Who or what is a false prophet? Is there a difference between a deceiver and someone who made a sincere mistake?

As I have been addressing the failed Trump prophecies, some Christian leaders have challenged me, saying I am not going far enough. Instead, they believe, to be scripturally accurate, I must brand anyone who prophesies falsely a “false prophet.”

To quote the words of one pastoral couple who graciously challenged me, “We would respectfully ask that Dr. Brown repent of his defense of these false prophets and false teachers, adding fanciful ideas to the word of God in the process – and publicly call for the removal of the false prophets from their pulpits, the same as we would expect him to do if these popular teachers were engaged in adultery, sexual immorality, or other grievous sin. False teachers are said to be ‘deceived and being deceived’ at the same time. (2 Timothy 3:13)”

But that’s the thing. I have not defended those who prophesied falsely. I have called for accountability, and I have done so in very clear, strong terms.

That being said, the error of those who inadvertently prophesied falsely is not equivalent to “adultery, sexual immorality, or other grievous sin,” as I’ll explain.

As for my so-called “fanciful ideas,” apparently this couple is referring to my belief that there is a difference between a true Christian prophesying falsely (or, a true Christian falsely claiming to be a prophet) and a “false prophet.”

I base this on the words of Jesus, who said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:15-18).

These people are not sincere believers who mistakenly claim inspiration for their words. They are deceivers and liars, bad trees bearing bad fruit.

Jesus also described them as deceivers, even miracles workers, who would lead people astray, putting them in the same class as false messiahs (see Matthew 24:11, 24).

This is in keeping with the character of false prophets in the Old Testament. They either led Israel into idolatry, prophesying in the name of false gods. Or they led Israel into sin and disobedience, prophesying falsely in the name of the true God.

As the Lord said through Jeremiah, “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:14-15).

Are we then to brand someone a false prophet because, in sincerity of heart and after much prayer, they wrongly prophesied Trump’s reelection? Are we to put them in the class of wolves in sheep’s clothing? Are we to compare them to leaders who “strengthen the hands of evildoers” or who prophesy in the name of false gods? Certainly not. To do so would border on spiritual abuse.

There are people who claim to be pastors and who even serve as pastors, but they are really not called by God to be pastors, as sincere and devoted as they might be. Do we denounce them as counterfeit shepherds?

Hardly. Instead, we say, “You’re really not a pastor and you should find another area of service.”

In contrast, if that person was a charlatan, an outright deceiver posing as a pastor, we would not hesitate to brand him a counterfeit shepherd.

And what about the countless thousands of pastors who made sincere mistakes when trying to help their people, ultimately hurting them in the end? Do we brand them counterfeit shepherds?

What about those who claim to be teachers of the Word but do not really have that spiritual gifting? Or those who claim to be teachers, yet they are weak in their understanding of the charismata (spiritual gifts) or they hold to an end-time view we reject? Do we brand them false teachers?

Peter wrote, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute” (2 Peter 2:1).

Peter, then, answers this question for us. A false teacher is not a true believer who teaches something erroneous. A false teacher is a heretic, someone who introduces damnable doctrines into the church, someone who is hell-bound as well.

Note also that Peter compares these false teachers to false prophets. Neither term can be applied to true believers.

In the same way, Paul speaks of false apostles as servants of Satan (see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). This is different than someone today who believes in what is called five-fold ministry (see Ephesians 4:8-16) and wrongly calls himself an apostle.

Perhaps he is called to be a pastor and is a gifted, godly leader. The fact that he wrongly calls himself “apostle” doesn’t mean that he is a false apostle and thereby a servant of Satan.

That’s why I will never call another believer a false prophet (or false teacher or false apostle). I will call out their error, when applicable. I will call for repentance, when appropriate. And I will urge them to stop calling themselves a pastor or teacher or prophet or apostle if, in fact, that is not their calling in God. And I will urge them to step down from ministry if they are not worthy of serving in the ministry.

But unless they are clearly not part of the Body of Christ, I will not use the “false” term to describe them. Put another way, I will only call a false believer a false prophet.

What about the Old Testament test for prophecy? According to Deuteronomy 18:15-22, if a purported prophet (speaking in particular of a national prophet) spoke in the name of a false god or presumptuously spoke falsely on the Lord’s behalf, because of which their word did not come to pass, that prophet was to die.

Interestingly, however, the term “false prophet” does not even occur in this context, even though it would be applicable. More importantly, this is not the test for New Testament prophecy.

As I have explained elsewhere, since everyone can potentially prophesy in New Testament times, every prophetic word must be tested by others. The good is to be embraced; the bad is to be rejected (see 1 Corinthians 14:29-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).

In the case of the failed Trump prophecies, I have consistently called for accountability (see here and here for recent examples). And I believe much damage has been done because of these very public words.

I have also warned that some leaders are going off into real delusion. And on my radio show, I have played clips by so-called prophets and have said plainly that these people are not prophets at all.

But, to repeat, unless I know these people are outside the flock, either denying fundamentals of the faith or living in persistent and willful disobedience to the Lord, I will not call them false prophets.

That is because I take the Lord and His Word very seriously. I will not go beyond what is written.

There is room for those, who genuinely make mistake, by believing others, etc. If profiting from it, that’s different.
As for Q, I saw it here for several years on FR. I read it on other forums, as it appeared okay. Never joined the Q movement. I felt I wasn’t informed enough to understand it...abbreviations, etc. I did hope we might have the Emergency Alert after the Election, but it was being talked about outside of Q. That goes to genuinely making a mistake of believing, telling, and not enough knowledge!

I am a CHRISTIAN AND A VETERAN! We all believe what we want to believe, and should always VERIFY! No one is perfect! If we say something, we should be clear, that it could be wrong.

Those who harm others by their intentional deception are false prophets, especially in religious areas, AND if they are profiting financially at expense of others, that’s bad.

All of us are given BIBLE TO RESEARCH and end any wrong concepts!

Michael Brown is hardly a reliable source for determining who is or is not a false prophet. That said, we do not have prophets today, other than false prophets. The age of prophets is long past, having served God’s purpose for it. Today, we do not receive direct revelation from God, whether through the non-scriptural “still small voice”, or through so-called “prophets.” The reason? - We now have the complete canon of scripture, of which Peter said (2 Peter 1:19), “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

If you read the rest of the context surrounding that passage, Peter describes how the apostles had seen Christ’s glory first hand at his transfiguration, yet he says that the written Word is a “more fully confirmed” testament than even that spectacular personal experience. Because our own physical senses can be unreliable, and because our own thoughts, feelings, and opinions can color or distort any “prophecy” we believe we may be providing, we are to rely solely in this age upon the written Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” That clearly states that the written scripture is all we need, as it is literally “breathed out by God” and is capable of providing everything we need. This verse makes no room for feelings, hunches, “still small voices”, or modern-day prophets. It couldn’t be any clearer.

It’s also important to note that until the charismatic movement came along in the early 20th century, the Church had gone through nearly 2,000 years with zero mention of any prophets, other than the rare false prophet. Of course, charismatics have claimed to have rediscovered many things that are not for this time, including their insistence that there are now apostles walking among us (who always strangely enough tend to be completely unimpressive and error-prone people).

Finally, contrary to Michael Brown’s tap dancing routine in which he seeks to somehow justify self-proclaimed “prophets” who regularly “prophesy” in error, God’s standard for a true prophet is quite different. Deuteronomy 18:21-22: “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

It doesn’t get any clearer than that. True prophets NEVER make mistakes, and whatever they say ALWAYS comes true. They don’t have to “practice” to “get better at it”, as certain charismatic heretics claim. Just use common sense: If God sent out prophets who made mistakes, and kind of got better at it if they practiced more, how would we ever know what God was trying to tell us? The same goes for vague feelings, “words of knowledge”, and other such nonsense. There is no way to verify any of those things, because they are simply based upon the hunches and feelings of very fallible men. That is why God now speaks to us solely through the scriptures. Because, just as with our Constitution, the written Word moves the communication of God’s Word beyond the reach of the whims of men. It casts it in black and white and makes it a more direct communication between God and us.

Anyone who claims to be a prophet today is a false prophet, and should be ignored. They are everywhere these days, all over YouTube spouting vague, meaningless nonsense that isn’t even worthy of the horoscope column in the local paper. When God actually speaks, whether via his written Word, as today, or though true prophets as in the past, He SPEAKS. The intent and meaning are crystal clear, and are not subject to the imaginings of some fool who appears to strain to pull some nugget of meaning out of a bunch of random words that say absolutely nothing.

If you want to see a slew of actual examples of what is happening with this today, just go to YouTube and watch any of Chris Rosebrough’s Fighting for the Faith segments he calls, “Prophecy Bingo.”

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