The Testimony of Jesus
There are some distinctive points of identification to determine whether a prophet is true or false. To accept the teaching of a false prophet is just as dangerous as to reject the message of the true one. Both true and false prophets may appear in the church (2 Peter 2:1), and we are duty-bound to put them to the test of the Bible.
One of the first signs of the false prophets is when they claim the title of “prophet.” They boast of their position as being called of God, when He has never really called them. They do not take notice of the date and time when they supposedly received revelations, nor do they have witnesses to verify them. The following points identify false prophets:
1. They do not speak according “to the law and to the testimony” (the words of all true prophets). The Scriptures warn us: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).
“Jesus has told us that ‘false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many.’ But we need not be deceived; for the Word of God gives us a test whereby we may know what is truth. The prophet says, [Isaiah 8:20 quoted].”1
“Satan . . . works miracles in the sight of false prophets, in the sight of men, claiming that he is indeed Christ Himself. Satan gives his power to those who are aiding him in his deceptions; therefore those who claim to have the great power of God can only be discerned by the great detector, the law of Jehovah.” 2
“How shall we distinguish God’s true servants from the false prophets who Christ said should arise to deceive many? There is only one test of character—the law of Jehovah.”3
2. They speak, or prophesy, things which do not happen.
“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22).
3. When a false prophet speaks and the thing happens, but he teaches disobedience to the law of God, he must be faced and his message not be accepted.
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams” (Deuteronomy 13:1–3).
“Those who prophesy lies encourage men to look upon sin as a small matter.”4
There are clear evidences that show when a messenger with a message is a true prophet:
1. True prophets never claim titles, even though they may be true prophets:
a. John the Baptist:
“[John the Baptist] said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias” (John 1:23).
“After the disciples of John had departed, Jesus addressed the multitude concerning John, . . . ‘what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet’ (Matthew 11:9). ”5
b. E. G. White:
“I said that I did not claim to be a prophetess. I have not stood before the people claiming this title, though many called me thus. I have been instructed to say, ‘I am God’s messenger, sent to bear a message of reproof to the erring and of encouragement to the meek and lowly.’ With pen and with voice I am to bear the messages given me.”6
“Early in my youth I was asked several times, Are you a prophet? I have ever responded, I am the Lord’s messenger. I know that many have called me a prophet, but I have made no claim to this title. My Saviour declared me to be His messenger. ‘Your work,’ He instructed me, ‘is to bear My word. . . . In the true eloquence of simplicity, with voice and pen, the messages that I give shall be heard from one who has never learned in the schools. My Spirit and My power shall be with you.’ ”7
2. True prophets accept the responsibility to which they are called but with great reluctance:
a. Moses:
“Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).
b. Jeremiah:
“The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, . . . I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:4–6).
c. Elijah:
“To Elijah, in his place of hiding, the Lord said, ‘What doest thou here, Elijah?’ (1 Kings 19:9). I sent you to Samaria with a message to Ahab; I sent you to the brook Cherith, and afterward to the widow of Sarepta. I commissioned you to return to Israel and to stand before the idolatrous priests on Carmel; and I girded you with strength to guide the chariot of the king to the gate of Jezreel. But who sent you on this hasty flight into the wilderness? What errand have you here?”8
d. E. G. White:
“I knew that if I in any way became exalted, God would leave me, and I should surely be lost. I went to the Lord in prayer and begged Him to lay the burden on someone else. It seemed to me that I could not bear it. I lay upon my face a long time, and all the light I could get was, ‘Make known to others what I have revealed to you.’
“In my next vision I earnestly begged of the Lord that, if I must go and relate what He had shown to me, He would keep me from exaltation. Then He showed me that my prayer was answered, and if I should be in danger of exaltation His hand should be laid upon me, and I would be afflicted with sickness.”9
3. Predictions of true prophets are fulfilled according to their words:
a. Agabus:
“And there stood up one [prophet] of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar” (Acts 11:28).
b. E. G. White:
The San Francisco earthquake was foretold in 1902:
“Well-equipped tent meetings should be held in the large cities, such as San Francisco; for not long hence these cities will suffer under the judgments of God. San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them in wrath.”10
World War I was predicted:
In 1890: “The Lord will arise to shake terribly the earth. We shall see troubles on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by millions.”11
In 1904:“The time of trouble, which is to increase until the end, is very near at hand. We have no time to lose. The world is stirred with the spirit of war.”12
In 1910: “Soon strife among the nations will break out with an intensity that we do not now anticipate. . . . Something great and decisive is about to take place, that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.”13
In 1913: “If the times in which we are living fail to impress our minds seriously, what can reach us? Do not the Scriptures call for a more pure and holy work than we have yet seen?”14