Overcoming false prophets

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. (Micah 3:5–8)

In the OT, false prophets were identified by what motivated them. In this passage, it was not spiritual illumination from the Lord, but personal desires. Micah calls it food, yet it could be anything that makes them feel good, satisfied, taken care of. They were more interested in their own comfort than in truth.

Today, there are some involved in ‘Christian’ ministry that are preaching a similar message. They say that God wants us healthy, wealthy, and wise and the more generously we give, the greater the blessing. While God blesses generosity, that motive for giving is self-centered and fleshy. 

Other false prophets are those in the cults. They call themselves true Christians and sincerely believe their way is the right way. However, they interpret the Word of God with their own way of thinking and not relying on the Holy Spirit to enlighten them. One of these cults says Jesus is “a god” and insert that “a” in this verse:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

They do not know or ignore that the original language this was translated from does not have a word for “a” — and they ignore all other references to the deity of Jesus Christ. 

They also claim that faith means Jesus “died to give us the right to earn our salvation” — an idea that is nowhere in the Bible. Yet they boast that they are the only right ones who please God. They ignore this::

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

In this verse and all others, faith is about believing in and trusting the Lord, not ourselves or any ability to earn salvation. It is also a gift, not earned. 

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9–14)

Humility is vital. If I am proud of myself and brag about how godly I am and give no credit to the power of God and the Person of Jesus Christ, then I am deceived at best and teaching lies at worst.

Lord Jesus, only You can change lives. The best we can do becomes a boast, a personal ego trip into darkness. Micah was filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare truth to the false prophets of his day and to the people who had been deceived by them. Oh Lord, we need more people like Micah in our day too. 

 

When God seems silent

There are times when God seems silent. Prayers go unanswered, even those asking for direction in desperate situations. Sometimes this is God testing my faith, or developing patience, but the OT tells of God being silent because the people were not listening to what He has already told them.

In trying to remember how this works, I think of a child who has been told, “no treats before supper” and as the mother stirs the soup for that meal, the child asks for a cookie and she just keeps stirring the soup without saying a word.

That is minor. I met a woman who was living with a man but not married to him. They moved into the community and she said she would start going to church and claimed to be a Christian. She didn’t seem bothered that her life choices did not please God. However, before she could attend church, she was in a head-on collision and died. 

I don’t know the will of God concerning her, but this was a warning to never act as if sin is okay because God says it is not. He kept warning His OT people to obey Him and when they didn’t, He said:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. (Amos 8:11–12)

After more than 50 years of hearing God speak in daily devotions (that is more than 18250 days), I sit before my Bible each morning with the wonder of hearing God speak, and a bit of dread that He will remain silent. Not the silence of unanswered prayer, but the silence that comes when His will is being ignored. These verses speak of this happening:

We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. (Psalm 74:9)
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18)

Another reason for silence is described. It happens when those who say God speaks but have not heard Him at all...

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. (Micah 3:5–8)

If I’m going to share what God says to me, I cannot fake it or repeat things that listeners want to hear rather than tell the truth. If I become a ‘false’ prophet or a fake anything, it belies what God is like. He speaks truth and I cannot make up anything, only say what He says. If I do, either my hearing is bad or my agenda has become more important than His will.

Yet by grace He promises that His silence will not destroy His people. He will use it as a rebuke, or as a form of instruction. Even after many warnings, He still says words like this:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:13–15)

PRAY: Lord, You always speak, but I don’t always listen. Keep me turned in, not turned off or worse. Keep me from inventing what You say. If You ever are silent because I’ve not been doing what You already told me, don’t listen to my excuses. I cannot beg for a cookie if You say ‘no cookies’ nor greedily ask for more if I’ve ignored that You have already given enough. May the lessons and warnings of Your prophets remind me always of the importance of Your will and the need for my integrity. Obedience and truth honor Your great name.

Who gets the glory?

Does God stay out of the headlines because He is not doing anything, or is it because we so easily take the credit for His work or give it to natural causes?

Personal case in point: my pulse is abnormal because of a condition called a-fib caused by the enlargement of both upper chambers of by heart. It beats in an irregular pattern, something like this:  . . .  ....  . .   . . .  ...  .  .. . and trying to count it is a challenge. With medication, it has slowed down, but the irregular pattern puts it anywhere between 55 and 130, depending on what part of that pattern is used in the count.

However, I’ve found three things that help. One is singing worship songs in church. The second is listening to classical music, and the third is a metronome. The regular beat of this computer app works the best.

When my hubby told his doctor (a dear friend of both of us) about the metronome, he gave a scientific explanation simplified to this: the brain has the ability to tell the heart to match a beat. Then he added: “We are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) giving the glory to our Creator.

The Old Testament prophets faced a similar challenge of who gets the glory as they confronted false prophets who led God’s people into erroneous understanding of God and of what it means to follow Him. These false prophets did not honor God as they should whereas the true prophets of God directed the people according to the will of God. Not only that, they humbly proclaimed that their power came from the Spirit of the Lord. 

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. (Micah 3:5–8)

I wonder what would happen if today’s people of God were so filled with the Holy Spirit that they were declaring the Word of the Lord to the nations. Billy Graham comes to mind. He had the voice and attitude of a true prophet who could tell the world our transgression and sin, and also declare the love of God and His plan of redemption for all people. What would the world be like if every Christian was that bold and as effective?

Tozer says that the early Christians were like that and, “None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” (Acts 5:13) He says that today “there is no longer anything terrible or mysterious about us . . .  we now have little that cannot be accounted for by psychology and statistics.”

Instead, we need what Tozer calls the dignity of the Holy Spirit, that awe-inspiring mystery which comes upon men and churches when they are full of the power of God. It is so sad that most of God’s people are satisfied with much less, perhaps because of a fear of what God might call us to do if we let Him be Lord of our lives.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, as a young Christian, I had no idea about the power of the Holy Spirit. I was content to do most things by myself, not realizing that Your power makes earth-shattering changes. Over the years, I suppose I had varying excuses, most of them related to ignorance. Now I think of what my Swedish grandmother used to say, “Too old too soon, too late smart.” I suppose that could now use age as an excuse, but don’t let me do that. If there is anything You desire of me, fill me with Your Spirit that I might do it in that awe-inspiring mystery of Your great power.