False teachings
Scripture repeatedly warns against false teachings, which deny or distort some aspect of the gospel. The origin of such teachings is attributed either to human error or to demonic inspiration.
Prophet, False. Spokesman, herald, or messenger falsely speaking for, or on behalf of, someone else. The false prophet was often motivated not by loyalty to God, but by a desire for popularity. This was the main difference between Jeremiah and his contemporaries. While Jeremiah was foretelling doom (Jer 4:19), the false prophets were assuring the people of peace when war was at hand (6:14; 8:11). The people preferred it that way saying, “Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions …” (Is 30:10).
The false prophet’s message frequently appealed to national pride—Israel was God’s people, God’s temple was in their midst, hence all would be well (Jer 7:10). Jeremiah, however, warned them not to be fooled into thinking that just because they had the temple they would never suffer (vv 12–15). Such confrontation between the prophet of God and the national cult is exemplified in Amos’ encounter with Amaziah the priest of Bethel, who accused Amos of conspiring against Israel (Am 7:10–13). Yet Amos was proved right when the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. and the Jews were taken into exile. Here we have a classic example of the prophet’s function as “seer,” that is, one who warns against approaching disaster in the name of God.
The message of the false prophet was usually spurred by self-interest and given to please the people. It was not necessarily his intention to speak falsely, yet when spoken with wrong motivation his message was often in error. This sometimes means that even a true prophet could become false and occasionally a false prophet could be used of God for the right purpose. For example, Moses acted as a false prophet by striking the rock twice at the waters of Meribah (Nm 20:11, 12), while Balaam, a non-Israelite—whom God entrusted with a vision—found himself in the difficult position of having to please Balak, who had hired him, and the God of Israel, who spoke to him (Nm 22; 23). A fascinating story is told in 1 Kings 13 of two nameless prophets—one true and the other false—who abruptly change roles when the lying prophet speaks truth and the true prophet by disobedience is proven false. In the case of Jeremiah in confrontation with Hananiah, the son of Azzur, the two prophets meet in the temple before the priests and the people to pitch prophecy against prophecy. Hananiah was proved false, though he appeared as a legitimate “prophet from Gibeon” (Jer 28:1). He prophesied the very thing the people in Jerusalem wanted to hear, namely the imminent fall of Babylon; subsequent events, however, proved this thinking wishful. We may therefore say that false prophecy is self-centered, wrongly motivated, and detached from reality.
The concept of the false prophet is carried over into the NT. Our Lord warns against those who disguise themselves as harmless sheep but are in fact wolves ready for the kill. Jesus cautions his disciples saying, “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven”—the way to identify a person is by the kind of fruit he produces; only a good tree produces good fruit (Mt 7:15–21). The warning is repeated in Matthew 24:11. False Christs will also arise trying to deceive God’s elect (v 24).
The early church must have been plagued by such “pseudo-prophets” for the apostolic letters further warn against such men (cf. 2 Pt 2:1; 1 Jn 4:1). In the context of these letters “prophets” and “teachers” are interchangeable, though the original text speaks of them as “false prophets.” Though pretending to be Christians, they are deceptive teachers because their instruction is perverse. These people even perform miracles, but with the help of evil spirits, not the Spirit of Christ (cf. Rv 13:11–15).
False prophets, fraudulent spirits, and wrong teaching is a recurrent problem in the church. Believers should constantly stand guard against those who cleverly lie about the truth (cf. Eph 4:14–16); careful to discern the spirits whether they be from the evil one or from God (1 Cor 12:10, 11). We are told not to believe everyone who claims that his message is from God, but to “test” the spirits to see whether their message be from the Holy Spirit and in agreement with the Spirit of Christ, the Son of God (cf. 1 Jn 4:1–3).