Authored By :
Bill Kochman
Published On :
April 23, 1997
Last Updated :
March 13, 2018
God's Truth Prevails In Spite Of Human Error And Manipulation, Using Hebrew And Greek Lexicons, 1611 Translators Didn't Claim Perfection Or Inerrancy, Controversial Practice Of Channeling Versus Godly Prophesying, True Prophets Versus The Inaccuracy Of False Prophets, America's Generation Of False Shepherds, New Age Influence On The West Coast, New Agers Charismatics And Damnable Necromancy, Some Possible Motivations Behind The Omission Of Jesus Christ In Cannon's Interpretations, New Age Adherents Reject Superiority And Sovereignty Of Jesus Christ, Seeing What We Each Want To See, Our Human Hunger To Know The Unknown, Controlling Our Own Destinies, Trusting God For The Future, My Personal Position, Be Led By God's Spirit And Be Persuaded In Our Own Minds, Conclusion, Suggested Reading List
Before moving on in our discussion, allow me to add a degree of balance to my previous statements, lest anyone reading this article form an erroneous opinion. As I also point out in my series "In Defense of the KJV Bible", while I am not ignorant of the fact that the KJV Bible has been the object of personal prejudice, as well as political and religious manipulation, I am also equally convinced that the purposes of God have not been defeated. Thus, in spite of man's much tampering with God's Holy Word, God still remains much more powerful than man, and He has preserved the most important essence of His Word. This, of course, includes the Message of Salvation, as well as the prophecies, for we modern-day readers.
As some of my readers will likewise know, it has also been my regular practice for many years now, that whenever I am in doubt, or just curious about something, I always refer to the Hebrew and Greek lexicons, in order to better understand a certain passage or group of verses. More specifically, I use the Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon and Thayer's Greek English Lexicon with my "Online Bible" program. These have been my go-to tools for decades now. I don't always just take things at face value, because the translators of the KJV Bible, as God-fearing as they may have been, were still human beings who were prone to error, whether it was intentional or not.
In fact, allow me to point out that contrary to the belief of KJV extremists who are sometimes quick to condemn anyone who does not agree with them, nowhere in their "Epistle Dictatory" -- which is their dedication to King James I -- or in their lengthy and flowery "From the Translators to the Reader", do the 1611 translators make the claim that their translation is perfect and inerrant. This is an invention of KJV extremists.
So how do my previous remarks relate to the "prophecies" of Michel Nostradamus? Well, for one thing, many of us do not read French. In addition, we have never met the man, or read the original manuscripts. We are relying upon the honesty, integrity and accuracy of the interpreters, as well as that of those individuals who had power over the translators and interpreters. In this particular case, we are talking about Dolores Cannon's trilogy, "Conversations With Nostradamus"; and we are being asked to demonstrate great faith in the channeling abilities of several people who were under her direct supervision.
As you will already know, the concept of channeling itself is a highly controversial practice. We are asked by Ms. Cannon to believe that some of the channelers -- and one of them in particular -- spoke directly with Michel Nostradamus, or with his spirit, or actually took on the very essence of Michel Nostradamus. So should we just outright dismiss channeling as being a Satanic practice?
If we choose to adopt a liberal position, there does appear to be a similarity between channeling and prophesying. In the one case -- that is, channeling -- we're asked to believe that the channeler's body becomes a medium through which the spirit of a departed person can speak and convey some sort of knowledge. In most Biblical prophecies, as I mentioned before, the Prophet is either overcome by the Spirit of God, or is taken up in the Spirit, or else someone -- usually an Angelic Messenger -- is chosen to bring the message to the Prophet in a dream or a vision. The Bible tends to be rather nebulous in the terminology it uses to describe these events.
So if we adhere to this liberal point of view, we could say that channeling might be considered the New Age term for prophesying. But is it really? Rather than embrace a liberal perspective, my view concerning such matters, is that it is wiser for us to err on the side of caution, and to adopt a more conservative view of the Scriptures. After all, for us Christians, God's Word is the only true, reliable standard for determining what is upright Christian living. As we saw in part one, true prophecy is inspired by the Spirit of God and bears good fruit in some way; and it will always comes to pass. Can the same be said for channeled messages? Just studying some of the New Age information will quickly reveal that there are a lot of misses and failed predictions, as we also saw in part one. What does the Bible have to say about this? In addition to the many verses that we have already examined, consider the following ones as well:
"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."
Jeremiah 29:8-9, KJV
"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?"
Jeremiah 5:31, KJV
In summary, what all of these verses are telling us, is that, -- using an American cliché -- the proof is in the pudding. In other words, in most cases, frauds and charlatans will be easy to identify; because what they predict will not come to pass; at least not on a regular, consistent basis. Of course, due to random chance, they may get some predictions right on occasion; but if they are not one hundred per cent accurate all the time, then watch out! Sadly, as the previous verses also reveal, some people love being deceived by these false prophets and psychics. Just look at how popular these things are in such places as the West Coast of the United States, where the New Age movement has a stronghold. Tragically, it seems that everybody and his brother has a personal psychic who is just a phone call away.
Sadly, as I explain in series such as "Modern False Prophets and Worldly Ecumenism", and in "Elijah: Where Are the True Prophets of God?", organized religion in America is plagued with the very same problem. There are "wannabe prophets" all over the place spreading all kinds of damnable heresies; and some people are foolish enough to fall under their spell. If you tend to visit a lot of websites and social networks, you will know exactly what I am talking about. Some of the stuff they spout is absolutely ridiculous. A verse which clearly describes these false shepherds within the Lord's Church is the following one, which was written by the Apostle Peter almost two thousand years ago:
"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."
2 Peter 2:1, KJV
While Peter, Paul and others were primarily referring to the false Jewish brethren who crept into their fellowships, with the intention of trying to bring the newly-won brethren back under the bondage of the Mosaic Law, such as through trying to enforce circumcision, today we have so-called Christian leaders who are doing the very same thing. Some of them say that a person is not even saved unless he or she speaks in tongues. Others promote being slain in the spirit. Some even go so far as to assert that certain parts of the Bible are outdated and no longer apply to our modern living. Thus, gay and lesbian "marriages", as well as gay and lesbian priests, ministers and pastors are acceptable in their churches. And, of course, preaching "financial blessings" is one of their all-time favorites, which many of them use in order to milk their flocks for all they can get. They are just like those false shepherds who the Lord thoroughly exposes in Ezekiel chapter thirty-four. I encourage you to read it when you have time.
Aside from the fact that channelers have a lot of hits and misses, much of the channeled information they receive is clearly contrary to Biblical teachings. This is particularly true in regard to the unique status of Jesus Christ, and the central role which He holds in God's Redemptive Plan for humanity. As I point out in other articles, many New Agers soundly reject Jesus' Messiahship, and place Him on equal footing with other so-called "avatars", such as Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, and the like. So, it seems to me that channeling has more in common with the Biblically-forbidden practices of divination, entertaining familiar spirits, and necromancy; that is, speaking with the dead. In her series, Cannon clearly states that one channeler not only spoke with Michel Nostradamus, but in fact supposedly allowed the very spirit of Michel Nostradamus to overcome him. That amounts to demonic possession, if you ask me.
Sadly, these New Age channelers are not the only people who have fallen for this demonic deception. I have read a number of accounts where certain Roman Catholic charismatics also allow dead nuns, relatives, saints, etc., to speak through their bodies. Let me remind you again of what the Bible has to say regarding necromancy. And let us not forget that when rebellious King Saul engaged in this evil practice, and went to the witch of Endor in order to call up the departed spirit of the Prophet Samuel, the king was slain by the Lord the very next day. Consider the following verses and be warned:
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."
Deuteronomy 18:10-11, KJV
"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?"
Isaiah 8:19, KJV
Returning to an issue that I discussed in part one, it could be that Jesus Christ is clearly mentioned in the Quatrains of Nostradamus, but that the interpretations -- as received by Dolores Cannon's channelers -- were subject to the personal religious beliefs which were held by Cannon's channelers. In other words, if those channelers were not even Christians, then it seems to me that a strong possibility exists that they could have subconsciously siphoned out anything related to Christianity. In this way, the channeling sessions and/or the interpretations would thus be more in line with their own personal beliefs, or with the general belief system of New Age adherents.
If you stop to think about it, including all of the shocking cataclysmic events which are described in the pages of the Bible, while purposely omitting anything about Jesus Christ, would appeal to New Age adherents; because as I noted earlier in this article, coming cataclysms and major Earth changes, followed by a Golden Age of peace, is a central theme of New Age thought. You can easily locate this kind of material all over the Internet, in bookstores, etc.
Of course, this goes back to something which I stated before; and that is that New Age adherents do not recognize or accept the Messiahship and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ. They place all so-called "Ascended Masters" -- or Avatars -- on the same level. Thus, having Jesus Christ above these other so-called "Ascended Masters" would be totally contrary to their belief system. Within the world of New Age thought, such a concept is simply very politically incorrect language. It is far too Christian for them, and many of them reject such a notion.
Regardless of what I may personally believe as a Christian concerning the Quatrains of Nostradamus, the fact remains that some people -- and I honestly do not know how many -- are absolutely convinced of the truthfulness of Nostradamus' writings. Not only that, but some people are convinced that some of the Quatrains have been fulfilled to the letter. It occurs to me then that because of these facts, there exists the possibility that due to their own willingness to want to believe, Cannon's interpreters may have interpreted some of the Quatrains in such a manner, so that they would indeed appear to have been fulfilled, when in fact they were not. I would view this as a form of self-delusion or self-deception. As the old familiar saying goes, we each see what we want to see. Ironically, some Bible-mockers, atheists and skeptics accuse us Christians of doing the same thing. Naturally, we know that they are mistaken.
In addition to the previous point, there is the temptation to believe in the mystical, in the magical; to believe that we possess some hidden, esoteric, or perhaps even forbidden knowledge. There is an element of risk and excitement to it which attracts certain people. Some people are very eager to understand their own future and destiny. This is precisely what has drawn so many people to the controversial "Bible Codes" in recent years. Everyone wants to find out what the codes have to say about them, if anything. But if you stop to think about it, even wanting to control our own futures through esoteric knowledge is a subtle attempt at playing God. Is it possible that the interpreters of the Quatrains of Michel Nostradamus have subconsciously, or perhaps even consciously, sought to fulfill this basic need of ours by sculpturing their interpretations to meet our expectations? It would be wise of us to remember the words of our Lord and Savior who said:
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Matthew 6:34, KJV
In conclusion, because of all of these different forces that have tried to affect our understanding of the Quatrains of Michel Nostradamus, we have to honestly recognize that there is no guarantee that what some people accept as accurate interpretations of his work -- in other words, the trilogy of Dolores Cannon, "Conversations With Nostradamus" -- are indeed one hundred per cent correct. We cannot ignore the possibility that in some cases, Nostradamus may have meant something entirely different from what we are being told. In other cases, perhaps some of his Quatrains have indeed been fulfilled to the letter. However, as a result of a poor interpretation by Cannon's team, the true fulfillment has been lost.
Now, while I have made this statement, please understand that I am not saying that I am personally convinced of the truthfulness, the godliness, or the accuracy of his work. As I have already made rather clear, as a Christian, I do not approve of, or agree with, some of the practices in which Michel Nostradamus engaged himself, in order to receive his so-called "prophecies". That is why you will notice that throughout this article, I have purposely placed the word "prophecies" in parentheses when necessary; because I am not yet convinced that they are truly of God. Satan can be very subtle in his deceptions.
If there is one thing I know, it is that we each have to seek the answers for ourselves, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the recorded Word. We must allow the light and truth of God's Word to penetrate our minds and hearts. If we do this, the darkness of deception, tradition and even superstition, will flee of itself. Once we are certain that we have discovered the truth, then we must stand fast in our convictions, come what may. As the Apostle Paul wisely wrote on one occasion when dealing with a particular situation:
". . . Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."
Romans 14:5, KJV
My purpose in writing this article, is simply to offer an admonition to those people who have an ear. It is the very same admonition which I have applied to other New Age prophets and seers before. If I were to sum it up, it would be the following:
Do not take anything at face value. Research it thoroughly. Compare it with the known standard; that is, the Bible. Is it one hundred per cent in agreement with God's Word? Are there any contradictions? Does it bear good fruit? Does it leave you with the right fruits of the Spirit; or does it make you feel down and condemned or fearful? Does it drive you away from, or towards God? And in the case of prophecies and predictions, do they come to pass exactly as predicted? That alone is the litmus test which will either condemn, or vindicate, the author/bearer of the message.
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.
Cardinal Ratzinger's Rebellion
Elijah: Where Are the True Prophets of God?
History of the Authorized King James Bible
In Defense of the KJV Bible
Is the KJV Bible the Inerrant Word of God?
John Lennon's "Imagine" and Secular Humanism
Modern False Prophets and Worldly Ecumenism
Nature of the Alien: ETs, Demons or a Government Plot
The Lamb of God Was a Goat
The Office of Prophets and Teachers
⇒ Go To "Is Nostradamus Mentioned In The Bible?" . . .