Many of us care deeply about the word of God.
We care about what it says.
We care about what we do with what it says. (Do we obey? Do we disobey?)
We care about whether our pastors, preachers, and leaders treat it responsibly. We search the Scriptures to ensure that the things we are hearing from the pulpit match the things that are written in God's word. If they don't, we have something to say about it. It's important to weed out false doctrines before they take root; many have gone astray through being seduced by teachings that sound good on the surface but that are misaligned with the word of God.
We are passionate to follow God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.
So why do we often turn a blind eye to false prophets?
I'm talking about the people who make predictions about the future, uttered in the name of God. Perhaps they are aligned with a certain political leader, and predict a political outcome. Perhaps they predict the end of the world. Perhaps they predict some other event that will happen.
When the event doesn't come true, why don't we protest with the same vigorousness that we protest false doctrines?
Perhaps it's because to us, the future is a completely unknowable entity. We might think:
"Well, no one can really know the future." (Excusing.)
"Maybe they thought they heard from God but they didn't." (Oops! Mistake. We all do it...)
"I should have grace for people who make mistakes like this." (Forgiving.)
"I might do the same thing in the future. How would I like to be treated?" (The Golden Rule.)
And Satan, our cunning enemy, convinces us that this sort of grace, forgiveness, and application of the Golden Rule couldn't be more Christian. In applying these principles to this situation, we are embracing attitudes that are honouring to God.
THIS IS A LIE.
(I promise I'm not shouting—but it's so important that we recognize this.)
You see, anyone who makes a false prophecy has fraudulently appropriated the authority of God for their own use, and plastered His name and reputation on something that He has not actually said.
When the false prophecy does not come true, this undermines His perceived trustworthiness and power among those who don't know Him.
False prophecy, in many ways, is just as bad as false teaching. It is wholly repulsive and insulting to God, and He meets this sin with the harshest of penalties. [1]
Why?
It makes Him into the puppet of human beings. It attempts to shrink Him down to some slave-like entity and puts Him in a box of our convenience. It opens up that box and commands Him to "dance, monkey, dance" on our command.
Keep in mind, this is the God who is the shepherd of the stars [2], who created the universe with a Word.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales...
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
(Isaiah 40:12-15, 17, 21-23)
Is this the God we dare to mock?
False prophecy was not only an issue in Old Testament times. Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John all addressed this issue in the New Testament, highlighting its repugnance and exhorting Jesus' followers to stay far away from people who would so malign the name of God.
"OK, I'm convinced," you might say, "but how do I know if someone is a false prophet?”
Next time we'll talk about how to recognize if someone is a false prophet, and how to avoid dangerous mentalities that we might be inclined to adopt towards false prophets.
NOTES
[1] Deuteronomy 18:20.
[2] Isaiah 40:26.
