Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” Jeremiah 23: 9-15 ESV
Jeremiah 23: 9-15 Concerning the prophets
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4: 1-8
It is interesting how little time is spent, in much of the evangelical world, warning of false prophets and false doctrine. If there was but one verse, one line in a verse, a part of it that promised gold at the end of the rainbow, then the whole lot of them would be out chasing rainbows. If they came to what they thought was the end of a rainbow, but didn't find gold there, then they would go back and search all the rest of scripture to see if there was something they had missed. Men would all be about finding El Dorado, or buying old maps that someone sold to the unsuspecting long ago, in their hopes of finding the Fountain of Youth. The Scriptures speak volumes on warning God's people about false prophets, but why is so little attention paid to what God has deemed so important? Jeremiah approaches this subject often, Moses warned of this, as did Isaiah and many other prophets. Jesus warns of it, Paul, Peter, and Jude writes an entirely different letter than he originally intended, all to do as good shepherds should, to protect the flock from the wolves.
Using 1 John 4:1-8, Jonathan Edwards, a preacher during the Great Awakening, outlines 5 questions he used to evaluate the so called revival taking place in his time. In other words, though people were responding to the message being preached, turning out in great numbers, and in much tears, yet he wanted to hold up what he was witnessing after his sermons to the mirror of the Word of God. This would be a rather novel approach today, in a time when people think they tell the Holy Spirit what to do and when. I see billboards up at churches that say "revival this weekend", and have heard pastors and lay people make exaggerated claims about how many people they saved, for the record, you can't save anyone. These are the 5 questions Mr. Edwards used to evaluate so called "movements of the Spirit":
- Does the work exalt the true Christ? The Holy Spirit will point men to Christ, and He will not denounce either His humanity or His deity.
…25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’ 26When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father— He will testify about Me. 27And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.… John 15: 25-27
…25All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.… John 14: 25-27
…13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. 15Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.… John 16: 13-15
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.… John 1: 1-2
6And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love. 7For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.… 2 John 1: 6-8
2. Does it oppose worldliness? A good test that Jeremiah brings up in this section of 23: 9-15 and elsewhere, what is the drive of these "ministers", and what is the fruit of their life? Today, you will hear the made up doctrine of "loving them through it", rather than removing the mote from your own eye first and then confronting the sin. Much will be made of unity, but they will hold it so high as to extinguish the truth. I have heard a "pastor" say, "so we have a little fornication going on, a little drunkenness' and drug abuse, but we won't let that stop what the spirit is doing." That same man also said, "this town has a lot of older people with old money, I need to figure out how to attract them to my ministry." I have seen so called elders and deacons oppose pastors who spoke out against fornication, adultery, pornography and various forms of greed. Whole ministries have been built on the sandy foundation of not offending anybody, letting the culture dictate where the church stands, and basically tickling people's ears. With that, lets examine the text:
9-15. My heart is broken within me - Jeremiah is not the only prophet in his day, unfortunately, like today, their are more false prophets than there are men of God. He witnesses the destruction their heresies are causing, knowing that God did not send them, yet they run to say, "thus says the Lord." Remember, Jeremiah is continuously calling the people to repent, and the other prophets continue to say, "no need." It's like watching people drown.
“Heart, as used here, denotes a profoundly disturbed mental rather than emotional state. His mind cannot grasp the way in which these prophets have chose to abuse their professional vocation.” (Harrison)
For the land is full of adulterers - God has said, "thou shalt not commit adultery", but remarkably, these false shepherds have found that condoning such produces quite a following, making light of sin keeps the booths full and the donations rolling in. Joseph Smith was a pervert that would be easily disqualified by the first question, for He didn't know or preach the true Christ, but he also claimed extrabiblical knowledge that his followers held as equal to Scripture. Really, he was just a liar, who had bad theology and used it to gain access to more women. Bob Jones, from the so called "Kansas City Prophets", used his supposed "prophetic gift or anointing" to persuade women to disrobe. Cited from J Mac's book, Strange Fire, which I highly recommend. Now these charismatic examples should be more obvious because so many of their doctrines are so far off, but millions of people, including, most sadly, some of the poorest people in the world, send money to the ministries of these flock fleecers every day, in the hopes of getting healed or getting out of poverty. I have witnessed a man that put himself up as the shepherd of a movement that was made primarily of young people, who he had do car washes to keep him from having a real job. I got him some work one time, but he said his hands were "preaching hands, healing hands." He also allowed another man to get up and speak to a group of almost 200 people, a man that claimed to be a prophet, who got up and described how his wife and him were having problems with their sex life, and God showed him that the real problem was that, he "was married to the wrong woman, and this other woman was the woman he was supposed to be with." Both women happened to be there that night, along with my friend who was struggling in his own marriage, so I confronted the so called "prophet" on this, and asked that the so called "shepherd" address it, but all that "shepherd" could say was, "did you hear what he prophesied about me? I am going to have a tv ministry." He is on tv, as are a lot of charlatans, but sadly he cared more for this world's passing goods than the truth, and he was no shepherd to that flock. While these examples may seem obvious since these men gave a pass on the very sins that Jesus died for, while holding ridiculous doctrines, but what happens when someone comes along who is better studied, more accurately expounds the truths of God and defends the Scriptures well as an apologist?
…19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.… Galatians 5: 19-21
1If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,” 3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.… Deuteronomy 13: 1-3
…21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. 23Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart.… Exodus 7: 21-23
Both prophet and priest are ungodly - Those that should have set the highest example were spiritually the most immature. They put much on show and entertainment, much on rituals, but the fruit was absent from their lives.
…5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! 6 They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.… 2 Timothy 3: 5-7
Even in My house I have found their evil - Where the people should be safe, and this is not the first time this happened, nor the last.
10For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision, 11who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not. 12As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”… Titus 1: 10-12
Now, Eli was very old, and he had heard everything that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were sleeping with the women who served at the gate of the tent of meeting. 23 So he asked them, “Why are you doing such things? I hear about your wicked ways from all these people. 24 Sons, the report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading isn’t good! 25 If one person sins against another, God will take care of him. However, when a person sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?” But they wouldn’t listen to their father’s warning—the Lord wanted to kill them. 1 Samuel 2: 22-25
12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” 14The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.… Matthew 21: 12-14
Like slippery paths in the darkness - Their punishment will be to be left on that path, oddly, God not intervening right away, to them spells His permission or blessing. When they get the fruits they seek, the new wife, Rolls Royce, yacht, plane etc., they think that these are all justifications that they are doing the right thing, after all, they said, "in the name of Jesus,' or, 'I plead the power of the blood."
…22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.… Matthew 7: 22-24
In the prophets of Samaria - God found the actions of these prophets unsavory, and this is a place where the people had for a long time mixed Judaism with Baal worship. One of Israel's worst imports was Jezebel, and she had many prophets of Baal, Elijah slew 400 in a single day. The doctrine in the northern kingdom had been watered down so much, and for so long, even back to the days of Jeroboam when the kingdom split away from Judah, that no one there even knew who they worshiped anymore, even of those who referenced the God of Abraham.
…21“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.… John 4: 21-23
But in the prophets of Jerusalem - Where the temple was, the law of God was, the Levitical priest, where truth was most readily available.
I have seen a horrible thing - The priests themselves commit adultery and walk in lies. They get up and read from the law, but they are hypocrites for they do not follow it themselves. We will get more into this soon.
They strengthen the hand of evil doers - People watch them and listen to their bull, lives that don't measure up, rituals that take the place of brokenness over sin. Their lives and the emptiness of their speech emboldens people in their sin.
3Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. 4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed— ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.… Jude 1: 3-5
So that no one turns from his evil - A shepherd's job is to preach the word of God, the whole counsel, because he trusts that God's word will not return void, and this means that at some point he will cover things that the Holy Spirit, Who inspired men to write the Word of God, will use to convict men of sin and righteousness. These false shepherds avoid sermons that confront sin because they want to be liked, they want to fill seats, but it is another gospel, one that does not save. Jeremiah has the unenviable duty of preaching sin and repentance, pleading with the people to turn away from that which God has already judged.
1What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?… Romans 6: 1-3
…18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.… Acts 3: 18-20
22“The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” 23Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.… Luke 9: 22-24
We will pick up the next evaluating questions starting with the next post, but for my notes and anyone interested:
3. Does it point people to the Scripture?
4. Does it elevate truth?
5. Does it produce love for God and others?
More on False prophets:
