Matthew 24: False Prophets

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Matthew 24 is Jesus' extended teaching about the end-times, in response to His disciples'
asking Him "...when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming,
and of the end of the age ?” (v. 3)

Derek Prince taught on that chapter several times, and always pointed out that Jesus
repeatedly warns there that His disciples must guard against being deceived.  Those are
indeed the first words of His reponse:

"And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you" (v. 4).
 
The primary "one"s He warns against as agents of deception are "...false Christs and
false prophets..." (v. 24).

Of "false Christs" He says that "...many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’
and will mislead many" (v. 5).  Again, Jesus says, "...if anyone says to you, ‘Behold,
here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him" (v. 23).

In these days when we've seen a particularly-vile politician claim (with a dramatic glance
at the sky) "I am the chosen one," we have some idea what a "false Christ" may look like.

 (Which is not to say that particular politician is THE anti-Christ; though claiming to be the
Messiah will be THE anti-Christ's signature deception .  Scripture's primary teaching about
anti-Christ, and the origin of that name, is in I John 2, where we are told that there are
"many anti-Christs" (v. 18, my emphasis).  In Jesus' words above we are likewise told that
there are multiple "false Christs," and that "many" will come forward claiming to be Christ.
The current deceiver claiming to be "the chosen one" is only one of many deceivers.)

 But what do we know of the "false prophets" Jesus warns us against in v. 11 and v. 24 ?

We know that "prophets" are pre-eminently religious personages.  We know that the
prophet's primary "job" is to speak God's words: not his own words, and not the words
his listeners want to hear.  Scripture is full of God's furious condemnation of those who
have the name and reputation of being prophets...His "spokesmen"...but falsify His word
in the latter ways.

There's also a hint in Jesus' warning jointly against "...false Christs and false prophets..."
Undoubtedly Jesus foresees the two of them working together.  (And certainly that's the
case with THE "false prophet" of Revelation 16, who serves "the beast" and "the dragon"
in deceiving the people of earth; and shares their fate in Revelation 19 and 20.)

If Jesus believes "false Christs" and "false prophets" work together, so should we.  And if
we take Jesus' hint, the events of this time may also give us some idea of what a "false
prophet" looks like.

The main way a "false prophet" deceives people is by backing up a "false Christ" that he...
not Jesus...is the Messiah.  The false prophet's reputation of speaking God's word puts a
deceptive glow of truth and holiness on the lies and unholiness of the "false Christ."

I'd certainly say that the current false "chosen one" has a gang of "false prophets" working
with him to deceive people.  The "Christian leaders" who've supported him all through his
sorry career have left no scripture untwisted in trying to convince Christians the current
president is the man God chose to rule us.

In their stretch for Biblical examples of pagan kings whom God used to bless Israel, some
"Christian leaders" compare the current president to Cyrus, others to Nebuchadnezzar.
Either way, both camps regularly cite Romans 13:1, that "...there is no authority except
from God, and those which exist are established by God:" that the current president is
the man God has chosen to rule us, so good Christians will support whatever he does.

I could say a lot more about their teachings, and a very great deal about that scripture.
I could say even more about the raw hypocrisy of these same "Christian leaders," whose
"Biblical" teaching was that Christians should hate, fear, despise, and disparage the
 previous president, whom they and their political allies hated.

But for now, I'll just say that whatever president we (think we) choose, God gives us who
He chooses...and that God does NOT always choose to bless His people.  My guess would
be that that assumption...which any Christian should know is simply bad theology...may
be from the "dominionist" heresy that seems to be prevalent in "Christian conservatism."

When God's people forsake His ways, we know He chastises them; in hopes they will re-
examine their ways and repent; by letting them fall into the hands of evil men,foreign
or domestic.  The current president's prophet-cheerleaders (perhaps willfully) seem to
have overlooked many such examples in Israel's history while searching the Old Testament 
for examples of ungodly rulers (for even his cheerleaders can't pretend this president is a
godly man)  through whom God blessed Israel.

Romans 13 leaves no doubt God placed the current president in the office he he doesn't
fill or merit.  The honest question is whether God did so to chastise us, or bless us ?  The
answer is vividly clear.

Also clear is what the "false prophets" who back up the claims of this false "chosen one"
look like.  They look like the biggest-name "Christian leaders" in America and the world,
prostituting their name and reputation as God's spokesmen to persuade Christians that
the current president is indeed God's chosen ruler.

My one hope in this time is that God will not let this "false Christ" and his "false prophets"
continue deceiving His people.

It's a certain hope.  In His every word, His every act, in all times, God promises on His
Own Being that evil will NEVER stand, and will never triumph.

May today's false prophets repent, and proclaim God's hope is His greatest blessing.