Who Is A False Prophet?

This whole business of predicting the end of the world on May 21 has evoked a lot of silly attention in the media around the world. In a sense, I've been amazed at the consideration given to it. In another sense I'm not surprised, especially with all the fuss that's been aroused by the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Even they point out that Harold Camping's claims were nonsense and dangerous since no one knows the day and hour of Christ's return.

At this point, I'm not going to say anything more about the Left Behind series. I prefer today to focus upon the matter of false prophets in general. Here's what the Lord Jesus and the Bible says about them.

First Jesus:

 ¹⁵"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15).

²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' ²³ And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness' (Matthew 7:21-23).  

Then the Apostle Peter commenting about the children of Israel and then the false teachers of his day:

 ¹But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep (2 Peter 2:1-3).

And finally, Moses' warning to the Israelites about to enter the land of promise:

 ¹"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ²and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' ³you shall not listen to the word of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.⁴You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst (Deuteronomy 13:1-4). 

The false prophet, the dreamer of dreams talks about some sign or wonder that is coming to pass. It does not. This was the case with Harold Camping. It has happened again and again in the past. All this causes great confusion, loss and suffering. In Camping's case, his followers sold their possessions, wasted millions to advertise his false prophecies and lost their livelihoods. And where is he? Hiding in some motel, proclaiming, "I never said I was infallible. Its still going to happen."

All this draws Christians away from the Gospel and from the gift that is ours in Christ. He has not asked us to do anything other than to be about our daily tasks, witnessing to Him with our lives and our words. We do this by being faithful husbands and wives, obedient children, diligent students and workers, honest business men and women and humble servants wherever He has called us to serve Him. We remain prepared for His return at any time and yet we go about our work, doing what is necessary to demonstrate that Christ lives in us and that His love and care is for all. We ask for no more.

Notice the deep concern echoing in Moses' words. This is so serious that Moses says false prophets deserve the death penalty. Of course, we are not in a position to carry out such a sentence. We Americans live in a land of religious freedom. And yet this warning does underline the terrible importance of true and faithful teaching. The eternal destiny of us and our children is at stake. Let this be a sober warning for us all.

Best Guess or Absolute Certainty

Although we try at times to avoid it, many of my friends and I end up talking about politics and the challenges we face these days. Frequent topics include the proposed new health care system and the state of the economy here in the U.S. We all have rather strong views on how things are, as well as how they should be. We care because we believe the decisions made and about to be made will impact our personal lives as well as the lives of our children and grandchildren for decades to come.

But I am not a politician nor do I choose to write about politics except as it impacts upon our spiritual life. Yet one cannot avoid pondering on what goes on in the hearts and lives of those elected to serve us on all levels of our government. What drives them? In Biblical terms, what is the spirit of the world and those living in it?

The Apostle Paul writes:"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God" (1 Corinthians 2:12).

As I listen to the politicians argue back and forth I realize that much of what they say and do is based upon guesses and experiments. Nobody really knows how to put the economy back on track. Nobody absolutely can say what health care options are best for this country. The best that anyone can come up with are informed opinions. And so, as is often stated, we'll have to wait for history to tell us. Hindsight. Oh the joy of hindsight revealing our foibles, our stupidity, our pride, greed and self-centered ideas and, occasionally, wisdom.

But is this all we have in spiritual matters? Must we merely make guesses about forgiveness of sins, God's love, the resurrection of the dead and eternal life? No, no, a thousand times no. We have certainty precisely because of the Spirit that dwells in us and works among us. The Spirit of the living and resurrected Christ has come to us in the very Word of God to convince us and assure us that we are His children. Because He lives--and He most certainly does--we too will live with Him forever.

Test the Spirits

My son and I got into a conversation a couple days ago about a DVD about marriage he was thinking about using for his small group's Bible study. It was from a large and very popular church, with a hip, modern, charismatic pastor. As I looked on I was struck by how 'with it' this man wanted to be and how 'current' he wanted his message to be. At one occasion he made a reference to a Bible story that seemed to illustrate his point about marital relationships.

"Hey, guys," he said, "Ya gotta learn how to be, not just do. It's important that ya just learn to hang and not always be tryin' to accomplish stuff. We're too plugged in. We gotta learn to unplug and be present with one another.

"That's how Mary was," he continued. "She learned the important thing was to be with Jesus. She wasn't like Martha who always wanted to do something to prove that she loved him."


After that he called upon us, his audience and anyone else looking in to stop and talk with our spouses about this important teaching about marriage.

As I reflected upon all that I began to wonder if that was the point Jesus was making when he said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10).

Was Jesus really talking about the importance of developing relationships rather than trying to prove your love by doing something? That is, admittedly, a significant problem in many marriages, as well as in our culture. We are often self-centered, focused on accomplishments rather than upon relationships. But again, is that what Jesus was talking about? What was this 'one thing' He said was needed?

Part of the answer has to be in the context of that chapter. Right before this story Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan who showed mercy to His enemy. And immediately before that story is the story of the seventy-two who went ahead of Jesus to announce His coming. Those who welcomed this news were indeed be blessed. And the blessing? To know and love Jesus, the Son of the Father, sent to reveal the Father's love by His life, death and resurrection (Luke 10:21-24), something promised for long centuries through the prophets and kings who wrote about the coming Messianic King.

Back to our hip pastor and his talk about relationships, man! As important as those are, he twisted the Scripture to his own purposes. He deliberately pushed past the point. He jumped over the teaching. He put Mary simply in a position where she wanted to know this man Jesus by talking with him while her sister Martha was busy serving him supper.

But the passage from Holy Scripture is not about about mere human relationships. It is certainly not about the marriage relationship. It's about being with Jesus, listening to Him speak to us, growing in our love for Him, learning His will and His plan for our lives before, while and after we serve Him. And who is Jesus? To us Christians He is God's Son, true God and true Man, sent to be the Savior of all.

All that leads me back to a quotation by the Apostle John:

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood" (1 John 4).

I'm not going to reveal the name of this particular teacher. My point is, however, critical. The Scriptures can be, have been and often will be used for purposes other than intended. I do not give a hoot about how hip a man may be. If he misuses God's Word and fails to give a clear witness to Jesus in his talks or teachings about marriage, relationships, our lives or whatever is his topic, then I'm going to have to reject what he says, because he is failing to glorify the only One whose love cleanses and purifies all our relationships. I'm going to have to test his teaching by asking questions about what he believes and teaches about Jesus. Thousands of teachers talk, write and proclaim something about Jesus, but that does not make them Christians in the Biblical sense of the word. They have become part of the spirit of the antichrist, the spirit of falsehood.