What comes to mind when you hear the words “false
prophet?” To me I see some man talking about Jesus and God and the impending
doom we are all going to experience before too long. In the Bible there is
mention of several false prophets, especially during the Old Testament times.
We’ll look at a few of these, just to get an understanding of things when it
comes to false prophets, and then we’ll explain how the leaders of Jehovah’s
Witnesses are false prophets and then we’ll work our way on how to tell if someone
is a false prophet. I am sure it will be pretty easy to tell.
In 1
Kings chapter 18, Elijah mentions meeting the false prophets who served false
gods. Elijah issued a test to find out if Baal, the god of the Canaanites, or
God was the true God. In most Bible translations, God’s name has been removed,
but I think this will be a rare occasion where I mention so we don’t get
confused, Jehovah is God’s name, so you will see it a lot especially since it
makes up half of the name Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Elijah
had two bulls brought and prepared as an offering. Neither was to be set on
fire, however. The test was not a test for Jehovah or Ball, but merely a way
for Elijah to show that those who worshiped Baal were not worshiping the one
true God. Elijah let the Baal worshipers call on him first. From the moment
the bull was prepared until midday, Baal had still not set the bull on fire,
despite the pleas of his worshipers. Elijah told them to shout louder, for he
must have been sleeping or something. The people did, and they also cut
themselves so that blood flowed from their bodies.
It was well into the
afternoon before Elijah had them stop and watch as he began his little
ceremony. He built an altar to Jehovah using twelve stones, each of which
represented the twelve Tribes. He then dug a trench around it, arranged some
wood, and cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. He told the people
to bring him four large jars of water to disperse the water all over the bull
and wood. He had them do this three times. Elijah stepped forward and prayed.
He asked Jehovah to please send fire down on the offering, so that the people
would know who God is and turn from the false prophets and the false god.
Jehovah answered his prayer. All the people saw this, and began to worship
Jehovah right there. Elijah ordered the false prophets to be seized, and then
taken out to the Kishon Valley and killed.
The false prophets knew
that their god was not a real god. They purposefully led the Israelites astray.
This is how false prophets work. In Deuteronomy chapter 13, we are given two
tests to tell if someone is a false prophet or true prophet. If a person tells
you or miraculous signs and even gives them to you, but tells you to follow
someone other than Jehovah, then they are a false prophet. Jeremiah talks about
what God will do to false prophets in Jeremiah chapter 23. There are four
warning signs we need to be on the watch for everyday in regards to false
prophets. The first sign is that they of course appear to speak God’s message,
but they do not live according to his principles. The second is that they water
down God’s message in order to make it more palatable. The third is they
encourage their listeners, often subtly, to disobey God. And the final one is
they tend to be arrogant and self-serving, appealing to the desires of their
audience instead of being true to God’s Word.
In Jeremiah what
happens to these false prophets is quite just. God told Jeremiah that their
path will become slippery and they will be banished into darkness, where they
will fall. Disaster will be upon them in the year God punishes them. God says
that they will also eat bitter bread and drink poisoned water. Such is only
fitting for those who purposely lead others away from God who truly want to
serve him. But is it fitting for those who truly believe that what they say is
true, even if it isn’t? God is just, and anyone teaching false teachings and
false prophesying deserves just punishment. From a human view on it, no it is
absolutely not a fitting a punishment.
There are many other
places in the Bible where it mentions false prophets, and it’s very clear that
even today they are ever present. The founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or as
they were called back before they had a name, Bible Students, believed truly
that the pyramids of Giza held significant power to unlocking the secrets of
the Bible. Well, there aren’t any secrets to the Bible, it’s pretty straight
forward on everything, and the pyramids were used as a tomb for dead pharaohs.
This in itself does not make Charles Taze Russell, a false prophet. What makes
him a false prophet is that in the 1870’s he predicted two things. The first,
in 1874, he claimed that Jesus had returned to rule of the kingdom, but was
invisible. That right there goes against what the Bible tells us about Jesus’
Second Coming. Revelation 1:7 says, Look, he is coming with the clouds, and
every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the
earth will mourn because of him. (NIV Translation) We will clearly see Jesus
when he returns. He will not be invisible. The second thing he predicted; was
the time in which the battle at Armageddon would occur. He predicted that it
would occur.
He was not the only one
in the organization, or as it would eventually be called, The Watchtower and
Bible Tract Society, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, to make such predictions. The
president to replace him when he died, "Judge" Joseph Rutherford, also predicted the end
of the world as we know it. He predicted that the second to final battle would
occur in 1918. I say second to last, because after Christ’s thousand year
reign, Satan, who was thrown into a fiery prison after losing this coming
battle, will be allowed to roam once more and show God who truly his eternal
servants are. Eventually, the only people left after this, will be true
worshipers of God. He believed that the year 1914, was when Jesus would
return, again invisibly, and that World War I was the war to usher in the new
kingdom. We can clearly see that was faulty. You are here, and I am here. We
should clearly not have ever been born if the end of World War I was going to
bring about the end of the known world.
I am not sure if the
last Armageddon prediction was made by a president or the Governing Body. I am
not real sure when they went from a single person in charge to a group, of what
else, but men. Women do not have much say in things, and they are very limited
in their involvement in the group. But, that has already been talked about, so
if you want to learn more about that, I believe the Title of the “talk” we’ll
call it has the word women in it. I am not quite sure what I called it
completely.
Anyway, it is the late
sixties, early seventies, and the big mission is to tell potential converts
about the end of the world coming in 1975. Again, we wouldn’t be here if that
had happened. Well, I know that at least I wouldn’t be. I am assuming everyone
reading this is from the eighties, and not earlier, or later. It is quite
possible for someone to be reading this and being born before 1975. That is not
only three failed prophesies about Armageddon, but two failed about Jesus’
return. There is mention in Mark chapter 13: For false Christs and false
prophets will appear and perform miracles to deceive the elect-if that were
possible. So be on your guard; I have told you ahead of time. (Verses 22-23,
NIV Translation) Later, Jesus says, “At that time men will see the Son of Man
coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and
gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of
the heavens. (Verses 26-27 NIV Translation) Jesus warns us to look out for
those who come in his name, but do not bring truth, what they prophesy does not
come to pass. Jesus also tells us how he will return when he does. Not only,
will he return on clouds, but his angels will be gathering the harvest of his
true followers.
When thinking about
people claiming to be prophets, though some prophets are televangelists, but
this fits them as well, we must ask ourselves some questions to determine if
they are true servants of God, or false teachers. 1. Have their predictions
come true, or do they revise them to fit what has happened? We can say no to
the first part in regards to the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and yes to the
second. 2. Does any teaching utilize a small section of the Bible to the
neglect the whole? Well, I can answer this, but I won’t write my answer here,
not because I am afraid of anything, but because I haven’t shown any proof to show
yes or no to this question. It isn’t hard to find research to get an accurate
yes or no answer. I love reading the testimonies of former Witnesses, they are
so inspiring. A lot of them have come to Christ, and now have ministries of
their own, usually geared towards helping other former Witnesses or to reach
current ones, or both. There are tons of websites to go to that show their
beliefs and use of the Bible, to help you with an answer. I encourage you to do
your own research; there are several holes in this. I am focusing on key points
about Armageddon and Jesus’ return, so there are a lot of other things that
they have said or do say that I have left out. 3. Does the teaching contradict
what the Bible says about God? Refer to question 2 on this one. Again, I have
presented information on that, at least not at this time. 4. Are the practices
meant to glorify the teacher or Christ? Nothing they do is to glorify Christ,
it is all done, the average Witness thinks, in the name of God. Jesus is not as
important to them as he is to us. They do not view him as we do, and can be
seen from attending a meeting, reading their material, and doing research.
However, I feel that unknowing to the average Witness; it is all done to
glorify the leaders. And 5. Do the teachings promote hostility toward other
Christians? Again, not something that we talked about, but while they do not
promote hostility towards Christians (they aren’t Christians though they like
to think so), they do get that reaction from Christians. We are often hostile
towards them. We need to show them what they try to show us, love. I suggest
you do your own research on the Jehovah’s Witnesses for yourself and see from
your own research the answers to these questions.
All of the facts stated
towards regard to Jehovah’s Witnesses Presidents and the Governing Body and
their false predictions not only about the battle at Armageddon, but also
Jesus’ return have come from the testimonies of former Witnesses who felt they
weren’t getting what they needed from the society, and started studying and
reading the Bible as it is meant to be, and not through publications written by
a group of men who don’t even really know what they are talking about. These
men have no formal religious training, only the training provided through the
society, and it lacks in a lot. I have spent a lot of time with the average
Witness, and they fully and completely believe the lies that they either were
raised to believe or came into through interaction with average Witnesses.
Trust me, the average Witness has no knowledge of what is presented before you
here in this document. They only know about Jesus’ invisible rule starting in
1914, which as we saw goes against what it says in the Bible about his return
to rule. If you ever get a copy of their Bible, read it side by side with your
translation, you will see how little of Jesus is in it, and how differently it
reads from yours. It is written to get their beliefs across and ingrained into
the Witness’s mind. Witnesses do not get to think for themselves as Christians
do when it comes to finding answers to religion questions, and many members
have been “disfellowshiped” over asking questions about teachings over the
years. I do not know if it is still that way today. The society has made many
policy changes over the years, which of course, shows the false prophet, no
true Christian religion or I guess denomination would ever change their
policies or teachings over the years. A church within the denomination might,
but not a whole denomination. Here is a good website to begin your research http://www.towerwatch.com.
It’s a former Witness’s ministry site, and he has a lot of Witness things on
there, including several of the testimonies I got my information from. I
encourage you to check it out. It is a great place to begin that research.
