False Prophets – Page 3 – Religion Detox Network …

STUDY TIP: This page about identifying false prophets may also be applied to identification of Serpents, Devils, Satans, Adversaries, Demons, Evil Spirits and Anti-Christs. These are all false prophets called by other names.

Also see Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, Apostles, Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Overseers, Rabbis, Popes, Missionaries and Evangelists. These are all false prophets.

HOW TO IDENTIFY 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 the only people 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 never practice pure religion and always practice defiled religion.
False prophets always interpret scripture literally and rarely try to interpret it symbolically.
False prophets believe that they are true prophets and shamelessly present themselves as true prophets to people who do not know the difference between good and evil.
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.)
False prophets solicit tithes and offerings and encourage people to make sacrifices of one kind or another (typically financial). False prophets who are politicians solicit money for their political campaigns.
Many false prophets have their own ministries which are identified with the personal name and image of the false prophet. Most of these false prophets will have websites that recount their religious credentials and their religious successes. The same is true for False Prophets who are politicians. These websites will advertise their meetings/conferences, provide ways for followers to donate money to them, and sell religious products (e.g. meetings/conferences, books, cds, etc.). False Prophets who are politicians promise to vote for certain legislation in exchange for votes and donations.
Many false prophets are not known primarily as religious leaders. They may be best known as sports figures, politicians, musical artists or businesspeople. When they use their public popularity as a platform from which they identify themselves as being religious and speak with a kind of religious authority by invoking the names of God and Jesus, they reveal their false prophet status.
False prophets always display their religion (e.g., praying, teaching, preaching, mentioning God and Jesus, mentioning their faith, healing, giving prophecies about the future, impartations of the holy spirit, singing songs with religious themes, etc.) in public.
False prophets are fake disciples.
False prophets preach false gospels.
False prophets may preach about sin in general and the sins of others, but they rarely rebuke individuals in their congregations for specific sins.
False prophets think of sin in terms of sins of the flesh.
False prophets do not recognize that religion is sin.
False prophets are always charismatic personalities.
False prophets preach clever messages of peace that comfort religious people and encourage them to be zealous in their religious practices.
False prophets thrive on receiving glory from others for their religious and/or political activity and their public proclamations of their religious faith.
False prophets do not always identify themselves as prophets, but they will always claim, or give the impression that they are qualified to speak for God in the role of pastor, teacher, rabbi, apostle, shepherd, prophet, musician, author, politician, etc.
Some false prophets will claim that they have heard a word or message from God that is appropriate to a specific situation or person.
There is an elite class of false prophets who pridefully exalt themselves by using their names and images to identify themselves as spiritual leaders when they promote themselves and invite people to come to their meetings/ music performances, political rallies, and conferences where they publicly display their righteousness to anyone who is willing to pay the price of admission, give an offering, donate to their political campaign or purchase their religious products (e.g. book, cd, music, video, votes, etc.).
False prophets create a public image of humility and piety. This image is hypocrisy that hides their evil, impure hearts. They are actually full of pride.

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 — even if they do not claim to be prophets. People who claim to have knowledge of God and authority to speak for God are false prophets if they have one or more of the following characteristics:

◊ They publicly represent themselves with titles (e.g. Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, Apostles, Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Overseers, Rabbis, Popes, Missionaries and Evangelists etc.).
◊ Some identify themselves as seers, diviners and interpreters of dreams.
◊ Many have education credentials (e.g., Phd, Master of Divinity, seminary, Bible school, etc.) or experiences that demonstrate that they have God’s favor.
◊ They claim, or imply, that they have a special calling (i.e., anointing) from God that qualifies them to speak for God.
◊ They publicly identify themselves as Jews or Christians.
◊ They use religious language to identify themselves as Jews or Christians.
◊ They have many admirers who give them glory in the following ways: listen to their teaching; follow their ministry; buy products that feature their name; vote for them; advocate and promote them to others; and contribute financially to them.
◊ Their charisma and good looks make them attractive to followers.
◊ They have reputations for being good preachers, teachers, writers, athletes, musical artists, politicians, and businesspeople.
◊ They have public histories that report their education, their religious activities, their political history, and all their good works.

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.
Many false prophets identify their ministry with their personal names and images.
Many false prophets like to show that they are super-spiritual by prophesying about future events and signs and wonders.
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 serve other gods. The exception is political False Prophets who prophecy that woe will come if their opponents are voted into office.
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 or expect 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, politician, etc.) is a true prophet or a false prophet. See CHECKLIST FOR IDENTIFYING 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 idols, adulterers, harlots and prostitutes.

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of how God uses sexual themes to symbolically represent spiritual truths.

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 arouses great humility and 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 willingly and eagerly allowed themselves to be deceived by false prophets.
Accept that they have entered into a kind of covenant relationship with one or more false prophets when they did the following:

♦ Sought them out for teaching by attending their religious meetings and conferences.
♦ Gave them praise and honor for the quality of their teaching.
♦ Supported them with money, purchased their religious products and encouraged others to follow them.

Repent for willfully following false prophets.
Forgive the false prophets for deceiving them and others for personal gain.
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 and confrontation very difficult. Nevertheless, once we learn how distinguish between true prophets and false prophets, we are in a position where we must choose 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 (i.e. New Covenant disciples) will receive all of the blessings that God promises to people who listen to his words .

STUDY TIP: See definition of sin.

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