In 1968, ecologist Paul R. Erhlich wrote The Population Bomb, in which he warned that “hundreds of millions of people would starve to death within the next few decades, no matter what “crash programs” the world had devised to stave off the impending disaster. In 1969, Erhlich again warned that, given what was happening to the world because of population growth, “England will not exist in the year 2000.” In fact, in 1974, Ehrlich stood before the United States Congress and warned it that “at the latest”, approximately 1980, about “a billion or more people” could starve to death.
Of course he was wrong, and when people pointed out his errors, Erhlich attacked his critics as “ignorant,” “morons,” “idiots” and so forth.
Or go back to 1943, talking about computers. The head of IBM, Thomas Watson, made the following prediction: “I think that that there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
No question, anyone can make predictions about the future. Getting it right? Well, that’s another matter entirely. Or, as one quantum physicist said: “It’s very difficult to make an accurate prediction—especially about the future.”
And that’s because we are human beings, not God, and only God knows the future. "Behold, the former things have come to pass. Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you." Isaiah 42:9.
Whether from the amazing prophecies of Daniel 2, to Jesus’ predictions in Matthew 24 about the rise of false Christs (remember, He made that prediction when His movement consisted of only a ragtag handful of “misfits”), the Word of God has shown us over and over that The Lord knows the future, and that it’s all under His ultimate control. And if He has the world under His control, we can certainly trust that He knows the future of our own lives, which is why, ultimately, we need to surrender those lives to Him, in faith, and in trust—for He knows the beginning from the end, and His desire is for “to do you good in the end” (Deuteronomy 8:16).
