Calling Bullshit on False Prophets

 

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.  Rated "R" for Rant.

Videos from The Victory Channel have been cropping up in my YouTube recommendations for weeks.  After writing a rant about false prophets, which I have not shared yet, I was led by the Spirit to consider more charitable interpretations of why these "Prophets" are giving false information in the name of the Lord.  

My first thought was that maybe God told them His choice was going to win the election, and they just assumed God would prefer a corrupt malignant narcissist who literally embodies the Seven Deadly Sins to any Democrat (or a qualified Republican).  Obviously, anyone who would assume such a thing needs to spend some time getting reacquainted with Jesus, but I guess it's possible they heard something from God and filled in the details. 

This morning, the Spirit led me to I Kings 22.  Let me set up the story:

Back in the days of Elijah the Prophet, God's people (the majority, at least) were ruled by a malignant narcissist with a foreign wife (Ahab & Jezebel).  Ahab got his leaders (and the neighboring King Jehosaphat of Judah) together and complained that part of their country (the town of Ramoth Gilead) had been stolen from them.  During this "stop the steal" rally, King Jehosaphat expressed reluctance to take military action without first hearing what God had to say on the subject, so King Ahab brought together his board of spiritual advisors (400 prophets) and asked them, "Should I stay, or should I go take my country back?"  To a man, the 400 prophets said "Go, for the Lord will give it into the King's hand." 

Jehosaphat, not being an idiot, asked for a second and more objective opinion.  "Is there no longer a prophet of Yahweh here to ask?"  

1 Kings 22 (NIV)

8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.

9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”

10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 11 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’”

12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”

14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.”

15 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?”

“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

17 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”

18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”

19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

“‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

I'm confident my readers can spot the applicability of this text to the present situation.  For the sheep without a shepherd who are confused, go in peace, and bless your heart.

For the rest, and with apologies to Paul Harvey, here's the rest of the story.

Not wanting to misrepresent the situation and bear false witness to facts I hadn't observed, I watched the first two or three minutes of this video:

I had to stop due to the outright delusion and heresy by that point - if you claim God appeared to you and spoke about His Son, YOU ARE A LIAR.  NO MAN HAS SEEN GOD AT ANY TIME.  Jesus is the express image of the INVISIBLE God.  You have no credibility.  Now, sit down and shut up before someone who knows the Word of God (living and written) goes all prophetic on your ass.  Keep declaring the word of whatever lying spirit is feeding you this bullshit, and God will enforce His word on false prophets to protect His name.

Peace.