450 years ago: The death of Nostradamus

The law and the prophets were until John: Luke 16:16a

On July 2, 1566, Michel de Nostredame, who Latinized his name to Nostradamus, died at the age of 62. He was best known for his Almanacs (annually from 1550-1566) and Les Propheties (1555-1568), and wrote quatrains which have been interpreted as prophesying major world events, often disasters. Mr. Nostradamus claimed to use astrology in coming up with his predictions, but modern research suggests that he borrowed from existing end-time prophecies.

Mr. Nostradamus has been credited with prophesying cataclysmic events of the 20th century, but such views have been criticized as reading the fulfillment into the prophecies after the events had occurred, and many of his prophecies have been as vague enough to be subject to various interpretations. Mr. Nostradamus himself rejected the label of "prophet," and I prefer to take him at his word on that.

The prophecies of Michel de Nostredame may be an interesting subject of study, but they shouldn't be relied upon as a valid or reliable guide to the future. Contrary to what those in the New Apostolic Reformation say, we don't have prophets anymore, in the Old Testament sense of someone receiving direct revelation from God. God has given us everything He wants us to know--and everything we need to know--about the future in the Bible, and it's the only authoritative source of information on the future. Divination--knowledge of the future using occult means--is, in fact, prohibited by God:

Do not practice divination or sorcery. Leviticus 19:26b (NIV)