Why Will False Prophets
Appear? Who Are the Elect?
For false
Christs and false prophets will appear
and perform great signs and miracles to
deceive even the elect if that were
possible. (Matthew 24:24)
The prophecy in
Matthew 24 is not understood very well
because it contains two distinct but parallel
prophecies. Sitting on the Mount of Olives,
Jesus told His disciples about
Jerusalems coming destruction (A.D. 70)
and also the destruction of the world at His
Second Coming. Jesus combined these two
events into one discourse because there are
ominous parallels. However, it is
important that we do not merge these two
prophecies together because the
specifications about the destruction of
Jerusalem do not apply to the end of the
world and vice versa. If you study Matthew 24
closely, you will discover that Jesus
introduced the end of the world
portion of His discourse in verse 21: For
then there will be great distress, unequaled
from the beginning of the world until now
and never to equaled
again. This is important to observe
because it is within the context of the Great
Tribulation that Jesus said: For false
Christs and false prophets will appear
and perform great signs and miracles to
deceive even the elect if that were
possible. (Verse 24)
In the near future,
144,000 people will be selected and empowered
to speak for Jesus. When the 144,000 begin
their work, the devil will also be allowed to
empower a large number of false messiahs and
false prophets. These evil people will
perform marvelous signs and miracles, just
like the 144,000. These manifestations will
be so convincing that if possible, Jesus
said, the elect could be deceived! Of course,
the ability to work a miracle does not mean
that God is the source of power behind the
miracle. Jesus said, Not everyone
who says to me, Lord, Lord, will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will day 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? Then I will tell them
plainly, I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers! (Matthew
7:21,22)
So, two issues in
Matthew 24:24 need to be considered. The
first issue is this: Why will God allow false
prophets to appear performing marvelous signs
and miracles to deceive people? The second
issue is this: Who are the elect?
False Prophets
An entire book could
be devoted to the question, Why does
God allow the devil and his representatives
to lead the world astray? Because this
is a short study, please consider the
following summary: With infinite wisdom, God
did not immediately destroy Lucifer and his
followers when they first sinned because He
wanted His children to obtain a thorough
understanding of good and evil. By
allowing Lucifer, the highest and brightest
of created beings, to develop an opposition
government, the all-knowing Father allowed
His children to see and understand the
differences between a government of
selfishness and a government of selflessness.
God knew that allowing two opposing
governments to exist over a period of time
would clearly demonstrate the superior
government.
So, he permitted
Lucifer and his followers to live until this
demonstration will be finished. In making
this decision, God also foreknew that
Lucifers stay of execution meant that
His only Son must be executed. Therefore, the
decision to allow Lucifer to live for a
season also came with a great price to God.
God always sees the big picture and He
foreknew that His best defense throughout
eternity against a second occurrence of sin
would be to allow His children to have a
comprehensive understanding of good and
evil.
For the past six
thousand years, this fallen planet has been
like a theater in Gods
universe. Heavens angels have closely
studied Lucifers actions and the
actions of human beings. After Lucifer led
Eve, and then Adam into rebellion against God
(ironically, at the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil), the battle between Jesus and
Lucifer began. This battle, which began in
Heaven, intensified here on Earth. Jesus,
through the Holy Spirit, is pulling on the
heartstrings of each person, encouraging each
one to submit to the will of God. On the
other side, Lucifer is pulling on our carnal
hearts, pushing us to rebel against God. The
Father serves as a referee of sorts in this
tug-of-war. Hw will not allow Jesus or
Lucifer to have a clear and decided advantage
over the other. Whatever Jesus does, Lucifer
gets to do and vice versa. The Father insists
on this balance because human beings were
given the power of choice and by keeping the
powers of Jesus and the powers of Lucifer in
a divine balance, each person is
truly free to choose whom he or she will
serve.
Notice how this
balance is maintained in various ways. Jesus
took on the form of a man to save man. To
balance this aspect of Jesus ministry,
Lucifer will be allowed to take on the form
of a man to lead the world into destruction!
Because God maintains a balance between the
forces of good and evil, the prophets of
Jesus (the 144,000) will compete with the
wicked prophets of Lucifer during the Great
Tribulation. An Old Testament parallel of
this competition was when Moses and Aaron
competed with Pharaohs magicians.
Another parallel was when Elijah competed
with 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
This balance explains why Jesus
warned His disciples that false messiahs and
false prophets would appear during the end
time and perform great signs and miracles to
deceive mankind. Lucifers prophets will
perform signs and miracles that appear so
genuine and marvelous that if possible, the
very elect could be deceived!
Since God will allow
both true prophets and false prophets to
perform signs and wonders during the Great
Tribulation, an interesting effect will
occur. The miracles of the prophets of God
will be superior to those of false prophets
(the miracles of Moses, Aaron and Elijah were
superior to their counterparts). God allows
true prophets a small degree of superiority
because Lucifer has one advantage that Jesus
does not have. Lucifers advantage is
humankinds carnal nature that is
naturally inclined toward rebellion against
God. Signs and miracles will be everywhere
and wicked people, who have rebellious hearts
like Pharaoh, will justify their rebellion
against Gods demands with inferior
miracles! Signs and miracles do not
produce sorrow and repentance, but signs and
wonders do produce credibility. Sincere and
honest people will be able to detect the
difference, but the wicked people will harden
their hearts and will reject the obvious and
accept lesser signs and miracles to defend
their rebellion. (Daniel 12:10, Matthew
12:39)
This is why the
appearing of Lucifer, masquerading as God,
will become so important. When a majority of
the world has rejected the truth, God will
allow the devil to physically appear before
mankind. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12)
Masquerading as God, the devil will work the
ultimate deceptive miracle (which the 144,000
cannot reproduce). Lucifer will call fire
down out of Heaven to prove that
he is God. (Revelation 13:13)
When wicked people see this miracle, many of
them will be totally convinced that Almighty
God lives among them!
The Elect
Now, we need to the
second question. Who are the elect
that if possible, could be deceived during
the Great Tribulation?
Every four years the
United States elects a president. The United
States chooses its president and we
call him an elected leader. The word
elect stems from the idea of
being chosen. Christians are widely divided
on the definition and identity of Gods
elect. Some Christians say that the
elect are selected individuals whom God
arbitrarily chosen for salvation (that is,
God predestined selected people top be saved
and all others destroyed). Naturally, those
who advocate this view are confident that
they have been predestined for
salvation. Another group claims that
the elect are members of
Gods true church which people are free
to join (that is, salvation comes through
accepting the teachings of the true church).
Naturally, those who hold to this view are
convinced that their church is the true
church of God. Another group believes
the elect are Jews (this is based
on Gods original promise to
Abrahams descendants). Each of these
views has some good points, but I think the
Bible defines the elect in a
different way. I believe the Bible indicates
that everyone who elects to accept the
penalty for obeying God during the Great
Tribulation will make up the elect of God.
Consider these verses
(insertions and italics mine):
He [the
beast] was given power to make war against
the saints and to conquer them. And he was
given authority every tribe, people, language
and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will
worship the beast all whose names have
not been written in the book of life
belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the
creation of the world. He who has an
ear, let him hear. If anyone [among the
saints] is to go into captivity, into
captivity he will go. If anyone [among
the saints] is to be killed with the
sword, with the sword he will be killed. This
[agony] calls for patient endurance
and faithfulness on the part of the
saints. (Revelation
13:7-10)
I saw that
the woman [harlot, Babylon] was drunk with
the blood of the saints, the blood
of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I
saw her, I was great astonished. (Revelation
17:6)
Then I heard
the angel in charge of the waters say:
You are just in these judgments, you
who are and who were, the Holy One, because
you have so judged; for they
[the recipients of this plague] have
shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and
have given them blood to drink as they
deserve. (Revelation 16:5,6)
And he will
send his angels and gather his
elect from the four winds, from
the ends of the earth to the ends of the
heavens. (Mark 13:27)
When these four
verses are aligned, I believe the elect will
be those who remain loyal to Jesus when faced
with death. In other words, God elects those
that choose to put their faith in Him and
obey His commandments. In other words, if we
choose to vote for God, He chooses us for
eternal life!