Identifying False Christs and False Messiahs

I still remember standing in front of the television as I watched the seize at Waco in my Catholic school uniform. People were abuzz about a madman named David Koresh. People said he claimed to be the messiah. He would be one of a few people in my lifetime who we went on to label as “false Christs” or “false Messiahs.” It’s an accusation sometimes made with cause, sometimes without. We usually hear the accusation in light of a new religious group, especially one that displays cult-like tendencies. I still remember the panic in people’s voices when they spoke of David Koresh, or the work of the Heaven’s Gate cult leader Marshall Applewhite, or to this very day, the haunting memories of Jim Jones and Jonestown. Many can’t fathom why anyone would follow these people.

How do we recognize false Christs and false messiahs for ourselves? Is it always as clear cut as recognizing a group as a cult?

Insights from Matthew 24:24 and Mark 13:22

It’s important to say that not all cult leaders claim to be Jesus or the Messiah. There are plenty of groups with cultic leadership that never touch the scepter of such bold Messianic claims. Sure, cult leaders are odd, at best, or demonic and sinister, at worst. The way cult leaders manipulate minds is both morally wrong and evil. The question remains, however: how to we identify people who claim to be Jesus Christ or the Messiah? Is it all a matter of a literal understanding, or is something more at work?

Matthew 24:24 says:

• For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (ASV)
• False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even those whom God has chosen. (CEB)
• False messiahs and false prophets will come and work great miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God’s chosen ones. (CEV)
• For false-christs and false-prophets will arise and give great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the chosen ones. (DLNT)

Mark 13:22 says:

• False Christs (Messiahs) and false prophets will arise and show signs and [work] miracles to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (those God has chosen out for Himself). (AMPC)
• There will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing signs and wonders for the purpose, if possible, of misleading the chosen. (CJB)
• For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and give signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (DARBY)
• False Christs [Messiahs] and false prophets will come [appear; rise up] and perform great wonders [signs; miracles] and miracles [wonders; marvels]. They will try to fool [mislead; deceive] even the people God has chosen [elect], if that is possible. (EXB)

We all like to quote the passages above, in a variety of translations (because, for the most part, the passage’s message remains the same) whenever a cult leader seems to rise up. The text is clear to recognize “many” shall arise, giving signs and wonders to deceive. Take a guess, if you will, just how many people in recorded history have claimed to actually be the Christ Incarnate and/or the Messiah.

A smaller number than anticipated

How many do you think it’s been? 10,000? 1,000? Even 500?

Nope. The actual number is not even 100. In recorded history, approximately 86 historical figures have actually claimed to be the Messiah, or claimed to be “the Christ.” I am sure there have been others that we don’t know about (which should say something in and of itself to us), or others who maybe history has obscured. This includes a list of Messianic figures in Judaism as well as elsewhere. Some included didn’t even make full claims. They might have said they were the “Son of God” or something equivalent. But with only 86 on record, that pretty much clarifies there won’t be a mass movement of people claiming to be the Second Coming, Jesus Himself, the Incarnation of Christ, or some combination of the three.

What’s the prophecy about?

The way this prophecy reads, it is surely not only a reference to the 86 people who outright claimed to be Jesus. Very few people in history ever really bought into their claims. That means their work had very minimal, if any, effect on the larger principle of the “elect” or “chosen” in history. Out of the list of people who claimed to be Christ, very few of them ever even claimed Christianity for themselves, or did something that obviously distorted the belief system to the point where not too many followed or believed them.

This means that, as with most things Biblical, we need to go back and look – again – at the warning and the passage.

The term “false Christ” and “false Messiah” are the same word in the Greek: pseudochristos (#5580, Strong’s). This term translates as “false Christ” as in the person of Christ, but it literally means “false anointing” or “false anointed one.” It is parallel in structure to the term for “false prophets,” which is pseudoprophetes (#5578, Strong’s).

In other words, the Bible is not just telling us to beware a few random people who will claim to be Jesus Himself – but are warning us to beware people who come, having a “false anointing” or a “false prophecy” – one that appears (where we get the prefix pseudo-from) to be anointed or appears to be prophetic – but indeed, is not.

The words in action

• All of us have met someone who claimed to be something in ministry, but their claims just didn’t seem to match the reality of who and what that person was. Some examples:
• A deliverance minister who doesn’t seem to have any success stories, nor do they have the gift of healing or discernment.
• An apostle who doesn’t cover any leaders, but seems to wander around, not leading anyone and not building up the church in some way
• People who can’t give accurate word, no matter how hard they try, or who give words that are so convoluted, nobody understands them.

We could say the pseudochristos are people who seem to sound good – maybe they can preach the part, look the part, or sound the part – but at the end of the day, just don’t have what is needed to measure up to their claims. They operate and mislead via a “false anointing.” The second they are confronted, even if it’s innocently (such as not agreeing with the word or not accepting something that they say), they suddenly turn and become punitive, demanding repentance or somehow questioning your own relationship with God as being sub-par to their own.

Beware false christs

The reason we are told to beware these types is not just because they can lead us into error. That is part of it, but the real reason relates to deception. The line between a true anointing and a false one is rather thin. Any one of us can deviate off into the realm of false appearances if we start doing anything through our own human productions, mimicking and mocking the realm of the Spirit, thus blaspheming it (Matthew 12:31-32).

God wants us, at all times, to remember the anointing moves through us, but is not us (2 Corinthians 4:7). The deception of the elect, the chosen, those whom God has His hand upon, is about far more than denying Jesus and turning to someone else. It is about the principle of idolatry, which we see all throughout the Bible. The Israelites claimed to be of God and wanted to rely on God when things were difficult for them or when following God seemed beneficial. They wanted the benefits, but didn’t want the exclusivity of following God as He required.

The false anointing leads us into a similar state. We want God’s benefits, but we want to be enchanted and entertained by the false anointing, as well. Too often, we want to be around people who keep us with the appearance of God, but who actually deceive us into thinking we are all right where we are, with the attitudes and issues we have, and that God is not asking us to change.

What to do

False christs and false messiahs are a far more serious problem for the Body because they reveal to us the deceptions we all have. We all have the hope to be more than we are or than God has for us. We desire to hear that we don’t have to change or transform, and the concept that we can produce an anointing for ourselves, as long as it looks like we have been transformed to others.

Beware the real “false christs” and “false messiahs” that walk among us every day; in our churches, our lives, on the internet, even on television or radio. God has called us to be alert and aware, and understand the way the anointing works. If something or someone sounds eerily like exactly what you want to hear at that moment…it’s time to step back, pray, and consider a false anointing is at work with a familiar spirit behind it.