Is Such Hurricane Gustav Prophecy Of God?

As you may know, we currently have Hurricane Gustav moving toward the Texas to Florida coastline. With the memory of Hurricane Katrina, people in New Orleans and elsewhere are watching Gustav closely.

Yesterday, I was given the following (in part):

Concerning the prophecy the Lord God spoke about the 7 spirits, the 7 witches and the 7 hurricanes: The foundation of these hurricanes have been laid. The 7th hurricane began as a tropical storm named Gustav on August 25th 2008 at 2:00 pm EST. Gustav means "staff of God ". August 17th 2008 Kathy and I were on the mountain praying when I had an open vision. I saw the staff of God striking the earth. In this vision I saw the "staff of God", which looked like a pillar of fire, coming out the heavens like one huge mighty staff as it struck America. As this staff struck it exploded into a huge pillar of fire and looked like a nuclear explosion. This staff continued to strike America and the earth several times (it seemed like 7 times). Every time it struck there was a massive explosion. (In 1998 the Lord God gave me the prophecy of Katrina hitting Louisiana and as I spoke it out they mocked God's word which was sent through His prophets. God spoke to me in November 2007 and said He would send judgment which will be 10 times greater than Katrina. Could Gustav be what the Lord God is speaking about? Woe unto you Louisiana and the Gulf Coast!)

After the vision and as I pondered what I had seen I sensed the Lord speak to me and say "Gustav will be a sign to America and to the nations as it is the 7th hurricane and there are many more devastating hurricanes to come behind this one. As Gustav develops it will be a sign of the striking blow to America, for the Lord God is about to strike America with His staff, His power and authority beyond anything America has ever seen". Tell my people to repent and get ready for we have 1/2 hour left. "I will cause America and the church of America to make them see my mighty arm of judgments. Remember, you must be tried through the fire; purified and made white. Just as America will be made to drink the cup of my wrath so shall I make the church drink the cup of my judgment? I will rain my judgments down upon the righteous and the wicked. My prophets will proclaim my judgments and they will strike the earth as often as they want, according to my will and my word.

I will be honest and say that I am not one to eagerly embrace any new modern day prophecy as such, but because of the people who presented it to me I did go and search out the links. First, I found that the quote appears on a questionable site, in my opinion, and can be viewed here. You will have to scroll down to see that it was posted by one going by the name Anonymous Coward. So, why not by Matthew Stephen, the author?

What I also find odd is even if you visit (at least yesterday and today) Matthew Stephen’s website (here) the link to this supposed prophecy is unreachable. Under Urgent: The Eight Letters, items 6 through 8 cannot be found. Why?

A couple of things I would like to note in just the above two paragraphs:

The author apparently claims the name Gustav means ‘staff of God’, but according to Wikipedia.com it means ‘staff of the gods’, and ThinkBabyNames.com seem to agree; whereas BabyNameCollection.com claims Gustava (female, notice extra ‘a’) means ‘staff of the gods’ where Gustav (male) means ‘royal staff’.

Notice the author poses the threat ‘God spoke to me in November 2007 and said He would send judgment which will be 10 times greater than Katrina,’ then turns right around asking us ‘Could Gustav be what the Lord God is speaking about?’ Surely the prophet must know the prophecy he claims to be foretelling from God.

The author mentions that ‘you must be tried through the fire; purified and made white. Just as America will be made to drink the cup of my wrath so shall I make the church drink the cup of my judgment? I will rain my judgments down upon the righteous and the wicked.’ A quick search will return Zechariah 13:9 and 1 Peter 1:7 speaking of God’s people being ‘tried by fire’, though both of these speak of God’s grace of bringing His saints through such things not beating them down with such. We also know by Scripture that we are not purified and made white by our own works, but by the blood of the Lamb (the works of Christ). We also find in Revelation it is those who oppose God that must ‘drink the cup of [his] judgment’ not the saints (i.e. His church), though He does chastise us. Is there not a difference between discipline and wrath?

Now, I will admit, there is some ‘truth’ in what the author has written (in the full article not posted above), but that alone does not make it prophecy of/from God in part or in full. Most will admit that hurricanes can be devastating, destroying many things in their paths. Some will give credit to nature, others to God, but there is no doubt that they can cause many people to perish or to lose homes and possessions. Even causing America to weep and be generous with their help to others, so what in this prophecy could one find that would prove it is prophetic by the very source of God and not merely generic thoughts that could come to pass with any hurricane at any time?

At the end of the author’s words, we find Christ supposedly calling unto his Bride (which Scripture declares is the church). Again, I find odd, where this prophet claims the church is to ‘seek wisdom, discernment and love’ he yet claims they shall be made to ‘drink the cup of [his] judgment’. Who shall they receive love from if not the Bridegroom?

Indeed the storm cometh and we may have to endure the storm’s wrath, but as for this prophecy I am just not convinced Matthew Stephen is a prophet of God. But, you are free to draw your on conclusions. Just remember in who and where your faith needs to be placed, in Christ Jesus alone.