False Prophets
Matthew 24:15-31
Prepare to be deceived.
“So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’-- do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. “Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. - Matt. 24:15-31
That is the warning in today’s Gospel. We will be deceived before we see the truth.
Who are the false prophets today?
We are not talking about who is claiming to be Jesus come again, because that would be easy to spot. No, we are talking about the voices gaining a following in God’s name.
So, what are the signs of a false prophet?
A false prophet would say things that contradict the Word of God. That should be easy to spot, don’t you think, so long as we know what the Word of God is. Not knowing the Bible is a surefire way to be deceived.
Jesus mentioned producing bad fruit, and that should be easy to spot as well. How do they act and what do they do? Well, that could be a bit subjective, I guess, so we may slip up with this one.
A false prophet will be out for himself or be seeking material gain. Yeah, we have plenty of those, don’t we?
A false prophet would deny Christ’s leadership. This is a tricky one, because even the devil recognizes Christ as a leader and a holy one.
And a false prophet will perform signs that deceive people. In today’s internet and social media age, who isn’t being deceptive?
So, I guess it isn’t as easy as I thought.
While we don’t want to follow the wrong person, we also don’t want to miss the prophet when he or she comes. So, chances are, we will continue to be deceived until we realize we were wrong.
More to come...