DCLM Daily Manna 30 December 2024 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Watch Out For False Prophets
TOPIC: Watch Out For False Prophets (DCLM Daily Manna 30 December 2024)
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 (KJV)
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 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.
4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
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.
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
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
