How to Identify a True
Prophet
There have been many
people who at one time or another
have thought, just how does a person
identify “a prophet” in the
modern age of today? This is a good
question and I am happy to respond.
To get started, you may be aware that
the title “prophet” is
frequently distorted. The Bible
defines a prophet as an ordinary
person who reveals information from
God that is otherwise unknown.
(Ezekiel 2 & 3, Jeremiah 29:19)
With this simple definition in mind,
please consider the following
passages:
Jesus warned His
followers, “Watch out for
false prophets. They come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
they are ferocious wolves…. 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 say 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
7:15, 21-23, italics mine) “For
false Christ’s and false
prophets will appear and perform
great signs and miracles to deceive
even the elect – if that were
possible. See, I have told you ahead
of time.” (Matthew 24:24,25)
These few verses tell us that false
prophets can (a) be gifted and
talented people who deceitfully use
the name and gospel of Jesus for
recognition, power, and/ or money,
(b) perform great signs and miracles
because they are associated with
demons, (c) have no affiliation with
Christ and His gospel even though
they may speak volumes about Jesus
and salvation, and (d) will exist
until the end of time. (In fact, the
last “false prophet”
mentioned in the Bible is the devil
himself. (Revelation 19:20)
Yes, God has true
prophets! The Bible indicates that
Jesus bestowed spiritual gifts on the
early church. (The word
“church” as it is used in
this study should not be confused
with a particular denomination.) Paul
wrote, “it was he [Jesus]
who gave some [gifts to
ordinary people so that they could
serve as] to be apostles, some to
be prophets, some to be evangelists,
and some to be pastors and teachers, [so
that all of these should work
together] to prepare God’s
people for works of service, so that
the body of Christ may be built up
until we all reach unity in faith and
in the knowledge of the Son of God
and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of
Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13,
insertions mine) These verses reveal
that Jesus equips ordinary people
with extraordinary gifts for the
benefit of building up His church.
Please notice that Paul identifies
their order of importance: “And
in the church God appointed first of
all apostles, second prophets, third
teachers, then workers of miracles,
also those having gifts of healing,
those able to help others, those with
gifts of administration, and [last]
those speaking in different kinds
of tongues.”
(1
Corinthians 12:28, insertion mine)
The Bible is clear
that genuine and false prophets will
exist until the end. I believe the
first step in identifying a true
prophet is found in the book of
Ezekiel: “The word of the
Lord came to me [Ezekiel]: ‘Son
of man, prophesy against the prophets
of Israel who are now prophesying.
Say to those who prophesy out
of their own imagination:
[They deceitfully say]
‘Hear the word of the Lord! [But,]
This is what the Sovereign Lord says [to
them]: Woe to the foolish prophets
who follow their own spirit
and have seen nothing! Your
prophets, O Israel, are like [noisy]
jackals [roaming aimlessly] among
ruins. You [claim to speak on my
behalf, but you] have not gone up
to the breaks in the wall to repair
it for the house of Israel [that
is, you have not turned My people
away from their decadent sins] so
that it [My house] will stand
firm [in righteousness] in the
battle on the day of the Lord. Their
visions are false and their
divinations a lie.’
They say, ‘The Lord
declares,’ when the Lord has not
sent them; yet they expect their
words to be fulfilled. Have you not
seen false visions and uttered lying
divinations when you say, ‘The
Lord declares,’ though I have
not spoken?’” (Ezekiel
13:1-7, insertions and italics mine)
As you can see my
friends, false prophets are not a
recent problem. In fact, it appears
that every time God appointed a true
prophet for Israel, many false
prophets also sprang up! (See 1 Kings
18:19 and Jeremiah 28.) As you might
expect, there are several issues
involved in the process of
identifying a true prophet. Here are
five issues that I hope you will
prayerfully consider:
1. God
foreknew that His people would have
trouble identifying true and false
prophets. To reduce this problem, God
said to Israel, “…Listen
to my words: ‘When a prophet of
the Lord is among you, I will reveal
myself to him in visions, I speak to
him in dreams.’” (Numbers
12:6) This text reveals how
God gives information to a prophet.
When a prophet speaks, people do not
know whether the prophet is lying
(speaking out of his own imagination)
or if the prophet has actually
received a dream or a vision from
God. God told Israel to listen to
everyone who claims to have received
a vision from Him because such
persons must either be exonerated or
destroyed! “’But a
prophet who presumes to speak in my
name anything I have not commanded
him to say, or a prophet who speaks
in the name of other gods, must be
put to death.’ You may say to
yourselves, ‘How can we know
when a message has not been spoken by
the Lord?’ If what a prophet
proclaims in the name of the Lord
does not take place or come true,
that is a message the Lord has not
spoken. That prophet has spoken
presumptuously. Do not be
afraid of him [or his lies, so
put him to death].” (Deuteronomy
18: 20-22, insertion mine)
2. Jesus
said that false prophets can perform
great signs and miracles, so we know
that displays manifestations of
supernatural power do not necessarily
mean that God has sent a prophet. In
fact, the book of Revelation reveals
that a time is coming when the devil
himself will call fire down out of
the sky to prove that he is God, and
this overwhelming miracle will
deceive most of the inhabitants of
Earth. “And he performed
great and miraculous signs, even
causing fire to come down from heaven
to earth in full view of men. Because
of the signs he was given power to do
on behalf of the first beat, he
deceived the inhabitants of the
earth…” (Revelation
13:13,14) So, the ability to
perform miracles does not prove that
a prophet is sent from God.
3. The
Bible also indicates that a prophet
cannot validate himself. In other
words, no person becomes a prophet
because he decides to be a prophet
and neither can man appoint a
prophet. God Himself decides who will
speak for Him – and that person
may prophesy once during his entire
lifetime or he may prophesy many
times. (1 Samuel 19) Paul wrote, “All
these [gifts, including the gift
of prophecy] are the work of one
and the same Spirit, and he [the
Spirit] gives them to each one, just
as he determines.”
(1 Corinthians
12:11, insertions and emphasis mine)
Jesus said, “If I testify
about myself about myself [claiming
that I am the Messiah], my
testimony is not valid. There is
another who testifies in my favor,
and I know that his testimony about
me is valid. You have sent to John
and he has testified to the truth
[that I am the Messiah].” (John
5:31-33, insertions mine) If a person
is “gifted” with visions of
God, this gift will become evident
over time. Spiritually mature people
will test and validate the gift and
of course, time will prove whether
the prophet spoke of God or out of
his own imagination. True prophets
are not popular during their lifetime
because Almighty God does not trifle
with man nor does God send trivial
messages through His prophets. When
God sends a message, His words cut
like a double-edged sword. God
condemns sin and exposes error. So,
the message of a true prophet is
usually hated, and historically, the
life span of a true prophet is short
and painful. Jesus acknowledged
Israel’s customary treatment of
the prophets saying, “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those sent to
you, how often I have longed to
gather your children together, as hen
gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were not willing.” (Matthew
23:37)
4. During
the early days of the Christian
church, the Spirit of prophecy was
actively working through the apostles
because Jesus used gifts of the
Spirit to separate fact from fiction.
The early Christian church became
filled with self-appointed prophets
(liars) and false teachers with
disastrous results. Consider the
contrast between these two texts: “So
Paul and Barnabas spent considerable
time there [in Iconium], speaking
boldly for the Lord, who confirmed
the message of his grace
by enabling them to do miraculous
signs and wonders.” (Acts
14:3, italics and insertion mine) On
the other hand, the churches in
Pergamum and Thyatira soon fell into
apostasy because false prophets and
teachers had infiltrated them. Jesus
said to the church at Pergamum, “Nevertheless,
I have this against you: You have
people there who hold to the teaching
of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice
the Israelites to sin by eating food
sacrificed to idols any by committing
sexual immorality. Likewise you also
have those who hold to the teaching
of the Nicolatians. Repent therefore!
Otherwise, I will soon come to you
and will fight against them with the
sword of my mouth.” (Revelation
2:14-16) Jesus also said to the
church at Thyatira, “Nevertheless,
I have this against you: You tolerate
that woman Jezebel, who calls herself
a prophetess. By her teachings she
misleads my servants into sexual
immorality and the eating of food
sacrificed to idols. I have given her
time to repent of her immorality, but
she is unwilling.” (Revelation
2:20,21) True prophets
(a) will promote ideals and doctrines
that confirm to God’s Word, and
(b) can do miracles, as God deems
necessary to affirm the validity
of their testimony.
5. My
friends, since this is a brief
response to a rather large subject,
please pay close attention to these
closing remarks. In terms of
authority, the Bible is a closed
book. When the apostolic age ended,
the Bible was completed. God has not
given subsequent prophets any
information that extends Scripture.
Everything that God wanted said in
the Bible has been said in the Bible
and the Canon is closed. This means
that Scripture must test all
prophetic utterances since the
apostolic age. The words of prophets
today are not authoritative (that is,
their words are not to be regarded as
an extension to Scripture). True
prophets always direct people to the
Bible because every true prophet
knows that the Bible is man’s
sole authority in matters pertaining
to God. Yes, we should consider
the claims of people who say that God
has told them something, but we have
to test their claims by the Bible.
Paul wrote, “Test everything.
Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind
of evil.” (1 Thessalonians
5:21,22) Those claiming to receive
dreams or visions from God are not to
be revered, quoted as an authority,
or worshiped. Instead their words are
to be thoroughly challenged by the
Word of God and if they bear up after
close investigation, the Word of God
is to be exalted – not the
prophet! The lives of the prophet
should also be examined. Speaking of
prophets, Jesus said, “Every
tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will
recognize them.” (Matthew
7:19,20)
In closing, true
prophets are ordinary people having
an extraordinary (and usually, an
unpleasant) job to do. Each time a
prophet claims to reveal something
from God, that claim has to be
verified. If the claim is found to be
in harmony with Scripture, then a
clearer understanding of Scripture
will unfold and the body of Christ
will be blessed! Otherwise, I hope
that none of you will have anything
to do with the subtle lies of a false
prophet! (For further study on
this topic, please read the article
in the Reading Room of this site,
scroll down to Revelation 4-6, then
to segment IX about the 144,000
servant-prophets) you will be glad
you did, because the truth will set
you free.
