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Continuing our discussion from part one, while it is only conjecture on my part at this point in time, I would not be the least bit surprised if there is a connection between the host of heaven which is mentioned in the Scriptures, and the various names of the false gods which I listed in part one of this article. In fact, it is common knowledge that all of the planets in our Solar System, as well as many stars and constellations, are named after the ancient gods.

Thus, in my view, it is not a stretch to propose that some of the ancient names of the gods which we find in the Bible were assigned to observable celestial bodies -- including to some of the planets -- in ancient times. Let me remind you that the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all observable with the unaided eye -- meaning without a telescope -- with Mercury being the most difficult of all. So my point is, the ancients could see them as well. That being the case, they must have surely assigned names to them, perhaps even in the Scriptures.

While I personally cannot specifically point you to the names of planets in the Bible, even without this information, I can still verify that other planets besides the Earth are briefly mentioned in God's Word. That is, if you know where to look. In fact, I have already written an article about this called "Other Planets and the Flat Earth Theory", which you'll find listed at the end of this same article.

But returning to the main theme of this article, as I said, those of you who are sharing this questionable -- and often non-Scriptural -- stuff with your online friends, really need to stop, because you honestly don't know what you are talking about, no matter how much you have convinced yourself in your own mind. By sharing such erroneous information, I can only conclude that you are either novices when it comes to God's Word -- while thinking that you understand more than you do -- or else you have been influenced and deceived by other people who have taught you these misguided ideas and false doctrines.

Please know that I understand where you are coming from. For the record, when I was a young Christian teenager many years ago, I too fell under the influence and deception which was being taught and promoted by certain preachers at that time. But what is important is that you understand why it happened to me. The simple fact is that I did not yet have a strong foundation in God's Word. As a result, I just didn't know any better. I was very naive and gullible -- and very eager to understand the Bible -- just like all of you are today. I was very much like a dry sponge that soaked up everything I heard and read. But, sadly, much of it was all wrong, and it affected me for many years to come.

In short, my friends, please don't be so quick to accept the misguided teachings of these false teachers who know not whereof they speak. Yes, I have no doubt that they are indeed very sincere in what they believe, and they are absolutely convinced that what they believe is the absolute truth. It is because they are so convinced themselves, that they can also be very convincing in what they say to you. However, the sad truth of the matter is that they are also sincerely deceived, in my view.

Let's be honest about this. I already know and understand that some of you will strongly disagree with some -- or maybe even all -- of the points I have stated above. But I likewise understand that in certain cases, due to your young age, you cannot possibly have the same perspective as I do, because you have not lived as long as I have -- I turn seventy years old in a matter of days -- and you have not seen, heard or experienced some of the things which I have experienced. Let me partially explain what I mean.

As I have mentioned before -- including in some of my other Bill's Bible Basics articles -- since the 1800s people have been predicting the Rapture and the Return of Jesus Christ. Needless-to-say, every single one of those predictions up to our present day has been dead wrong without exception. In fact, some of such erroneous predictions were made by some of the big name preachers with whom you may be familiar. I name a few of them in the articles which are listed at the end of this current article. So the truth is that no one is immune to deception. And I do mean no one. That includes you.

For those of my readers who are still caught up in some of these deceptions, allow me to say this: You really need to ask yourself why these failed predictions keeps happening over and over again, year after year. Just like some of you today, these people of the past were totally convinced that they were right, and that they correctly understood the Holy Scriptures. Yet time and time again, they were eventually embarrassed when their predictions failed to come to pass. Thus, they fell flat on their discredited faces.

In fact, there was one such disappointment revolving around the failed return of Jesus Christ which became known as the "Great Disappointment". It concerned predictions made by one William Miller -- who was a farmer and lay preacher -- who for a period of about thirteen years insisted that Jesus would return in 1844. Obviously, it never happened, which for the people of that time became a great letdown. What you may find interesting is the fact that Miller's followers became known as the Millerites, and his teachings eventually formed the basis of Seventh Day Adventist doctrine. This is just one small example. There are many more.

At any rated, based on these kinds of false prophecies and false predictions which I first began learning about when I was a teenager, I have been waiting and watching for the Lord to return for over fifty years now. One predicted date would arrive after the other, while the Rapture didn't happen, and Jesus failed to appear. So who or what was at fault for my disappointment? Can we blame God's Word? Most certainly not! After all, in the Scriptures we are told the following:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"


"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"


"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."


"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."


"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;"


"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts . . . For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."


". . . For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven . . . Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word . . . Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever."


If you ask me, those verses pretty much settle the issue for us, don't you agree? Thus, we all know where the blame lies, and it is most certainly with the people who have made these erroneous predictions, and who continue to make such errors. So regarding the disappointment I have felt, and which some of you have no doubt experienced at one time or another as well, let me say the following:

After a number of failed predictions and disappointments, a person slowly begins to gain some wisdom regarding the matter of Bible prophecy. He or she slows down a bit, and is not so quick to just blindly accept every wind of doctrine, as the Apostle Paul tells us. If he or she is honest with themselves, they will begin to question more, and dig into the Scriptures more as well, in order to try to determine exactly what went wrong. That is exactly what I did a number of years ago, as I explain in the series called "Jesus Christ's Return: Have We Been Deceived?", which you will find listed at the end of this article.

The thing is, from everything I have seen posted online, I have become convinced that some of you have not reached that point in your lives yet. You haven't woken up yet. You keep believing the false prophets and false teachers, even though they keep disappointing you with their erroneous beliefs and predictions. Not only that, but even worse, many of you who are still young in the faith are trying to teach the Word of God yourselves, while you are still babes, and "unskilful in the word of righteousness", as you will read in the verses I will be sharing with you in a moment.

Sadly, there are a lot of very prideful teachers online who simply are not willing to admit their errors. They have very inflated egos, and they would rather defend their misguided pet doctrines tooth and nail, even when someone tries to point out the flaws in their understanding. Their pride and their large following appear to be more important to them than accuracy in their teaching. However, the Scriptures warn us that "knowledge puffeth up", as we can determine by these two verses:

"Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know."


However, I suspect that after a number of years have passed, and your expectations are still not met, you will finally begin to gain the wisdom which I have acquired, and you will no longer be so quick to embrace this "Jesus is coming at any moment!" or "The rapture is going to happen any day now!" mentality. Quite frankly, to do otherwise is to be deceived by choice. You'll see. You may not believe what I am saying now, but just give it some time; because time has a way of eventually revealing the truth, whether we like it or not.

As some of you will already know, it has long been my policy to not engage in lengthy online doctrinal debates. I find them pointless, fruitless, and an exercise in futility. If you are interested in a more expanded explanation regarding why I have adopted this particular position, then please consider reading my article called "Should Christians Engage in Doctrinal Debates?", which you will find listed at the end of this same article.

So my point is, if you happen to disagree with anything I have shared with you in this article, please do not expect me to engage in a futile debate with you, because I just won't do it. If you disagree with me, as I said, fine. You have your own timeline where you are free to share whatever you like concerning your personal beliefs, regardless of what I think.

In part one of this article, I shared some verses with you regarding anointed, Spirit-led teachers. In closing, let me now share with you the following verses which describe the exact opposite. That is to say, misguided teachers and false prophets. I hope that they serve as a warning to you. And, if you happen to be guilty of the things I have mentioned in this article, I hope that these verses will speak to your heart:

"But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."


"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"


"Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed."


"Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD."


"For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD."


"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."


"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many . . . For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."


"For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect."


"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."


"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."


"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;"


"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."


"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."


"From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm."


"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."


"Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."


"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

2012: New Age Deception And Psychobabble
Abomination of Desolation: Explained!
Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the Hollow Earth Theory
Comet Elenin, Hercolubus, Nibiru, and Planet X
Elijah: Where Are the True Prophets of God?
Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word
Jesus Christ's Return: Have We Been Deceived?
Modern False Prophets and Worldly Ecumenism
Obamacare and the Mark of the Beast: Fact or Fiction?
Other Planets and the Flat Earth Theory
Please Stop Misinterpreting the Scriptures
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
Article: Should Christians Engage in Doctrinal Debates?
Sorry . . . Jesus Is Not Coming At Any Moment
The Last Seven Years Chart
The Misguided End of the World Predictions of Harold Camping
The Nibiru Planet X Wormwood Controversy
The Office of Prophets and Teachers
Who Hindered the Antichrist?
Who is Babylon the Great?

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