DCLM Daily Manna Monday 30 Dec 2024
TOPIC: Watch Out For False Prophets
KEY VERSE
“Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul”
(Deuteronomy 13:3).
TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 13:1-11
DCLM Daily Manna Monday 30 Dec 2024 Message
In August 2013, a public zoo in the third largest province in China was temporarily shut down due to an unusual problem. Visitors discovered that the zoo’s lion was a dog posing as a lion. According to a report in Euronews, the fraud came to light when a mother and her young son visited the zoo, and the animal, labelled an “African lion,” started barking. Zoo keepers admitted that the so-called lion was a Tibetan mastiff, a large dog with a furry brown coat. They also acknowledged that other zoo animals had been mislabelled. This is how it is with false prophets. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The Lord warned the Israelites of the danger of listening to people who rise from among them, claiming God had sent them. Such false prophets and dreamers of dreams are to be “put to death”, with support from all Israelites in the camp, including the family members of the culpable persons.
READ DCLM Daily Manna 29 Dec 2024 – The Narrow Way
Identifying false prophets can be challenging as they come as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Generally, the Bible’s six marks of identification of false prophets can help: they lead astray (Deuteronomy 13:1-4); their prophecies do not come to pass (Deuteronomy 18:20-22); they contradict God’s word (Isaiah 8:20), bear bad fruit (Mark 7:18-20) and they deny that Jesus came in the flesh (John 4:3).
So-called prophets are everywhere today, “prophesying into people’s lives”. They employ various gimmicks to defraud the gullible. They collect fees for prayers, separate families and snatch spouses of their followers. The word of God is there to guide and lead us. We should watch and pray and avoid being deceived.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: False prophets often make the loudest noise and the biggest splash.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: EZEKIEL 45-46
