Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
I realize that we are Christians living under the new testament, and we are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). However, we must also recognize that there are those around us who either claim to be "prophets" or at least make predictions about the future without actually claiming the name. And it is only reasonable that we put them to the biblical tests.
The first of these is found in Deuteronomy 13. This passage concedes the possibility that the signs and wonders of a false prophet could come to pass but reveals that what makes that prophet a false one is the fact that he speaks of other gods, which thou hast not known. Can't you see this in the modern faith-healing, word of knowledge, prosperity gospel movement? They boast of signs and wonders, but they have another Jesus. They seem to have as much regard for the word of God as the parakeet has for the newspaper that lines its cage.
Note that these false prophets were to test the Israelites. Your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. If people really loved God as much as they sy they do, they'd read His word and believe His word, and recognize these false prophets for who they are.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
The second test for a prophet is given in Deuteronomy 18. The Lord told Israel that if a man makes predictions in the name of the Lord, and those predictions do not come to pass, then you can know he is a false prophet (under the law worthy of death). In this can't you see the modern prophecy movement? The Pat Robertsons? The Noah Hutchins's? And all the rest.
These people sell magazines and newspapers and DVDs and recordings predicting all kinds of crazy things THAT NEVER COME TO PASS. Then the next month they do it all again and Christians buy the stuff! These prophets ought to repent for deceiving God's people, and God's people ought to repent for being deceived!
Read the Bible. Love the Lord. Prove it by obeying His word, and turn a deaf ear to any person and any group that speak not according to this word…because there is no light in them (Isaiah 8:20).
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