Chapter 9.3

The Dangers of Modern Prophetism

Damaging Christians & Inviting Divine Judgment

Table of Topics

A) Modern Prophetism Devalues Scripture

A.1) Prophetism’s Claims to New Divine Revelation

A.2) Some Evangelical Responses to Prophetism

A.3) Prophetism’s Empty Disclaimers

B) Modern Prophetism Deceives Christians & Practices Divination

C) God’s Hatred for Modern Prophetism

Extras & Endnotes

Primary Points

• God hates false claims of revelations from Him.
• Prophetists are committing the heresy of claiming new divine revelation.
• Few confront claims to divine revelation apart from Scripture in our day.
• Prophetism has degraded the authority of Scripture more than any other attack (e.g. liberalism, higher criticism, neoorthodoxy, the errancy debate, and now postmodernism), yet significantly less is written against it in Christian literature than any of these lesser attacks.
• Prophetism plays on the natural human desire for the specific divine guidance that has driven occultic divination throughout human history.
• Has the Church completely forgotten the gravity of claiming to be a Prophet of God, but actually being self-deceived and deceiving others?
• False claims to the gift of prophecy test God’s people and reveal whether or not they love Him.
• Alarmingly, prophetists practices border on the pagan practice of divination, which is attempting to know God’s will or the future apart from His designated means, and outright prohibited by God.
• God hates prophetism because it is the height of arrogance to falsely claim to speak for Him.
• God hates modern prophetism because it promotes the grave sin of lying.
• God’s attitude toward false prophets is scary.
• Many of those engaging in prophetism are not Christians.
• Perhaps the rise of prophetism is one more sign of Christ’s near return.
• Prophetist churches are not experiencing more real prophecy, but just practicing less biblical discernment.

A) Modern Prophetism Devalues Scripture

A.1) Prophetism’s Claims to New Divine Revelation

We have written elsewhere of the several ways in which various facets of charismaticism ^[1] threaten and degrade the authority of God’s word in the Church. ^[2] This is evident in what modern prophetists are claiming for their “gift” of prophecy. All prophetists attempt to claim 1) new divine revelation is being provided through the gift of prophecy today, and 2) this does not threaten or rival the authority of Scripture. We would suggest that most discerning people will see a contradiction here that cannot be avoided, and which puts prophetists in a very dangerous place. As we discuss below, God hates false claims of revelations from Him.

Regardless of how modern prophetists wish to protect themselves from the charge of heresy in claiming new divine revelation, they are clearly doing that. We have already quoted Wayne Grudem as claiming that the modern gift of prophecy involves: “telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.” ^[3]

Likewise, charismatic theologian C. Samuel Storms has claimed:

[Modern prophecy] is altogether free from error. It is as infallible as [God] is. It contains no falsehoods, it is wholly true in all its parts. Indeed, the revelation, which is the root of every genuine prophetic utterance, is as inerrant and infallible as the written Word of God itself, the Bible. In terms of the revelation alone, the New Testament prophetic gift does not differ from the Old Testament prophetic gift. ^[4]

In addition, we can quote one of the foremost and founding theologians of charismaticism, J. Rodman Williams:

The Bible truly has become a fellow witness to God’s present activity. . . . If someone today perhaps has a vision of God, it is good to know that it has happened before; if one has a revelation from God, to know that for the early Christians revelation also occurred in the community; if one speaks a “Thus says the Lord,” and dares to address the fellowship in the first person— even going beyond the words of Scripture—that this was happening long ago. ^[5]

Dr. Williams is clearly saying that the Bible is not our final source of God’s revelation, but simply an additional “witness” to the revelation that God is giving today. Dr. Williams is clearly declaring that Christians can add to the Bible—and that they can expect God to reveal new divine revelation through others.

Likewise, a foremost historian of charismaticism, Richard Quebedeaux, is simply honest about the place of Scripture in this movement when he writes:

In Neo-Pentecostalism spiritual authority rests ultimately in the present activity and teaching of the Holy Spirit at least as much as in the Bible itself, whose essential truth is made known to individuals only by the power of the Spirit. Thus Charismatic Renewal rejects “bibliolatry.” ^[6]

And along with it, the historically held authority of Scripture.

On the European continent, one of the foremost promoters of prophetism, Anglican Bishop Michael Green, is also honest about the movement’s claims to new divine revelation:

In prophecy God was communicating directly with men through men. The Prophet shared with the Apostle in being an agent of revelation. . . . What is this varied thing, Christian prophecy? First and foremost, it was a direct word from God for the situation on hand, through the mouth of one of his people. . . . [I]t is . . . to find the Spirit taking over and speaking directly from Christ through you, in words that you had never intended to use at all [so much for there being error in the human communication of prophetic revelation]. . . .

It is encouraging that this gift has been recovered in our day, and that men and women do, as the Spirit leads them, give a word direct from God to their congregation. ^[7]

In light of prophetism’s claims, it is not surprising that one of their most popular authors, Jack Deere, would make the following statement:

In order to fulfill God’s highest purpose for our lives we must be able to hear His voice both in the written word and in the Word freshly spoken from heaven. . . . Satan understands the strategic importance of Christians hearing God’s voice so he has launched various attacks against us [who promote prophetism] in this area. One of his most successful attacks has been to develop a doctrine that teaches God no longer speaks to us except through the written word. Ultimately this doctrine is demonic even though Christian theologians have been used to perfect it. ^[8]

Several points can be made. First, Mr. Deere’s viewpoint is not on the fringe of prophetism, but at its very heart. Secondly, we need only to compare Mr. Deere’s statement with the Reformers’ insistence that Scripture contains, “all things necessary for [God’s] own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life” (cf. Westminster Confession), to recognize that prophetism has significantly separated itself from historical orthodox Christianity in a very critical doctrine.

A.2) Some Evangelical Responses to Prophetism

Thankfully, some Evangelical theologians have attempted to warn the Church of the heresy inherent in modern prophetism. The very influential Bible teacher, D. M. Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), who was sympathetic to charismaticism in general, nevertheless wrote:

This is a most important matter and it is one of the first tests that we must apply to anything that offers itself to us as a new manifestation of the Holy Spirit, particularly in this matter of gifts. Watch the place that is given to the Scriptures. You will often find in the history of such movements that, while they start well, there is an increasing tendency on their part to use Scripture less and less and to attach greater and greater significance to what they call ‘prophetic messages’. They talk more about them, pay more attention to them, and begin to print them instead of expositions of the word of God; that is always a most dangerous sign.

In Scripture is all the truth we need, and what we need is the illumination of the Holy Spirit upon our minds to enable us to understand it and to expound it. So I would lay it down as a valuable and general rule, that if you see an increasing tendency to base a position less and less upon the Scriptures, and to spend less and less time in expounding them, but more and more time in what are claimed to be direct messages from the Spirit, then you are entitled to have all your suspicions aroused and it is your duty to be on guard. ^[9]

More recently, the respected Bible teacher John MacArthur has written regarding mysticism in general and prophetism in particular:

Waging war on reason and truth, it is thus in direct conflict with Christ and Scripture. It has taken hold rapidly because it promises what so many people are seeking: something more, something better, something richer, something easier-something fast and easy to substitute for a life of careful, disciplined obedience to the Word of Christ. And because so many lack certainty that their sufficiency is in Christ, mysticism has caught many Christians unaware. It has thus swept much of the church into a dangerous netherworld of confusion and false teaching. . .

Ironically, a new breed of self-appointed prophets has arisen. These religious quacks tout their own dreams and visions with [the] phrase, “The Lord told me.” That is mysticism, and it preys on people looking for some secret truth that will add to the simplicity of God’s all-sufficient, once-for-all delivered Word [in Scripture]. ^[10]

J. I. Packer, another respected theologian sympathetic to prophetism, has nonetheless written:

Charismatic theology . . . looks loose, erratic, and naïve, and the movement’s tolerance of variations, particularly when these are backed by “prophecies” received through prayer, suggests a commitment to given truth in Scripture that is altogether too fragile. . . .

Sincere but deluded claims to direct divine revelation have been made in the church since the days of the Colossian heretic(s) and the Gnosticizers whose defection called forth I John, and since Satan keeps pace with God, they will no doubt recur till the Lord returns. At this point the charismatic movement, with its stress on the Spirit’s personal leading and the revival of revelations via prophecy, is clearly vulnerable. ^[11]

Likewise, one of the more respected Evangelical theologians of the twentieth century, Carl F. H. Henry (1919-2003) wrote:

The carping comment that the Holy Spirit has been gagged by evangelicals, who emphasize the completion of the canon, is an outright caricature. The far larger danger is that human beings will snap a lock on the Bible. . . .

The increasing number of Charismatic Christians who profess to speak prophetic utterances by the Spirit’s revelation are not yet widely perceived as a threat to orthodoxy because, as Dale Vree says, these utterances are usually “very personal and doctrinally conventional” (On Synthesizing Marxism and Christianity, p. 18). Yet every departure from the express teaching of Scripture, every appeal to a knowledge immediately given by the Spirit rather than through the prophetic-apostolic Word, increases the possibility of generating still another novel cult. The Charismatic emphasis on “a fresh word” from Christ by the Spirit suggests an immediate revelational authority different from that of the scripturally mediated word.

Some of the conciliar welcome given to the Pentecostal “third force” stemmed from ecumenical interest in a view of religious authority that is less insistent than historic Christianity on the Bible as the final rule of faith and practice. Spirit-oriented movements of recent times tend to appeal first to the Spirit and then ransack the Bible for verses to support their special views. . . .

Christian orthodoxy in the past identified such extravagant pronouncements as evidence of a false prophet; Christian ecumenism today commends them as prophetic frontiersmanship. The modern openness to Charismatic emphases is directly traceable to the neglect by mainstream Christian denominations of an adequate doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It is conceded almost everywhere that recovery of the vitalities of the Spirit is a major Christian imperative. ^[12]

Elsewhere, Dr. Henry pointed out that the claims of modern prophetism make it little different from a cult:

The rise of recent theologies of ongoing sporadic revelation [in the Charismatic movement] was in some measure an attempt to compensate for the obscuring of the dynamic power of the biblical revelation. Present-day pseudomessiahs who claim prophetic powers and revelatory credentials step into this same gap. The Korean cult-evangelist Sun Myung Moon, for example, prefaced his message to a mass audience in New York by saying: “I did not come here to repeat what you already know. I have come to reveal something new. I want to share with you a new revelation from God”. ^[13]

Moon’s language is virtually indistinguishable from that being espoused by leaders in prophetism. Accordingly, the Presbyterian theologian Donald Bloesch has written:

Theologically speaking, any group that bases its claims on new revelations that supersede biblical revelation is a cult. . . . [I]lluminism or spiritualism is another bane of the Pentecostal movement. In this aberration the inner light or private revelations become more authoritative than sacred Scripture or sacred tradition. . .

Pentecostalism has inherited two traditions: Montanism ^[14] and Protestant evangelicalism. While both claim to be biblical, Montanism is prone to elevate new revelations over the Bible and substitute the direct vision of God for simple trust. It also tends to foster spiritual elitism, whereas evangelicals stress the equal worth of all believers. As Pentecostals face the future I would encourage them to choose the way of the holy catholic faith over divisive enthusiasm. . . ^[15]

Along the same lines, the Baptist theologian, Millard Erickson has written:

[This] contemporary view is that religious authority resides in prophets present in the church. Throughout history various movements have had such prophetic leaders. Mohammed believed that he was a special prophet sent from God. Among the sixteenth-century Anabaptists were prophets who declared messages allegedly received from God.

There seems to have been a special outbreak of such persons and movements in recent years. Various cults have arisen, led by charismatic leaders claiming to have a special message from God. Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church are a conspicuous example, but many others come to mind as well. Even within mainline evangelicalism [certainly including prophetism], many people regard the word of certain “big name” speakers as almost equal in value with the Bible. ^[16]

Accordingly, the respected Bible scholar, Rene Pache, explains the effect that prophetism inevitably has on the unique authority of the Bible:

The excessive preeminence given to the Holy Spirit in their devotions and their preoccupation with gifts, ecstasies, and “prophecies” has tended to the neglect of the Scriptures. Why be tied to a Book out of the past when one can communicate every day with the living God? But this is exactly the point.

Apart from the constant control of the written revelation, we soon find ourselves engulfed in subjectivity; and the believer, even if he has the best intentions, can sink rapidly into deviations, illuminism or [self] exaltation.

Let each remind himself of the prohibition of taking anything away from Scripture or adding anything to it (Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18-19). Almost every heresy and sect has originated in a supposed revelation or a new experience on the part of its founder, something outside the strictly biblical framework. ^[17]

Finally, Robert Gaffin, Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster has written regarding the claims of modern prophetism:

This view, I cannot see otherwise, opens the door to revelation in the life of the church today that is neither (inscripturated) special, redemptive revelation nor general revelation (from ourselves, as created in God’s image, and the world about us). What is affirmed is a third kind of revelation that goes beyond both. It is more than “revelation” in the sense of the Spirit’s illumination for today of already revealed truth (Eph. 1:17; Phil. 3:15), more than thoughtful reflection and prayerful wrestling, prompted by the Spirit, about contemporary circumstances and problems in the light of Scripture.

In view is additional, immediate revelation that functions, especially where guidance is concerned, beyond Scripture and so unavoidably implies a certain insufficiency in Scripture that needs to be compensated for. The tendency of this view, no matter how carefully it is qualified, is to divert attention from Scripture, particularly in practical and pressing life issues. . . .

To use Calvin’s classic figure of the Bible as the eyeglasses indispensable for understanding ourselves and the rest of creation, prophecy is an additional lens that enhances vision; it temporarily augments or, on occasion, may even replace the lens of Scripture. That seems a fair assessment, especially in the light of how prophecy is usually understood to function today [by prophetism]. ^[18]

And if Dr. Gaffin’s and our assessment of the claims of prophetism and how they function in the Church are correct, then its claims deserve the label of heresy, deserving the Church’s staunch rejection of its promoters and practitioners, just as was done by the universal Church with the Montanists in the second century. ^[19] The second century Church did not stand for claims to the biblical gift of prophecy that did not meet its biblical attributes. And the Church for another many centuries did the same as demonstrated elsewhere regarding the historical response to prophetism. ^[20] This was because, as Gordon Lewis and Bruce Demarest write:

To preserve the unique authority of the foundational and only inerrant revelation (sola scriptura), Christians often challenge the pretensions of any church or cult that sees itself as an additional source of revelation for these latter days alongside the Lord, the prophets, and the apostles. ^[21]

Unfortunately, that simply is not true in our day, as surprisingly few confront claims to divine revelation apart from Scripture in our day. In previous generations there have been an abundance of ones like Irenaeus, Luther, Hodge, and Warfield to defend the authority of Scripture against the contemporary threat. But today, the scholars of the Church are silent, or seem too confused or polite to really be helpful.

We believe the degradation of the authority of Scripture has been immense within the modern prophetic movement. Other movements have had the same effect as well, but none greater than this one. Even so, when one compares the amount of Christian literature that has been written to defend the Scriptures against similar attacks on its authority (e.g. liberalism, higher criticism, neoorthodoxy, the errancy/inerrancy debate, and now postmodernism), one is surprised by the paltry defense that has been made against the dangers of prophetism. One can only guess why this is so, because the practical threat is at least as great as any others.

A.3) Prophetism’s Empty Disclaimers

Of course, prophetists are sensitive to being labeled as heretics, claiming new divine revelation from God apart from Scripture. Accordingly, they have offered several disclaimers. The primary one has been to claim that while the revelation of their “prophets” is as authoritative as Scripture, the human communication of that revelation is so prone to error that modern prophetic utterances should not be given the same authority as Scripture. We have elsewhere dealt with the ridiculous nature of such a claim, especially since even Scripture is divine revelation being communicated by humans. ^[22]

Likewise, we have noted that the simple claim that God has restored a Scripture gift like prophecy, undermines the unique authority of Scripture which was produced and authenticated by these gifts:

Accordingly, these mistaken perspectives unfortunately downgrade the God-ordained high and holy purpose that Scripture and sign gifts were intended to have. They were provided for nothing less than God’s decision to implement and authenticate a new covenant and the false claims to them for other purposes is not only unbiblical, but harmful to the Body of Christ.

If modern so-called “prophets” . . . possess the same gifts as those who supernaturally revealed and authenticated the covenants recorded in Scripture, then what authoritative superiority do Moses, Christ, and Paul have over them? None, if the modern claims to the same gifts are true.

Which is something God never intended, but which is the logical conclusion to popular teaching and practices in prophetism . . . resulting in the very devaluation of the authority of Scripture that is too often practiced among them to a significantly greater degree than those holding to the historical understanding of these issues. ^[23]

Of course, as we demonstrate elsewhere, prophetists attempt to redefine the biblical Scripture and sign gifts into something less authoritative and miraculous then they were in Scripture so that they match the diminished forms they are claimed to have today. But this is just another example of false teachers speaking out of both sides of their mouth. Prophetists cannot claim biblical precedent for their gifts and then claim they are not the same thing, or something less than what they were in Scripture. The classic example of this is Dr. Grudem’s redefinition of the gift of prophecy, claiming NT and OT prophecy were different, with the latter being the less authoritative and miraculously authenticated kind practiced today. This in spite of the NT example of Agabus who spoke directly for God and perfectly predicted the future twice (cf. Acts 11:27-8; 21:10ff). ^[24]

Along these lines, Reformed theologian Sinclair Ferguson has written:

It is not adequate in this context to suggest (as Grudem and others do) that those who exercise second-level prophecy should avoid prefacing their ‘prophecies’ with such statements as ‘Thus says the Lord’. After all, Agabus, in the biblical ‘example’ of [Grudem’s] second-level prophecy, prefaces his words with ‘The Holy Spirit says’ (Acts 21:11). This is the common language of prophecy. In terms of origin, authority and reliability it belongs to exactly the universe of discourse which Acts elsewhere uses of the divine inspiration and the plenary authority of Scripture (Acts 4:25; cf. 1:16; 28:25). . . .

This brings us directly to the ‘storm centre’ of current debate. New revelation, be it in the form of tradition or the golden tablets of Joseph Smith, principally undermines the sufficiency of Scripture, and becomes defacto the dominant factor, at least at certain points, in the canon by which the individual lives.

Is it not, therefore, special pleading on the part of evangelicals to claim that prophecies received by them function in an altogether different way? While it is denied that additions are being made to the canon of Scripture, it is nevertheless implied that an actual addition is being made to the canon of living. Otherwise, the illumination of Scripture and the wisdom to apply it would be sufficient.

Grudem himself suggests that the expression ‘Thus says the Lord’ should be ‘dropped’, and appears to agree with Timothy Pain that wording such as ‘I think the Lord is suggesting something like . . .’ would be more appropriate. It is right to suggest that this former language leads to a confusion of ‘second-level prophecy’ with canonical prophecy. But surely we need to go further; for no level of prophecy in Scripture is introduced by ‘I think the Lord is suggesting something like this’. To speak thus is not to speak prophecy at all. The recognition that this is not prophecy in any biblical sense would solve the difficulty without any danger of the quenching of the Spirit which restorationists so fear. . . .

If God’s special revelation continues in an extra-biblical manner, it is a psychological probability that it will come to exercise a canonical function. It is curious that evangelicals, who have so often assumed that this is a fatal flaw in the Roman Catholic doctrine of continuing extra-biblical revelation (in tradition), do not recognize the parallel within Protestantism. ^[25]

A final, and equally weak tactic used by modern prophetism to allay fears that it is committing heresy is to claim that all modern “prophecies” are to be evaluated with Scripture. Accordingly, Evangelical Free Pastor Doug Bannister, a leader in charismaticism writes, “No charismatic leader I know of believes that these revelatory gifts [prophecy, knowledge, etc.] speak with the same authority as Scripture.” ^[26] Unfortunately, it is impossible for prophetists to claim such a thing when they at the same time claim any consistent kind of authentic extrabiblical revelation from God apart from Scripture. Divine revelation is divine revelation no matter what kind of different categories prophetists may like to come up with.

Accordingly, promoters of prophetism do little to correct its dangers when they insist that all “prophecies” should be authenticated with Scripture. In other words, the claim is that if the “prophet” doesn’t communicate something that contradicts Scripture, it can be considered a reliable source of revelation from God. Accordingly, Mr. Bannister writes concerning the supposed revelatory abilities claimed in prophetism:

[T]hese gifts are divinely prompted guidance or direction that needs to be tested and weighed against Scripture. . . . Does the prophecy agree with Scripture? Spirit-led prophecy will always agree with Scripture because the Spirit of prophecy is the Spirit of Scripture. Many of the prophetic words I have heard are actually citations of Scripture applied to a specific situation.

When the prophetic word does not speak a scriptural truth, the message in the word must be in perfect harmony with scriptural revelation. This does not mean that prophecy cannot address certain specific events or details in a person’s life that are not recorded in Scripture. It does mean that any behavioral change suggested by the specific prophetic word must match Scripture.^[27]

While we can appreciate Mr. Bannister’s attempt to maintain orthodoxy, his arguments are meaningless, ineffective, and seem insincere. First, if words of prophecy are to be “in perfect harmony” with Scripture than why in the world do we need such prophecy at all? Prophets in the Bible spoke extrabiblical revelation and if “prophets” today do not do so then are they really Prophets? The honest and biblical answer is “No.”

If modern prophetic words are simply instruction and encouragement that is “in perfect harmony” with Scripture, then why aren’t other gifts such as teaching, encouragement, pastoring, and leadership able to fully fulfill this function, not to mention the average Christian in their personal devotionals? Mr. Bannister and prophetists cannot have it both ways. Either modern prophecy does provide extrabiblical revelation or it is useless because we have Scripture, and real spiritual gifts in the Church that are fully capable of helping us understand and apply it.

Secondly, Mr. Bannister’s attempt at addressing the dangers of prophetism is practically ineffective. When you tell believers that there is a potential source of divine revelation that is more specific than Scripture, they will be greatly tempted to seek it and accept it even when it cannot be completely authenticated with Scripture. You should not teach a child of God that there is an abundance of mystical cotton candy available in prophetist’s forms of revelation, and then expect them to confine themselves to the real nourishing vegetables of Scripture.

As discussed further below, prophetism plays on the natural human desire for the specific divine guidance that has driven occultic divination throughout human history. ^[28] While prophetists can communicate disclaimers about the importance of testing their “revelations” with Scripture, in practice, such disclaimers are very often not followed by prophetist themselves, and it is the fault of prophetist teachers themselves who, out of the other side of their mouth, promote extrabiblical revelation.

Finally, the reality in prophetism is that many of the “revelations” that come through supposed “prophecies,” especially the more specific and therefore sought-after ones, cannot be evaluated with Scripture. Dr. Gaffin writes:

Virtually all continuationists [e.g. prophetists] insist that prophecy is always subordinate to Scripture and must be tested by it, so that its [the Scripture’s] sufficiency and authority is maintained. But how will such testing take place? Prophecy in the New Testament (e.g., Agabus), and as it allegedly takes place today, sometimes has a specificity that simply cannot be evaluated by existing Scripture.

For instance, a particular course of action urged upon an individual or group on the basis of a dream cannot be judged by the Bible other than whether the proposed action might involve violating a biblical commandment. For the rest, it is a matter of trying to judge “apples” with “oranges”. Scripture by its very nature is silent precisely on those details that give the dream [or “prophecy”] its specific and distinct (and sought-after) “revelatory” significance and appeal. ^[29]

In other words, “prophecies” that are too specific to be authenticated with Scripture leave people with no certain way of knowing if they are from God, or merely the “prophet.” Likewise, the more general “prophecies” like “God loves you” etc., and that can be authenticated by Scripture, are unnecessary, or at least cannot be distinguished from other spiritual gifts such as teaching or encouragement, a distinction clearly made in Scripture (cf. Rom 12:6-8).

Finally, because the disclaimers of modern prophetists about the ongoing authority of Scripture are so obviously meaningless and ineffective in the context of their doctrines and practices, they seem insincere, and appear to be offered only to avoid the charge of false teaching which they may very well deserve.

B) Modern Prophetism Deceives Christians & Practices Divination

And this is something that too few seem to be taking seriously enough. Has the Church completely forgotten the gravity of claiming to be a Prophet of God, but actually being self-deceived and deceiving others? When the second-rate “prophets” of modern prophetism claim among the greatest positions in God’s church, but upon their own admission do not reliably speak God’s words, or authenticate themselves by predicting the future, one shudders to think how many of them will meet Christ one day and say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,” and the Lord “will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers” (Matt 7:22-23).

There are a multitude of “prophets” in the Church today who should be very thankful that God has probably withdrawn His desire that, “a prophet who presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded him to say . . . must be put to death” (Deut 18:20).

One of the obvious reasons God despises false “prophets” is that they deceive and mislead His people away from His will. We read in Deuteronomy:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, ² and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.

The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ It is the LORD your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.

⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God . . . he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deut 13:1-5)

False claims to the gift of prophecy test God’s people and reveal whether or not they love Him. To fail to test and authenticate and expose false prophecy is to fail the test of loving God. Unfortunately, this is happening in abundance in the Church today.

Unfortunately, many people in the Church are consulting false “prophets” for spiritual direction and being misled in the process. Oftentimes, one of these unauthenticated “prophets” will prophesy some sort of future prediction over a person. As a result, the person may be tempted to act in accordance with this and pursue a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The author knows of a young female missionary who was told by a “prophet” in the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) organization that she would soon be married. She testifies that this “prophecy” caused her to be on the outlook for this prophesied “husband.” When a young man showed interest in her shortly thereafter, she was inclined to think this was something God was orchestrating, and therefore ignored the need for discernment and sound judgment. Unfortunately, she ended up marrying the man, who despite his claims, turned out to be an adulterous unbeliever. That “prophet” and the young missionary’s trust in him have caused her a great deal of pain. And the doctrines and practices of prophetism have multiplied this very thing.

Tom Stipe, former member of the Board of Directors for the Vineyard Association of Churches, a foremost promoter of prophetism, recounts that in this movement:

Dreams and their interpretation soon moved to center stage as [Vineyard] prophecy conferences taught devotees to keep a pencil and notebook on their nightstands to write down each dream as it occurred. These were later interpreted [by “prophets”] for God’s message.

People lived on the edge of their seats, waiting for the grandiose promises of prophesies to come true. Most waited in vain. Not long after [this] became the primary source of direction, a trail of devastated believers began to line up outside our pastoral counseling offices . . . [suffering from] shattered hopes because God had apparently gone back on his promises . . . Many were left to continually live from one prophetic “fix” to the next, their hope always in danger of failing because God’s voice was so specific in pronouncement, yet so elusive in fulfillment. ^[30]

A similar example of unnecessary damage to a child of God because of the plague of prophetism is related by Jack Deere, who admits that he witnessed a “prophet” once calling an eighteen year old kid out of a crowd of 800 people and claiming that the Holy Spirit had told him that the kid was addicted to pornography. Imagine being that kid. Imagine being the parents of that kid. Then imagine that the “prophet’s” so-called “prophecy” was proven and admitted to be completely false, because that is precisely what happened. Still, in order to protect his “doctrine” of prophetism, Mr. Deere writes:

But you know what? God is in the process of offending our minds in order to reveal our hearts . . . And I don’t know any place where He is going to give us a pure ministry. I don’t know any place where it’s going to be 100 percent right. There’s going to be stumbling blocks in every ministry that the Holy Spirit is really responsible for. ^[31]

To suggest that such a ministry is the work of the Holy Spirit is blasphemy.

Mr. Bannister is equally flippant about the fruit of prophetism and writes, “[I]f we want fresh air, we have to be willing to live with a few flies.” ^[32] On the contrary, the presence of flies can indicate that there is something rotten in your midst. Could we point out similar devastating “mistakes” in the biblical record? No, which is just one more reason to doubt these are biblical ministries.

Because divine authority in prophetism has shifted from Scripture to human sources of new divine revelation, authority in the Church has been misplaced as well. J. I. Packer speaks to this very danger when he writes:

The person with unhealthy ambitions to be a religious leader, dominating a group by giving them the sense that he is closer to God than they are, can easily climb on the charismatic bandwagon and find there good-hearted, emotionally dependent folk waiting to be impressed by him. So, too, the opinionated eccentric can easily invoke the Spirit’s direction when he refuses to let his pastor stop him from disrupting the congregation with his odd ideas. Living as it does on the edge of illuminism, the movement cannot but have problems here. ^[33]

In a similar vein, the highly respected theologian Alister McGrath writes regarding the dangers of misplaced authority in the Charismatic movement:

There are remarkable, and disturbing, parallels between the distorted idea of priesthood in the medieval church and the notion of ministry found within modern power evangelicalism [i.e. Charismaticism]. Both are intensely authoritarian. Both rest upon an ideology of power, which places the right to speak for God in the hands of a small and unaccountable elite. Both studiously ignore the possibility that they might get God wrong, and the deeply threatening and humiliating possibility that God might choose to challenge and correct them through ordinary lay folk within their undervalued congregations. ^[34]

The prophetism inherent in Charismatic doctrine and practice automatically and illegitimately puts people on different levels of spiritual authority based on supposed claims to direct divine revelation. Dr. McGrath goes on to point out that when Scripture is maintained as the only authority amongst Christians, the equal authority of all Christians to know the word of God is maintained. Accordingly, he writes:

The accountability of ministers to their people rests upon the existence of means by which their preaching, ministry, and teaching may be checked. Scripture is the sole God-given and God-authorized means by which the people of God can claim to speak in the name of their God. We must “test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). We must “test everything,” holding “on to the good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). If one loses sight of the objective and public character of the Scriptures, one is defenseless against the power evangelical [mega mystic] who declares, “God told me to say this,” or, “I had a personal revelation from God authorizing me to behave in this way.” ^[35]

Dr. McGrath illustrates his concern by relating the claims of prophetist leader Kenneth Copeland:

In relating an alleged visitation he received from Jesus Christ, Kenneth Copeland, who claims to be an evangelical, reports that Jesus told him, “Don’t be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you’re God. . . . They crucified me for claiming I was God.”‘ One of the most disturbing tendencies in some of the more irresponsible leaders is a willingness to blur the vital distinction between the will of God and the will of the leader himself. Copeland is thus able to place himself on the same plane as Jesus Christ, claiming the same divine authority for his actions. In this vision, Copeland hears Christ tell him, “I didn’t claim that I was God; I just claimed I walked with him, and that he was in me. Hallelujah! That’s what you’re doing. ^[36]

We are reminded of the following sad commentary of God concerning Israel, and it especially saddens us because such harmful heresy is being allowed to occur in God’s own precious Church among His precious people. God says to these deceived and deceiving churches: “The idols speak deceit, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd” (Zech 10:2). At least a shepherd with the correct biblical understanding, courage, and humility to stand up to such demonic invasions of His Church.

Alarmingly, such practices border on the pagan practice of divination, which is attempting to know God’s will or the future apart from His designated means, and outright prohibited by God (cf. Deut 18:9-13). ^[37] One reason for this is the devastating effects such divination can have in the lives of God’s people. Along these lines we have written elsewhere:

Particularly in the area of miraculous communication it is important to properly distinguish the human from the divine. . . . Those in the prophetist, super-supernatural, and mega mystical camp are in danger of misinterpreting “prophesies” and private inspirations as miraculous communications from God and therefore giving them an authority over their lives they do not deserve, with potentially devastating results.

If thoughts and ideas are properly recognized as having natural sources, we will recognize as well that they are fallible and not worthy of the unquestionable trust we give a word of God. On the other hand, if you think such extra-biblical direction is from God, you will have too much confidence in it and when such direction fails, be tempted to blame God. ^[38]

Accordingly, the famous pagan spiritualist M. Lamar Keene writes:

One of the most alarming things about the mediumistic racket is how completely some people put their lives into the hands of ill-educated, emotionally unbalanced individuals who claim a hot line to heaven. As a medium I was routinely asked about business decisions, marital problems, whether to have an abortion, how to improve sexual performance, and similar intimate and important subjects. That people who ask such questions of a medium are risking their mental, moral and monetary health is a shocking but quite accurate description of the matter. ^[39]

Likewise, M. Blaine Smith writes in his book on divine guidance:

It is hard, in fact, to exaggerate the unsettling impact which prophetic pronouncements can have upon our psyche. . . . It’s remarkable, the persuasive power someone can have who assumes the role of prophet in your life. Even an anonymous personality in the mail. Most of us are stirred much more than we’d like to admit by anyone’s unequivocal statement about our future. While our rational side says, “This is ridiculous,” our intuitive side cringes. We can’t get the thought out of mind, “What if?” . . .

Prophetic messages, regardless of their nature or source, have their effect on us. It is this effect that is so well understood by the spiritualist personalities in every primitive culture and which gives them their almost unchallenged authority to direct the lives of others. But even in enlightened, scientific society, the effect can be powerful. Human psychology remains basically the same. . . .

[W]hen you receive a prophecy to do something you haven’t contemplated doing-especially if it is diametrically opposed to what you’re inclined to do-the effect can be traumatic. I’ve counseled with a number of people who have received such prophecies. Most . . . have still been left terribly befuddled. Many hours have been spent mulling it over, wondering, “Should I do this? What if this is the will of God and I just don’t realize it? What if I don’t follow the prophecy? Will something terrible happen to me?” ^[40]

False prophets deceiving God’s people have been an ancient problem. In the second century document the Shepherd of Hermas, which was a highly regarded and authoritative prophecy in the early Church, we get an early Christian perspective on the types of “prophets” who give personal prophecies and the type of people affected by them:

It is the doubters, not the faithful, that he ruins. These doubters then go to him as to a soothsayer, and inquire of him what will happen to them; and he, the false prophet, not having the power of a Divine Spirit in him, answers them according to their inquiries, and according to their wicked desires, and fills their souls with expectations, according to their own wishes. For being himself empty, he gives empty answers to empty inquirers; for every answer is made to the emptiness of man. Some true words he does occasionally utter; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, in the hope that he may be able to overcome some of the righteous.

As many, then, as are strong in the faith of the Lord, and are clothed with truth, have no connection with such spirits, but keep away from them; but as many as are of doubtful minds and frequently repent, betake themselves to soothsaying, even as the heathen, and bring greater sin upon themselves by their idolatry. For he who inquires of a false prophet in regard to any action is an idolater, and devoid of the truth, and foolish. For no spirit given by God requires to be asked; but such a spirit having the power of Divinity speaks all things of itself, for it proceeds from above from the power of the Divine Spirit. . . . when asked He [the Holy Spirit] makes no reply; nor does He speak privately, nor when man wishes the Spirit to speak does the Holy Spirit speak, but it speaks only when God wishes it to speak. ^[41]

Accordingly, even the Pentecostal NT scholar Gordon Fee writes:

There is no Pauline evidence for the phenomenon known in contemporary circles as “personal prophecy,” whereby someone prophesies over another as to very personal matters in their lives. Where such might appear to be the case (e.g., 1 Tim 1:18; 4:14), there is community affirmation (testing?) by way of the laying on of hands by the elders. Otherwise prophecy seems to be a strictly community affair, for the sake of the community’s corporate life. ^[42]

C) God’s Hatred for Modern Prophetism

We have written elsewhere:

Christ’s warning that there will be “many” self-deceived and deceiving people who claim to “prophesy” in Christ’s name [cf. Matt 7:22-23] suggests that biblical and diligent authentication of would-be prophets is for their own protection as well. For example, if such people knew they needed to be able to accurately predict the future in order to prove their gift, far fewer would risk the embarrassment today, and death in the OT [cf. Deut 18:20], for wrongly perceiving themselves as possessing the gift of prophecy.

Modern would-be prophets dangerously assume that God’s attitude has changed from when He said: “A Prophet who presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded him to say . . . must be put to death” (Deut 18:20). Obviously, God has now set aside the death penalty for such people. But the OT command illustrates God’s attitude toward those who take a claim to the gift of prophecy so lightly. Can the multitude of “prophets” in the Church today confidently claim that God “commanded” them “to say” what they said? They had better be, because to “presume to speak” in God’s name something He had not specifically and personally commanded the person to say, was to commit a great sin against God and the people. ^[43]

Fortunately for all of those who falsely claim the gift of prophecy today, we are under the New Covenant of grace. And while that may change how we are to respond to presumptuous “prophets,” it does not change how God feels about them. As will be demonstrated below, there are few things in Scripture that God says He gets angrier about then when someone claims to speak for Him, but are actually speaking their own thoughts.

The first reason for God’s anger is that He hates arrogance and there is nothing more arrogant than to claim to speak for God, when in reality, He has not given you any new revelation to speak. This is why He said of rebellious Israel, “Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men” (Zeph 3:4). God will personally oppose such people (cf. 1 Pet 5:5).

The second reason God hates modern prophetism is that it promotes the grave sin of lying. The content of so-called prophetic utterances today may not violate Scripture, but the claim to have received it as a special, extra-biblical revelation from God is especially sinful, if in fact, they are merely speaking things they thought of themselves. Prophetists seem to care very little about lying, even though God cares about it a great deal. Accordingly, we have written elsewhere:

In Colossians, the Apostle Paul simply commands, “Do not lie to each other” (3:9; cf. Eph 4:25; 1 Tim. 1:10, 13). The Scriptures indicate that no true Christian will be gripped by this sin enough that they might be called “liars,” for such people are damned to Hell (cf. Rev 21:8, 27; 22:15). Lying is so demonic that Christ referred to it as the devil’s “native language” (John 8:44). Biblically speaking, there is no work more destructive and demonic than lying. God’s view of fraud within the Church is graphically portrayed by His killing Ananias and Sapphira for this very thing (cf. 5:1-10). In contrast, lying, exaggeration, and fraud seem quite rampant in the Church today, particularly in super-supernatural [which includes prophetism] environments. ^[44]

Accordingly, God describes false prophets as, “lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds” (Jer 23:26). A “lying prophet” is one who claims to have a revelation from God, but does not. And a “lying prophet” is the same thing in Scripture as a false prophet. And God’s attitude toward false prophets is scary. In Proverbs we read:

Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar. (Prov 30:5-6)

God promised the real Prophet Isaiah that lying, false prophets will be “cut off” from His people and made “fools of” (Isa 9:14, 16; 44:24). The Israelites confessed their own false prophecies when they said, “Our sins testify against us [including] . . . uttering lies our hearts have conceived” (Isa 59:13), which is no doubt what many of those claiming the gift of prophecy today are doing.

While many in the Church today do not seem to care much about this grievous sin, we should not forget that Jesus promised:

[T]he cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. (Rev 21:8)

We fear that many of these attributes very well describe the celebrities of prophetism in the Church, and while they may enjoy the popularity of many people today, they will experience the condemnation of God for all eternity. You do not want to be a “lying prophet” who claims to represent God.

God told the Prophet Jeremiah many things that, alarmingly, could be said to many prophetist congregations today:

The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them. . . . Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds (Jer 5:13; 14:14; cf. Lam 2:14).

What if there was a real biblical Prophet in the Church today? How many of the “prophets” of prophetism today would he expose as frauds, just like God did through Jeremiah when He spoke words that anyone claiming to be, or listen to, a “prophet” today had better heed:

The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly. Both prophet and priest are godless; even in My temple [and in today’s Church] I find their wickedness,” declares the LORD. Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall. I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the LORD (vs. 10-12). . . .

Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal [a false god] and led My people Israel astray (v. 13) [which describes both the merely human and demonic prophesying occurring today]. . . .

Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: “I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD (vs. 15-16). . . .

But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear His word? (v. 18). [Virtually none of those claiming the gift of prophecy today, honestly claim to have received their revelations in a vision as all biblical Prophets did ^[45]]

“I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied [How often is that happening in prophetist churches today?]. But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people” (vs. 21-22). . . .

“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in My name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ [Most prophetists cannot even claim that]. How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? . . . . Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has My word speak it faithfully” (vs. 25-26, 28). . . .

“Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from Me. Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the LORD. “They tell them and lead My people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the LORD. (vs. 30-32)

“When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the oracle of the LORD?’ say to them, ‘What oracle? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’ If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is the oracle of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. This is what each of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative: ‘What is the LORD’S answer?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ But you must not mention ‘the oracle of the LORD’ again, because every man’s own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God.

This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the LORD’S answer to you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ Although you claim, ‘This is the oracle of the LORD,’ this is what the LORD says: You used the words, ‘This is the oracle of the LORD,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is the oracle of the LORD.’ Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of My presence . . . I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.” (vs. 33-40)

So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers (Jer 27:9) [which describes much of what is occurring in churches practicing prophetism].

Then the Prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies [like the doctrines supporting prophetism]. Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the Earth. This very year you are going to die . . . In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died (Jer 28:15-17) [Something we believe God would do today to a lying prophet as well].

Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in My name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD (Jer 29:8).

Lying prophets were a plague to God’s people and He had to address it several times through several real Prophets. Finally, we will quote from the Prophet Ezekiel:

The word of the LORD came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the LORD! ³ This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! . . .

Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, “The LORD declares,” when the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled. ⁷ Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The LORD declares,” though I have not spoken?

Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. . . .

Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them . . . You have profaned Me among My people . . . by lying to My people, who listen to lies. (Ezek 13:1-19)

Such warnings regarding false claims to the gift of prophecy are not only in the OT, but the NT as well.

This last rebuke in Ezekiel seems to apply a great deal to what is going on in prophetists churches when women not only violate Paul’s command that no female prophets can speak in an assembly where men are present (cf. 1 Cor 14:33-35; 1 Tim 2:12), but also claim and then speak a supposed revelation from God, when in reality it is their own thoughts, and they will not and cannot prove the difference. Such churches surely come under the displeasure of Christ communicated to the Christian church in Thyatira:

These are the words of the Son of God, Whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. ¹⁹ I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am He Who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev 2:18-24)

There are three different groups of people being addressed in this passage, and Christ is not pleased with any of them because of their unwillingness to take claims to the gift of prophecy seriously.

First, Christ addresses the Christians in the church: “I have this against you: You [singular] tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.” These Christians did not test her claims and expose her as a false messenger of God, unlike the Ephesian church of whom Jesus said: “I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false” (Rev 2:2). John MacArthur seems right when he comments that “The use of the singular pronoun [“you”] points this admonition especially to the leader of the congregation.” ^[46] Would you like the Head of the Church to have something “against you” because you do not practice biblical discernment when it comes to claims to speak for God in your congregation?

Nevertheless, this congregation evidently had many Christians who Christ commended for, “your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance.” In one sense, this church looked very healthy. But in the midst of all these committed Christians, and probably precisely because there was so much good occurring in this church, there was a wicked women claiming to have the gift of prophecy.

Accordingly, Christ addressed the false “prophetess” who not only, “clearly professes the Christian faith” ^[47] but was “a prominent woman claiming the gift of prophecy.” ^[48] This was their first sin. As discussed elsewhere, the Apostle Paul banned female prophetesses from speaking in the assembly, nevertheless, modern prophetism is prominently led and practiced by women and many congregations allow women to commit this sin. As already noted, the congregation’s and leaders’ second sin was not biblically testing the woman’s claims to the gift of prophecy.

What was Christ’s attitude toward this woman who falsely claimed to speak for God? He promised to inflict “suffering” on her. Likewise, He warns His “servants” whom “she misleads” and therefore “commit [spiritual] adultery with her” that He “will make” them “suffer intensely” and “strike her children [followers] dead.” Understand that the Lord is talking about Christians (“My servants”) who have allowed a false “prophetess” to minister among them, and eventually “mislead” them, in spite of all the NT commands and warnings to not allow such evil in the house of God. ^[49]

But God will not be mocked. If these Christians do not repent of their prophetism He will severely discipline them, so “the churches will know that I am He Who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” We still wait for God’s judgment on churches, Pastors, and Christians who tolerate prophetism in our own day. But it will come.

Michael Wilcock writes in his commentary:

Against beleaguered Christians like those at Pergamum [cf. Rev 2:12-17], Satan uses the pressures of the world to ‘squeeze’ them ‘into its own mould’ (Rom. 12:2, ^[50]jbp); but where the church is noted for its growth and vigour (verse 19 [like Thyatira]), he knows that he can do most damage not by pressure without but by poison within.

So in Thyatira a particular woman takes on both the evil character of Jezebel and the prophetic role of Balaam, and begins to teach, as if from God, new ‘deep things’ which some members of this strong and lively church are only too willing to explore. . . . [M]any have so pretended, and their revelations, when divorced from what Scripture has already revealed, can be ‘a very horrid thing’ indeed. Their sinister voice is often heard in the midst of surging spiritual enthusiasms. ^[51]

Likewise, Dr. MacArthur writes:

The penetrating gaze of the Lord of the church had discerned serious error, causing Him to warn I have this against you.  The indictment is that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 

The sin, apparently involving the majority of the Thyatira church’s members, was twofold. First, they violated the biblical teaching that women are not to be teachers or preachers in the church (1 Tim. 2:12). That led them to tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. They compounded their error of permitting her to teach by allowing her to teach error. As a result, Jesus declares, she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. . . .

Divine judgment was about to fall not only on Jezebel, but also on those who commit adultery with her.  The Lord threatens to cast them into great tribulation—not the eschatological tribulation described in Revelation 4–19, but distress or trouble. Since these were the sinning Christians who had believed her lies, the Lord does not threaten to send them to hell as He did the false prophetess. ^[52] He promises to bring them severe chastening—possibly even physical death (cf. 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 John 5:16)—unless they repent of her deeds.

The severe judgment promised to the false prophetess and her followers again reveals Christ’s passion for a doctrinally and behaviorally pure church. He will do whatever is necessary to purge His church of sin —even to the point of taking the lives of false teachers. That sobering reality should cause all who purport to be teachers and preachers [how about “prophets”!] in the church to be certain they are speaking the truth (cf. James 3:1). It should also warn Christians who are following false teachers to repent of their sins, lest they face divine chastening. . . .

It is not known how many in that congregation responded to Christ’s warning, but, tragically, the Thyatira church as a whole apparently did not heed it. History records that it fell prey to the Montanist heresy (a movement led by a false prophet who claimed continuing revelation from God apart from Scripture) ^[53] and went out of existence by the end of the second century. ^[54]

And the King is not done condemning prophetism in the Revelation: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.” (Rev 22:18). Don’t the “prophecies” being claimed today practically “add” to “the prophecy of this book”? Those who would doubt this had better be sure Jesus would not think so, because the consequences are disastrous. ^[55]

Dr. MacArthur is worth quoting here as well

The speaker who testifies to the authority and finality of the words of the prophecy of this book is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. v. 20). His solemn warning against tampering with Scripture applies first of all to the prophecy of the book of Revelation (cf. 1:3). Its stern rebukes of Jezebel and her followers (2:20–23), those who had embraced the “deep things of Satan” (2:24), and those of the “synagogue of Satan” (3:9) would have prompted them to assault it.

But in light of the repeated warnings against altering God’s Word, Christ’s warning must be broadened to include all of Scripture. In Deuteronomy 4:2 Moses cautioned, “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”

In Deuteronomy 12:32 he added, “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.” Proverbs 30:5–6 warns, “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.”

Thus, the prohibition against altering the Apocalypse by implication extends to all of Scripture. Because Revelation describes the entire sweep of history from the close of the apostolic age to the eternal state, any alteration of it would be an alteration of Scripture, as Robert L. Thomas notes:

The predictive portions project from John’s lifetime all the way into the eternal state. Any type of prophetic utterance would intrude into the domain of this coverage and constitute either an addition to or subtraction from Revelation’s content. So the final book of the Bible is also the concluding product of NT prophecy. It also marks the close of the NT canon since the prophetic gift was the divinely chosen means for communicating the inspired books of the canon. (Revelation 8–22: An Exegetical Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1995], 517)

The canon of Scripture was closed at the end of the first century when Revelation was finished. Thus, any false prophet, fraud, or charlatan who adds alleged new revelations to it (as the Montanists did in the early church and Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, and other false prophets have done in recent times) will face divine vengeance.  God will add to such people the plagues which are written in the book of Revelation. ^[56]

Accordingly, many of the “prophets” in prophetism don’t even know Christ. Isn’t this what Jesus warned? That “Many” will tell Him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name,” and the Lord “will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers” (Matt 7:22-23).

It is, of course, difficult to imagine satanic influences and deception being so intermixed among God’s people. But then again, where else would we expect them to be? We should be reminded that in this age, the demonic coexists with the divine. Christ’s parable of the wheat and the weeds clearly illustrates this (cf. Matt 13:24-30). The King warned of people who would operate among Christians portraying themselves as “sheep” but who are actually “ferocious wolves,” including people who will “prophesy” in the name of Jesus (Matt 7:15, 22-23). The Apostle warned the Ephesian elders, “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:30-31).

Accordingly, we are repeatedly warned in Scripture of:

• False christs (cf. 2 Thess 2:9; Matt 24:5, 24; 1 John 2:18),
• False apostles (cf. 2 Cor 11:13; Rev 2:2),
• False prophets (cf. Deut 13:1-3; 18:20-22; Jer 23:11-40; 29:8-9; Matt 7:15; 24:11, 24; 1 Thess 5:21; 2 Pet 2:1; 1 John 4:1),
• False teachers (cf. Acts 20:29-31; Rom 16:17-18; Gal 1:6-8; Eph 4:14; Col 2:8, 18-19; 1 Tim 1:3; 6:3-4; 2 Tim 2:17-18; 3:13; Tit 1:9-11; 2 Pet 2:1-22; 2 John 1:7; Jude; Rev 2:14-15,20),
• Deceptive miracles and miracle workers (cf. Deut 13:1-4; Matt 7:22; Acts 8:9-12; 2 Thess 2:9; Rev 13:12-14; 16:13-14),
• False spirits (cf. 1 Tim 4:1; 1 John 4:1, 6).

If such warnings and promises of false ministers and ministries in the Church are so prevalent in Scripture, why are we so surprised to find them coming true! And these warnings are especially important in spiritual revivals as we have discussed elsewhere. ^[57] Jesus warned that at “the end of the Age . . . many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Matt 24:3, 11). Perhaps the rise of prophetism is one more sign of Christ’s near return.

In a day when so many are claiming to be “prophets” in and out of the Church, there is a great need for discernment. In our view, prophetist churches are not experiencing more real prophecy, but just practicing less discernment. Considering the likelihood that there has been an abundance of false prophets among them, when is the last time you heard of them actually exposing and excommunicating one as a dangerous fraud? Is the fact that they have rarely if ever done this reflective of the fact that they have rarely if ever had false or lying prophets in their midst? Not likely. The man of God is to keep the devil out of the Church. Because of their craving for extra-biblical revelation, the modern prophetic movement has let him in.

Extras & Endnotes

A Devotion to Dad

Oh God protect us from the false prophets! Expose them among Your people. Help Your people repent of their idolatry and reject these lying prophets. Reveal Your judgment on them now so Your people may be rebuked and corrected. Regardless, we look forward to that Day when these lying prophets will stand before You and get what they deserve.

Gauging Your Grasp

1. What is God’s general attitudes toward claiming to have a word from Him when you actually don’t?
2. Why do we claim prophetists are committing heresy? Do you agree or disagree and why?
3. Why do you think so few confront claims to divine revelation apart from Scripture in our day?
4. What natural human desire does particularly “personal prophetism play on?
5. How do false claims to the gift of prophecy test God’s people? What biblical passage teaches this?
6. What is divination? What is God’s attitude toward it? Why do we believe modern prophetism often practices it? Do you agree or disagree and why?
7. What is a significant difference between ancient pagan prophets and biblical Prophets? Who are modern “prophets” most like in this regard?
8. What are the reasons God hates false claims to the gift of prophecy?

Publications & Particulars

1. For a definition of charismaticism see endnote in chapter 8.2. ↑

2. Regarding the devaluation of Scripture in charismaticism see section 10.16.E. ↑

3. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994), 1049. ↑

4. C. Samuel Storms in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today, Wayne Grudem, ed. (Zondervan, 1996), 207-8. ↑

5. J. Rodman Williams, “The Greater Gifts” in Charismatic Experiences in History, Cecil M. Robeck ed. (Hendrickson, 1985), 16; underlining added for emphasis. Let it be added that Williams’ entry to the EDT under “Charismatic Movement” is not only filled with the kind of inaccuracies that demonstrate the shallowness of Charismatic theology in general, but his superior attitude (i.e. Charismatic Christianity alone is “high voltage Christianity”, 208) throughout the article is offensive and one wonders what the editors were thinking when they allowed it. ↑

6. Richard Quebedeaux, The New Charismatics: The Origins, Development, and Significance of Neo-Pentecostalism (Doubleday, 1976), 111. ↑

7. Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Eerdmans, 2004), 209-211, 259. ↑

8. Jack Deere, “John Wimber: Friend or Foe?” reprint from The Briefing (St. Matthias Press, 1990), 18. ↑

9. D. M. Lloyd-Jones, The Sovereign Spirit: Discerning the Gifts (Harold Shaw, 1985), 76-9. ↑

10. John MacArthur, “The Sufficiency of the Written Word” in Sola Scriptura! The Protestant Position on the Bible (Soli Deo Gloria, 1995), 180, 182-3. ↑

11. J. I. Packer, Keep in Step With the Spirit (Revell, 1984), 173, 193. ↑

12. Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, 6 vols. (Word, 1979), IV:283-4. ↑

13. Sun Yung Moon, “The New Future of Christianity,” sermon delivered Sept. 18, 1974, in Madison Square Garden. Quoted by Henry, 4:601. ↑

14. For further on the heresy of Montanism see 9.13.D and 10.14.A. ↑

15. Donald Bloesch, The Holy Spirit: Works and Gifts (Intervarsity, 2000), 174, 198, 208. ↑

16. Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (Baker, 1998), 271. ↑

17. Rene Pache, The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture (Moody, 1969), 319. ↑

18. Ref. unavailable. ↑

19. For further discussion of the Montanists see 9.13.D and 10.14.A. ↑

20. For the history of the gift of prophecy in the Church see chapter 9.13. ↑

21. Bruce Demarest and Gordon R. Lewis, Integrative Theology, 3 vols. (Zondervan, 1987, 1990, 1994), I:117. ↑

22. For further discussion of prophetism’s claim that the involvement of human communication in modern prophecy keeps it from being as authoritative as biblical revelation, see section 9.2.A. ↑

23. Excerpt from 7.3.C. For further discussion of the downgrading of biblical authority resulting from super-supernaturalism’s claim to the sign gifts see section 10.16.E. ↑

24. For further on the attributes of the NT Prophet Agabus see 9.7.D. ↑

25. Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (Intervarsity, 1996), 231-3. ↑

26. Doug Bannister, The Word and Power Church (Zondervan, 1999), 83. ↑

27. Bannister, 83, 107. ↑

28. For further discussion on the connection between modern mega mysticism and ancient divination see section 14.9.G. ↑

29. Robert Gaffin in Miraculous Gifts, 52; underlining added for emphasis. ↑

30. Hank Hanegraaff, Counterfeit Revival (Word, 1997), xii. ↑

31. Jack Deere, Toronto Airport Vineyard, 20 November 1994, audiotape. ↑

32. Bannister, pg. num. unavailable. ↑

33. Packer, Keep in Step, pg. num. unavailable. ↑

34. Alister McGrath in Power Religion: The Selling Out of the Evangelical Church? (Moody, 1992), pg. num. unavailable. ↑

35. Ibid. ↑

36. Ibid. ↑

37. For further on divination in modern American Christianity see section 14.9.G. ↑

38. Excerpt from 10.1.B. ↑

39. M. Lamar Keene, Psychic Mafia, 22; quoted in Understanding the Cults, Josh McDowell and Don Stewart (Here’s Life Publishers, 1982), 256. ↑

40. M. Blaine Smith, Knowing God’s Will: Finding Guidance for Personal Decisions (InterVarsity, 1991), 150-53 ↑

41. Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate, 11; online at http://www.ccel.org. ↑

42. Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Hendrickson, 1994), 170. ↑

43. Excerpt from 9.9.E. ↑

44. Excerpt from section 11.8.B. ↑

45. For further discussion of the fact that most modern “prophets” do not even see visions, see section 9.5.B. ↑

46. John MacArthur, MacArthur’s New Testament Commentary, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM (Parsons Technology, 1997), loc. cit. ↑

47. Leon Morris, Revelation, (Intervarsity, 1996), 70. ↑

48. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Revelation (Eerdmans, 1998), 87. ↑

49. Gregory Beale believes, “the judgment due Jezebel and her cohorts is that deserved by unbelievers, which they are in the process of proving themselves to be” (The Book of Revelation, [Eerdmans, 1999], 263). On the contrary, there is nothing in Scripture or the text that would preclude our Father from severely spanking His children for the abomination of prophetism. ↑

50. ↑

51. Michael Wilcock, The Message of Revelation, (Intervarsity, 1975), loc. cit ↑

52. Dr. MacArthur writes, “In light of the finality of Jezebel’s refusal to repent, it is more likely that the bed refers to death and hell—the ultimate resting place for those who refuse to repent.” For us, at least, it is unclear whether the prophetess is a believer or unbeliever. ↑

53. For further discussion of the Montanists see 9.13.D and 10.14.A. ↑

54. MacArthur, loc. cit. ↑

55. The highly respected Reformed theologian, Robert Reymond, makes a good case that the prohibition in Revelation 22:18 would certainly apply to modern prophetism:

    In this verse John writes: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.” There can be no doubt that John’s warning here against adding words to “the prophecy of this book” has immediate reference to the Book of Revelation itself; in short, John opposes any and all tampering with his Patmos prophecy. This cannot be controverted and no one denies it.

    But does John’s warning here have exclusive reference only to the Book of Revelation? While good scholars have said so, good reasons exist to believe that the warning applies to all the prophetic Scriptures construed as a unitary whole.

    Consider the fact that this portion of the Word of God not only deals with “last things” but also was the last portion of the New Testament to be written. It is quite conceivable that John could have had before his mind the entire corpus of prophetic writings (his own and those preceding his) when he issued his warning, for doubtless John knew he was the last of the apostles, and there is evidence that by the last decade of the first century the several literary parts of our New Testament were already regarded as God’s word to his church and were being gathered together in codex or “book” form.

    It should also be noted that the Book of Revelation, by the very nature of its content, in no sense stands in isolation from the other prophetic writings of Scripture. To the contrary, John presents us with more direct allusions to the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament, verse for verse, than perhaps any other writer of New Testament literature.

    In other words, from his vantage point in history, under inspiration John reaches far back, as it were, into Old Testament prophecy, brings both its weal and its woe forward and integrates them with his own and then relates the whole to the farthest reaches of this age. So there is a real sense in which the very subject which he treats unites his prophecy with the earlier prophetic writings, and unites them together in such a way that to add to his book is just to add to their book of prophecy. Standing midway, as he does, between all the former prophetic writings and the eschaton itself, John by means of the most comprehensive and extensive prophetic statement of them all brings past and future together with his own book serving as the uniting “linchpin” for prophecy and fulfillment.

    When the all-time-encompassing manner in which John handles his material is kept in mind, it is readily perceptible that John’s warning against adding to “the words of the prophecy of this book” must be construed in the widest and most comprehensive sense possible and not in the more restricted sense as is often done.

    Once this is realized, it follows that Revelation 22:18, in its warning not to add anything to the prophetic Scriptures per se, envisions a completed canon, with the addition of the Book of Revelation itself constituting the concluding segment; and thus this verse becomes one of the strongest affirmations in the New Testament that the revelatory process ceased with the writings of the apostle John. (What About Continuing Revelations And Miracles In The Presbyterian Church Today?: A Study Of The Doctrine Of The Sufficiency Of Scripture [Presbyterian & Reformed, 1977], 40-41) ↑

56. Ibid ↑

57. For dangers in revivals see section 10.15.A. ↑