Among the prophecies that really scare people are those contained in that famous book, Revelation. When the Apostle John recorded a series of strange visions at the end of the first century, even the prophet could not have known how controversial the book of Revelation would become.

This came to mind a couple days ago with the news that a reservoir in Texas had turned “blood red.” The natural reasons for this were given, and they sound similar to those given by people who want to explain-away the Exodus plagues.

In any event, the article about the reservoir mentioned of course that some have speculated that it is a sign of the end.

Frankly, it’s hard to see how an incident so isolated geographically could be linked directly to the global catastrophe predicted in the book of Revelation.

It is a reminder though that such hand-wringing comes from a description in Revelation 16:3—”And the second angel poured out of his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.”

Whew. That’s a pretty bad ecological disaster.

For the record, I believe this particular prophecy is yet future, and it will be fulfilled literally. The Texas occurrence though, while interesting, is not an indication that the “bowl” and “seal” judgments of the book of Revelation are now cascading across the globe.