Another “Prophet” Proven To Be False
Don K. Preston
Several months ago someone sent me a copy of a book: 2008 God’s Final Witness, by Ronald Weinland. It was suggested to me that perhaps I should challenge Mr. Weinland to debate me. As I scanned the book, I decided that the best response overall was to allow time to respond to Mr. Weinland, and my thinking has been vindicated. You see, Mr. Weinland claims that, “When this book is published at the end of summer of 2006, there will be a maximum of two years remaining before the world will be plunged into the worst time in human history” (p. 244). Mr. Weinland is (was) so absolutely positive of his predictions that he actually claimed to be one of the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11, “I am God’s end-time witness and spokesman” (p. 111). So, here we are in 2012, nothing, absolutely nothing that Mr. Weinland– God’s final witness!!– predicted has come true.
Mr. Weinland claims that the Sixth Seal of Revelation has already been opened, and that we are in the critical period of the first 3 ½ weeks of the Great Tribulation period. The fall of the Twin Towers was one of the signs that “The end is near!” America is doomed to fall!
In the famous words of Charlie Brown: “O good grief!”
When will Bible students stop denying the words of Scripture? Mr. Weinland says that the events of Revelation were not near when John wrote, but of course, they are near now. But, how much clearer could the Father have expressed the true nearness of the events than He did? He said “The things which must shortly come to pass.” The word shortly does not mean rapidly. It means soon, and the Father emphasized it by saying “The time is at hand” (Revelation 1:1-3). What time was at hand? The time for the fulfillment of the vision!
Furthermore, Revelation reiterates the prophecies of Daniel. Daniel foretold the end time, the resurrection, etc. Daniel was told to seal the vision of his prophecy of the end, because fulfillment was far off. He, Daniel, would die. The events were not for his day, they were not at hand.
In direct contrast, John reiterates Daniel’s prophecies. But, now, John was told “Do not seal the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand” (Revelation 22:10).
This temporal contrast must be honored. (See a full discussion of this contrast and all of the time statements in Revelation in my book Who Is This Babylon?). The point is that if the events of the end were not near when Daniel wrote, but, they were near when John wrote– which is irrefutably true– then Mr. Weinland, and anyone else that posits the events of Revelation in John’s distant future, is wrong.
As a side note, it just staggers me that some are so desperate to avoid the time statements of Revelation and scripture, that they are now claiming that “there are no temporal markers in Revelation!” Once again, “Good grief, Charlie Brown!”
This is simply unbelievable desperation! Anyone making this claim is either totally ignorant of the Greek in the NT, or, they are simply willing to deny the linguistics of inspiration. If the Spirit wanted to communicate temporality– time– what other words would have been used? If God wanted to convey the idea that the time of fulfillment was near, how better could He have expressed Himself? But, I digress. Back to Mr. Weinland and his “prophecy.”
So, here we are in 2012, and Mr. Weinland’s two year prediction was proven false. (I wanted to allow a lot of time, post 2008 just to give some “lee-way” for Mr. Weinland!!)
Mr. Weinland is not God’s final witness. He is not a prophet. He is a false teacher.
It is time, past time, for Bible students to accept the inspired truth that the events of the end were near in the first century, and they were fulfilled in the first century, just as predicted. All futurist eschatologies are false. Men such as Mr. Weinland are an embarrassment to the cause of the truth of Christ, and give the skeptics of the world ammunition for their attacks on the Lord.