False Prophets

IDENTIFYING FALSE PROPHETS
It might be said that some, hopefully all, of the many people who are leaving religion have come to recognize that all religious leaders and self-declared spokespersons for God are false prophets. Maybe God has opened their eyes to see that all human teachers are false prophets who have led them and others astray. Or perhaps they have just become fed up with the hypocrisy and deception they have come to see in religion. Regardless of the reasons why they leave religion, however, there is room for hope that their faith no longer rests on human wisdom embodied in false prophets but on the power of God.

God has some very hard words for false prophets who say they are speaking for God when they are really only speaking out of their own imaginations. In these modern days it is impossible for Old/First Covenant religionists to know the difference between a false prophet and a New Covenant prophet. But, because of God’s strong complaints about false prophets, it is necessary for everyone to learn know how to distinguish them from true prophets.

New Covenant disciples are best equipped to discern the difference between false and true prophets. People who have not yet disengaged from religion, however, still need help identifying false prophets. For them, the following clues are helpful:

False prophets typically receive some kind of compensation (e.g. money, gifts, bribes, etc.) for their prophecies (e.g. teachings, predictions of the future, dream interpretations, etc.), ministry services (e.g. sacraments, weddings, funerals, conferences, etc.), and products (e.g. books, videos, music, etc.).
False prophets are typically associated with a religious organization of some kind (e.g. church, synagogue, ministry, mission, college, etc.), but some conduct their business through independent ministries
False prophets do not always identify themselves as prophets, but they will always claim to be qualified to speak for God in the role of pastor, teacher, rabbi, apostle, shepherd, prophet, etc.
There is an elite class of false prophets who pridefully exalt themselves by using their names to identify themselves as prophets when they promote themselves and invite people to come to their meetings and conferences where they publicly display their righteousness to anyone who is willing to pay the price of admission or give an offering.

Some prophets identify themselves as prophets, and some do not. However, if they embody any of the characteristics of false prophets, they are false prophets. All prophets who claim to have knowledge and authority to speak for God are false prophets because they have one or more of the following characteristics:

◊ They have titles (e.g. pastor, priest, rabbi, apostle, etc.).
◊ They have education credentials (e.g. Phd, Master of Divinity, seminary, Bible school, etc.).
◊ They claim to have a special calling from God.
◊ They have many admirers who listen to their teaching, follow their ministry and contribute financially to them.
◊ They are charismatic.
◊ They have reputations for being good preachers, teachers.
◊ They have a history in ministry that reports their education and all the good things they have done.

Many false prophets draw attention to themselves through their clothing (e.g. robe, clerical collar, head covering, etc.) and jewelry (e.g. cross, star of David, fish symbol, etc.) and religious behaviors.
False prophets never speak “woe” to people, nor do they prophecy warnings of judgment that will come to people who do not hear and obey God’s voice but served other gods.
All false prophets are man-pleasers who strive to have good reputations by dreaming up prophecies that will conform to what people want to hear.

STUDY TIP: This is a good checklist for anyone who wants to identify whether a religious leader (e.g. priest, pastor, rabbi, teacher, etc.) is a true prophet or a false prophet. See True Prophets for a list of a true prophets teachings, qualities and normal behaviors.

In God’s view, false prophets are stumbling blocks of iniquity (i.e. idols) who encourage people to come to them for instruction instead of listening to God’s voice. In Biblical language, false prophets are adulterers, harlots and prostitutes.

Most religious people will have trouble accepting that their religious leaders are false prophets because they have been deceived by many of them. That awareness makes it very difficult for them to admit that they have invested time, money and affections (i.e. idols of the heart) on people whom God considers to be false teachers and adulterers This is discouraging and embarrassing news, of course, but it is not as bad as discovering at some future day they never really knew God and that he never really knew them.

Religious people who discover that they have been following false prophets have a choice to make. One choice is that they can discredit and reject what they have learned here and continue with their religious life thinking that they have some kind of special favor with God that will pardon them from destruction. Or, they can do the following:

Accept that they have been deceived by false prophets.
Repent for willfully following false prophets.
Forgive the false prophets for deceiving you and other people.
Destroy the religious kingdoms (i.e. high places) where false prophets carry on their business:

♦ Do not give them money.
♦ Do not attend their meetings or purchase their religious products.
♦ Teach others how to identify false prophets.
Look for opportunities to confront false prophets about their sin.
Destroy religious kingdoms by setting captives free from bondage to religion.
Seek God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength by studying the Bible themselves with the full expectation that God will teach them himself by his spirit with no human mediator.

These are not easy choices to make. Close relationships developed with false prophets make separation very difficult. Nevertheless, once we learn how distinguish between true prophets and false prophets, we are in a position where we must chose between the way of holiness or the way of fools. We can continue wandering in Old/First Covenant religion or become New Covenant disciples. This is life and death decision. If we choose life, we must also decide if we will serve in God’s army where we will tell others that religion is sin. These are life and death choices that affect us and others.

STUDY TIP: See Death, Resurrection and New Life and HANGING ON FOR DEAR LIFE for more about making life and death decisions.

In Biblical language, people who opt for continuing in religion choose to continue wandering in the wilderness where they will die. They will suffer all the curses prophesied for people who do not listen to or obey God’s voice. And those who choose life will receive all of the blessings that God promises to people who listen to his words (i.e. New Covenant disciples).

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God's Voice

How to Hear, Interpret and Obey God's Spoken Word