“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the Name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” Deut. 18:21,22
Devotional Thought For The Day
Unfortunately, I took a spin through the upper channels of the cable system last night and had to spend at least a few minutes listening to the many and varied claims of some of the numerous spiritual charlatans broadcasting their wicked, distorting, manipulative, and self-serving nonsense. All of course were speaking “in the Name of the LORD,” that is, misquoting and distorting His precious Word of truth but claiming His authority. One need not “invest” in them and discover personally that their words do not come to pass – their words clearly and blatantly pervert some statements in Holy Scripture and forcefully reject other statements in Scripture. It is difficult to imagine, when listening to them, that they have even an inkling as to Who God is and what He thinks of them, the judgment that is poised to fall on them – in spite of all their “praising” of God.
There are times, however, when the words and promises of false prophets actually do come to pass. Consider God’s Word of warning in Deuteronomy 13: “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and 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,’ you shall not listen to the words 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.” So the principle criteria in judging false prophets is not always whether their word comes to pass, but rather what they teach and proclaim – especially in regard to faith in Christ and genuine reverence for God based in the truth of His love, as He has revealed it to us in Holy Scripture, the Bible. Many have been deceived and misled away from God, the only True and Living God, by “signs” and “wonders” performed by such false prophets. The written Word of God is always the critical standard by which false prophets can be discerned – and not necessarily “signs.”
But when a “prophet” makes claims in God’s Name, purporting to be led and guided by the Spirit of God, and then “the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously.” Sadly, this has happened frequently in the past, and continues to happen today, and for some reason people do not grasp and understand the spiritual realities and immediately reject that “prophet.” They continue to “fear” him, to give him respect and deference, even when they ought to flee him – and “need not be afraid of him.” But if he says a certain thing is going to be so, and purports to be speaking by God’s Name and His Spirit’s direction, and the thing doesn’t happen, that is a sure sign that he is a false prophet and has no spiritual discernment. We should beware of him, but he should beware even more, for “the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” [Deut. 18:20] God makes clear that it is ultimately a very dangerous thing to trifle with His Word, to trifle with Him, as a false prophet.
Curiously, there are times when God allows false prophets to “test” His people and their faith and loyalty to Him. Again, in the case of signs of false prophets that do come true, we read: “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.” So also we read in the book of Ezekiel: “And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.” [Ezek. 14:9] So again, for those who end up prophesying falsely, who have no genuine faith in God and reverence for Him, God Himself may have deceived such an obstinate and hard-hearted person – and God’s destruction upon him is coming quickly “from the midst of My people.” The preventive for falling prey to false prophets is God’s Word, Holy Scripture, and this is ever the chief and infallible rule and guide for discerning all false prophets and the evil spirits [1 John 4:6]. May the Lord have mercy on us and preserve us from these wicked imposters, and may He grant us wisdom and discernment to easily identify them and remove them from our midst.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You also battled against those who claimed to be speaking for God, who held high office, but who opposed and rejected You and the gracious love of God. You have given us fair warning in Your Word and fully adequate protection from false prophets in Your Word. Grant us grace to learn and receive Your Word that we never fall prey to the wicked manipulation and spiritual destruction of false prophets. Amen.