32 Bible Verses about False Apostles, Prophets And Teachers
Most Relevant Verses
"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are savage wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren't gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they?
You are to have no other gods as a substitute for me. "You are not to craft for yourselves an idol or anything resembling what is in the skies above, or on earth beneath, or in the water sources under the earth.
"A prophet or a diviner of dreams may arise among you, give you an omen or a miracle that takes place, and then he may tell you, "Let's follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let's serve them.' Even though the sign or portent comes to pass, you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that diviner of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to make known whether or not you'll continue to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has become human and remains so is from God.
Then the LORD told me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn't send them, I didn't command them, and I didn't speak to them. They're proclaiming to you false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds.
""Her prophets whitewashed all of these things through false visions and lying divinations. They kept on saying, "This is what the Lord GOD says"", when the LORD has not spoken.
They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish occult practitioner and false prophet named Bar-jesus.
"But then a spirit approached, stood in front of the LORD, and said, "I will entice him.' "And the LORD asked him, "How?' ""I will go,' he announced, "and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!' "So the LORD said, "You're just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.'
They keep on saying to those who despise me, "The LORD has said, "You will have peace."' To all who stubbornly follow their own desires they say, "Disaster won't come upon you.' But who has stood in the LORD's council to see and hear his message? Who has paid attention to his message and obeyed it?
Such people are false apostles, dishonest workers who are masquerading as apostles of the Messiah. And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom will match their deeds!
Now you may ask yourselves, "How will we be able to discern that the LORD has not spoken?' Whenever a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the oracle does not come about or the word is not fulfilled, then the LORD has not spoken it. The prophet will have spoken presumptuously, so you need not fear him."
I didn't send these prophets, but they ran anyway. I didn't speak to them, but they prophesied.
"Send a message to all the exiles: "This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah from Nehelam, "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I didn't send him, and has made you trust a lie,"
Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Messiah. Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind. read more.
He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it. If you have died with the Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world? "Don't handle this! Don't taste or touch that!" All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings. These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.
you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that diviner of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to make known whether or not you'll continue to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Don't listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you; they're giving you false hopes. They declare visions from their own minds they don't come from the LORD!
You aren't to listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers who say to you, "Don't serve the king of Babylon.' They're prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far away from your land. I'll drive you out and you will perish. But I'll let the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him remain in its own land," declares the LORD, "and they'll work it and remain in it."'"read more.
I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: "Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live! Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by plague as the LORD has decreed about the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon? Don't listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, "You won't serve the king of Babylon.' Indeed, they're prophesying a lie to you. For I didn't send them," declares the LORD, "and they're falsely prophesying in my name, so I will drive both you and the prophets who prophesy to you out of the land."
A message came from the LORD for me, and it had this to say: "Son of Man, prophesy against Israel's shepherds. Tell those shepherds, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Woe to you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves and not the sheep. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep? You're eating the best parts, clothing yourselves with the wool, and slaughtering the home-grown sheep without having fed the sheep! read more.
You haven't strengthened the weak, treated the sick, set broken bones, regathered the scattered, or looked for the lost. Instead, you've dominated them with brutal force and ruthlessness. "Since they have no shepherd, they have been scattered around and have become prey for all sorts of wild animals. How scattered they are! My sheep have gone wandering on all of the mountains, on all of the hills, and throughout every high place in the whole world, with no one to look for them or go out in search of them. "Therefore listen to what the LORD says, you shepherds:
Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God's church, which he acquired with his own blood. I know that when I'm gone, savage wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. Indeed, some of your own men will arise and distort the truth in order to lure the disciples into following them.
I am jealous of you with God's own jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to the Messiah. However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned!
"I know what you've been doing, your toil, and your endurance. I also know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles, but are not, and have found them to be false.
These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so.
Even then, if the prophet speaks presumptuously in my name, which I didn't authorize him to speak, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.'
"At that time," declares the LORD, "the bones of the king of Judah, the bones of his officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They'll be spread out to the sun, the moon, and all the stars of the heavens, which they loved and served, and which they followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won't be collected, nor will they be buried. They'll be like dung on the surface of the ground.
Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, "There will be no sword and famine in this land' (though I haven't sent them): "By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off!
Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.'" So the prophet Hananiah died in the seventh month of that year.
therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to judge Shemaiah from Nehelam along with his descendants. He won't have anyone related to him living among these people. Nor will he see the good that I'll do for my people," declares the LORD, "because he advocated rebellion against the LORD."'"
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, look! The prophets are saying to them, "You won't see the sword and you won't experience famine. Rather, I'll give you lasting peace in this place.'" Then the LORD told me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn't send them, I didn't command them, and I didn't speak to them. They're proclaiming to you false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, "There will be no sword and famine in this land' (though I haven't sent them): "By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off! read more.
The people to whom they have prophesied will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I'll pour out on them the judgment they deserve.'"
You, Pashhur, and all those living in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon and there you will die. There you and all your loved ones to whom you have falsely prophesied will be buried.'"
It will also come about that if any man would dare to prophesy, then his father and his mother who bore him will respond to him, "You will not live, because you are speaking lies in the name of the LORD.' Then his father and mother who bore him will stab him for prophesying.
