Good Morning!
Jeremiah was a true prophet of God. But...there were some false prophets living around him. On several occasions, false prophets and their false actions are told about in the Bible. Remember Jehoshaphat? The story of his adventures is found in 2 Chronicles 18-20 where he went to join Ahab to fight the enemy. The problem was Ahab was a cruel man who did not listen to God. Ahab was the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. Ahab had employed 400 prophets that would tell him what he wanted to hear...not the truth. So, Jehoshaphat asked the prophets to give them the news from God about going after the enemy in battle. All 400 prophets said that God wants them to go into battle and fight the enemy and they will be victorious. But, Jehoshaphat was suspicious. He asked Ahab if there was a man in his kingdom who was a true prophet of God. Ahab told him there was only one. Ahab didn't like him because he never said anything good about Ahab. He was forced to call the prophet...Micaiah...to tell them what God wanted them to do. Ahab told him to tell them. Micaiah told them that God did NOT want them to go and if they did go into battle that King Ahab would die before the day ends.
The test of a true prophet was if the story they tell comes true. Micaiah's story came true and King Jehoshaphat went home where he belonged.
Are there false prophets today? Absolutely! They are on television...they are pastoring churches...they are attempting to evangelize...they are teaching our Bible classes...they are posing as Christian Authors...they are speaking to massive crowds as well as small crowds. When they are found out they usually end in disaster. We have followed the big-name fakes and have seen their demise. But, there are false prophets all over the world who have failed. A false prophet will not see their prophecies come true. They will need to somehow falsely persuade people of their truthfulness by lying and scheming. Sometimes their words are twisted in SOME truth to create an image in people's minds that they must be telling the truth, but, the results are untrue.
There are people all over this world that have enough pride to falsely claim that God is telling them something to tell them so he can make a profit...Not God!
You know that there is one thing that God hates above all else and that is PRIDE. False prophets are swollen with PRIDE.
Examples:
"When PRIDE comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom." Prov. 11:2
"PRIDE goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Prov. 16:18
"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. PRIDE and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate." Prov. 8:13
Even in Jeremiah God gave His impression of PRIDE:
"Listen and pay attention. DO NOT BE PROUD,
for the Lord has spoken." Jeremiah 13:15
PRIDE is what made Lucifer...Satan. The one characteristic of a false prophet that lives in all of them is PRIDE. They want for themselves. They want you to follow them.
After the fall of Jim and Tammy Bakker, Linda and I stopped by their place on the way to somewhere else. It was the most lavish place I had ever seen. Things were made with marble and gold and whatever else they could use that was costly. They had constructed a Wailing Wall that was a replica of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. What I saw in front of that Wailing Wall broke my heart. There were plexiglass stands that stood about six feet tall with multiple sides. In these stands were photos of the people who had given their money to the ministry of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Hundreds of the pictures were of elderly people in their hospital beds who were confined to nursing homes or in hospitals giving their last dollar for the Bakkers to build their next golden statue out of their PRIDE.
Another thing that is relevant about false prophets is that their message is NOT from God. Oh...sometimes they will put a little scripture in their speech to attempt to give to you the idea that it must be the authentic word from God, but, they have become professionals at twisting God's word to say what they want it to say for their glory and not God's glory.
But...there are true prophets working and serving today. There are people carrying the Gospel to people who need Jesus. There are true prophets today whose message never strays from God's Word and is true. There are true Spirit-filled men and women of God who rely on the Word of God for its veracity and not on their own earthly gain.
Look around. You will see "Micaiahs" in our communities today. They are telling the truth. There are many who are trying to squelch their message, but, God will see to their good. Those are the people God has given to us as "True Prophets". Go ahead...join them...support them...be God's messenger with them!
May God Bless You!
Don Betts
DBEA/campus320
DBEAWINNING.COM
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!