Back in December of 2021, I wrote a blog on a so-called prophecy given to the world by Troy Black from his Youtube Channel: Troy Black Videos. Troy’s video was called, “God Showed Me a Coming Sign of War in 2022.” It was released on December 17, and when I last looked it had well over 185,000 views. This prophecy was to take place in January of 2022 and now that we’re in February, I think it’s time to go back and revisit this matter so that we can test the words of Troy Black and know for certain whether God was speaking through him.
So, let’s recap Troy’s prophecy. On September 11, 2021, Troy claimed that he had a prophetic vision and heard the Holy Spirit tell him that some political events from 1990 were going to be brought back to the surface again in 2022. Troy also claimed that the Holy Spirit told him that we would have unsettling reports and unrest by January of 2022 between the US and what he believed to be Iraq or Kuwait, or some other country involved in the Persian Gulf War. Now, as I pointed out in my December blog, predicting unsettling reports and unrest to come from the middle east is really saying nothing at all. Those types of reports come from that region all of the time. They’re routine.
If you’ve been following the news lately, then you’ll know that we’ve heard nothing of any great significance come from Iraq or Kuwait during the month of January – or at least nothing out of the ordinary. What has been in the news nearly every day in January is the crises at the Ukrainian border involving a possible Russian invasion. But, no war began in January of 2022.
Now, I’m nearly 100% positive that Troy is going to reinterpret his vision to mean the Russian crises and not a middle eastern one. I know that because recently a viewer on Troy’s channel responded and posted, “it’s literally exactly what your prophecy was” except that it’s not the USA, it’s Russia and Ukraine.”
What’s interesting is that this message was pinned by Troy Black so that it would appear on top and be seen by other viewers first. That tells me that he probably favors this viewer’s reinterpretation of his vision. It’s kind of interesting, this viewer said that it’s exactly what the prophecy said, except that it’s not the US and the middle east, it’s Russia & Ukraine and it’s not 1990, but 1991. But, that’s not exactly what he said. Evidently, in the minds of some, God isn’t able to really predict all that well and we kind of need to fudge a little on the details so that God’s predictions can come true.
Now, some of the questions that I had back in December of 2021, I still find myself asking today: Why would God be telling us this information? What benefit is there in knowing that there will be some type of global unrest? What did God expect us to do with this information?
It’s my conclusion that there’s nothing about this so-called prophecy that would make me think that it’s from the lord. I say this because, first, if God is trying to get a message to us the message is completely unclear. Second, and most importantly, the prophecy missed its mark. Troy claimed that God showed him something was going to happen – a war – in January of 2022 that stemmed from something that happened in 1990. Ukraine officially declared itself an independent state in August of 1991. So, ether God or Troy missed that one. I’m going to go ahead and step out on a limb here and say that it was Troy, and not God.
But, what really disturbs me most about this failed prophecy is that Troy will have no theological problem in missing the mark. That’s because he believes a prophet can get something wrong and not be a false prophet. How do we know that? Well, he said as much in a podcast interview that’s available on his Youtube channel.
On March 9, 2021, Troy posted a podcast on his Youtube channel that apparently was originally aired on a podcast show that he offers. The episode was called, “How to Recognize False Prophets.” The podcast is actually a conversation between Troy and his guest, who happens to be his brother, Reese Black. Reese introduces himself as a young man who’s been in church all of his life, and in the recent eight years or so, has really gone – as he says – deeper with the Lord. He indicates that he has been experiencing both hearing from the Lord and giving prophetic words and seeking the supernatural.
For most of the podcast they talk a lot about prophecy in general and the gifts of the Spirit. However, they do eventually get to the subject listed in the title, which is recognizing a false prophet. Reese Black suggests that the standard in the New Testament for prophecy is now different. In the Old Testament they had suggested that the standard was that you had to get it right. Now, Reese & Troy suggest that getting it right is far less important than something else. They go on to read then from 2 Peter 2:1-3 and suggest that a false prophet is someone who either speaks heresies, denies Jesus, or gives prophecies for money. They make it clear that if you aren’t doing any of those things, then you can’t be a false prophet, even if you get it wrong. In other words, if you aren’t speaking against the word of God, denying Jesus, or doing it for money, then you can’t be a false prophet even if what you say doesn’t come true.
Later in the podcast, Reese describes how he used to have been afraid of saying, “I think I heard this from the Lord – maybe … what do you think?” But, Reese is no longer afraid of saying that.
In my opinion, if Reese or Troy actually did what he just described, then I don’t think we’d have a big problem with what’s going on. That’s actually not what Troy is doing in his videos. He’s not saying to us, “I THINK I had this prophetic dream, or MAYBE the Lord spoke to me about a coming war, or MAYBE He didn’t; what do you think?” Instead, he’s telling us in no uncertain terms that God gave him a vision, that the Lord spoke to him, or the Holy Spirit showed him something. In other words, he’s saying that the words coming out of his mouth are from God.
As we hold those things to the light we can see that they’re simply not true.
But Troy doesn’t have to offer an apology because in his mind he’s not doing anything wrong. He only has to “sharpen” his gifting, as he says in his podcast and try to be more accurate next time.
Actually, his prophetic messages in his videos sound a little like tarot card readers who are getting fuzzy pictures of what’s going on and they can only make out vague details. It’s as if God can’t effectively communicate messages anymore.
This is actually pretty dangerous stuff right here. What they’re suggesting is that if you feel in your heart that you love Jesus, and if you feel that you’re not teaching anything against the word of God, and you think that you’re not being greedy, then you can share words that you feel God is giving you for others and you don’t have to worry about being right. This is ridiculous, and can be very damaging for people and the kingdom of God.
You may remember Pastor Dana Coverstone’s dreams that went viral some two years ago. He felt that God had given him dreams to warn this country of some coming disasters. He actually encouraged people to stock up on food supplies and ammunition. And a lot of people took him very seriously. People took money that they could have used for the expansion of the kingdom of God and stored up extra supplies for themselves for a disaster that never happened. It was like taking money out of the hands of missionaries all over the world, and spending it on freeze-dried chicken and bullets because a man claimed God was speaking to him.
This is why it’s dangerous to claim that you’re speaking for the Lord when you’re not, even if you’re not necessarily saying anything out of line with the Scriptures. Troy is simply wrong here. It is incredibly irresponsible to give what you call a word from the Lord to people which will impact the choices they make and how they live, when that word didn’t come from God. You may feel that you’re not speaking heresy or denying Jesus, yet at the same time doing incredible damage to people’s lives with careless words.
Now, Troy may reply that he didn’t ask people to do anything about his prophecy; although this may be true, he’s still responsible for the reactions of his viewers. You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater, when there is none, and not be held responsible for the injuries caused by those trying to escape. You can’t just say that you’ll try to be more accurate next time.
It’s one thing to think that God is giving you a word about what you’re supposed to do. But, it’s a completely different thing to believe God is speaking to you about what others are supposed to be doing. This is exactly how cults begin – someone believes that they’re a conduit for the Holy Spirit and that the words that they’re getting are about what others should be doing. Unfortunately, a lot people will still stand in line for that flavor of Kool-Aid.
Regarding 2 Peter 2:1-3, that Troy and his brother are using to support their actions. It is true that Peter describes three things that mark a false teacher, and I would agree that a Christian can get something wrong and not necessarily be a heretic or a false teacher. But, Troy needs to note closely what Peter says, which is that a false teacher or prophet will introduce heresies that are destructive. This is causing others to hold beliefs that will be harmful to themselves or others. And that’s exactly what false prophesies do.
The problem is this: Troy isn’t claiming that he just had a feeling about something. Rather, he’s telling us that God gave him visions and specific revelation that he’s supposed to share with the body of Christ. He’s putting God’s words in his mouth. When those things are demonstrated to be false, at the very least Troy should be humbly issuing an apology and telling everyone that he didn’t hear from God; that he was wrong.
But, let me tell you why I believe that Troy won’t apologize. If he says that he missed a prophecy then he knows that this may cause people to doubt his ability to hear from God. We would also question his method. If he’s had a vision, which turns out to not be from the Lord, then who gave it to him? Who’s the source of the vision? If he’s getting visions which aren’t from God, then how are we to know when he gets one that is from God?
If he apologizes and admits that he didn’t hear from the Lord, then he’ll know that his popularity as a prophet is going to be threatened. People may not turn to him for words from the Lord. People may not buy his books, watch his videos, or listen to his podcasts. Troy can’t afford to apologize.
According to the Social Blade website, Troy’s Youtube channel has a B rating – which is pretty good – and indicates that he’s earning a nice income. This income is of course based on the prophecies that he’s giving. Prophecies, which in his mind, don’t even have to be true.
Jesus warned that “every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement.” Troy may feel that as long as he has a heart for God that it doesn’t matter if his alleged prophecies don’t come true. Yet, it would seem that one day Troy will have to give an account to Jesus Himself for whatever damage that he may have done to the body of Christ by his careless words.
Is Troy a false prophet? Well, if he’s predicting things in the name of the Lord that do not come to pass, and he’s introducing teachings that could possibly damage the body of Christ, then yes. He is a a false prophet and teacher, and he should repent.
Dane Cramer is a backpacker, follower-of-Jesus blogger, jail chaplain, amateur filmmaker, Podcast host, and author of two books: Romancing the Trail and The Nephilim: A Monster Among Us , and has worked as an investigator for over 35 years.