The False Prophets…
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)
FALSE PROPHETS HAVE BEEN AROUND since there were prophets. God’s approach to the people of Moses’ day and to us today, was to be aware that there are false prophets who will not speak the Word of God but will speak their own words and try to deceive those who listen to them. In New Testament days, the false prophets went after money, prestige, and the weak women in the congregation they might be able to seduce.
DEUTERONOMY IS THE FIFTH AND LAST BOOk written by Moses. God appointed Moses to receive His law from His hands and to lead the chosen people for Moses’ full lifetime. God also placed the role of “prophet” upon Moses and told him that the ultimate prophet would be like him. That ultimate prophet was “the promised one,” Jesus. The standard that God set up for the prophet Moses and all those that were to follow him, was to speak what God had commanded them to speak; nothing less, nothing more.
JESUS QUOTED OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES when in dialog with public figures and He always outwitted them. Always! People liked it because He knew the Jewish scriptures so well. He quoted Exodus 7 times; Isaiah 8 times; Deuteronomy 9 times; and the Psalms 10 times.
HE SOMETIMES REFERRED TO O.T. BOOKS without saying which book. For example, in discussing divorce, He said: “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. (Matthew 19:8) He referred to creation: But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. (Mark 10:6)
PAUL WARNED ABOUT FALSE PROPHETS: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2Corinthians 11:13-15)
MY! M! AREN'T WE GLAD PAUL WORKED THROUGH THAT PERIOD and got rid of all the false prophets? It is so good that we live in an enlightened age in which there are no false prophets to worry about. How awful it would be if we still had false prophets today, like, in our seminaries and book stores and churches and TV and radio programs. Think about how confusing and damaging it would be if false prophets were still hanging around to deceive folks today.
GLAD PAUL GOT RID OF THEM ALL. If the devil were free to deceive people today, he might go after our children and young people and use their friends and their electronic gadgets and other things to attract them away from their families and from God.
CRAZY TALK! False prophets have increased greatly in our day! Jesus prophesied that one of the defining things of the last days would be the increase of satanic deception. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24:11) “Many false prophets.” “Shall deceive many.” If you were being deceived, would you know you were being deceived? (If you knew you were being deceived you would no longer be deceived…right?)
JESUS REPEATED THE WARNING IN V.24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)
THIS IS NO TIME TO BE LAZY. People are working hard and there is a sharp decline in reading today. Newspapers are struggling against smart phones. But, that’s not the whole story. People increasingly want to see pictures and cartoons instead of reading words. Reading takes time and requires more effort at thinking. People are grasping for anything to avoid time-consuming reading.
BUT, THERE'S NO SHORTCUT WHEN IT COME TO THE WORD OF GOD. Pictures help us in highlighting Bible themes, but there is no way to escape the need to read and think. I write more than some people want to read. But, I’m supposed to write, and I leave it up to the individuals whether they want to take the time to read it. Food recipes have pictures, but the recipes are still communicated with words.
EMPTY HEADS AND EMPTY HEARTS CAN BE DECEIVED, and they will never know they are being deceived. We’ve all been told that bank clerks are trained to detect counterfeit bills by handling only the real thing. They don’t need to feel fake bills. When a fake bill comes through, it won’t feel like the real thing.
DAILY BIBLE READING, DAILY BIBLE STUDY, daily Bible meditation and prayer are your surest means of avoiding the deception of false prophets and false teachers and false TV preachers who plow the field every week and some every day. Maybe you should read this article again? Or several times?
Read Through the Bible in a Year
OCTOBER 17, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. Isaiah 62-64 P.M. 1 Thessalonians 5
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verse to Memorize:
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (fitting); (Romans 1:28)
Song for Today:
There is a Fountain (2:39) (Calv. Memorial Church Choir)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs6N8s1gPuI
You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
HEALTH HINT: We’re approaching flu season. A flu shot might not be a bad thing. I can’t have them because I’ve had Guillain Berre’ (French Polio) and the shot could set that problem off again. A doctor pulled me aside 30 years ago and gave me some suggestions. I have to give attention to things that strengthen the immune system. Hopefully, you will get nothing or a civil garden-variety infection that is not too hard to manage.
Drink plenty of water/liquids. Lighten up on heavy eating. Get enough sleep. Don’t get overly tired. Cut your sugar intake – waaay down! Keep on hand plenty of Vitamin C and plenty of garlic (fresh or powder or capsules) Plenty of Vit. C means keeping 1,000 mg capsules (NOT TABLETS) on hand. I buy them in large containers: (600 capsules). When infection comes on, start taking 2-3 1,000 mg capsules of Vit. C Complex on the hour with 8 oz of water. It will produce gas. No problem. There’s a drugstore, fruit-flavored powder that fizzes, that can help with the Vitamin C thing, but it’s not very strong. It’s like an Alka-Seltzer.
If you take Vit. C “to tolerance,” it means to up the dose until the bowels begin to loosen and then back off the dosage a bit. When infection hits you, it uses up all the Vitamin C in your body and it will continue to use up a lot.
Vitamin C will not kill a virus. It will help you reduce the runny nose and other symptoms until your body can make a blueprint of the virus and begin to produce anti-bodies that will eventually subdue it. When that happens, mucus will thicken and it will go through a full stage of war until the good-guys win. Maybe some of the TV stuff will help. But, for me, the best help is above.
There is no such thing as a drug that will kill a virus. Anti-biotics will kill bacteria, but not virus. So, load yourself up with Vitamin C and the other stuff and stay out of the “coughing center” if you can. If you have the flu, you will know that it’s not just another sneezing thing. Better be in contact with your doctor by phone and get a “heads up.”
Virus infections are often followed with bacterial infections and they can be helped with anti-biotics. I don’t like the anti-biotics that are swallowed. It kills everything in the gut and takes weeks to recover from the drugs. So, I try to avoid the anti-biotics if at all possible. We used to get Penicillin shots, and this worked fine and didn’t go through the gut, destroying everything in the gut. But doctors won’t give the shots these days.
I’m not a medical person of any kind. This is just information I’ve collected from doctors, nurses, and reading and getting sick myself and listening to people tell their stories. Take care of yourself! (Whatever that is.)
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