False Prophecy

False Prophecy

By Acts 17:11 Bible Studies
Sunday, July 28, 2013

Mat 24:3-5,10-11 (NIV) ..."Tell us," they said, "when will this happen,
and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered, "Watch out that no one deceives you, for many will
come in my name,.. At that time many will turn away from the faith
... and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."

As spiritual adultery increases in the church, false prophets will
flourish as highly sought after speakers, and as Christians accept
more of these false teachings indiscriminately, many will fall away,
believing in a phony "faith".

Since we have been warned, it might be wise to seek insight into how
to discern false prophecy--what are false prophets likely to say? What
are they like?

Signs And Wonders

Deut. 18:20-22 (NIV) "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..."

But what if it does come true? In fact, aren't we specifically warned
that near the End of the Age many will show great signs and wonders?
What then? Are signs and wonders "fruit"? Effective witchcraft is not
the "fruit" we are to look for (Gal 5:22-23).

Signs and wonders are not to be sought (Mat 16:4).

Does the prophet call for repentance, for holiness and loyalty to
Christ? Or is he providing an enticing strip-tease away from God?

Deut 13:1-3 (NIV) "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."

The Enemy Is Among You...

Deut. 13:5 -8 (NIV) "That prophet or dreamer must be put to death,
because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God... He has
tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you
to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. If your very own
brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest
friend secretly entices you,.. do not yield to him or listen to him..."

Jer 9:2-6 (NIV) "...For they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful
people. They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is
not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to
another; they do not acknowledge me," declares the Lord. "Beware
of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a
deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and
no one speaks the truth... You live in the midst of deception; in
their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the Lord.

Jer 23:33-36 (NIV) "When these people, or a prophet or a priest,
ask you, 'What is the oracle of the Lord?' say to them, 'What
oracle?..' You must not mention 'the oracle of the Lord' again,
because every man's own word becomes his oracle and so you
distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God."

False Prophets, And Their Followers, Reject The Truth

Neh 9:26 (NIV) "But they were disobedient and rebelled ...They killed
your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back
to you; they committed awful blasphemies."

Isa 30:9-11,15 (NIV) These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction. They say to the
seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more
visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the
Holy One of Israel!" This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One
of Israel says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in
quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."

The Message Of False Prophecy: "Peace, Peace"--Without Repentance

Jer 5:11-13 (NIV) "The house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly unfaithful to me," declares the Lord. "They
have lied about the Lord; they said, 'He will do nothing! No
harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.' The
prophets are but wind and the word is not in them..." (Ez 13:7,
De 29:19)

Jer 23:16-18 (NIV) This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Do not
listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill
you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who
despise me, 'The Lord says: You will have peace.' And to all
who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm
will come to you.' But which of them has stood in the council of
the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard
his word?"

Jer 23:21-22 (NIV) "I did not send these prophets, yet they have
run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have
prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, they would have
proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them
from their evil ways and from their evil deeds."

Jer 8:6-9 (NIV) "I have listened attentively, but they do not say
what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, 'What
have I done?'.. My people do not know the requirements of the
Lord. How can you say, 'We are wise...' Since they have rejected
the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?"

Lam 2:14 (NIV) "The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The oracles they gave you were false and misleading."

Luke 6:26 (NAS) "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for
in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets."

Jer 14:14 (NIV) "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I
have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They
are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries, and
the delusion of their own minds."

Jer 28:8-9 (NIV) [Jeremiah identifying Hananiah as a false prophet:]
"From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have
prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and
great kingdoms. But the prophet who prophesies peace will be
recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes
true." (Jer 28:15-17 tells the outcome.)

Micah 2:11 (NIV) "If a liar and deceiver comes and says, 'I will
prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the
prophet for this people!"

Prophets For Profit

Micah 3:5 (NIV) This is what the Lord says: "As for the prophets who
lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'; if he
does not, they prepare to wage war against him."

Jer 8:10-12 (NIV) "From the least to the greatest all are greedy for
gain; prophet and priest alike, all practice deceit. They dress the
wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,'
they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their
loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even
know how to blush."

Eph 5:6 (Jer) Do not let anyone deceive you with empty arguments:
it is for this loose living that God's wrath comes down on those who
rebel against him. Make sure you are not included with them.

John 10:12 (Jer) "The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and
the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away
as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and
scatters the sheep."

Eze 13:1-16 (Read from the NIV about the big whitewash and the
storm approaching.)

Jer 23:30-32 (NIV) "Therefore," declares the Lord, "I am against the
prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.
Yes,.. I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet
declare, 'The Lord declares.' Indeed, I am against those who prophesy
false dreams,.. They tell them and lead my people astray with their
reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit
these people in the least," declares the Lord.

Going To The Dogs

Mat 7:15, 20-23 (NIV) "Watch out for false prophets. They come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves...
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them... Many will say to me
on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in
your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will
tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!'"

Isa 56:10-11 (NIV) "Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack
knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie
around and dream. They are shepherds who lack understanding;
they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain."

2 Cor 11:19-20 (Jer) Oh, you're tolerant all right! . Yes even to
tolerating somebody who makes slaves of you, makes you feed
him, imposes on you, orders you about and slaps you in the face.

Eze 13:17-19,22 (NIV) "Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination.
Prophesy against them and say,.. By lying to my people, who listen to
lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared
those who should not live... Because you disheartened the righteous
with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you
encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save
their lives..."

Jer 23:14-15 (NIV) "...They commit adultery and live a lie. They
strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his
wickedness... Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says
concerning the prophets: 'I will make them eat bitter food and
drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.'"

Evil "Unleashed"

Jer 23:9-11 (NIV) "Concerning the prophets:.. 'The land is full
of adulterers;.. The prophets follow an evil course and use their
power unjustly. Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my
temple I find their wickedness,' declares the Lord."

2 Cor 11:13-15 (Phi) "God's messengers?" They are counterfeits
of the real thing, dishonest practitioners masquerading as the
messengers of Christ. Nor do their tactics surprise me when I
consider how Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It
is only to be expected that his agents shall have the appearance
of ministers of righteousness--but they will get what they deserve
in the end.

1 Tim 4:1-2 (Phi) God's spirit specificaly tells us that in later days
there will be men who abandon the true faith and allow themselves
to be spiritually seduced by teachings of demons, teachings given
by men who are lying hypocrites, whose consciences are as dead as
seared flesh.

Discernment

Jer 23:25-29 (NIV) "I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy
lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' How long
will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy
the delusions of their own minds?.. Let the prophet who has a dream
tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.
For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the Lord. "Is not my
word like fire," declares the Lord, "and like a hammer that breaks a
rock in pieces?"

2 Pet 2:1 (NEB) But Israel had false prophets as well as true; and
you likewise will have false teachers among you. They will import
disastrous heresies, disowning the Master who bought them, and
bringing swift disaster on their own heads.

Col 2:18-19 (Jer) Do not be taken in by people who like groveling to
angels, and worshipping them; people like that are always going on
about some vision they have had, inflating themselves to a false
importance with their worldly outlook. A man of this sort is not
united to the head...

Eph 4:14-15 (Jer) Then we shall not be children any longer, or tossed
one way and another and carried along by every wind of doctrine, at
the mercy of all the tricks men play and their cleverness in practicing
deceit. If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways
into Christ, who is the head.

1 Jn 2:20-26 (Phi) God has given you all a certain amount of spiritual
insight, and indeed I have not written this warning as if I were
writing to men who don't know what error is. I write because your
eyes are clear enough to discern a lie when you come across it...
For yourselves keep faithful to what you heard at the beginning.
I had to write to you about these men who try to lead you astray.

Acts 20: 29-31 (Jer) "I know quite well that when I have gone fierce
wolves will invade you and have no mercy on the flock. Even from
your own ranks their will be men coming forward with a travesty of
the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them. So be
on your guard..."

Mat 10:16-17 (Phi) "Here am I sending you out like sheep with
wolves all round you; so be as wise as serpents and harmless as
doves. But be on your guard against men..."

Luke 10:3 (NIV) "Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."

Mat 24:25 (Phi) "False christs and false prophets are going to appear
and produce great signs and wonders to mislead, if it were possible,
even God's own people. Listen, I am warning you."

http://www.acts17-11.com/fprophecy.html