January 13, 2023: Deuteronomy 18:21-22 - Do Not Be Afraid of False Prophets

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ - when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” - Deuteronomy 18:21-22

This is the test of a true prophet, one that is called by God, to speak the words which He has commanded: if the thing which the prophet spoke in the name of the LORD comes to pass, it is of God; otherwise, it is not and the prophet has presumed something instead of prophesying something that which only God knows and only God can give to a true prophet. Only God knows the end from the beginning. Only God knows everything. If a prophet is found to be a false prophet based on this test, God tells us not to be afraid of him.

There are many false prophets in our world today who have made predictions of things to come that did not come true, and there are still false prophets making predictions of things to come, especially in the political realm. If they have not been called by God to prophesy, they are merely guessing. If you are listening to someone who has prophesied in the past and that which they spoke of did not come true, stop listening to them, they are misleading you.

In 2 Peter 2, the apostle Peter has some words of doom to false prophets and also to false teachers. I have included all of this chapter as I think it is critical in our world today for people who say they have accepted Jesus as their Savior to know exactly what the Bible says about false prophets and false teachers and to avoid them like the plague. Our modern world is flooded with these liars and deceivers, who mix a little truth with their lies that are wrapped in phrases that are appealing to the masses to make them comfortable in their sin and not believe that Jesus is the only way to God the Father in heaven. Many of these false prophets and false teachers are not following the One true God but are following their god mammon, which is money.

In the Scriptures below, I have shown certain text in bold to add emphasis as to what Peter had said.

2 PETER 2:1-22

Destructive Doctrines

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even deying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Doom of False Teachers

“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) - then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of cleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

“But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

“ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”

If your pastor, reverend, minister, etc. preaches anything that does not align with Scripture, he is a false teacher. If your pastor is a woman, she is a false teacher. If they have predicted something that was proven not to come true, they are a false prophet and you do not need to be afraid of them. I would ask you, what is the value in continuing to listen to them? It seems to me there is no value; rather, you run the risk of being deceived, for the Devil is cunning and will use whomever he needs to use in order to turn you away from God and lead you straight to hell.

Let us heed the words of Jesus in Luke 6:26 in which He spoke to His disciples right after He gave them the Beatitudes, which told them when and how they would be blessed. In direct contrast to the beatitudes, Jesus then pronounced these woes:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Sadly, most people don’t want the truth of God and have rejected it, and the world we live in today is a sad and horrific reflection of that truth. Instead, they flock to the ones who tell them not what they need to hear but what they want to hear. It clearly shows we are living in the times spoken of by Paul when he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:3:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

I would say, based on all we see in today’s world, especially in the USA, we are there, we are in that time. Don’t be afraid of false prophets, but don’t listen to them either; run from them!