Introduction

In these troubled times, let’s not be afraid to say “apocalyptic”, we are confronted with a flowering of prophecies and interpretations, some more alarmist and some more fanciful than the others. How then can we recognize the true from the false? This question leads us to clarify what the Judeo-Christian tradition understands by prophecy before tackling the thorny question of their diffusion in the particular framework of The True Life in God.

Distant origins of prophetism

In several human traditions, we find manifestations of a certain communication between deities and humans through intermediaries who have various names according to geographical horizons. We can thus speak of shamanism, oracles, seers, sorcerers and other denominations in ancient traditions around the world. In the First Testament, we find prophetic currents that go back mainly to Samuel (books of Samuel and Chronicles) and continue in great figures such as Elijah, Elysium (books of Kings), Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos and others. Moreover, the dreams of Joseph son of Jacob were considered prophecies that were nevertheless fulfilled (cf. Gen 37:5ff).

The prophet according to the Bible

In the Bible, the prophet is a friend of God, a man chosen by the Lord to bring his word to the attention of his often rebellious people (1Sam 3:1-10). Let us quote as an example this extract from the book of the prophet Isaiah: “Hear, O heavens; give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have raised up children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey knows his master’s crib. Israel does not know it, my people do not understand. Woe to you, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, seed of evildoers, perverted sons! They forsake the Lord, they despise the Holy One of Israel, they turn their backs on him. (Is 1:2-3). It is the Lord who puts his word in the mouth of the prophet: “Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. He said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth‘” (Jer 1:9).

And what is remarkable about these prophecies is what certifies their authenticity: their fulfillment. Let us remember Jeremiah’s setbacks when he had to deal with priests and certain false prophets (cf. Jer 28). Indeed, being a prophet is not easy because doing incomprehensible things (Ez 8: piercing the wall; Ez 24: not lamenting the death of his wife; etc.) and saying words that are sometimes harsh on behalf of the Lord, is not to everyone’s taste. “I hear the slander of the crowd: “Denounce him! Let’s go and denounce him, this one, the Scarecrow-of-all-sorts.” All my friends are watching for my missteps, they say, “Perhaps he will be seduced… We will succeed, and we will take our revenge on him!” (Jer 20:10).

In brief, the prophet in the biblical tradition is a human being chosen by God to bring his word to those who want to hear it as well as those who refuse it. “Then, whether they listen or not – they are a bunch of rebels! – they will know that there is a prophet among them. (Ez 2:5). He receives himself from the Lord who associates him with his mystery. This requires a great deal of listening, docility to the Holy Spirit and unfailing obedience to the Lord. Secondly, the prophetic message requires a correct interpretation that must take into account the context, the tradition and above all the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as illustrated by this message of November 13, 2001: “Do you know why you do not believe, and do you know why you are so indifferent and determined to close your hearts? Do you know why you do not seek anything beyond Them? It is because you do not have the Holy Spirit who could have raised you from darkness to His Light, enlightening your soul so that it could see the Son with the Father manifesting Himself to you” (excerpt). Finally, let us remember that the Lord has always raised up prophets for our world. This leads us to True Life in God and to the present times.

Vassula, a prophet of our time?

I will refrain from introducing Vassula Ryden who was touched by divine grace in 1985. God’s wisdom chooses whom He wills and we can only give Him thanks. “God has never ceased to manifest Himself to humanity; He has never ceased to be at work.” (Prophecies for the End Times, p. 5). “Therefore, in this end time, by His infinite Mercy, God has sent His Holy Spirit with power to raise up ambassadors and prophets to manifest themselves and remind the world of His existence and to transmit His Will; as always, He has chosen weak instruments, for, as the Scriptures say: “The power of God is at its height in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). “The foolish in the eyes of the world is what God has chosen to shame the wise and the powerful (…)” (1 Cor 1:27-28). The Lord will tell them what to say to the people. (Idem., p. 6). Since our objective is not to convince but to expose facts, only a thorough analysis by the readers of True Life in God will be able to judge the truthfulness of the elements we bring to light.

Some events that deserve our attention

“In 1991, on September 11, exactly ten years before the great disaster of the two towers in the United States, our Lord, looking at the earth with displeasure, warned us in these words: “Suddenly Jesus changed His tone, and after waiting a few seconds, in a very serious tone that terrified me, He said, “The earth will shake and be shaken. And all the evil built into towers (like the Tower of Babel) will collapse into a pile of rubble and be buried in the dust of sin! Above, the heavens will be shaken and the foundations of the earth will be shaken! […] The islands, the seas and the continents will be visited by Me unexpectedly by the Thunder and by the Flame. […] Soon, very soon now, the Heavens will open and I will show you the Judge.” (September 11, 1991) On September 11, 2001, the world was scarred by the fall of the Twin Towers, which took the lives of so many innocent people. Horrific apocalyptic scenes were shown to the world and in spite of this horror that befell us, instead of truly turning to God and repenting, the world became worse than before and prepared for war. Instead of understanding that this happened because of our own faults, sins, guilt, apostasy, and the world’s rejection of God, we continued to listen to Satan and
follow his path rather than the path God showed us. (…)

After that date, God showed us many more warnings. But I believe that the ones that speak about the tsunami of December 26, 2004 in Asia, are the following three. The first one was given already on September 10, 1987: I wrote: “Suddenly, Jesus reminded me of a dream I had last night and which I did not think about anymore. It was the vision that I had recently had (on September 1) but in my dream it was worse. Then the Lord said to me: “Listen, I made you see this vision in your sleep, to make you feel the event. No, there is no escaping it.” I wrote, “I remember when I saw that red thing falling from Heaven like a giant wave. I tried to run and hide knowing it was impossible.” So I asked the Lord, “But why do this if You love us? Why?” He replied: “I am known as a God of Love as well as a God of Justice.” (…)

Then on February 7, 2002, again a final warning was given to us by God, of which this is an excerpt: “My Imperial Reign is at your very doorstep, but are you ready to receive Me? (…) Considering therefore your reluctance to a true metanoia and how much hostility you have, instead, shown towards My warnings, the recent scenes of groaning that have taken place (September 11, 2001) are nothing compared to the painful mornings you must expect, painful mornings that will be drawn by your own hand. […] I see from above with sorrow how your designs will turn against yourselves. The world is already tasting the fruits of its own course, provoking nature to rebel with convulsions, drawing natural disasters upon you, suffocating itself by your own machinations…” Our Lord warns us that because of our apostasy, we are endangering the cosmos – not just the earth, but the entire cosmos – even causing nature to rebel against us.” (http://www.tlig.org/fr/spirituality/ letters/tsunami/). Elements of this 2004 article are included in Prophecies for the End Times, pp. 40-48.

We can also mention the Covid pandemic and the current crisis that humanity is going through (Prophecies for the End of Time, pp. 12-23). Let us try to summarize by reminding ourselves once again that prophecies only make sense in God and completely escape a world that denies God. Joseph Leo Iannuzzi, paying attention to all the nuances: “Just as the Word of God in the Book of Revelation is not limited to a single event, so in True Life in God, God’s prophecy of a punishment that will affect the lungs because of our apostasy may be repeated in the future. Many biblical scholars recognize biblical parallels suggesting that a biblical event or prophecy may be followed by a future event modeled on its previous manifestation” (idem., p. 32)

Conclusion

“The inspirations of True Life in God are not sad and catastrophic prophecies. God gives them to us in these times of Mercy to form us. They are a Call from the Sublime Love of God. God does not want to allow us to offend His Holy Name forever. That is why He comes in His Mercy to give us many warnings. (Vassula comments on the prophecies, 2004).

Moreover, Jesus gives us an inalienable criterion of discernment: “By their fruits you will know them. Shall we gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? So every good tree bears good fruit, and the tree that rots bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotting tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruit you will know them. (Mt 7:16-20). The many testimonies of the positive fruits in the lives of those who have read True Life in God are the only ones worthy of accounting for this gift that the Lord gives us).