Falsehood Part 3: False Prophets

Falsehood Part 3: False Prophets Matthew 24:4 - 24:5 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. All too often, we see stories in the news about some religious sect or cult who has done something outrageous or terrible. They live on some compound, walled up and cut off from the world. They’re only allowed what news the heads of their sect want them to here. They’re told how to dress, who to marry, when to work, when to sleep, and are controlled in pretty much every aspect of their lives. The leader of their sect is often referred to as “The Prophet” or in some cases are even made to believe that their leader is the “New Messiah”. Of course, this leader and his chief followers are allowed to have multiple wives as well and have dominion over everyone else in the sect. The leaders live like kings and everyone else lives like a slave. For instance, they arrange marriages of underage girls to older men. Like what happened near El Dorado Texas in 2008 with a branch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ran by Warren Jeffs. He called himself “Prophet, Seer and Revelator”, a position he inherited from his father. It is said that Jeffs had as many as 58 wives, one of which was only 12 years old when she was made to marry him. He also controlled who married who and taught the women that the only way to come closer to God was through marrying the man chosen for them. He was arrested and imprisoned for rape and accomplice to rape. 439 children were removed from the ranch in April of 2008, but all but 1 of them have been returned. Another case many of us will remember happened in Waco, Texas in 1993. It was David Koresh and his sect of Branch Davidians. In 1983, the 24 year old Koresh tried taking control of the sect by having a sexual relationship with the then 78 year old prophetess of the sect, Lois Roden and usurping power from her son George. He claimed that God told him they would have a child together and it would be the “Chosen One”. After the ensuing power struggle, Koresh and 25 followers left to form their own sect. They settled outside of Waco, Texas. When rumors of child abuse and statutory rape surfaced, authorities began investigating the cult. It was said that Koresh had fathered 15 children with various women of the cult, some as young as 12 years old. One woman who had gotten out of the cult, testified years later that she had been molested by Koresh at age 10, after which, he read to her from the bible. With the additional rumors of an illegal weapons stockpile at the compound, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) also got involved. On February 28th, 1993, the ATF raided the compond called Mount Carmel. It resulted in the death of 4 agents and 6 Branch Davidian members. A 51 day standoff followed, ending in another raid by the ATF and the FBI since federal officers had died in the first raid. During the raid, the cult members set fire to the compound and some of them shot themselves. In the aftermath, the bodies of 54 adults and 21 children were found. All this because of one man claiming to be a “New Messiah”. In an even more monstrous example of a false prophet, we come to the case of the “Peoples Temple”. Jim Jones, a former communist party member and maoist, used his education and charisma to lure people into his religious sect. He started in his home state of Indiana and as it grew, moved to California and finally, Jonestown, Guyana. I won’t go into the sect’s beliefs and practices; you can look it up. I’ll just say that followers were brainwashed into believing and following Jones’s every word. In November of 1978, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and some reporters, tried to rescue a few of the cult members in order to expose what Jim Jones was doing. They were attacked and killed at the airport as they tried to flee by Jones’s Red Brigade of guards. Later that day, Jones took drastic measures to insure that his sect wasn’t interfered with by the U.S. government. The end result, was the mass murder/suicide of 909 cult members; 276 of them children. They all either drank or were forced to drink cyanide poisoned punch. It’s just another instance of a false prophet resulting in death. These monsters prey on the weak who are starving for something to believe in. They’re fooled or brainwashed into believing that they’re being brought closer to God, but they’re actually being seduced by a servant of Satan. Though many of us can easily recognize these false prophets, there are many who can’t. Many who are weak in faith and lonely have this pretty, new, false religion and sense of acceptance into a family dangled in front of them. They’re just too spiritually weak to resist it. They become ensnared by this trick of the devil and are fooled by these wolves in sheep’s clothing. It’s sad to say, but as we get closer to the end of days, this will become more and more common. I can only imagine how many of these cults are in the United States and worldwide today. We must learn to identify and expose these false prophets. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ warned us of this two thousand years ago. We cannot afford to let our guard down to these demons for one second. Too many lives and souls are at stake. 1 John 4:1 to 4:3 1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Pete 4-7-09