False Prophet

Biblical Texts

Old Testament

• Deuteronomy 13:1-5 — Even if signs and wonders come to pass, the people are not to listen to a prophet who urges them to follow other gods.
• Deuteronomy 18:20-22 — A prophet who speaks a word the LORD has not commanded, or whose word does not come to pass, is not one whom the LORD has sent.
• 1 Kings 22 — Before King Ahab, about four hundred prophets predicted victory, while Micaiah alone predicted defeat.
• Jeremiah 23 and 28 — The prophets who proclaim "Peace" when there is no peace are rebuked. In chapter 28, Hananiah, who declared that the exiles would return within two years, confronts Jeremiah.
• Ezekiel 13; Micah 3:5-11 — Those who prophesy out of their own hearts or who prophesy for money are condemned.

New Testament

• Matthew 7:15-20 — False prophets, who come "in sheep's clothing," are to be known "by their fruits" (Sermon on the Mount).
• Matthew 24:11, 24 — In the last days false prophets will show great signs and deceive many.
• Acts 13:6 — Bar-jesus, a sorcerer on Cyprus, is called a false prophet.
• 2 Peter 2:1 — Drawing a comparison with the false prophets of old, the passage warns of "false teachers" within the church.
• 1 John 4:1-3 — Believers are told not to believe every spirit but to test the spirits by whether they confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
• Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10 — The "false prophet" who appears alongside the beast deceives people through signs and is finally cast into the lake of fire.

Terminology and Background

Old Testament Hebrew has no distinct word meaning "false prophet." True and false prophets alike are called nabi (prophet), and which kind is meant becomes clear from the context. The Septuagint rendered such prophets in Jeremiah and elsewhere as pseudoprophētēs (false prophet), and the New Testament adopted this term. Ancient Israel had bands of prophets attached to the royal court, and as a result, prophecy that told those in power what they wanted to hear became a problem.

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

The criteria for discernment that Scripture presents can be summarized under four headings: whether the prophecy is fulfilled (Deuteronomy 18), whether it leads to faithfulness to God (Deuteronomy 13), what fruit is borne in the prophet's life (Matthew 7), and how the prophet confesses Christ (1 John 4). The New Testament extends the Old Testament warnings into a call for vigilance against false teaching within the church.

Interpretations and Issues

• The false prophet of Revelation: This figure is generally identified with the "beast coming up out of the earth" of Revelation 13:11-17. Futurist interpretations such as dispensationalism read it as a specific individual who will appear with the Antichrist at the end of the age. Preterist interpretations read it as the forces that promoted the Roman imperial cult, while symbolic interpretations read it as a symbol of all religion that serves political power.
• Applying the fulfillment criterion: As Jonah 3:10 shows, a prophecy of judgment may be withdrawn when people repent. Some therefore point out that judging a prophet solely on the basis of an unfulfilled prediction is not a simple matter.
• Prophecy today: Those who hold to cessationism are wary of any claim to new revelation after the completion of the canon. Pentecostal and charismatic churches acknowledge the gift of prophecy but hold that it must be subject to discernment.
• Scripture does not identify any specific later individual as a false prophet. Present-day identifications of particular persons as the false prophet of Revelation are the claims of interpreters. Moreover, this biblical concept is not the same as the formal declarations of heresy issued by denominational general assemblies through established procedures.

In the Korean Church

Matthew 7:15 is frequently cited in sermons and teaching that warn against heretical groups. In 1992, when date-setting eschatology proclaiming the so-called "October Rapture" became a social problem, Deuteronomy 18 was widely invoked as grounds for criticizing unfulfilled prophecy.