Today I am going to talk about the work of a prophet and how you can tell a true prophet from a false one. True prophets took their position very seriously, speaking only what the Lord told them to speak. They did not go with the flow, so to speak, and they spoke boldly and most of them were persecuted because of the word they spoke.
One of the differences between a true and false prophet was the true prophet always heard from God and always told the truth regardless of who they were speaking to or the consequences that might take place because of what they said. Some of them were beaten, some thrown into prison and some were killed. They told the people what they needed to hear not just what they wanted to hear, unlike the false prophets that would pacify the people telling them what they wanted to hear. You can always tell a true prophet from a false one because everything they prophesied came to pass and never failed.
There were several prophets in bible times because they didn’t have Bibles like we have today, so to hear from God He either spoke to you personally, through one of His prophets or sometimes an angel. True prophets had a very close relationship with the Lord. Many people feared the prophets when they came into a town and with good reason.
In the Bible there are two different kinds of Prophets, they are called Major and Minor Prophets, the Major Prophets and Minor Prophets both were in the Old Testament. The books of the Major Prophets were longer and the contents considered more important. The Lord revealed more to the Major Prophets also, but both Major and Minor Prophets were inspired by God. There were 5 Major Prophets and 12 Minor Prophets. The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Minor Prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
Many believers don’t like reading these books because of the content that is in them, it is hard to read about the judgments, condemnation, the wrath of God and other disturbing things that are in these books, but I think everyone should read the whole Bible as one book, that is the only way you will understand it and learn the attributes of God and so much more. Many of the things that Jesus spoke were from the Old Testament writings.
If you hear someone in church prophesying today make sure it lines up with scripture before you accept it as truth. It says in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” It also says in the first part of verse 16, “That you will know them by their fruits.” There were many false prophets in the Bible and there are many false teachers today. To not be led astray by false teaching will take discernment on your part.
Two of the ways you will know if a prophet or teacher is teaching truth are to study the Word and to watch the person’s life. But be careful about judging a person too quickly, some may make a mistake and even fall into sin, but still be sincere in what they teach. A false teacher has an agenda and intentionally misleads people, so be careful and don’t be deceived. I hope this has been a help, God bless you and have a great day, and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!
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