Misunderstood True Prophets

"How to Identify a False Prophet, Or, A Guide to Keep You From Opposing a True Prophet"
by Tom Stewart

Jeremiah and Micah (Jeremiah 26:1-19)

• "In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this Word from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the Words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a Word:" (Jeremiah 26:1, 2).

The prophet Jeremiah was commissioned to speak "in the court of the LORD's house, all the Words that [the LORD] command[ed him] to speak unto them; [and to] diminish not a Word" (26:2). God's prophets have been called upon to correct defects in the worship of God in both Israel and now the Church.

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).

The Apostle Paul succinctly told the Ephesian elders, "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Even so, Jeremiah was faithful in delivering his commission.

• "If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent Me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings" (Jeremiah 26:3).

The Holy Jehovah declares to Jeremiah some of His purposes and counsels.

"Thy counsels of old are Faithfulness and Truth" (Isaiah 25:1).

"If so be they hearken, and turn every man from his evil way" (Jeremiah 26:3), demonstrates that "God is a merciful God" (Deuteronomy 4:31). Though it is completely just for the Almighty to reward the "wages of sin" with death (Romans 6:23), it is "according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5).

• "And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to Me, to walk in My Law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the Words of My servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the Earth" (Jeremiah 26:4-6).

God deals with His moral subjects as those who should use their "image of God" (Genesis 1:27), i.e., their moral agency, to freely choose right from wrong. "If ye will not hearken to Me... Then will I make this house like Shiloh" (Jeremiah 26:4, 6). Their disobedience is threatened with the abandonment of His Temple in Jerusalem -- in the same way as He did to the Ark of the congregation at Shiloh --

"The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there" (Joshua 18:1). In the days of Eli, the Ark was taken" (1 Samuel 4:11) by the Philistines, because Eli, his sons, and Israel were wayward.

The LORD remonstrated with Eli, "Wherefore kick ye at My sacrifice and at Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honourest thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings to Israel My people?" (2:29).

Tragically, the result was that Israel lost the Ark of the congregation for 7 months to the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:1). "He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men" (Psalms 78:60).

• "So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard, Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
  
  Why hast thou prophesied in the Name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
  
  When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house. Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears" (Jeremiah 26:7-11).

God's prophets already understood that their lives may be forfeited for their faithful reproduction of the LORD's message to His "stiffnecked people" (Exodus 32:9).

"They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the Earth" (Hebrews 11:37, 38).

And, the LORD Jesus warned us that "whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2).

• "Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the Words that ye have heard" (Jeremiah 26:12).

The prophet Jeremiah fearlessly proclaimed his credentials in the hearing of all the people, i.e., the "LORD sent me" (26:12). Ezekiel also knew the same type of audience that Jeremiah addressed.

"And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forebear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them" (Ezekiel 2:5).

Jeremiah's message was uncomforting to the hearers because it spoke of God's judgment for their sin.

"Go and proclaim these Words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.

Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My Voice, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 3:12, 13).

• "Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the Voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent Him of the evil that He hath pronounced against you" (Jeremiah 26:13).

The familiar Words of God's Prophet, the LORD Jesus Christ, rings out, "Repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Likewise, Jeremiah clearly and faithfully delivered the LORD's message to sinful Israel.

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7).

Jeremiah was giving away God's merciful favor, but at the cost of the sinners' repentance.

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1).

• "As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these Words in your ears" (Jeremiah 26:14, 15).

But, back to the physical reality of Jeremiahs situation, i.e., "I am in your hand" (26:14).

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace" (Daniel 3:23).

"The brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions" (6:16).

"Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob" (Psalms 44:4).

Further, Jeremiah warned that ill would happen to them if they killed him.

"Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm" (Psalms 105:15).

• "Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the Name of the LORD our God" (Jeremiah 26:16).

Thank God for His opportune intervention!

"When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Proverbs 16:7).

• "Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah, the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of Hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
  
  Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls" (Jeremiah 26:17-19).

The prophet Micah's foretelling of Zion's judgment is here remembered by certain princes and elders of the land. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah during the reign of Hezekiah.

"Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest" (Micah 3:12).

King Hezekiah humbled himself before the LORD God of Israel.

"For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken Him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs... Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us" (2 Chronicles 29:6, 10).

What was the point of recounting Micah's prophecy? Just as Jeremiah threatened God's judgment upon Jerusalem, i.e., "If ye will not hearken to Me, to walk in My Law, which I have set before you... Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the Earth" (Jeremiah 26:4, 6)., Micah had previously pronounced the certainty that "Jerusalem shall become heaps" (26:18) to Hezekiah -- who believed him and caused reformation in the land.

The point was that Micah had pronounced the certainty of judgment against the land during Hezekiah's reign in Jerusalem. Micah prophesied that the "LORD cometh [present tense, is coming] forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the Earth" (Micah 1:3). The result will be that "Jerusalem shall become heaps" (3:12).

Hezekiah led Judah in repentance before the prophecy could be fulfilled.

"Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah" (2 Chronicles 32:26).

But, who was complaining about the lack of fulfillment of Jerusalem's destruction, since "the LORD repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them" (Jeremiah 26:19)? A situation had developed which changed God's mind.

Getting to Know Jesus: John 14

14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.

14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

14:7 If ye had know me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father.

14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14:14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

14:29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.

14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Lack of Fulfillment and a False Prophet

"How to Identify a False Prophet, Or, A Guide to Keep You From Opposing a True Prophet"
by Tom Stewart

If the Thing Follow Not (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)

• "But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die" (Deuteronomy 18:20).

The so-called prophets of the LORD lied to Ahab about his upcoming success against the Syrians.

"And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgiliad, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver t into the king's hand" (1 Kings 22:10-12).

The prophet Jeremiah did prophetic battle with Hananiah the prophet (Jeremiah 28). Jeremiah contended that the LORD would punish Judah 70 years in servitude to the king of Babylon. "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years" (25:11).

Only after those 70 years would Judah be allowed to return into the land. "For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My Good Word toward you, in causing you to return to this place" (29:10).

Hananiah objected to Jeremiah, and declared "in the presence of all the people" that the LORD said, "Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years" (28:11).

To this Jeremiah responded, "Hear now, Hananiah; the LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the Earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou has taught rebellion against the LORD" (28:15, 16). And, the result was predictable to the Righteous. "So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month" (28:17).

Again, Israel was to kill the false prophets from among them.

"And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there" (1 Kings 18:40).

Also, Jehu magnificently executed the will of God in cleansing the prophets of Baal from the land.

"And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal" (2 Kings 10:25).

• "And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?" (Deuteronomy 18:21).

Always compare everything to the Word of God. "Thy Word is Truth" (John 17:17) was the LORD Jesus' certainty about the trustworthiness of God's Word.

"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the Law and to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no Light in them" (Isaiah 8:19, 20).

• "When a prophet speaketh in the Name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:22).

Remember that even false prophets are known to have successful fulfillment of their prophecies.

"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them" (Deuteronomy 13:1, 2).

So, fulfillment -- or lack of fulfillment -- must be viewed in light of the false prophets' call to obvious disobedience of the LORD, i.e.,

"Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; the LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie" (Jeremiah 28:15).

Notice the phrase, the "prophet hath spoken it presumptuously" (Deuteronomy 18:22). This indicates the spirit of the passage, i.e., the character of the prophet is arrogant, proud, and rebellious. The very fact that the prophesied event does not come to pass is proof that the prophet was either, (1) not from God (i.e., "hath spoken it presumptuously"), or, (2) that a situation developed which changed God's mind (i.e., "that I may repent Me" [Jeremiah 26:3].

But, before a prophet is labeled a false prophet because of the lack of fulfillment of his prophecy, we would do well to carefully study Jeremiah 26.

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (James 1:19).