Confusion created by False Prophets

Confusion created by False Prophets

The Old Testament shows how a great number of false pretenders to revelation and prophecy, basing their claims on omens and dreams, had cut loose the Jewish society during the ancient times. The Scriptures of Bani Israel are replete with warnings against these sham forecasters.

“Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them. And cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD,”1

“Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, not to your enchanters nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you; saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.”2

“ And, Lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me; for Tabri’ah and Sanbal’lat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.”3

“And the word of the LORD, came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of your own hearts. Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD GOD; woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.”4

“A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets

1. Jer : 23-32

2. Jer. 27 : 9-10

3. Neh.6 : 12-13

4. Ezek. 13 : 1-3

prophesy falsely; and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end there of?”1

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.”2

History of the Jews shows that false prophets continued to appear after the Old Testament had been compiled. A large number of these diviners turned up after the Jews became victims of overwhelming circumstances, when, in the face of disaster and repeated devastations, the Jews saw the glimmerings of a Messiah who would some day redeem his people, defeat their enemies and restore their lost power and prestige. This messianic hope of the people, which had helped to keep alive the hope and confidence of the Jewish people during the age of terrible adversity, was turned to their advantage by selfish divinators and soothsayers. Many of them laid a claim to prophethood to improve the occasion by creating new factions; they mislead the people to ever increasing way-wardness and corruption, and, above all, corrupted the true faith by their immorality and worship of old pagan divinities. This, naturally, caused a great concern to the well-meaning scribes and priests among the Jews. Albert M. Hyamson, a member of the American and English Jewish Historical Societies, gives an account of these pseudo-Messiahs:

“From the final loss of the independence of the Jewish State until within a few generations ago, Jewish history has known the frequent advent and passing of self-styled Messiahs, prophets of hope in the darkest periods of the Diaspora, self-appointed leaders of the Jewish race in the return to the land from which their ancestors Were exiled. The appearance of a Messiah was often, especially in the case of the earlier ones, accompanied by revolts and uprisings, and these almost invariably occurred at times when, and in localities where, anti-Jewish persecution was prevalent. More over, these Messianic movements were frequently, especially in the later cases, of a political nature. The religious aspect of this rising was, however, seldom absent, and in many instances the new teacher, anxious to signalise his activity and to secure his influence by religious innovations, endeavored to subvert the basic teachings of Judaism, to which, in consequence, considerable harm sometimes occurred. New sects were created on some occasions; on others wholesale adoption of Mohammadanism or Christianity took place.”3

1. Jer. 5: 30-31

2. Jer. 29: 8-9

3. Encyclopedia of Religions and Ethics, Vol.8, p.581

Opening of the Christian era saw, owing to personal, political, economic or factional interests of these pretenders, frequent appearance of such pseudo-prophets. Several passages of the New Testament advert to these false prophets and their evil courses.

“And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Anti-och. And there Stood up one of them named Ag’abus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world; which came to pass in the days of Calauius Caesar.”1

“And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Ag’abus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”2

“Beware of the false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”3

“But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion: That where, in they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.”4

“Behold, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”5

“But there was a certain man, called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying: This man is the great power of God.”6

“And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus.”7

“And Jesus answered and said unto them. Take heed that no man deceives you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”8

1. Acts 11: 27-28

2. Acts 21: 10-11

3. Mt.7: 15

4. 2 Cor. 11: 12-13

5. 1 Jn. 4: 1

6. Acts. 8: 9

7. Acts. 13: 6

8. Mt. 24: 4-5

Jesus also warned his disciples on another occasion that___

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles.”1

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And on marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”2

During the first two centuries after Christ the number of imposters who claimed to work miracles and deluded the ignorant by their visions and alleged prophecies was so great that the Christian church found it hard to maintain its unity and creed. The threat posed to the existence of the Church in the initial period of its history by the large number of false prophets has been described by Edwin Knox Mitchell, Professor of Graeco-Roman and Eastern Church; history in the Hartford Theological Seminary in an article on prophecy in Christianity.

“The appearance of these false prophets, pretending superior wisdom, are long created distrust and aroused the churches and their leaders to the dangers that threatened their welfare. But as yet there was no recognised ‘form of discipline’ adequate for the suppression of those would-be spokesmen and pretentious revealers of the secret counsels of God. There were no specific standards by which to test and try those ‘spirits’. Standards, however, were sure to be found, and, if not found, then created, by the churches for their protection from vagaries in doctrines and aberrations of life. The apostles, whether in common councils or as individuals, were the first court of appeal. They based their judgements on the words of the Lord and the mind of Christ.... The rise and development of the monarchical episcopate was here and there favoured and fostered in the interest of sound doctrine and as a restraint against new-fangled notions, foreign to the faith. Hermas Pastor (Mand xi and xii) and Ignatius (Eph. vii, ix and xvi, Mag. viii, Tral vi, Phil ii, iii, Symr. iv, vii and Pol. iii) are full of warnings and admonitions against false prophets and teachers; and Ignatius especially exhorts to obedience of the bishop. This was his hope for maintenance of sound doctrine. Clement likewise relies upon the bishops (i.e. presbyters) for the preservation of the unity and purity of the Church (1 and Cor. xlii-xliv). Prophecy, however, was not yet suppressed, but only repressed and somewhat regulated by the rising officials in the Churches. The Didache informs us that prophecy was still free and in good repute in Syria (or Egypt) although often counterfeited and condemned (xi-7-12). Its days, however, were numbered, for it was soon to share the general distrust and opposition towards all extravagant claims to divine wisdom. The Gnostics and Marcion had prophets as well as the churches, and they were sometimes indistinguishable from each other. Then the rise of Montanism was in some respects but aresurgence of prophetism. It was an effort to revive primitive Christian conditions where each believer was free to exercise his God given gift...”