David Wilkerson, the American Pentecostal evangelist and founder of Teen Challenge (best known for The Cross and the Switchblade), shared a famous prophetic vision in 1973. He described receiving it in April 1973, feeling it was from God, and it was so intense that it “staggered” him. He later published it in his book The Vision (1974), and preached about it publicly, including in sermons.
The vision focused on five major calamities coming to America and the world as judgments due to sin, rebellion, and moral decay. These were seen as “birth pains” leading toward end-times events and the return of Christ. Wilkerson emphasized urgency, repentance, and preparation, warning that hard times were ahead but that true believers would be sustained by God.
The Five Calamities in the 1973 Vision
- Worldwide recession / economic confusion — Severe financial turmoil, shortages, and economic collapse starting in America and spreading globally. He urged people to “get your house in order because hard times are coming.”
- Drastic weather changes and natural disasters — Nature in “labor pains,” with unusual earthquakes, hail, drastic weather shifts, and other supernatural signs that science couldn’t fully explain.
- A flood of filth and moral decay — Massive increase in pornography, immorality, and “baptism of dirt” across society, fulfilling prophecies like Nahum’s about overwhelming corruption.
- Rebellion in the home / youth problems — Widespread hatred of parents by young people becoming the top youth issue, with family breakdown and rebellion.
- Persecution of Christians — A “persecution madness” rising against true, Spirit-filled believers who love Jesus. He described it intensifying globally, with an “underground church” of faithful remnant emerging amid trials.
Wilkerson stressed this wasn’t from an angel or audible voice but an inner vision with a strong sense of calamity. He claimed many elements were already beginning or would soon unfold in that generation. When first shared (e.g., at a large charismatic conference), it was controversial—some mocked it or distanced themselves, but over time, supporters pointed to events like economic crises, natural disasters, moral shifts, family breakdowns, and rising pressures on faith as partial fulfillments. Recent articles (as of 2026) still discuss how aspects “continue to unfold” over 50+ years later.
He had other prophetic messages too, like an urgent 2009 warning about impending “earth-shattering calamity” involving fires, riots in major cities (especially New York), and widespread unrest—but the 1973 vision is the one most commonly referred to as “David Wilkerson’s vision.”