How can I tell the difference between a true prophet of God and a false prophet?
Many people claim to have a message from God. We shouldn’t just take their word for it. They could be honest but mistaken, or they could be trying to deceive. Certain messages share well-known Bible principles, but what should we think when someone shares new information that we don’t find in the Bible? How can we test their message to know if it is from God? There has to be some way to test their claims, a reliable standard we can trust. The good news is that God doesn’t expect us to guess when it comes to believing what we hear. The Bible gives at least five specific tests to measure whether someone with a new message represents God.
Here’s the FIRST TEST to apply to a messenger. Deuteronomy 13:1–4 says, “‘If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods”—which you have not known—“and let us serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet …. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice ….’” A true prophet will always lead people to obey God. Every one of the Ten Commandments are God’s Law, and any prophet who convinces people that God’s Law is abolished in any way is not from God. Even if someone works miracles or makes accurate predictions, when they downplay obedience to any of God’s commandments, we can know immediately that they have a message mixed with falsehood.
Paul lifted up God’s Law (see Romans 6:15-18, 7:7-12). If Paul had convinced people to break God’s Law, he would not have been God’s prophet. When the false prophet in 1 Kings 13 convinced the man of God to disobey God’s command, he showed that he was not God’s chosen messenger. To evaluate someone’s claim to speak for God, we need to diligently study God’s Word and know what He requires. Then we will know the true Bible standard to compare to a new message we hear.
A SECOND TEST is found in Jeremiah 28:9 “‘As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.’” A true prophet’s predictions come true. In Jeremiah 43, God’s prophet promised those who remained in Israel after Babylon took many captive that if they fled to Egypt, they would meet with disaster there. They did not believe Jeremiah and carried him there against his will. As God promised, destruction came upon Egypt from Babylon. God’s prophecy through Jeremiah was fulfilled, and the Hebrews who fled to Egypt to escape the Babylonians were met with destruction just as Jeremiah predicted. God’s true messenger was confirmed before the people by fulfilled prophecy. The predictions of Ezekiel and Daniel, of Amos and Micah, as well as the rest of God’s prophets gave reason to trust them, but the evidence could not be seen until after the events occurred. A Bible example of a false prophet whose predictions did not come to pass is found in 1 Kings 22. Zedekiah promised victory for the confederacy of Judah’s King Jehoshephat with Israel’s King Ahab, but his promise did not come to pass. King Ahab was killed, and their armies were defeated.
The predictions of God’s prophets will not be ambiguous. An ambiguous prophecy would say something like this: “a conflict will take place and the stronger side will prevail.” This could apply to children on the playground, a marriage, or a world war, and regardless of the outcome the prediction will be true. God’s prophets speak with a much deeper level of specificity that can’t be imitated by a lucky guess. God’s detailed prediction of the rise and fall of four major empires in Daniel 2 and 7 is an example of the specific nature of God’s prophecies. A counterfeit prophet would promise things anyone could know, such as: “the rain will come to give a harvest from the crops.” God’s prophets don’t promise the natural order of things. God’s prophets declare what humans could not anticipate. When Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:39 that “after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours,” his unexpected prediction that the weaker would replace the stronger was contrary to the natural order of things.
It is important to pay close attention to Bible predictions that are conditional. Sometimes God promises something that will only come to pass when humans meet the conditions God has set. The fulfillment of these promises hinges on whether people comply with what God asks. Jeremiah 18:7-10 and Jonah 3:4-10 are examples of conditional prophecies. The story of King Josiah’s death is another example of prophecy that is conditioned upon obedience. In 2 Chronicles 34:28, God promised, “I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace.” Because Josiah departed from obedience to God, he did not fulfill the conditions that would allow him to experience what God had promised. He attacked Egypt in direct disobedience to God’s command, and he died in battle. This is a reminder to each of us that to receive God’s promised blessings, we must obey Him.
Sometimes it takes time to confirm whether the promises of a messenger are fulfilled. God has given a THIRD TEST we can apply even before a prophesied event takes place. The third test of a prophet is in Matthew 7:15–17 “‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.’” “‘…for a tree is known by its fruit’” (Matthew 12:33). This tells us that a true prophet will follow the law of God and live in harmony with God’s message. In other words, they will practice what they preach. This does not mean they will have lived a sinless life. Jesus is the only One who has never sinned. Instead, their life will illustrate the messages they teach. A messenger for God will not talk about spiritual things while they intentionally disregard God’s law. “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). Prophets are subject to the same temptations and weaknesses that we are, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). But even though they make mistakes, they will repent honestly, accept the natural consequence, and continue in the upward path of trusting God and sharing His message. This is what David did in Psalm 51:3, “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
Jeremiah is an example of a prophet living out the message he shared. He told the remnant of God’s people that they should remain in Israel even though Babylon had conquered the land. Even though owning property seemed pointless, he promised that the land would again belong to God’s people. To illustrate, he stepped out in faith and paid for a plot of land in Anathoth (Jeremiah 32). His life of faith illustrated the message he preached. Paul lived a faithful missionary life that illustrated his inspired messages. John the Baptist lived a simple life of obedience. He shared God’s messages of reproof with kings, even though it cost him his life. When God’s prophets are giving their message, they will be living in obedience to God’s message. Peter tells us that God’s prophets will live holy lives in order to be used by God to give a holy message, “…for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
This does not mean that the person is our standard to follow. The Bible is our standard, but we can look at the record of someone’s life to find confirmation that they are walking in obedience to God. Even one of God’s messengers who speaks in agreement with the Bible and follows the message they give could later abandon the message that they used to proclaim. Paul talks about this in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy….” If this were to happen, we could no longer trust the messenger, but we can still believe the message that they gave when they were used by God.
The FOURTH TEST of a prophet is found in 1 John 4:1–3, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God….” We are to test every prophet by examining what they say about Jesus. A true prophet will exalt the whole truth about Jesus that we find throughout the whole Bible. This includes His divinity and glory in Heaven for all time before Creation. Jesus was born as a human and faced temptation as our example with the same nature that we have. He relied on God’s strength to live a sinless life amid fierce temptation and was raised to life again. He is now our High Priest in Heaven, finishing His work in the Heavenly Sanctuary. Bible prophets directed us to trust Jesus’ righteousness for our salvation, to follow His perfect example, and receive His strength. Though they did not know Jesus by name, the Old Testament prophets told the truth about Jesus by sharing details of the plan of salvation and righteousness by faith.
The FIFTH TEST of a prophet is one we should practice using every time we listen to someone speak about religious themes. Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” A true prophet speaks in complete agreement with the whole record of inspired Scripture. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In other words, every messenger is to be tested by comparing their messages with the standard of all God’s prophets who have come before. God’s inspired Word does not change. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). A true prophet will not introduce new teachings that contradict or replace what God has already said. Instead, they will amplify the brighter light of God’s Word, so its message is unmistakable. Paul’s letters were accepted as inspired because they were in agreement with the writings of the Law and the Prophets that Jesus affirmed were inspired (Luke 24:27). The later prophets of the Bible were in agreement with the prophets who had come before, and every one of them was in agreement with the books of Moses that were the first parts of Scripture written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The later prophets added greater detail that the Holy Spirit had given to them, but they did not alter or contradict what God had previously said.
There is a SIXTH INDICATOR related to recognizing a prophet of God. This indicator is not a reliable test to confirm God’s prophets, especially when used in isolation from the other five Bible tests of a prophet, but it gives evidence that the human messenger has a supernatural message, and not just an idea they came up with on their own. Physical phenomena accompanied the work of some of God’s prophets. Daniel did not breathe when he was in vision, yet God sustained his life and he renewed his breathing when the vision was over (Daniel 10:17). Prophets often lost their strength or fell down as if dead (Daniel 10:9, Revelation 1:17, Acts 9:3-7). The prophets were shown the condition of things far away (Ezekiel 8:1-4). God’s messengers today may exhibit similar evidence of God’s involvement in their message. These physical phenomena do not guarantee someone is a prophet of God because Satan can imitate these miracles. In fact, when we see miraculous displays, we should be careful to apply each of the five tests of a prophet. But miraculous signs can offer additional evidence when all of the five Bible tests of a prophet have been clearly met.
God’s prophets will also give the right message at the right time to meet the current needs of God’s people. Elisha is an example of this in 2 Kings 6:10-12. He knew the Syrian king’s secret plans because God had revealed them to him so he could share the information at just the right time. God’s messages will be useful in meeting current conflicts by applying Bible principles accurately to the present needs.
God’s prophets do not give a wavering message filled with words like “I think…” “I hope…” or “Most likely….” They do not offer fanciful ideas or vague interpretations. They speak the truth boldly and clearly. Everyone who speaks boldly is not of God, so the full spectrum of tests of a prophet must confirm God’s word.
In summary, God wants us to rightly use the power of reason He has given us. We are not to have a wide-open mind that accepts and believes everything we hear. We are to have an active mind that submits everything to the Word of God. “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19–21). God invites us to think: “‘Come now, and let us reason together…’” (Isaiah 1:18). Be like the noble Bereans in Acts 17:11 who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” Test everything by comparing it with the Word of God.