False Prophets

False Prophets lie and say they hear from God

They have dreams and visions and prophesy…….

But they do not prophesy for God.

False prophets deceive many with their false doctrines

They are wolves in sheep’s clothing

The Bible warns us that in the last days there will be false prophets.  There have always been prophets (or preachers) that did not declare the true word of God.  They have wanted to please people and tell them what they wanted to hear.  The ancient prophets of Israel were guilty of this.  Many modern day “prophets” are as well.  Who knows what their motive is?  Perhaps money and fame.  Perhaps ignorance.  Maybe they are truly evil…..who knows?  As time draws nearer to the Second Coming of Christ……there will be more and more false prophets that will lead many astray!

Here are some scriptures giving examples of Old Testament false prophets:

Deuteronomy 13:1-4   Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

Jeremiah 5:30-31  A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land—   the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

Jeremiah 14:14-16  Then the Lord said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine! As for the people to whom they prophesy—their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one left to bury them. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters—all will be gone. For I will pour out their own wickedness on them.

 

Jeremiah 23:25-32   “I have heard these prophets say, ‘Listen to the dream I had from God last night.’ And then they proceed to tell lies in my name. How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.

“Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain! Does not my word burn like fire?” says the Lord.  “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?

“Therefore,” says the Lord, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, ‘This prophecy is from the Lord!’ I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Ezekiel 13:6-7   Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ even though the Lord never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies! Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ when I have not even spoken to you?

 

These false prophets encouraged the people to rebel against God.  They were sinful and taught the people to live in sin.  Some of these prophets led the people to worship other gods besides the one true God.  They told the people that “all was well” and that there was no need of repentance.  They told the people what they wanted to hear.  These teachers were not hearing from God or speaking for Him.

The true prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah declared the true word of God and cried out for the people to repent and turn back to the one true living God. 

______________________________

Jesus Christ warned His disciples of false prophets and teachers!

Matthew 7:15-23  “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

The Apostles also warned the followers of Jesus about false prophets!

II Corinthians 11:13-15   These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

Galatians 1:6-9   I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.  You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News, but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

I John 4:1-6   Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God:  If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

II Peter 2:1-22   But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.

These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling. But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.

These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

____________________________

 

What would be some examples of false doctrine?

The true gospel declares that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was born of a virgin and lived on earth.   He died on the cross for our sins and is our only Savior.  He himself declared that He was the only way to the Father.  He rose on the third day and ascended to heaven.  There is no other way by which any person can be saved…..except by faith in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross!

Any teaching that does not declare ALL of the above statement is false doctrine.  Anyone that says that Jesus was not the Son of God is a false teacher.  Those that say a person can be “good” and do “good deeds” and still go to heaven without trusting in Jesus as their Savior are false teachers.  Anyone that denies that Jesus died on the cross for sin is teaching false doctrine.  Those that say He wasn’t resurrected on the third day are teaching false doctrine.  Those that combine strange beliefs in other gods with faith in Jesus are teaching false doctrine.

All teaching that is contrary to what the scriptures in the Bible say is false doctrine.  You cannot add anything to the scriptures or take away anything.  You cannot say that salvation is possible through anything or anyone but Jesus Christ!

 There are many good churches that do teach the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  Many dedicated preachers are declaring the truth every Sunday.  There will always be a “remnant” of believers that cling to the truth until we are “taken to heaven” by our Lord Jesus.

 Each person has the responsibility to “weigh”  what is being taught and “prophesied”.  This is possible by comparing the teaching or prophecy to the Bible scriptures.  The Holy Spirit will help you with this.

Every believer must study the Bible scriptures and make sure that they are in a church that is teaching the true gospel.   This may take courage.  You must fear God more than people!

 

Also read the post “Come Out of Babylon” !

______________________