Why Will False
Prophets Appear? Who Are the Elect?
“For false
Christ’s 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 Jerusalem’s
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
Christ’s 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 Lucifer’s
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 God’s universe. Heaven’s
angels have closely studied
Lucifer’s 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
Pharaoh’s 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.
Lucifer’s 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. Lucifer’s advantage is
humankind’s 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 God’s
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 God’s
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 God’s
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 God’s original
promise to Abraham’s
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!
