Beware of false prophets

Note for leader: The subject is treated by various texts, and only selected scriptures are included here. E.g. another key text is 1John, where criteria are discussed in detail how believers must discern whether their leaders are approved and sent by God (see Q3 on 1Jn 4:6-21). The present study could be a primer to read 1John thereafter).
Warm-up: Have you ever wondered how you would be able to tell a true prophet from a counterfeit if you meet one? Why or why not?

1) Read Mt 7:15-16. In what sense did Jesus use here the term ‘prophets’, and what did he mean by false prophets/teachers (lit. pseudoprophets, pseudoteachers)?

  • What do these words tell about the relationship between prophecy and teaching? cf 2Pet 2:1
  • Is anyone who hears God a prophet? Or are prophets only those who instruct others in what they themselves hear Him say? cf Jn 10:27; 1Cor 14:3
  • Did Jesus mean by ‘fruit’ that the moral behavior of prophets can tell you whether their teaching is ‘prophetic’? Why or why not?
    • v15: Can false teachers appear like sheep in their behavior? cf 2Tim 3:5; 2Cor 11:15
    • May false teachers urge you ‘to walk more closely with Jesus’? 2Cor 11:4
    • Can truly godly teachers be recognized based on how ‘perfect’ they are? cf Ja 3:1-3
    • Can anyone but God know their hearts, i.e. whether they are wolves inside? cf Acts 1:24; 1Cor 2:11
  • If apparent godliness is no reliable indicator to distinguish authentic prophets, what other ‘fruit’ must believers examine to not be deceived by the disguise of outward appearances?
  • Read Deut 13:1-5 What sort of ‘bad fruit’ unmasks pseudoprophets according to Moses?*
  • Does this mean that nothing that is said by such false teachers can be from God? Think of examples in the Bible: Did the Lord exclusively appoint godly people as authentic messengers? =>

2) Is it safe to ignore prophecy or to reject it based on the lack of integrity or character of the prophet? Why or why not?

  • When Josiah, king of Judah, went to fight pharaoh Neco in the plain of Meggiddo, he fell in battle: Which of these combatants was more godly, and why do you think so?
    • Whom did God entrust as the messenger of his prophetic word there, and why? cf 2Chr 35:22
    • What was the consequence of Josiah’s self-righteousness when he rejected God’s message because of the ungodliness of the messenger?
  • Remember the prophet Balaam and his donkey: Whom did the Holy Spirit entrust first with speaking a word of God? cf Num 22:28 =>
    • What do you think was the point of choosing a donkey as the messenger? => Can even an ass prophesy if God so wishes?
    • What did the ungodly prophet Balaam prophesy, e.g. Num 24:17? Was this the true word of God, or only his own dreams? cf Num 23:16
    • How ungodly was this man? Num 22:32; 2Pet 2:15; Rev 2:14
  • Who first prophesied in the NT that Jesus will save his people by dying on their behalf (i.e. that being the Lamb of God means that he had to die as a substitute in their place)? cf Jn 11:51
  • Pseudoprophets are unmasked by their bad fruit (the long-term effect of their pseudoteaching on their followers, cf Ja 3:13-18). Why not the reverse? i.e. why can’t we unmask pseudoteaching based on whether or not we think the teacher behaves like a Christian? Mt 7:15**

3) On what grounds could prophets in the NT expect us to accept their prophecy as God’s word?

  • Read 1Thes 2:13. What convinced the Thessalonian Christians of the prophetic authority of Paul? The prophecy itself, or Paul’s godliness or success as a missionary?
  • Are prophets authenticated by their prophecy? Or does prophecy (i.e. the content and its fruit) authenticate the prophet? cf Mal 2:6-9***

4) Personal and application

  • What do you consider as the lesser evil (if any): To hear no prophecy at all, or to be deceived by a false prophet? Why?
    • What do you think might cause anyone to settle for one or the other?
  • What do you find more dangerously deceptive: A false prophet who preaches licentiousness, or one who calls for a Christ-less morality? Why?
    • What might millions of people find appealing about Muhammed and his claims to be God’s favored prophet?
  • How can you help one another to be on guard against deception by false prophets?
  • Discerning false from true prophets is not for sports: Why does it matter to you?
  • The Bible defines a false prophet as one who teaches or preaches what he has not heard from God (Jer 23:16; Ezk 13:2, 17). How do you identify one who is genuine and who does hear Him?
    • Do you expect the preacher of your church to be a prophet? Why or why not?
  • How can you help one another when one of you thinks he is a prophet but is not, or one who may truly hear what God is communicating in his word but lacks the courage (or skill) to boldly speak?

* According to Moses, prophets are proven false by their false promises of a false salvation by false representations of false gods. In short: By their false teaching about the Savior, irrespective of whether or not they call him Jesus.

** Depending on who needs to hear the message, God, may choose as messenger a donkey or her perverse rider, an Egyptian pharaoh or even a settled enemy of the gospel who orchestrated the plot to murder Jesus. Thus, it is neither safe to embrace a message as prophetic based on the messenger’s apparent godliness, nor to reject it based on his proven lack of godliness. What counts is whether the prophecy is true and thus able to sow a harvest of reconciliation, first with God and then among people, Ja 3:18; Mal 4:5-6.

*** Malachi wrote of the priestly tribe of Levites who were priests in name but proven to be false by the bad fruit of their doctrine; not because they didn’t teach the Bible, but because of how they twisted it and deceived their followers, even in the name of God.

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