Jesus warned of those who would come claiming to be Him. False messiahs. Are these people innately evil and know what they are doing or are they just confused and manipulated by the devil?
Perhaps there are both.
In my experience the guy is very confused and deceived by Satan because he believes that it is God speaking to him. He truly believes God is speaking to him and he is a messenger from God until God is supposed to reveal him as the second coming of Jesus.
"For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones." -Matthew 24:24
I was leaving work one normal Tuesday afternoon when my new coworker snagged me and handed me a not written on an index card. I was a little concerned and confused because, you see, I hadn't been that friendly with him. He had a work ethic and background that really bothered me. He used to work there 18 years ago as the department manager and from what I heard he was lousy. He showed up when he wanted and disappeared a lot during his shift because he was salary (you know what I'm talking about). The store manager was his buddy so he never got in trouble. He also borrowed tons of money from people and never payed them back. A real low-life. I had wished I had never heard the stories before he started, but his current laid back and bragging attitude fit the profile.
So back to the note, he assured me that the note was nothing bad and to just read it on my own time. I mumbled "ok" as he walked away and said "goodbye" to my coworker before going to punch out with my mind fixated on what the note could say. I had barely said anything back to him when he tried being friendly the past couple of days because I didn't want him to start coming and constantly talking to me like he had been doing with everyone else. It seemed like he did more talking than working and I personally hate bad work ethic.
As I walked out to my car I peaked down at the note in my hand and saw the word "Trust" written in all capitals. It looked like a Christian note so now my interest was really peaked and confused.
I got in my car, started it for the air conditioning and opened the note, "Trust Good God you are not here by mistake. I was sent by God." I flipped it over. "This morning 10:30ish you were supposed to hear me say the word God by bathroom. Know that you yourself are HUGE BLESSING... I've got Sundays covered". (He was supposed to start working Sundays on my day off because I don't work and my boss wanted Sundays off). I reread the note again confused. I have heard of people who are so strong in there faith that they can't hear God whisper things like this to them and they follow through even if it doesn't make sense. However the note was a little weird and I didn't get a strong sense that it was from God because I never really felt like it was a mistake for me to be there.
Maybe he is trying to convert me and doesn't know I'm a Christian? It was all so weird.
I thought about it the whole way home and when I got there I called my mom for her lovely Christian wisdom. She felt it was weird too and we both agreed to just wait and see where this went the next day.
I felt God had answered my prayer though from that day. That day I had looked at the schedule and I thought I was supposed to be training him the next day. I was worried about having to spend all day with him and I remember God telling me You don't know him. And He was right, so prayed for God to help me give him a chance and be nicer. This incident did peak my curiosity and I was no longer overly dreading the next day, but was curious on what he had to say.
Little did I know I didn't have to train him; he was doing something else which turned out to be a saving grace and let me tell you why...
While I was working, he quickly came up to me and asked me about the note. I asked him if he knew I was a Christian when he gave me that note. He shook his head and was like "no but He knows" and pointed up. I thought that was a little odd, but then that kick started him.
Truth be told I do not remember half of what he has said to me. He talks wicked fast and he is literally off the wall with some of the stuff he says, but I remember at this time he told me about how he has been married for 25 years, how his mothered Mary died right after he was born and how he found his brother dead after he hung himself. He started telling me how he was a messenger from God and how all these terrible things and more had to happen to him before so he could become who he is.
When he quickly ran away realizing that he had been talking to long (roughly 10 mins straight) and went off to work. I kinda sat there trying to take in all he said and was feeling sorry for him but also thinking that something wasn't quite right. He talked about Jesus Christ being the savior and so I'm thinking Ok, I think he is a believer he is just really zealous and maybe reading a little too much into things.
He also talked about how he had to come back to my work because he had work to do there and people there needed healing, which I thought sounded good and harmless. However, he also described following a woman and her adult autistic child around the store the day before. He thinks the autistic child was being abused at home and began calling report the situation. At the time I thought it was alarming and good, but now....I think he may be meddling where there isn't a problem.
He came back to tell me a bunch of stuff throughout the day, getting weirder and weirder as the day went on. He came to think that since I'm a Christian, I was going to be his living Bible and he can come ask me questions because he thought I knew everything about Christianity. I don't, but he wouldn't hear it. Turns out I at least know more than him because he has never read the Bible and went to church once. It was becoming very apparent that he was not some zealous Christian, but crazy.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." Matthew 7:15-20
But wait there is more.
He told me that he thinks the second coming is going to be December 20th, 2021 at noon and we will all be together again. Immediately scripture popped in my head about how we will not know the day or the hour of the LORD's return. (Matthew 24:36) People predict this stuff all the time and all I can think is, well I know when He isn't coming back. However, he thought God told him this date and so he was convinced of it. I didn't get a chance to get a word in about it though (rarely do) because he talks so fast and then takes off.
I spent all day confused by him and trying to figure him out that it made me tired. I was so glad to go home and not think about it anymore...until 2:30 in the morning.
You see, he also doesn't believe there is a devil and this one really disturbed me. I felt like God was calling me to tell him there is a devil, whether he believed it or not. I felt I also need to impress on him to read the Bible starting in Matthew.
So at 2:30 in the morning my mind started to spin with how to approach the subject and I came up with some extremely good arguments that surprised even me about how much I could recall from scripture. I wanted ask questions like, "How do explain all the evil in the world if there wasn't a fall in the Garden of Eden?"
Finally, remembering that scripture about how not to worry about what I'm going to say, but to trust the Holy Spirit to speak though me when the time comes, I was able to fall back asleep.
The next morning I was feeling more relaxed about the situation. Unfortunately that day I really didn't get a chance to get a word in, but I did learn some new things about this guy's thinking.
I overheard him telling a customer that the mark of the beast (666) numbers were some of his lucky numbers since he doesn't believe in the devil. He believes everyone will go to Heaven and their eyes haven't been opened yet to it. So no devil and no Hell.
He also later finally came out and told me that he thinks he is the second going of Jesus and people don't know it yet, but he is sure that Biden, Harris, and the Pope know who he is and they are having him watched. He thinks he talks to them on social media as well. I can't verify the last one since I don't have his social media info, but I'm just guessing it's not right.
"And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them." -Luke 21:8
He told me that on that day that he was told that that coming Saturday was the "end of days". He asked me what that meant and I just said I have no idea since it's not Biblical. He told me that he thought everyone was going to find out who he was that day. Well, that weekend came and went and nothing happened. He just said he must have gotten it wrong.
Anyway, so on that Monday after that supposed special weekend, my boss and one of the other guys at work sat him down and asked him to not talk about that stuff at work because it wasn't appropriate. He came to tell me and asked if he could still ask me questions. I said he could ask Biblical questions if needed. Boy, I should have just said no because he didn't listen to me because then he proceeded to keep telling me things he thought about himself and no I was getting offended.
He started sprouting off stuff about how Jesus was the 7th God and how he was going to be the 8th. I told him it was offensive and he backed off and left. I felt bad because I was a little gruff with him so I later apologized. He assured me it was ok and I made it a point to tell him that we are not on the same page because I don't believe most of what he does and some of the stuff is offensive. I said I don't mind answering questions and hearing about how he "thinks" he is helping people. He said he wouldn't bring that other stuff again.
Flash forward to the following day (Tuesday) when he rushes over to tell me that he really thinks that he is Jesus reincarnated and blah blah. I was so mad. I wanted to stop him, but you know how it is in the moment when you aren't sure what to say. My face might have said it all though. I resigned myself to tell him the next time to not talk to me about anything revolving around religion and to keep things professional from now on. He needs to know that since he doesn't read the Bible, he doesn't know how offensive he is being. I won't be mean about it, just straight forward.
Well, naturally things don't go as planned. For the next couple of days he doesn't bring anything up and I'm thinking maybe he got the hint. However, finally on Friday he barely just begins to to say that he thinks maybe he has figured it now and he is the son of Jesus. I immediately raise my hand to stop him and tell hime that I don't want to talk about this anymore. He kindly backs right off and we go on with our day.
Upon reflection, it would have been nice to have remained more open with him, but he wasn't really open to hearing what the Bible has to say and I am not one to push ever. Unfortunately I think he needs some psychological help first before we could dive into the waters of straightening out his theology. He even told me that he just collects a mismatch of things from different religions like Christianity, New Age, Atheism, and so on. For now, he knows I'm a true Christian that he can truly seek out if he has an honest question, but the days of me feeding his misconceptions by listening to them are over.
Thank you so much for checking out this post. Please share with me if you have had any similar interactions with people like him because I would be interested to hear it. More false messiahs and prophets are popping up all the time, but they don't usually make it into mainstream media.
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