One of the symptoms of these last days is that there would be a proliferation of false prophets across the land, in so much that Christ saw fit to warn us about their activities, their purposes, and their source. It is not good for us to believe any and every prophet or televangelist who claims to be God-sent, for as far as we know, none of them ever claimed to be sent by satan, yet according to the Bible, false prophets are much more numerous than the true.
It has always been the case that false prophets will outnumber those God-ordained servants, who try to turn the people from their sins. This is because it is stated in the scriptures that the false specialize in soothing itching ears, lulling the unwary into a false sense of security, and above all prophesying for the sake of gain.
Therefore, the children of God, the world over, are not to be ignorant of their devices, but it is our God-given duty to distinguish between the true and the false, with the purpose of embracing the good and rejecting the evil. The warnings God has seen fit to impart to us are given for very valid reasons, and no one can view them lightly except at the peril of their souls. Let’s read:
Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
2nd Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
The reason why there are so many false prophets is because they know what the multitudes desire to hear, and they feed them the things they desire, such as [1] Once saved always saved. [2] When you die you go to heaven. [3] God will bless you even if you live in deliberate violation of His revealed will. [4] God will heal you, regardless of your violation of the laws of health. [5] God will forgive any sin. Etc.
And there are several other smooth doctrines that are promoted and disseminated by false prophets such as the prosperity gospel, and the doctrine of freedom to do whatsoever one desires, because of Christ’s sacrifice; the doctrine of a second probation and the false prophecy that Christ will usher in His eternal kingdom beginning in Jerusalem.
These are just some of the smooth things itching ears crave, for they are in harmony with the carnal desires of man’s fallen nature, just as it was in days of yore. On the contrary, a true prophet isn’t usually welcomed, nor appreciated by the multitudes of people, because as a general rule of thumb, those messages sent by God do not appeal to what we
prefer to hear. Let’s read:
1st Kings 22:5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him?
8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.
Therefore, it behooves us to test the prophets, to see whether they are sent of God, or sent by satan, for the source makes the world of difference. The Bible has given us several smell tests that should be applied before we subscribe to the teachings of any prophet not found in the Bible; and the application of these tests are never to be regarded as a lack of faith, but as a guarantee that we are not being led blind-folded to perdition.
Test [1] Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 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;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
This is the first and foremost test given, for it has to do with the tendency to lead, or not to lead astray. In other words, if the tenor of a prophet’s words are of such as to lead us away from God, and if the end result of their teachings encourage disobedience, or rebellion against God, then that prophet is false and should be utterly rejected.
Test [2] Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Prophets who teach that God’s law is abolished are false prophets, plain and simple. It does not mean that they cannot change, but presently they are in the false category. God’s law is the only part of the Bible that was written in stone, to show its eternal nature, and therefore, if one comes along saying it is no longer binding upon men, then that person is striking directly at the foundation of The Lord’s government, and by their teaching, renders God’s plan of salvation null and void.
Test [3] Deuteronomy 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 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.
Be very, very careful with this one! False prophets have at times predicted future events precisely, and true prophets can predict events that do not come to pass. There are circumstantial prophecies, where the outcome depends on the response of the folks involved. Such was the case with the prophet Jonah, who was sent by God with a very specific prophecy which did not come to pass.
This did not make him a false prophet, because the response of the Ninevites had affected the outcome and therefore, the God-given prophecy was then to be rendered void. Again, Samuel had prophesied of Eliab, that the Lord’s anointed was before Him, yet it was not accurate, for at this specific time God had not said so.
This was Samuel’s own judgment being based solely on external evidences, however, Samuel made the correction as soon as The Lord instructed him. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 16:2 And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.
3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.
7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
The tendency to hold God rigidly to His word, when He is dealing with frail human beings, could cause us to reject His true servants, if in some instances, everything may not add up squarely. Being a true prophet does not make him/her infallible, and thus, we should be willing to walk humbly with God, just in case we might need some wiggle room.
Some have made it their life work to search out for minor inconsistencies in the writings of Ellen white, and they point to these, as veritable proof that her writings are flawed, and therefore could never have been inspired. There will be a great awakening one day soon, when we may discover too late, that it is God who is perfect, and not man, through whom He channels His messages and instructions.
In the Bible, one gospel writer describes a situation where two blind men were healed by Jesus Christ. Another gospel writer says it was one blind man. If we were to quibble and stumble over these minor discrepancies in the prophetic writings, we would eventually reject not only Ellen white, but the Bible itself. The believing mind will accept what the Bible states in such instances, meaning that it was both one, and two blind men. Let’s read:
Matthew 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Mark 10:46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
In fact, when we examine God’s own testimony of Samuel, we discover that God gave him a perfect A rating. Similarly, when we read in the Bible that Job was a perfect man, it does not mean that Job didn’t have any faults or errors, it means that the overall tenor of his life tended to perfection. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
Therefore, it’s necessary for us to remember that the accurate fulfillment of prophecy is just one slice of the pie, when it comes to testing the prophets, the main test being the tendency to lead, or not to lead astray. If the general tenor of a true prophet’s work is to lead to God, to obedience to His laws, and to reverence His name and His word, then that prophet is in all likelihood valid.
Test [4] Physical phenomena:
Numbers 24:3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said.
4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open.
Acts 10:9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners and let down to the earth.
Acts 22:17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
Daniel 10: 4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption,
and I retained no strength.
9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me
It is often the case when in vision, that a prophet may not breathe. During such a time the he/she would be sustained solely by the power of God until the vision is complete. This phenomena may last up to several minutes, or hours as the case might be, thus giving evidence that God’s power is at work in the person who is thus exercised.
[C.E.T pp 11] He explained to the people that she did not breathe while in vision. Then he turned to Daniel 10:17 and read Daniel's experience while in vision: “There remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.” Elder White next invited those who cared to do so to come forward and examine Mrs. White. He always gave freedom for such an examination and was pleased if a physician was present who could examine her while in vision.
As the people pressed close, they saw that Mrs. White did not breathe, yet her heart continued to beat normally, and the color of her cheeks was natural. A mirror was brought and held before her face, but no moisture gathered on the mirror. Then they brought a candle and lit it and held it close to her nose and mouth. But the flame stood erect, without a flicker. The people could see that she did not breathe.
For two hours Mrs. White was in vision. For two hours she did not breathe. Then as the vision came to a close, she took a deep inhalation, paused for about a minute, breathed again, and soon was breathing naturally. At the same time she began to recognize her surroundings, becoming conscious of what was going on about her.
God in His mercy has given to His remnant people a goldmine of information, instruction, and counsels, ranging from the raising of children, health related issues, financial advice, and counsels on marriage and divorce. These instructions were given to shed light on matters that were previously obscured, or were hidden from view, or were barely understood.
In particular, the revelations thus given are meant to prepare God’s people to stand through the last great conflict on planet earth, for there are many instructions given on how to meet the coming crisis intelligently, strategic moves to be made, and how to prepare for the transition period, when we will move over to trusting in God alone, for our bread and water. Let’s read:
[L.D.E pp 99>100] Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions, for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one. We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again.
Therefore, in testing the prophets, it is God’s will that we do so with the intention of receiving His words, which can save us from making grave errors.
God Bless!