Prophecy About False Teachers

Throughout the Old Testament, most of the prophecies were to warn people about what was coming, whether as a result of their sin, or to encourage them to remain faithful giving hope for the future.   The same is true of the prophecies in the New Testament.  While Jesus made numerous prophetic statement s about the future, most of them were warning about persecution they would face and that tere would be false teachers who tried to lead people away from the truth.  Only when asked specifically about where should they focus did he spend much time teaching about the end times so that future generations would understand what was going on. 

In I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4 and 5 Paul used prophecy to encourage us that there is hope for the future even for those who die.  In II Thessalonians 2, he warned us to not get upset and distracted by prophetic teachings and forget to serve the Lord day by day, reminding us that the Lord’s coming would not happen until after the Antichrist sets up his empire.   

Timothy was young man, just starting as a minister, and Paul would use prophecy to warn him of the dangers of false prophets and his responsibility to warn his hearers of the danger they posed,  In I Timothy 4:1-8.  “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;  Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.  But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.  For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”

As he warned, there would be teachers in the future who would try to get them to accept satanic teachings, deliberately lying to them and encouraging immoral acts such as homosexuality, adultery, or abortion.  Others would forbid their followers to marry, insisting it was wrong even though God sanctioned it from the very beginning, in Genesis 2:21-24.  “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”   Still others would forbid their followers to eat pork, or adopt a Vegan life style, forbidding them to eat any animal products even though God had said they were all acceptable, in Genesis 9:3.  “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”

If a pastor is to do a proper job, he must teach the people not to be misled by such false teachings but to focus on what God actually said.  He must not get wrapped up in traditions or worldly philosophies, or even like the Greeks of his day, caught in sports and physical fitness.  Instead of teaching such things, we are to teach people what it means to be godly, to walk in the spirit, rather than trying to serve God in the flesh by keeping a bunch of rules.  Galatians 3:21-22 tells us that there are no rules that can make us righteous, saying, “…if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

Such teachings cause conflicts between different churches and groups, even when there seems to be some scriptural support for the practices such as those described in I Corinthians 10:1-11:16.  Romans 16:17-18 warns that those who are focused on these things are not serving God,.  “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” 

We need to keep our focus on God and his word rather than human ideas of what is right if we are to please God.  We must not allow false teachers to distort the gospel and distract us from the truth.