On November 5, 2024, the United States held its Presidential election, and Donald Trump was elected as the 47th President of the United States. The outcome of this election weighed on the hearts and minds of many people in our country for various reasons, and one group of people affected by the outcome were the self-professing prophets of 2020; the ones who prophesied that Trump would be reelected for a second term against Joe Biden.

It did not take long for some of these prophets to vocalize their perceived vindication. The fact that Trump was elected to a second term ushered in claims from the prophets that their words in 2020 were accurate for 2024 rather than 2020. One particular individual posted clips from 2020 interviews regarding the previous election, stating that his prophecies were fulfilled in 2024. There were appeals to dreams and visions as the word of the Lord. One leader took to social media prior to the election and posed a question regarding these prophets and their words, asking if those who had called them to repent were going to apologize should Trump be elected.

There are some things to consider regarding this matter, and I believe that they are worth noting. There were numerous well-known individuals who publicly prophesied that Donald Trump would serve two consecutive terms. 2020 was the focus, not 2024. There were those who took to popular Charismatic media outlets and shows, claiming to have heard directly from the Lord about the 2020 election’s outcome, stating that Trump would be back in the White House. However, shortly after these broadcasts, some of the videos and articles began to disappear from the internet. The prophets doubled down in some instances, stating that they were not backing down from the word of the Lord and that the church needed to hold fast to their words and pray them through. They promised a great victory and overturning of the election results, if the church would pray.

Even after the election results remained unchanged, some of the prophets claimed that Trump was a shadow President and had not really lost the election. The proclamations were quite outlandish and troubling to say the least, and many people were left clinging to the words of these leaders instead of testing them against Scripture and rejecting their false prophecies. It would now seem that some of these individuals are manipulating their followers by taking clips from 2020 out of their original context and applying them for today, in the hopes that it will validate them as a Bonafide prophet. Vague and open-ended statements have permitted them in doing so. However, even a recognized leader in the Charismatic movement publicly warned these very individuals prior to the election that they should not claim accuracy for 2020 prophecies, stating that it would only add “deception to further deception” because their claims were indeed for 2020, not 2024.

So, now we come to the question posed: Do we owe these self-identified prophets an apology? No, we do not. The fact of the matter is that not one of the self-proclaimed prophets prophesied accurately concerning the election. They did not prophesy Joe Biden’s win. Though the goalpost is now being moved to claim that the prophecies in 2020 have come to pass in 2024, many of these prophets explicitly stated that President Trump would serve a second term in 2020. None of them spoke of a Biden victory or of controversy surrounding the outcome of the 2020 election. There have been great appeals to dreams and visions, omens regarding baseball team wins and Supreme Court appointments in order to validate prophetic words about Trump and 2020, and now these same individuals want to insinuate that they were actually correct. We are not obligated to listen to these individuals, and we need not fear them because they are not hearing from God. They have spoken presumptuously. They have sadly entertained the desires of their own hearts, and they have prophesied from such a place so as to lead others astray.

We should continue to lovingly call them to repentance while contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. We are to be satisfied with the more sure Word of prophecy, which is Scripture. Hebrews 1:1,2 assures us that long ago and many ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us through his Son, Jesus Christ. Though many of these leaders will refer to the rhema word of the Lord as their prophetic utterances, they will also state that it is not equal to Scripture because it can be fallible today. This is quite confusing because time and again, the people are told to hold onto their words because they are from the Lord. One should ask if a potentially fallible word is really the rhema word, as opposed to the spoken Word of God. Additionally, if the people are admonished to hold fast to the words of the prophets in order for success to occur, is that not equal with Scripture and in trusting that God has spoken through these leaders?

We can be assured that one false prophecy is one too many for an individual, and we can also rest in the fact that God is sovereign in the matters of this world, including elections and the placement of leaders at appointed times. It is also equally true that we have a responsibility in exercising our liberty to vote while also praying for our nation. Perhaps a better question to ask regarding this matter would be, why is there not more reverence exercised for the sufficiency of God’s written Word? Claiming to speak on behalf of God is a serious and sobering matter. Calling people to repentance is not unloving, nor is having a high view of God and His written Word. One of the most loving things we can do is to warn others of sin and error by issuing a call of repentance, and it is because of our love for God and for others that we would do such a thing.

Listen to this episode regarding the US Presidential election and modern prophetic movement: Do We Owe the Prophets an Apol – The Lovesick Scribe Podcast – Apple Podcasts