What if all your life you were told that, one day, thousands of massive war ships would arrive on the shores of your city? You'd probably build a coastal fortress and a strong navy.

Now, instead, let's say some people reinterpreted that belief and said your city would be visited, not by ships, but by droves of purple hippopotamuses. And the hippos would come, not from the sea, but out of a volcano. You might build a watchtower near the volcano and Google "how to build a hippo trap."

If you did build that watchtower, when the ships arrived you'd be caught by surprise. You'd have your back to the ocean, hippo trap in hand.

That's what's happening in the church today. End-times events are occurring -- events the Bible prophesied centuries ago -- and yet many Christians aren't seeing them because they've been told to look for something else.

A perfect example is the growing apostolic-prophetic movement. Leaders in this movement have reinterpreted many end-times prophecies. Take a recent prophecy by Todd Bentley, which he gave during an Aug. 23 conference at the Healing Rooms in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The gist of the prophecy is that Grand Rapids is about to experience a great work of God. Read the full prophecy here. But Bentley shares how he knows this -- from revelation God gave him about "the bowls of heaven" in Revelation 8. He describes the revelation like this:

And I had an angelic encounter and I saw how the state [of Michigan] was open. In fact the bowls were full. There's been a groundwork laid in intercession and the bowls were full. Heaven is about to respond. When those bowls are full, it's going to be mixed with the altar from God's fire and cast back down to the earth. That's what happens when the bowls are full, right? In Revelation chapter 8, when the bowls are full of the incense (the prayers of the saints), something happens in Heaven and it gets thrown back to the earth.

Bentley goes on to describe how, when these bowls are cast down to Michigan, then God will do great things in that state. In his vision, he even saw "flashes of lightning" and "thunder" over Michigan's Great Lakes. Yet, when you read Revelation 8, you will see that -- although the casting of the bowls is accompanied by lightning and thunder, they don't release God's blessings.

They release His terrible judgments: including natural disasters and cosmic disturbances. In the larger context of this passage, we learn the timing of this event is when Christ opens the seventh seal of God's judgment -- after His people have endured persecution. So, presumably, the prayers that fill the bowls are Christians' prayers for vindication. And vindication is exactly what God gives them when the bowls are cast to earth. 

Not only does Bentley reinterpret the casting of the bowls as blessings, but he also reapplies them to just the state of Michigan. 

Other "prophets" do the same thing. Kim Clement often prophesies about "dry bones" -- reinterpreting the prophet Ezekiel's metaphor of God's restoration of the nation of Israel (Ezekiel 37). Last November, Clement applied the "dry bones" prophecy to Southern California -- saying God was going to do a mighty work in its regions, including the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood. Clement described his conversation with God like this:

"What do you see? Prophet, what do you see?" I see a valley of dry bones--the San Fernando Valley. "What do you see?" I see three valleys, no four, with dry bones. "What will you do?" says the Spirit. "What did I tell Ezekiel to do?--prophesy to the bones and they shall live." God is speaking in this building tonight. His Word shall go forth into the atmosphere.

I see four principalities being brought to nothing. "They have no power over your children, your family, your money, your business, your ministry, your future," says the Lord.

These are just two examples of how end-times prophecies have been reinterpreted and reapplied in the apostolic-prophetic movement. "Prophet" Bill Hamon teaches that the two witnesses in Revelation 11 are actually two armies of apostles and prophets (see his book Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God, page 137). Many others, like "apostle" C. Peter Wagner and "prophet" Chuck Pierce, speak of a "great transference of wealth" from God's enemies to His people that will allow the kingdom of God to be built on earth before Christ's return. Yet, the passages they use to support this teaching actually speak of the wealth of the nations being brought to Israel during Christ's millennial rule.

Meanwhile, real prophecies are actually occurring -- including the very real possibility that the "covenant with many" has been confirmed and we've entered the 70th week of Daniel (read about this here). But their significance is lost on people who've been taught to look for different things. And last week, world leaders at the United Nations meetings agreed that any religion that claims to be the only true religion is an enemy to peace. Read about it here.

World leaders also gave their support to the Alliance of Civilizations -- a U.N. initiative that has big plans for countering religious fundamentalism. Read about it here. This fits perfectly with the false religious system the Bible prophesied will precede Christ's return -- one that will launch a bloody assault on Christians.

Yet, not a peep about this has been heard from the "prophets" who are busy applying bowls and bones prophecies to Grand Rapids and Hollywood -- while their focus should be on the revived Roman Empire in Europe and God's nation, Israel.