2020 produced plenty of false prophets, some making weekly predictions of a “significant imminent event this week”. Of course that happened almost every week. It has also happened in the early part of 2021 and we’re only a couple of weeks into it! 2021 has much of the Church nervous or on edge, and I think we can expect more false prophecies and prophets. The latest thing sweeping the internet is called the Berisheet Passover Prophecy. It first came out in the spring of 2018. Berisheet is Hebrew for “in beginning” and is the first word in the Bible, in Genesis 1.1. The promoters of this say that each Hebrew letter in that word is a word unto itself and is a prophecy about the date of the crucifixion and the 2nd coming of Jesus. Make no mistake, the spirit of it is really good. The gospel is spelled out by my count at least 3 or 4 times. I really liked the presentation. That said, there are several problems. First it comes too close to date setting like the Millerites of Wayne county years ago. To be fair, they don’t set a specific date for the rapture, but certainly the second coming (2030), and then sort of set a window of a date for the rapture (anytime between now and 2023). Second, the date that is used for the crucifixion is wrong. They use 30AD rather than 33AD. This one fixture is key to everything else in the presentation and if this key point is wrong, everything else that hinges off of it is wrong too. Third, it treats the prophecy like Michael Drosnin’s book; The Bible Code. The premise of that book was that names and events were secretly encoded in the Old Testament. I remember buying the book, being really interested in it. The problem is, that’s not how prophecy works, that’s not how God communicates and it isn’t how we are supposed to read the Bible. Again, the spirit of this isn’t bad, but it’s not right for a number of reasons. As Christians, there are so many scriptures that tell us how to live in light of Christ’s imminent return. I think that statement alone, should tell us. Yes, the Lord could come at any moment and since time is short, the great commission and our witness is ever more important. Time is short. In the mean time, just be aware there might be more of these “hot” prophecies that will spread like wild fire. Maranatha!