What is a False Prophet According To The Bible?

Eleven times in the New Testament the Greek word pseudoprophetes appears—and is traditionally translated “false prophet.” Similarly, the Greek word pseudodidaskalos is employed when referring to one who is a “false teacher.” Not surprisingly, many of these “pseudo-prophets” and “false teachers” are referred to in the Book of Revelation (e.g., Rev. 16:13, 19:20, 20:10).

In his apocalypse, John the Revelator warns of a “trinity” of evil (that will work its “miracles” in the last days), consisting of the “devil,” his “beast,” and the “false prophet” (See Rev. 20:10). Thus, the idea of “false prophets” is not a passing thought in the Christian canon. (The Hebrew Bible also warns of “false prophets” in the pre-Christian era. See, for example, Jeremiah 6:13-15, 8:10-12; Ezekiel 13:1-23, 22:27-29; Zephaniah 3:1-4.)

John’s Book of Revelation describes the false prophet in the singular (and many associate him with the Anti-Christ). According to John, the “false prophet” will work in conjunction with the devil and his “beast” (the latter of the three often held to be either the “synagogue of Satan,” the various kingdoms of the earth that move forward Satan’s work, or some other evil entity used by the devil).

However, the “false prophets” and “false teachers” in other passages of the Bible appear to be less a description of a specific person (akin to what we see in the Apocalypse), and more representative of a category of teachers who preach and teach things which stand juxtaposed with and in opposition to the truth—whether those pseudo-prophets are aware they are doing so, or not.

In His sermon on the mount, Jesus warned His hearers, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) In this case, Jesus is suggesting that there is intent in the wicked works of these bogus prophets. They come from among the flock, meaning they profess to be believers.

They come to others like “sheep”—meaning with all the gentleness and meekness of a true Christian. However, their hearts (or intentions) are like the “ravenous wolf” that creeps into the flock for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to destroy. The false prophets Jesus describes are individuals who calculate to overthrow the truth, damage the souls of those they captivate, and bring down the Church through curtailing its influence in the world. Jesus indicates that these false teachers are persons who seek to get gain through their evil acts.

Just as the wolf kills and consumes the sheep, the “false prophet” knows he will get gain through his pernicious prophecies and false teachings. He is in this business, not to save souls, but to get gain (in whatever form), and at the cost of the souls of those who are deceived by him.

Immediately after telling us there are “false prophets,” Jesus warns His hearers (and those who would read His words some two millennia later), “By their fruits you would know them” (Matthew 7:16-20). In other words, He invites us to ask ourselves, what is the outcome of following the teachings of these false prophets? What is the impact of their teachings upon the world, the individual soul, the Church, etc.?

Just as the wolf wants to satisfy his cravings for flesh, the false teacher seeks to satisfy his or her cravings for personal gain. That may come in the form of notoriety, general prestige, temporal gain, access to sex or drugs, or even the promotion of his or her own warped philosophies. Regardless, when the fruit of the false prophet is “personal gain” (rather than blessing and building the kingdom), one can know that those Jesus’ warned us of are not sent from God, nor are they in harmony with Him.

In the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Acts, we read of another “false prophet”—and this time, it is a specific person; but one who is representative of what Jesus warned about when He spoke broadly of “false prophets” who were “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In Acts 13, we read:

John, Peter, and others, “traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.” (Acts 13:6-12)

Curiously, the “false prophet” in this story is named Elymas bar Jesus—meaning the “wise man who is a son of a man named Jesus” (though not Christianity’s Jesus). Elymas specifically tried to get the proconsul, who “wanted to hear the word of God,” to not meet God’s apostle. It is as though Elymas knew that his boss would feel the Holy Spirit and thereby believe that Paul was a man of God and, thus, our pseudo-prophet had to prevent the two of them from meeting. Of course, Elymas’ fears were realized. Not only did Paul recognize Elymas bar Jesus for what he was—a “child of the devil and enemy of everything that is right”—but he rebuked him for his “deceit and trickery,” two common techniques used by those who pretend to be God’s true prophetic servants.

Importantly, Paul curses Elymas that he will be “blind” and “not even [be] able to see the light.” We’re then told that he “groped about” in “mist and darkness” which “came over him.” While this appears to have been his literal fate for his sin of being a “false prophet” and “false teacher,” it is also the very thing all false prophets seek to do to their hearers. They wish them to “grope in the dark” and live under a “mist of darkness” because they will be easier to manipulate, and easier to get gain through.

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul warned of “those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way.” The King James translation calls them “servants of sin.” The Apostle says they “are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people.” (Romans 16:17-18)

An important element Paul introduces here is the use of language, charisma, and flattery by the pseudo-prophets and false teachers of his day. They are gifted in how they present themselves, often having great command of language, a polished presence, oozing charisma, and flattering those they seek to entrap. Paul is essentially warning us to be careful that we do not get sucked in by personality and presence over actual prophecy. While prophets can have a positive persona, they need not in order to be God’s messenger. Indeed, often they don’t present a polished demeanor—as those worldly signs tend to distract from what is true and good. Thus, of Jesus we read, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2)

So, how does one know if someone is a true or false prophet? Well, returning to the apostle John, we read: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). John essentially counsels us as Jesus did, saying, examine their “fruits.”

What Spirit accompanies their works and words? Is there a consistency between the way they live and what they teach? Do their words contradict the words of scripture? Does their life and behavior contradict the standards God has set? Are the consequences of embracing their teachings something that leads to holiness or sin? And do their teachings point you to a fuller relationship with God and Christ, or instead draw you to adulation of the pseudo-prophet? John informs us (1 John 2:22-23) that schisms were happening in the Church of his day because of “false prophets” and “false teachers” circulating among them. And in a time when there was no modern means of communication, one could appear in a congregation and claim one was sent by the apostles, and no one would know differently.

Today, modern means of communication abound, but that poses its own challenges—in that (with the internet) anyone can make untested or unproven claims to authority, truth, visions, correct doctrine, etc. Thus, John commands us to “test” or “try” those who claim the prophetic “gifts.” (This Greek word, dokimazo, appears twenty-three times in the New Testament. It means to “prove,” “try,” “discern,” “examine,” etc. Thus, John is not the only apostle encouraging us to “test” those who claim they are of God.)

It is worth mentioning that discussions about “false prophets” can lead to the erroneous assumption that anyone who manifests some prophetic gift is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” or a “false teacher.” However, the New Testament does not say we should “disbelieve true prophecy.” It should be remembered that, long after Christ’s ascension, the Apostle Paul taught that we should “eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy” (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 14:29, Paul suggests that prophecy is a gift of the Spirit which can and should benefit the Church. Thus, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul speaks of “gifts of the Spirit” which should be hand in the Church, and, in that portion of his letter, he specifically includes the gift of “prophecy” (V:9). In Romans 12, Paul writes: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith” (V:6).

Thus, calling out the existence of “false prophets” should not be misinterpreted to mean there can be no one with a legitimate gift of “prophecy.” Could that gift look differently today than it did in biblical times? Almost certainly.

However, in the content of what the New Testament says about the gift of prophecy, for one to claim that all post-ascension prophetic gifts are of the devil is itself an act of “false teaching” or “false prophesying.” Jesus, Paul, John, and others warned of “false prophets” because they believed in “true prophets”—or faithful and faith-filled individuals who possessed this “gift of the Spirit.” Otherwise, they would have simply warned against “any prophecy,” and said that “all of it is of the devil.”

False prophets are described (in the New Testament) as individuals who are persuasive, intelligent, gifted with language, charismatic, perhaps even good-looking. Of course, none of that makes someone a “false prophet.” However, those who are “false teachers” are typically folks who use religion, not for the benefit of their hearers, but as a means of manipulating people, so that they—the false prophets—can get gain, in whatever form they seek it. They do not point us to Christ, but away from Him and away from His teachings and commandments.

Indeed, they often draw people to themselves instead of to God. After the death of Jesus and the original apostles, Christianity went in many directions.

While the Church of the second and third centuries was not as diverse as it is today, there were many branches, denominations, or strands of the faith—some with genuine intent, but many led by charlatans who qualified as “false prophets.” There were various branches of Gnosticism, in addition to the Adoptionists, the Marcionites, the Montanists, the Novatians, and many others. While some of these splinter groups died out, the Great Schism of the 11th century and the Protestant Reformation of the 14th through 17th centuries brought more dissention, more denominations, and, in some cases, various “false teachers” and “false prophets” who may not have had the best or purest of intent.

From a biblical perspective, anyone or anything that fractures the Church, draws people away from God and Christ, preaches an ethic, morality, lifestyle, or behavior contrary to that which Jesus clearly taught, is not of God. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8-9)