’s The Mystery of the Shemitah. See link to his book: http://www.amazon.com/Thy-Kingdom-Come--Here-Now/dp/1450518486/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404496216&sr=1-1&keywords=Thy+Kingdom+Come-+Here+and+Now%21.
[6] Ibid, BGS, pg. 206 (Back Cover). Also found on The Berean Call (TBC) online bookstore; http://bereanresearch.org/book-review-the-mystery-of-the-shemitah/.
[7] Ibid, BGS, pp. 13-14.
[8] See: https://zionsgate.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/the-mystery-of-the-shemitah-book-review/.
[9] Ibid, BGS, pg. 14-15.
[10] Ibid, BGS, pg. 16.
[11] David James’ The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? is available at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/The-Harbinger-Fiction-David-James/dp/1928660800; and from The Berean Call: http://www.thebereancall.org/harbinger-fact-or-fiction.
[12] Pastor John Hagee, Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change, Worthy Pub., Oct. 2013; http://www.amazon.com/Four-Blood-Moons-Something-Change/dp/1617952141; and Pastor Mark Biltz, Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs, WND Books, Mar. 18, 2014, http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Moons-Decoding-Imminent-Heavenly/dp/1936488116.
[13] Ibid, BGS, pp. 46-47, 50.
[14] Ibid, BGS, pp. 50-51.
[15] Ibid, BGS, pg. 58.
[16] Ibid, BGS, pg. 57 (see also pp. 145-152).
[17] Mark Biltz was a presenter at the 2013 Pikes’ Peak Prophecy Summit in Colorado Springs, CO alongside a large cadre of Postmodern Prophecy Paradigm (PPP) leaders that Herescope has been researching for several years. See: http://skywatchtv.com/2015/06/25/when-shemitah-blood-moons-and-the-messiah-meet/. Jonathan Cahn was also a presenter. See Bill Salus’ website: http://www.prophecydepotministries.net/2013/pikes-peak-prophecy-confernece-july-26-28-2013/.
[18] Ibid, BGS, pp. 18, 22, 35, 111, etc.
[19] Ibid, BGS pp. 113, 117; see also, pp. 20, 113-115.
[20] Ibid, BGS, pp. 24-27.
[21] Ibid. BGS, pg. 129.
[22] Ibid, BGS, pg. 29
[23] Ibid, BGS, pp. 52-54.
[24] Ibid, BGS, pp. 33-34.
[25] Ibid, BGS, pp. 36-40.
[26] Ibid, BGS, pp. 41-45.
[27] Ibid, BGS, pp. 61-69.
[28]Ibid, BGS, pp. 70-71.
[29] Ibid, BGS, pg. 118.
[30] Ibid, BGS, pg. 121.
[31] Ibid, BGS, pg. 124.
[32] Ibid, BGS, pp. 164-165.
[33] Ibid, BGS, pp. 130, 132.
[34] Ibid, BGS, pg. 154.
[35] See: Prophecy Depot Ministries; http://www.prophecydepotministries.net/. The DVD package of interview concerning end-time teachings of these men is also available from Postmodern Prophecy Paradigm (PPP) leader, L.A. Marzulli; See: http://www.lamarzulli.net/out-of-the-mounth-two-witnesses-warnings-from-the-heavens.php. In addition, Jonathan Cahn’s books and DVDs concerning The Mystery of the Shemitah are promoted and sold on PPP leader Gary Stearman’s website, Prophecy Watchers; See: https://prophecywatchers.com/product/shemitah-package/.

Herescope has published many previous critical articles, including series, on the current popular movement in evangelicaldom to ramp up hysteria over endtime prophecies. Below are just a few links:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/05/prophecy-mongering.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2014/06/is-francis-last-pope.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2014/11/transhumanism-posthuman-paradigm-shift.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-second-coming-of-apollo.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2015/05/modern-day-divination.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2009/02/false-profits-false-prophets.html

See especially this previous article, which contains a sub-section about Cahn specifically, titled "CAHN'S CODES AND CONNECTIONS": http://herescope.blogspot.com/2012/06/quantum-mysticism-goes-to-market.html?m=1 

“The Energy Angel” and the Energy Crisis

Part 10: The Physics of Heaven*
A Serial Book Review & Theological Interaction

Review of Chapter 9 (authored by Cal Pierce)
“Angelic Encounters” [1]

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

(Source)

Several years ago, I began asking the Lord about the energy crisis. I knew there had to be a Kingdom answer to the energy crisis. A few months later I went to a meeting where Tim Sheets taught about angels.... As soon as the session ended, I looked up to see an angel standing in front of me... suddenly there was an angel speaking to me, “I am sent by God to answer your question about the energy crisis. I am the energy angel.”
—Cal Pierce (TPOH, 89)

Introduction
We’ve all heard about or seen the Energizer Bunny, the cartoon character who advertises Energizer batteries. Hopping in cadence with a steady drumbeat, the imaginary pink bunny moves around the TV screen like a perpetual energy machine as it promotes a brand of batteries that like the bunny, possesses boundless energy. But in reality, we know batteries die. They, as this planet, do not possess endless energy. So how can this world be spared from undergoing energy death? To the rescue comes the energy angel. He has a plan.

The Energy Angel
Like Al Gore and other environmentalists and as a “manifest son of God,” New Apostolic Reformation prophet Cal Pierce** worries about the looming energy crisis hovering over our planet; so much so that he’d been praying that the Lord would reveal to him “a Kingdom answer to the energy crisis.”(TPOH, 89) And how God did answer him! Pierce testifies to being visited by and receiving revelation from “the energy angel.” Not only did this epiphany amaze the prophet, but the angel as well. “I’m amazed too” said the angel, “I’m amazed because I’ve been trying to get your attention for 30 years.”(TPOH, 91) For 30 years Pierce’s indifference had frustrated the angel. (During that 30-year interim, think about how much energy could have been saved if only the prophet had paid attention to the angel.)

A car of the future, depicted HERE

The Angel, the Scroll and the “Water Car”
Having gotten the manifesting-son-of-God’s attention, the two retreated to a hotel room to get to know one another. The energy angel told Pierce he wanted to show him “the water car,” a Kingdom answer to our planetary energy crisis. To solve the problem of shortages and pollution below, the angel told the visionary prophet that the world needed to learn how to draw upon “resources from above,” resources that will not pollute the planet or run out.(TPOH, 90) So promising to return, the angel left Pierce. (Would he come back? Pierce wondered.) He came back with a scroll in hand explaining, “This is the water car.”(TPOH, 90) The scroll was a blueprint, a schematic code for building a car that will run on heaven’s not earth’s energy.

The account of the revelation by the angel to Pierce goes something like this:

Being only a partial revelation, the scroll contained a blueprint for building “the water car,” a solution to the energy crisis and planetary pollution. When Pierce confessed he did not understand the car because he was not an engineer, the energy angel reassured the prophet that he was also an engineer angel. As such, he promised to “connect” the prophet with others who would help him to develop and manufacture the water car—whether fellow prophets and/or scientists, who knows? The car’s schematic indicated it would be constructed of a tank, electrodes and a water container within some sort of closed system. Fueled by clean burning water and light, the car’s ignition would be triggered by a creative sound like God’s voice when He first energized the planet (“Then God said...”). In a similar manner, the creative “sound” of prophets, speaking God’s word according to God’s will in partnership with angels, will ignite the water car’s engine which will be powered by heaven’s water and light. The Kingdom answer to the energy crisis will be the water car.

Author Cal Pierce at the NAR's "Northwest Healing Explosion"
advertised on TheElijahList, 11/07/08 where
participants were "declaring the Northwest a 'cancer-free zone.'"

Scripture Twisting
If bizarre, all of this also sounds (pardon the pun) quite fantastic! Pierce bases his vision of this futuristic car upon a combination of hearsay, Scripture twisting, angelic revelation and the report of a man who “tripped up” to heaven where he learned how to control sound and build mini-mansions.

To establish that there’s “the energy angel,” Pierce first quotes from a speaker-prophet he once heard preaching about angels (i.e., Tim Sheets [brother of NAR's Dutch Sheets, ed.]). From Pierce’s report of what Sheets said, it can deduced that the preacher conflated statements about angels from Psalm 91 (Verse 11: “He shall give His angels,” NKJV) and Hebrews 1 (Verse 14: “to minister for those who will inherit salvation,” NKJV).[2]  Pierce quotes Sheet’s conflation as follows:

God “sends his angels [Psalm 91:11] to render service on behalf of those who inherit salvation [Hebrews 1:14].” (TPOH, 89)

But contrary to Sheet’s quotation, Psalm 91 says nothing about serving angels, but rather that the Lord commands His angels to protect believers who trust in the Lord. The 91st Psalm reads: “For He [the Lord] will give His angels charge concerning you, / To guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11, NASB). Other versions translate the infinitival clause as follows:

• “to guard you in all your ways,” NASB, ESV, NIV, NRSV;
• “to keep thee in all thy ways,” KJV, NKJV, ASV;
• “to watch over you wherever you go,” NCV;
• “to protect you wherever you go,” NLT, TEV.

In Psalm 91:11, the translations listed above testify that the basic meaning of the Hebrew verb “shamar” is “to exercise great care over.”[3] The ancient Greek translation of the Psalm confirms this meaning of to “guard, keep, watch and protect.”[4] The Psalm’s context also verifies this understanding (i.e., vv. 12-13—God’s angels “will bear you up in their hands [so that] you do not strike your foot against a stone [and] tread upon the lion and the cobra”). Of the protection ministry of angels, we can note that this is how Satan understood this promise when he tempted Christ. (Compare Matthew 4:5—6; Psalm 91:11-12.)  So the Hebrew hymn promises believers that when they are threatened by enemies or isolated in the wilderness, God’s angels will protect them, not run errands. As they faced life threatening and wilderness experiences, Hagar, Elijah and Jesus experienced being protected and provided for by angels (Genesis 21:15-19; 1 Kings 19:1-8; Matthew 4:5-11; Luke 22:43).

Though Hebrews 1:14 does indicate that angels can “render service” to believers (diakonia is the Greek word from which the English word deacon derives, Hebrews 1:14, NASB, Wuest), that ministry is not taught in the 91st Psalm. Furthermore, there’s a world of difference between an angel ministering “to” believers and running errands “for” them. It can be noted that in the 91st Psalm,

The plural angels shews [shows, ed.] that there is no allusion to a guardian spirit attending the individual believer, but merely to the angels collectively, as ministering spirits, the instrumental agents of God’s providential care over his people.[5]

At the beginning of the chapter “Angelic Encounters,” Pierce, based upon Sheet’s teaching, twists the meaning of Psalm 91, verse 11.

"Take Your Mountain" Conference, with Cal Pierce,
to build the 7 mountains of dominionism on earth,
advertised on TheElijahList, 3/2/10

“Wresting” God’s Word
All teachers of God’s Word, in this case prophets within the New Apostolic Reformation, need to exercise care not to conflate various Scriptures in order to spin the Bible to say what they want it to say. The Apostle Peter warned of teachers, false teachers, who not only distorted his fellow Apostle’s words (i.e., Paul’s), but also the rest of Scripture. In his second letter Peter described them as “unstable and unlearned” individuals who “wrest” (i.e., “distort,” NASB; “twist,” NKJV, ESV; “explain falsely,” TEV) meanings from Scripture that are not there (2 Peter 3:16, KJV). He warned that such “wresting” would end with their destruction. Sadly, Pierce, like the plethora of other celebrity Bible teachers plaguing the church today, treat God’s Word in such a manner. As exemplified by his teaching on angels, interpretation by imagination is the principle by which Pierce handles God’s Word. And human imagination, especially with regard to angels, can run wild. As Jeremiah lamented of the prophets of his day which is like our day,

Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord.”
—Jeremiah 23:16, NASB
 

Cal Pierce's Healing Rooms conference advertised on TheElijahList, 1/25/09,
"God is doing a new thing, and we all need to step
into His strategies of increase to advance His Kingdom."

Errand Angels
So despite the guarding and providing ministry of angels as stated in Psalm 91 and illustrated in both testaments, Cal Pierce proceeds to tell readers of a “discovery”:

I discovered that the word “render service” [Hebrews 1:14, not Psalm 91] means to “run errands.” I was really stirred by the idea that God sends angels to run errands on our behalf.(TPOH, 89)

This imaginary discovery “stirred” the apostle’s heart.(TPOH, 89) Just as customers can order their own personal pan pizza, so a manifest son of God claims to have his own personal angel running errands for him. But believers ought to know that angels do not serve at our command, but at God’s and Jesus Christ’s (“For [the Most High] will give His angels charge concerning you,” Psalm 91:11; “The Son of Man will send forth His angels,” Matthew 13:41).

At this point it can be noted that there are those within the NAR movement who teach that as “manifesting-sons-of-God” they are messiahs (the man-is-God doctrine) who will bring God’s kingdom to earth. So it should not be surprising that in their claimed messianic role they usurp God’s prerogative and assume they command angels.

The Energy Angel
So after 30 years of trying, one errand angel, “the energy angel,” appeared to Pierce and gave him revelation about “the water car.” We can note that there’s only one such angel and that only Cal Pierce is privy to his revelations of a Kingdom solution to solve one of world’s energy crises. Three factors indicate the angel to be exclusively the prophet’s. First, there’s only one energy angel. “I am the energy angel,” he told Pierce.(Emphasis added, TPOH, 89) Second, the energy angel told the NAR prophet: “I’ve been walking with you for 30 years but you just didn’t know it”; and again affirmed, “I’m amazed because I’ve been trying to get your attention for 30 years.”(Emphases added, TPOH, 90, 91) As can be noted, the angel and Pierce have a personal “I” and “you” relationship. And third, the energy angel did not reveal he was trying to get anyone else’s attention, only Pierce’s. So readers are led to believe that from among all other so-called prophets (e.g., as well as scientists) he is uniquely special to the angel as the angel is to him (Compare Colossians 2:18.). And to help solve the energy crisis, the angel gave an exclusive revelation to Pierce—“I want to show you the water car.”(TPOH, 90)

Can Water Burn?
As we all know, the combustion of fuels whether fossil, oil, gas or other, drives industrial civilization. Not only are combustible fuels a finite resource, but also are believed to pollute earth’s environment. So the discovery and implementation of an abundant and cleaner burning energy source like water would appear to be a major step forward in solving the energy and environmental crisis. It may be—and the theory is tenuous and debated—that if the oxygen could be extracted from hydrogen, the combination of elements which constitute water (H2O), the hydrogen could then become a fuel for H is “a colorless, highly flammable gaseous element.”[6] But in its present combination, water does not ignite fires, but suffocates them. Thus, against this background “the water car” revelation by “the energy angel” becomes interesting. How will the oxygen be extracted from the hydrogen to make it a combustible fuel, what will the technology of the car look like, and how will the engine start and run? We turn to Pierce’s account of the Kingdom answer and code, the energy angel’s revelation to him about “the water car.”

The Scroll, “The Water Car”
During Pierce’s initial introduction and conversation with the angel (e.g., let’s get acquainted), the angel told the prophet he was going away but would return. (Where did he go? Pierce thought during the angel’s absence.) But after-a-while, his errand/energy angel returned carrying a scroll. “This is the water car,” he said of the scroll.(TPOH, 90) The scroll contained the blueprint for the car, the vehicle’s schematics and how the engine would be fueled and ignited. The scroll revealed that the car would have “no engine, drive line, or transmission,” but would be powered by “some sort of closed system” linking together “a tank and electrodes and a water container.”(TPOH, 90) When Pierce confessed to the angel that he could not understand how the car would work because he is not an engineer, the energy angel told him not to worry because he also is an engineer angel! The angel told Pierce that the car would be a work in progress, and that he (the angel) would “connect” Pierce “with people who would help” him develop and produce the car. So as the story’s plot suits the prophet, the angel morphs from an errand into an energy and then into an engineer angel. But how will the car be powered?

Powered by Prophets
The car will be powered by energy produced from “water and light” and ignited by “sound,” a phenomena Native Americans call “sonoluminescence.”(TPOH, 91) Resources “from above,” in contrast to resources from below which are running out and polluting the planet, will power the car. Though not stated by Pierce to be the case, one might envision that this earthly car will tap into the “sound of many waters” in heaven! (See Ezekiel 1:24; 43:2; and Revelation 1:15; 14:2; 19:6.) In short, Kingdom energy will come to earth and the voice of prophets will ignite it because as “god spoke His creative will, man can also speak words that create.”(TPOH, 92) Additionally, as prophets get “the will or word of God” in them, they will speak out the creative word God gives them. When spoken, “errand angels” will understand and take their cue from what the prophets are saying and assist in completing the creative word so that it will not return void.(TPOH, 92, 93) “Sound” writes Pierce, “will literally drive vehicles and produce the power to drive the planet.”(TPOH, 91) To this point, the author gives an illustration.

Heavenly Tourism, the Sound and Mini-mansions
As to how sound will help build and run the water car, Pierce tells of meeting a heavenly tourist who testified of “tripping up” to heaven and learning there how to project sound for building miniature houses. The house he built, he said, was 2 and ½ inches square, a tiny three dimensional structure that “you can walk around and look inside the windows.” (TPOH, 91) Now there’s a model home for you! The heavenly traveler also told Pierce that he was going to expand his heavenly house. With the power of sound (i.e., “sonoluminescence”) at his disposal, he was going to enlarge the house to 18 inches. Imagine . . . like Jesus, manifest-sons-of-God little messiahs are “tripping up” to heaven where they learn about “sound construction” to build little palm sized mansions! (Compare John 14:2.) This sound technology they will bring back to earth and use to help build and run water cars.

This “testimony” from a heavenly traveler Pierce employs to illustrate how sound will power cars. In a transfer from heaven to earth, the same sound by which little heavenly mansions can be built can be used to power the water car. And all this is extrapolated from hearsay preaching which conflated Scriptures about angels, from a revelatory scroll brought to the prophet by an energy angel, by taking the serving ministry of angels (“diakonia”) and twisting it to mean “run errands,” and the report of man who purportedly “tripped up” to heaven where he used sound to build mini-mansions. Are we being serious? Frankly, I don’t know whether this scenario is crazy or creepy. Can it really be believed that angels are in the car business?

Cal Pierce bio posted on TheElijahList, 11/07/06.
See note at bottom of this post for more information.

Conclusion
In closing, there is a publicized energy crisis in the world today, a crisis which has been on this earth since the fall of creation. For reason of the divine curse of God upon nature (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:22), the earth is growing “old like a garment” (Isaiah 51:6; Psalm 102:6; Hebrews 1:11). We live tenuously in a potentially threatened environment that, for reason of some meteor invading earth’s atmosphere, a nuclear exchange between two warring rogue nations, or whatever, could suddenly find itself undergoing even greater stress than it is already in. But, promises Scripture, the same God who created the earth will also rescue it from the coming death. “But according to His promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells,” wrote the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:13). To assuage the great perils which make life on this planet tenuous, the New Apostolic Reformation is talking about the “water car.”

But Christians ought to remember that despite the peril we and earth face, we have God’s providence over and His promise to this planet. Jesus Christ, we are informed by Hebrews, “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3; See Colossians 1:17.). As Elihu asks of wise men in the book of Job,

 “Who gave [God] authority over the earth?
And who has laid on Him the whole world?
If He should determine to do so,
If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust”
—Job 34:13-15, NASB

This chapter, however, if taken seriously by readers, only demonstrates how far the church has fallen from the promise of God’s providence over and His promise for earth. This hope does not give us the right to trash the planet over which God has placed us as stewards (Genesis 1:26). But the promise remains for as Jesus said, “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fail” (Luke 16:17).

Though there are other Scriptures which address the issues raised by this fanciful chapter on the ecology of earth, one verse stands out that illustrates what’s going on. I quote:

 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned unto fables.”
—Emphasis added, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, KJV

The chapter “Angelic Encounters” in the book The Physics of Heaven is imaginary nonsense, and what’s sad about it is that gullible souls believe it.

[Ed Note: This article perfectly illustrates what Dr. Orrel Steinkamp described in "The Absurd is Flooding... Into Generic Evangelical Churches"]

Endnotes
[1] Cal Pierce, Chapter 9: “Angelic Encounters,” The Physics of Heaven: Exploring God’s Mysteries of Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations and Quantum Physics, by Judy Franklin & Ellyn Davis (Crossville, TN: Double Portion Publishing, 2012): 89-93.
[2] “Conflate” means to combine two variant texts into one whole. See Webster’s II: New College Dictionary (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995): 236.
[3] John E. Hartley, “shamar” 2414, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Volume 2, R. Laird Harris, Editor (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1980): 939.
[4] The Septuagint, the Greek and oldest translation of the Old Testament (circa 100 BC), translated the Hebrew infinitive leshmareka with the Greek diaphulapsai (conjugated from diaphulasso), meaning “to watch closely, guard carefully.” See Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975 reprint of 1889 edition): 143.
[5] Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms: Translated and Explained (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1975 Reprint of 1873 Edition): 385.
[6] Webster’s II: 541.

*Read Part 1: "The Physics of Heaven"
Part 2: "The Power of the Zero-Point Field"
Sidebar: "Jesus' Lesser Works"
Part 3: "Extracting the Precious From the Worthless"
Part 4: "Vibrating in Harmony With God"
Part 5: BILL JOHNSON: Squandering Our Spiritual Inheritance
Part 6: Unsagacious Seers
Part 7: Bad Vibes
Part 8: "Sound of Heaven, Symphony of Earth"
Part 9: Quantum Charismatics

**Cal Pierce has been a member of the NAR's International Coalition of Apostles, a group of self-anointed, self-appointed "apostles" with a dominionist mission. To put his beliefs into context, see the 5-part article series by Mike Oppenheimer "John Lake and the Healing Rooms" which details Cal Pierce's involvement with revitalizing John Lake's heretical beliefs for this generation. 
Part 1: Swimming in Lake Exaggeration 
Part 2: Reviving the Revival of John Lake
Part 3: John Lake’s "Healing Rooms" Today
Part 4: Faith Healing - Good Intentions, False Theology
Part 5: The Healthiest City in the WORLD?

Also see: "Chuck Pierce, The Kabbalist Apostle and Heir Apparent for the NAR," by Dr. Orrel Steinkamp

The Absurd is Flooding...

 ...Into Generic Evangelical Churches 

An Editorial By Dr. Orrel Steinkamp*

To illustrate this I draw attention to a real but an unnamed historical Pentecostal family tree Sunday school class. This class meets in a historic church in the USA and is filled with elderly believers. These believers have all been soundly converted from theologically dead mainline churches that for decades have not preached the Gospel, and also some from a Roman Catholic upbringing. 

These elderly saints all have the scars and experience to prove their hard won evangelical status. But with the onrush of postmodern Christianity via the evangelical media this Sunday school class also exhibits the “sloppy agape” of the postmodern evangelical church. 

But the absurdity comes in by off-the-cuff remarks in this class that betray the absurdity of false prophecies which are now being accepted, without even a second thought or concern. A class member talking about most any subject will interject that they heard a (proven) false prophet say this or that on TV. 

This reveals that a wide range of prophetic voices are being accepted and consumed by these evangelical veterans, who are accepting these words (claimed to be from the Lord Himself) that have NO biblical reference point whatsoever. Only someone who follows the TV scene would even know who these personages are, let alone their steady stream of imaginary false prophesies.[1]

One gray-haired lady simply dropped the name of prophet Kim Clement, a regular prophetic voice on TBN. Kim Clement is known as the singing prophet and for often singing his prophesies. Bill Hamon laid hands on him to become a prophet back in 1983. Bill Hamon, by the way, is known as the premier Latter Rain prophet. Hamon possesses years of notebooks of his personal prophesies that forms the basis of his Latter Rain ministry. 

Recently Charisma magazine honored Hamon as one of the 40 most influential persons in Pentecostal history. 

Kim Clement's recent prophesy about Pope Francis deserves our attention: Clement asserts: 

“I was in a state of “ecstatic perception” caught in prophetic elevation and during this moment I caught a glimpse of religious garments and oil being poured on them. Then I saw Pope Francis... I speak of the one who calls himself St. Francis of Assisi. The Spirit spoke to him to come and stand at the head. This man has been appointed to join the hearts of the Protestant faith and the Catholic (faith)... They will try to kill him 3 times and poison him but his voice will not be stopped, says the Lord.”(Source)

Its just all cut and dried for these elderly saints, and apparently consulting these false prophets on TV is just as normal as checking the weather forecast. This shows that false words, supposedly of Jesus, are continuing to be placed in the center of the heartland of the pan-evangelical church. 

Another elderly lady, speaking about another subject altogether, then just casually dropped the name Bill Johnson, whom she said she is watching daily on TV, and also she mentioned Heidi Baker as well. Indeed, Bill Johnson and his companions provide a steady diet of new revelations on the net. Their latest thoughts are found in a book called “The Physics of Heaven.”[2]

Space does not allow for all the revelation knowledge that surrounds Bill Johnson and those who minister with him. Notably, Jonathan Welton, who wrote a chapter in the above mentioned book, presented himself as a “seer” prophet obviously to be considered on a par with the Old Testament “seer prophets.” 

Bill Johnson was honored to be on the steering committee and a participant at the international gathering of world Pentecostals called Empower 21 held this year in Jerusalem on Pentecost. Heidi Baker participates in these conferences and is involved in the full panoply of revelations that are beyond Scripture. Bill Johnson's view of Scripture may give us a clue as to how he ended up being attracted to extra-biblical prophesy. According to Johnson: 

“None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth. But to follow him we must be willing to go off the map – to go beyond what we know.”[3] 

Co-author Ellyn Davis of The Physics of Heaven and Bill Johnson's personal secretary writes in the book: “It wasn't that I wanted to become a New Ager, I just wanted to find out if maybe they had uncovered some truths the church hadn't.”[4] 

It is as if the new Christians in Acts 19, who burned their occult books, checked out their occult materials to see if there was good revelation contained in them!

Bill Johnson and Heidi Baker have already become accepted furniture in house of the Lord. These TV prophetic oracles are no longer the camel getting its nose under the tent, but these camels apparently have the run of the tent. 

Apparently, Big Tent evangelicalism has no apparent concern for these supposed words of Jesus being an accepted as a normal diet for the church. If the historic elderly have long since accepted a wide range of current prophetic words, supposedly spoken by Jesus himself, what chance is there in the long run for the pizza and fun youth group?! Once they are old enough they will just go with the flow as expected. 

Broadly speaking a few decades ago the battle for an inerrant Scripture was won, especially within the Southern Baptist Convention. But now the greater concern is the sufficiency and uniqueness of Scripture. 

The previous decades have done their work. The church has now apparently accepted the idea that God continues to speak verbally and currently reveals Himself directly to His church through these modern-day prophets. But this leaves us with an unavoidable problem. Should not these words of Jesus, if truly His words, be recorded and disseminated to the church? How could some of the words of Jesus be less authoritative than any other words of Jesus? But if we accept the words from these self-proclaimed prophets as coming directly from the Lord Himself, and still hold to a closed Canon (the 66 books of the Bible), then no matter what we say this denigrates the Bible and the Canon of Scripture which has been accepted as the Word of God for centuries. 

The Scriptures need NO further editions with new content and new biblical authors!

http://empowered21.com/about/leadership/

At the recent attempted replay of Pentecost in Jerusalem at Empower 21 not only was apostle Bill Johnson (Word-Faith pastor who avoids that title, he prefers "apostle") was honored along with Kenneth Copeland. Copeland is the de facto leader of the Word-Faith movement. 

(Charisma)

Recently, Copeland and over a thousand Word-Faith pastors were gathered in a yearly conference and received a direct communication from the Vicar of Christ upon the earth, direct from the Vatican, none other than Pope Francis. In this direct smart phone projection of Francis, the new Pope called upon the charismatic communion to come into fellowship with the Vatican. Kenneth Copeland positively returned the smart phone communication to the pontiff, and the over one thousand Word Faith pastors in attendance cheered together. 

But the point here about Kenneth Copeland is that as a traditional Word-Faith teacher he lives and breathes what they call “revelation knowledge”. This “revelation knowledge” was bequeathed to him by none other than Kenneth Hagin, the originator of Word-Faith teaching. Revelation knowledge simply means that one can receive and live daily with a continual stream of the extra-biblical words of Jesus. Kenneth Copeland is openly the leader of the Word-Faith churches having succeeded Kenneth Hagin. Copeland is now apparently reconciled to the Pope. 

Among the false direct words and revelation knowledge supposedly from Jesus given to Copeland is one oracle that is especially alarming. I quote Ken Copeland:

“Don't be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you're God... They spoke that way of Me, should they not speak that way of you? ...The more you get to be like Me, the more they're going to think that way of you. They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah. That's what you're doing.”[5]

2Timothy 3:16f establishes that “Scripture is “God-Breathed.” It affirms that “God-Breathed” Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, correction and training in righteousness. This passage finally asserts that Scripture adequately equips the man of God for every good work. The sufficiency of Scripture is here established. Consequently, the Copelands and Clements are clearly deemed not only unnecessary, but also nothing but vacuous imitational false prophets. John MacArthur has sounded the warning: 

“Christians must not play fast and loose with the issues of inspiration and revelation. An accurate understanding of these doctrines is essential for distinguishing the voice of God and the human voice... It has always been important to be able to separate God's Word from that which is false... that the whole church might have a clear standard.”[6] 

Larry DeBruyn speaks plainly: 

“If the Bible is no longer considered sufficient, the coming of 'new revelations' raises the following conundrum. I repeat it. “If added revelations repeat what is in the Bible, they are unnecessary. If new revelations contradict the word of God, they are heresy. And if they supplement God's word, the new revelations imply the Scripture is insufficient. Proverbs 30:6 warns 'Add thou not unto His [God's] word lest He [God] reprove you and you be found a liar.”[7]

An admonition from the Word of God:

But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate,
sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
The aged women likewise,
that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness,
not false accusers, not given to much wine,
teachers of good things;
That they may teach the young...
(Titus 2:1-4)

Endnotes:
1. TV isn't the only problem. Check out the list of authors and books deemed "Christian Bestsellers, July 2015," http://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/all.php?id=0715
2. See Pastor Larry DeBruyn's 9-part series reviewing The Physics of Heaven:
Read Part 1: "The Physics of Heaven"
Read Part 2: "The Power of the Zero-Point Field"
Read Sidebar: "Jesus' Lesser Works"
Read Part 3: "Extracting the Precious From the Worthless"
Read Part 4: "Vibrating in Harmony With God"  
Read Part 5: BILL JOHNSON: Squandering Our Spiritual Inheritance
Read Part 6: Unsagacious Seers
Read Part 7: Bad Vibes
Read Part 8: "Sound of Heaven, Symphony of Earth"
Read Part 9: Quantum Charismatics 
3. The Physics of Heaven, Kindle location: 392.
4. Ibid, Kindle edition p.392.
5. Voice of Victory, Take Time to Pray, Feb.1987, p.9. 
6. MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos, p. 76.
7. Larry DeBruyn, "The Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture," http://guardinghisflock.com/2014/03/29/the-holy-spirit-and-holy-scripture/. 

*Considering this article's topic, Dr. Steinkamp wishes his readers to know that he is nearly 82 years old.