Sunday, July 15, 2007

What is a false prophet?

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says,

"But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him."

Is it not true that, from this passage, if someone predicts a specific event for a particular year and that it does not come to pass, then is that person a false prophet?

In light of this, read the following quotes and tell me if you think that the one speaking them is a false prophet:

"Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874, A.D., according to the testimony of the prophets."

"Surely there is not the slightest room for doubt in the mind of a truly consecrated child of God that the Lord Jesus is present and has been since 1874."

"The battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced."

"The date of the close of that 'battle' is definitely marked in Scripture as October 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October 1874."

"We see no reason for changing the figures; nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the 'beginning', but for the 'end' of the time of trouble. We see no reason for changing from our opinion expressed in the View presented in the...in Jan. 15, 1892. We advise that it be read again."


At this point I don't want to mention who these quotes are from. I just want the reader to think and decide if the one speaking them would be considered a false prophet or not in light of Deut. 18:20-22? Your thoughts?

No comments: