A look at two different rebukes from God towards false teachers and prophets.

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The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them." Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. - Ezekiel 34:1-10 (ESV)

The modern apostate church, which is the dominating presence today, has made us almost immune to conviction when it comes to false prophets and teachers. I was recently speaking to a brother who certainly seemed very stable doctrinally and yet they were constantly excusing wolves as egregious as Joel Osteen and Joseph Prince. The argument goes something like some people end up saved because of their exposure to those ministries. Now, it is true that God can save anyone, anywhere, as He could also choose to heal someone at a Benny Hinn healing crusade. He is God. He is sovereign. The notion however that the charlatan deserves any credit is absurd. The other mistake often made is in only judging sincerity. Listen, I am ok with the notion that Joel Osteen is sincere but as my pastor is fond of saying we can be sincere and sincerely wrong. For every person that might go from Osteen to a good church and be saved there are hundreds if not thousands that think they are saved when they are not. That is why God is so clear about His view about false prophets or teachers in His word.

We need to remember that there are always real victims of false teaching. Seattle is still littered with bleeding sheep from the Mark Driscoll fiasco years ago. We all know people who absolutely refuse to return to church because of promises not kept through false prophecies and teaching. Locally I knew a good brother who went up for "healing" from a false itinerant prophet. He had hands laid upon him and danced across the altar believing his degenerative hip, which needed replacement, had been healed! Then next week he was limping again and when I asked what happened he realized he had just had an emotional reaction. Today the hip has been replaced and to God be the glory. Thankfully he was strong enough in his faith to know it was the false prophet and not God who deserved the blame. One of the worst attacks against discernment is the wrong belief that we measure teachers/prophets up against some personally held standard. That we simply disagree with them. Nonsense, God disagrees with them! The proof is throughout scripture but today we will exegete one section from Ezekiel and another later on from Jeremiah. While these messages were for Israel at the time these men served as prophets, we know they were directly from God and His view about those who falsely speak for Him or mangle His word remains unchanged. We can see the eerie comparisons to what we see today because those working under the carnal lusts of this world have not changed their tactics. The devil does not change his strategies because as humans, we refuse to learn from them. The sin of Lucifer wanting to ascend to be God is the same sin he convinced Eve to commit in the garden and it is the same sin he convinces false teachers and prophets to commit today. It is usurping what belongs only to God. So let us reason once more, through the scriptures, to be fully aware of the strategies the devil uses against us through those the teach and prophesy falsely.

"The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?"- Ezekiel 34

About ten years ago, mega-heretic Andy Stanley came out in an interview and said the church should no longer use the term shepherd because it was no longer culturally relevant. I wrote at the time the silliness of this. The world makes cultural arguments to try and change what God has said, not His people. God uses the analogy of shepherds for His reasons. His word is transcendent throughout the generations of human history. The gospel that saved the 4^th century serf saved the 14^th century farmer and us today as well. It does not need to be changed, altered, made more seeker-friendly, culturally relevant or purpose driven. The teacher/prophet's job is not to alter one iota of God's word but rather to preach it. The job description is pretty simple - feed the sheep. What was the answer to all of the questions Jesus asked of Peter when asking if he loved Him? Then feed my sheep! The shepherd has two tools, the staff guides the sheep, and the rod protects them from those that would prey upon them. In spiritual terms we call those people false teachers and prophets. They make merchandise of the gospel and make food out of the sheep. For too many today who teach and prophesy it is but a job and they are but a hireling. They have no problem feeding themselves, but the sheep starve. The seeker-friendly theories of church growth and the purpose driven church teachings both cater to the lost by finding cultural relevance to them by sacrificing the gospel and thus starving the sheep.

"You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them." - Ezekiel 34

I remember once a follower of Creflo Dollar was bragging that he had bought $50,000 worth of backpacks for kids in the Bronx and for those kids that got them I am sure it was appreciated. That does not change that at that time Mr. Dollar lived in a multi-million-dollar mansion and was asking his church to fund a new private Learjet for him at the price tag of 70 million dollars. You eat the fat and clothe yourself with wool but do not feed your sheep. That is the point God is making to those that teach and preach falsely for personal gain. Twenty-minute sermonettes on how to become more relevant in your community or a summer series extolling the nature of blockbuster Hollywood movies does not strengthen the weak or heal the sick. It does not bound up the injured or seek the lost. Rick Warren teaches aspiring pastors in his heretical Purpose Driven Church book about something his evil heart concocted called "blessed subtraction." This teaches them that it is perfectly fine to let sheep wander out of your pen as long as you are bringing in new ones to replace them. Where do the hurt ones go? Who cares? Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill infamy once quipped that the people he was hurting because they disagreed with his vision were just "bodies under the Mars Hill bus." The part most do not know is the quote actually begins with Driscoll saying he is all about "blessed subtraction." Many purpose driven pastors lord themselves over their sheep and are harsh as the Lord accuses here. I know local pastors who have stolen church memberships from people involved in their churches for decades over the bogus teaching of tithing. I know one who had stopped tithing because they were in the hospital and then their membership was pulled. I have heard local pastors berate their sheep by telling them if they disagree, they need to leave! These admonitions from God to the shepherds of Israel thousands of years ago are completely accurate for those posing as shepherds in His church today.

"So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them." - Ezekiel 34

We rarely consider the consequences of false teachers and prophets. When the wolves attack the flock, it becomes scattered without a real shepherd. Some sheep are devoured, their faith forever shipwrecked. Others are scattered throughout the Christian landscape jumping from one frivolous theory or teaching to another. How do people fall for cults such as Mormonism or Jehovah Witnesses? Most probably were scattered away from the church by false teaching and prophecy. They wander alone, vulnerable, and constantly in spiritual danger. Jesus wept over His people for they were like sheep without a shepherd. That is how important it is beloved. The wolves take their fill and move on. Mark Driscoll is now feeding off a new congregation in Arizona while his Seattle victims still wander alone. Carl Lentz is now ministering in Oklahoma while his victims in New York City still wander alone. The scourge of NAR dominionism has turned seemingly normal Christians into rabid idol worshipers who despise the very people who need the gospel. No one searches for these folks. They have been blessedly subtracted. They are now food for all of the wild beasts of doctrine.

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. - Ezekiel 34:1010 (ESV)

This is a word against the false teachers and prophets of today. Because they have turned the sheep of the Lord out to become prey; because they got fat and rich off of those sheep while starving them - He is against you. The Lord will take care of His sheep. Make no bones about it. While this should be a source of comfort for the sheep, not so for those who live under a false conversion. The bible says very plainly that none get saved without the full gospel being preached. Not a watered down, sugared up, purpose driven, seeker-friendly, prosperity-laced, false signs and lying wonders, word of faith, NAR or dominionist gospel will do. The real problem with those living under a false teacher is that they are told they are saved by a three-sentence prayer and a cloud of dust. The "Lord Lord" verses in Matthew 7 should be the scariest for all who profess to be Christians. These are churched people who stand before Christ on judgment day only to discover He never knew them! Lord Lord, didn't we tithe to Kenneth Copeland faithfully? - I never knew you! Lord Lord, didn't we speak things into existence in Your name? - I never knew you! Lord Lord, didn't we push for book banning legislation and vote Republican in Your name? - Away from me! Lord Lord, didn't we revel in the glory clouds and dance through the gold dust? - I said away from me! Beloved, be very, very careful who you follow and who you allow to teach you or prophesy to you. It is no small or inconsequential matter. The lost are not your enemies but perhaps the church you keep going to is. Now, in case some think these verses in Ezekiel were an anomaly, let's switch to the Prophet Jeremiah. In reality we can find similar scriptures throughout the bible. However, in Jeremiah 23 we find another noteworthy rebuke that still applies today.

I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the Lord.' Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 23:25-32 (ESV)

This rebuke is quite stark and deals with a tactic that many false teachers and prophets use today. In the Old Testament days, the prophets were spoken to directly by God but most times this claim is made today, they are not speaking about an audible voice. Instead, they are speaking about something that popped into their wickedly deceitful heart and they simply attribute it to as having come from God Himself. I am not kidding. I saw a Bethel training video for worship leaders where they were taught they were all prophetic and to simply speak out whatever came into their heart because it probably came from God. Yeah, no. That is not how it works! We see here God mocking the false prophets who declare they had a dream! They had a vision! The Lord even declares it comes from the deceit of their heart! He declares these people steal the actual word of God away from the sheep and lead them away from Him! They prophesy lying dreams! He did not send them, and He does not charge them! So, God lays down the truth very plainly. You say you had a dream, go ahead and tell the dream but if you are going to say thus sayeth the Lord - it better be faithful to Him and His word! After all, what is the chaff to the wheat? What a powerful metaphor from our Lord and Savior! Those that want to falsely prophesy and claim it was some dream or vision - they are but chaff! What is chaff?

"Chaff is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material. Chaff is indigestible by humans, but some livestock can eat it. In agriculture, it is used as livestock fodder, or is a waste material ploughed into the soil or burned." - Wikipedia

Chaff is indigestible to humans! It is a waste material to be ploughed under and burned! False teaching and prophecy should be indigestible to believers! That is what the Lord thinks of you hireling! That is what He thinks of you oh false prophet! All you are false teacher is chaff to the wheat! The word of God is like fire! It is like a hammer breaking the rock into pieces! Beloved, there have been false prophets and teachers ever since man knew there was a God. The methods have barely changed over the millennia. How many times have you heard a preacher declare that the Lord told him? Or that he had a vision from the Lord? Just vain imaginations and dreams filling their wickedly deceitful hearts. Beloved, the road that leads to heaven is narrow and few are those who find it. The bible says we are either gathering people to the Lord or scattering them away from Him. False teachers and prophets steal the life-giving word of God out of the mouths of sheep and those seeking God. There are always victims from their actions. We need to be found working our salvation out with fear and trembling while guarding ourselves from having our faith shipwrecked by the smooth-talking wolves seeking to devour us. Discern as if your life depended on it because it just might.

Reverend Anthony Wade - July 21, 2023

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.