Be Aware Of False Prophets

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭  𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝟏𝟓:𝟏-𝟏𝟐, 𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟓:𝟏-𝟗 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟕:𝟏𝟓-𝟐𝟎

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑨 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.17) 

In the Gospel passage before this we see Jesus advising us not to waste our time on those who are not keen on listening to the Word of God. Today, Jesus warns his disciples and us included on the presence of false prophets.

This is something that was common in Old Testament times as there were pseudo prophets who prophesied only on what the kind and the people wanted to hear and bastardizing their message claiming it came from God.

         Every disciple who have been called and empowered to teach or proclaim the Good News as an evangelist should be able to relate to this Gospel reading today because it serves as a reminder of our calling as messengers of the Good News in that we should never lose track of the purpose for which we have been called and the message we need to proclaim.

         False teachers are as common today and Jesus says we are to be aware of those whose words sound religious but who are motivated by money, fame, power and prestige. We can just as easily spot such false prophets in our midst because they minimize Christ in their teaching and instead draw attention to themselves.

           Paul when he was leaving the church in Ephesus warned the elders of the dangers to come saying: “𝑭𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌.” (𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒔 20:29) And Jesus himself in 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 10:16 said he was sending his disciples as sheep in the midst of wolves and, he told of the Good Shepherd who protected the flock from the wolves with his life (𝑱𝒏 10:16).

           The imagery of wolves was how the true prophets of ancient times described the false prophets and they were pictured as wolves in sheep’s clothing. This was the reason why in the olden days, the true prophets wore conventional attire that will differentiate them from fake prophets. Elijah wore a mantle made of a hairy cloak (1 𝑲𝒈𝒔 19:13, 19). That kind of sheepskin worn by Elijah became the uniform of the prophets.

           I’m wondering if teachers who have been anointed in the BLD and in other communities will be made to wear sheepskin when they are sent on teaching assignments. If you’re looking for some authenticity to distinguish the real teachers of the Word from the bogus ones who lived anything but a prophet’s life, perhaps it may be well to start how messengers of the Gospel are to dress up.  

         In one of the teaching assignment that I facilitated in one of our BLD Districts in the Philippines, I tuned in to the TV while I was in my hotel room and I watched what seemed to be a large congregation and I couldn’t help but be amused when the Pastor said he was the “son” of god.

         The small letter “g” in god was intentional and I have no intention of committing sacrilege but at that point in time I actually didn’t know who the god he was referring to because the one true God I know looks at all of us as his sons and daughters and no single individual could arrogate upon himself the singular honor of claiming to be the son of God as we all are children of God as St. Paul attests in his letter to the Corinthians: “𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚.” (2 𝑪𝒐𝒓 6:18)        

But we also cannot and should not classify all the evangelists on TV as false prophets. To identify who is who and which is which among those who stand before us proclaiming God’s message, we have to rely on our discernment to spot who is false and who is not. The fact that there are so-called “mega churches” in the US and elsewhere means that there is a certain degree of authenticity in their proclamation of God’s message.

And if there are false prophets in the ancient days, there are also false prophets in the New Testament times and this has progressed even up to today. The Gospel of Matthew was written sometime in A.D. 85 and at that time prophets stood as an institution in the Church. They were men whom you can describe as NPAs or No Permanent Address because they given up everything to wander throughout the country bringing to Churches a message that they believed come directly from God.

They became the inspiration of the Church because they have given up everything to serve God and the Church of God. But this office was also liable to abuse as there were also those who used their title to gain prestige and to benefit from the generosity of the Church. Many of those who abused their privilege lived a comfortable life and were pampered wherever they went.

Much of this abuse also came from the rules written by the Church in those days. The Didache was the first book on the structural order of the Christian Church. Written about A.D. 100, some of its regulations include guidelines that a true prophet must be accorded the highest honor. He was to be welcomed, his word must never be disregarded, and his freedom must never be limited. He can remain in an abode or a Church for a day and if necessary two days. But if a prophet stay for three days, he is tagged as a false prophet.

The rules also state that a true prophet should not ask for anything but bread and if he asks for money he is a false prophet. These messengers all claim to speak in the Spirit but there is one acid test which says: “𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯.” This means that every prophet teaches the truth but if does not do what he teaches, he is categorized as a false prophet.

         This was why Jesus used the imagery of grapes and thornbushes, figs and thistles because the Jews are familiar with this as there are certain types of thornbushes in those days that had berries resembling grapes. In the same way, there were thistles that had flowers that looked like figs.

         This is also the same today. What we hear might look and sound like the truth but, in fact, these are untruths because false prophets or false teachers abound today as much as they did in biblical times. What then is the test that qualifies a true or false teacher? Jesus associates what is being proclaimed with good fruit. A message is genuine and authentic when it is free from defect, decay, or disease and is healthy.

         Good fruit is the result of good living which means the proclaimer of the Word of God must live according to the moral truth that he proclaims and is upright in character. The prophet Isaiah warns us against the dangers of falsehood: “𝑾𝒐𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.” (𝑰𝒔𝒂 5:20).        

Another sign of authenticity is that a genuine evangelist or prophet promotes unity and harmony in the church or community. This is especially true for leaders, and this reminds me of our experience with a certain renewal community in the South that had to experience the painstaking process of rebuilding from scratch after it was almost reduced to becoming non-existent due to teachings that veered away from the Gospel.

         False teachings only produce an easy way and easy life that takes the fire out of religion, the cross out of Christianity, and any other teaching that puts in the backburner the commands of Jesus on unity, harmony and love, and which push the judgments of God into the background and makes us think lightly of sin is at best spurious.

           How then do we avoid falsehood in our personal lives and in the church? We can do so by being true – true to God, his Word, and his Grace. We must avoid paying lip service to God’s message. Instead, we should live by what we say and that takes character. The true shepherd cares for the flock more than he cares for his life while the false prophet teaches not what he can give to others but what he can gain for himself.

         A true prophet is one who has died to himself and one who desires self-obliteration. He is one who can proclaim: “𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆.” (𝑱𝒏 3:30) A genuine prophet doesn’t look at structures to guide him in bringing the Good News to the ends of the earth, but he is propelled by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and relies solely on his gifts that should bear fruit in his life rooted in his love for God and others.

Religion is meant to bring people closer together and not to drive them apart. It is meant to gather men into one family, not to split them up into hostile groups. The teaching that declares that any Church or any sect has a monopoly of the Grace of God is false teaching because Christ is not the Christ who divides but he the Christ who unites. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 25, 2025)