False Prophets

“Many false prophets will appear.” (Matthew 24:11a, NIV 1984)

My Musings – Closely related to apostasy, heresy and scoffing are those that promote these deceitful things, namely false prophets. We must be on our guard against them.  Being able to recognize them and their false teaching is crucial to being able to guard against them.  

• Does it Come to Pass? – Deuteronomy 18:20-22, NIV 1984, tells us how to recognize a false prophet.   “A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death. You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously….”
• Does it Point You Away from the Truth? – But what if the message does “take place” or does “come true”? How do we discern if the prophet is nonetheless false and deceiving?  Once again scripture (Deuteronomy 13:1-3, NIV 1984) provides the answer.  “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known) ‘and let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

As banks have learned, the most successful way to spot a counterfeit is to study and become familiar with the genuine article. Any believer who “correctly handles the word of truth” and who makes a habit of careful study of the Bible can usually identify false teaching. Jesus said, “a tree is recognized by its fruit,” and indicates that “false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible (Matthew 24:24).

My Advice – Coming to know Christ as Savior is an event that brings one into a saving relationship (child) with Him. After that we are to learn from Him and become more like Him. As we become more like Him we will be able know, and what teaching, who is not like Him or from Him.

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Sources:

gotquestions.org/false-teachers