Pat Robertson, who began last year with a prediction that President Bush would win re-election in “a blowout,” says he has another word from the Lord.
On the Jan. 3 broadcast of Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club,” Robertson made predictions he said were based on what God told him during a recent prayer retreat. His forecast includes a second term of “triumph” for President Bush, whom Robertson predicted will get Social Security and tax reform passed and will put conservative judges on federal courts.
Spiritually speaking, Robertson said to look for “a tremendous incidence of miracles” in America and for revival in the Muslim world.
“I’m always reluctant to say, ‘God said this,'” Robertson predicated his remarks. “There’s some times it’s unmistakable; the voice like shakes you. Otherwise you believe you’re hearing [God’s voice.] So I put that out with great trepidation, but I have some very encouraging news.”
On the economy, Robertson said, “Again, 2005 is going to be a year of extraordinary prosperity for this nation and for CBN.”
“And I think the American stock market is going to surge upward, if I heard from the Lord.”
“Don’t go out and buy stock on my recommendation,” he said, “but that’s what I feel in my heart. The Lord was saying it’s going to be a super good year.”
Robertson went on to say the Lord “has some very encouraging news for George Bush.”
“What I heard is that Bush is now positioned to have victory after victory, and that his second term is going to be one of triumph, which is pretty strong stuff.”
“He’ll have Social Security reform passed. He’ll have tax reform passed. He’ll have conservative judges on the courts. And that basically he is positioned for a series of dramatic victories, which I hope will hearten him and his advisers. They don’t have to be timid in this matter, because the winds are blowing at his back, and he can move forward boldly and get results.”
Robertson predicted religious revivals both at home and abroad. “America, again, if I’m hearing God right, we will see a tremendous incidence of miracles in 2005,” he said. “People are going to believe God for miracles.”
“God’s spirit is going to be moving in dramatic power around the world,” he continued. “And his spirit is going to be touching the hearts of many in the Muslim world, and they will be turning to the gospel, to Jesus Christ. I think many of them already are, but this is going to be an acceleration that will really amaze the world.”
Robertson said the tsunami tragedy in South Asia was “a warning to the world about how fragile life is” but does not—as some have suggested—signal the imminent end of the world.
“Now the earth knows my love and my mercy,” Robertson said God told him. “The time will come when it will experience my wrath. That time is not yet. Multitudes are ready to come into my kingdom. Revival will break out throughout the Muslim world, my truth will penetrate their hearts. The hold of that falsehood that has gripped them will be broken.”
Robertson said the threat of terrorism will be diminished, but, “The peril of Israel is greater now than it has ever been, for she will be seduced into a false peace that will leave her vulnerable.”
Concerning the Supreme Court, Robertson predicted: “The vendetta against religion in America is about to end…. [God] will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly, and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith.”
Eighteen months ago, Robertson urged his followers to pray that God would remove three justices from the Supreme Court.
“One justice is 83 years old, another has cancer, and another has a heart condition,” Robertson wrote in a letter on the CBN Web site. “Would it not be possible for God to put it in the minds of these three judges that the time has come to retire? With their retirement and the appointment of conservative judges, a massive change in federal jurisprudence can take place.”
While disclaiming at several points that he believed but was not certain he was hearing God’s voice, Robertson boasted in his 2005 predictions: “So far, my track record has been pretty good. Last year I said George Bush was going to win by what looked like a blowout, and indeed he did. And I spoke previously about other things that were going to happen.”
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a frequent critic of Robertson, noted in the February 2004 Church and State magazinethat several of Robertson’s earlier predictions turned out to be false. He said Russia would invade Israel in 1982, that there would be a worldwide economic collapse in 1985 and that U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller would be elected president in 1996.
Concerning Robertson’s prediction of alterations on the Supreme Court, AU’s Joe Conn said in a weblog: “Robertson’s predictions have often been wrong in the past, as documented by Americans United. With church-state separation hanging in the balance at the high court, we can only hope he’s wrong again this time.”
The White House in October denied a statement by Robertson that President Bush told him he did not expect any casualties prior to invading Iraq.
“The Lord told me it was going to be A, a disaster, and B, messy,” Robertson said, describing his supposed meeting with Bush. “I warned him about casualties.”
The Bush administration quickly contradicted Robertson’s story. “The president never made such a comment,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Bob Allen is managing editor of EthicsDaily.com.
Managing editor at EthicsDaily.com from 2003-2009, Allen wrote more than 1,500 news stories during his tenure.
