Q. Have you ever heard of “web bot” prophecies? If you have, do you think they are real? Or are they accurate? Should we listen to these kinds of forecasts? (J.M., Mt. Vernon, WA)
Answer:
What an interesting question. I had to search out this one for answers and couldn’t really find much. But, it is intriguing.
Indexing Beliefs & Opinions
Web bots are similar to Google searches using website “crawlers” or “spiders.” But, Google detects and connects keywords and provides people with something like an index file. Web bots, on the other hand, search for key trends and concepts. It is like a collective body of information gained from millions of websites and opinions worldwide.
In other words, it is a compilation of predictions, hunches and consensus opinions. Web bots were first formed in the nineties to help with stock market predictions. In that sense they were pretty accurate since the stock market is made up of collective opinions.
Watch-out for Consensus Opinions
I think we should be careful and guarded about collective opinions, though. Paul warns,
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false…” (2 Thess. 2:9-11, ESV).
Majority Opinion doesn’t make “Truth”
Just because the majority of people think something is true does not make it so. This passage suggests that in the end times people in mass will believe a grand lie.
So it is fine to look at web bot predictions as representing the opinions of large masses of people. But, knowing what the majority believe collectively does not mean it is accurate.
God Alone Forecasts Future
Only God knows the future. His Word says,
“I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.”
(Isaiah 46: 9-10, NLT).
World Prophecy
God knows the future – and this is why biblical prophecy is so exciting. It is why prophecy experts have forecasted hundreds of years in advance the regathering of Israel as a nation and the emergence of China and Russia as great end-times nations. It is an exciting, albeit scary, time for believers to witness the last days.
Maranatha (Lord, come quickly).
Postscript: Jeffrey L. Mays passed away on 2/7/10. He contributed at least 40 lively questions to Remnant Report and was the reason for its founding. Jeff was Valorie Emilio’s brother and he is sorely missed. The hope is that all of us will address issues of faith, heaven and hell before it is too late.