I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. Jeremiah 23:21,22

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10

Pandemic prophecies with erroneous time stamps, double-minded declarations and cryptic words regarding international leaders have been swirling and circulating over the past weeks and months from ministry leaders both well known and rising in the ranks. There has been no shortage of decrees implying “peace, peace” or prophetic doublespeak and yet there seems to be a shortage of accountability when these words have fallen to the ground. Dates have come and gone with inaccuracy. Prophetic decrees are worded in such a way that if something were to take place surrounding an individual or event, the allusion is offered that the prophecy was accurate. To what end, I respectfully ask?

A pass is given due to a massive following or personal allegiance to said minister when the word does not come to pass, and if you dare to question the validity of a word, be prepared to receive the “P” badge for Pharisee and to be identified as “void of the Spirit”. If this time of a pandemic and chaos has revealed anything, it is this: there is a major problem in the church with regards to prophecy, testing prophecy and recognizing the truth. There is a problem when prophecies are defended while Scripture is denigrated. There is a problem when men and women appear to be drawing people unto themselves rather than to Christ. This is said with humility and reverence for God. We are listening to many fallible voices right now when we need to return back to the infallible and the sufficiency of Scripture as our compass for proper conduct and instruction.

In Jeremiah 23, we read some sobering passages regarding some professing prophets of that time. They are referred to as lying prophets by God no less. We know these today as false prophets. The Lord says of them in Jeremiah 23 that the people of Israel are not to listen to them as they talk of vain hopes and visions of their own minds. They prophesy smooth things with favorable words and they do not speak of repentance. They talk of dreams they have had and by these dreams, they cause the people to forget God. They are thieves of words and they lead people astray by these things. God makes it plain that He did not send them. This passage, though in a different time and to a different group of people, is chilling to say the least. These prophets dared to speak for God and yet they were not sent. Jeremiah 5 even tells of these prophets and the priests who did as they pleased and how the people loved it so. I would submit to you that Scripture tells of history repeating itself, and it is happening now as it did then and in the time of Christ.

While reading Matthew 5 and 6, Jesus speaks of the beatitudes, conduct under a new covenant regarding lust, divorce, anger prayer, fasting, giving and eternal treasure. In chapter 7, He speaks of judging others, asking and seeking God and how to treat others. There is an interesting sandwich of passages to follow, first with a brief mention of the way to eternal life through the narrow gate that is difficult and that few find in contrast to the wide gate of destruction that is well populated and easy. Immediately after this, Jesus gives a warning to beware of false prophets, ravenous wolves to look like sheep. They are trees bearing fruit not of His Kingdom and believers would know them by their fruits because they would be cut down. How would we know this? We would know by the verses to follow, the other side of the sandwich, stating that though they use the right verbiage of “Lord, Lord”, He would deny knowing them though they prophesied, cast out demons and did great works all in His name. They will be told to depart from Him on that day. (Matthew 7:15-23)

I write this with an urgency to those who will hear and will test everything against Scripture, and I urge you to pay attention to whom you are following in ministry. False prophets will lead many through the wide gate. It is easy and well populated. It is paved with smooth words, talk of favor and twisted Scripture. Accuracy means nothing to the current prophetic movement. There is deception being perpetuated that inaccuracy is acceptable and that you have to step out for God in order to know if you “miss it”. This is not supported in Scripture. The prophets in the Bible who spoke for God did not miss it. To say such a thing while saying, “Thus sayeth the Lord” makes God a liar and the Holy Spirit schizophrenic. This is why we need the sufficiency of Scripture.

Furthermore, accuracy is not a sign of a true prophet. An individual can be quite accurate and yet they are not pointing you to Jesus Christ. (Deuteronomy 13:1-4) If someone has to remind you of their accuracy, then that individual is drawing people to self rather than to Christ. Revelation 19:10 is a misinterpreted and dare I say abused Scripture in some circles. The testimony of Jesus, that of the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament preaching, is the spirit of prophecy. It is neither a slogan nor a catchphrase to say vague words of prosperity and spiritual regurgitation that seem to come back around in the same verbiage but from different individuals. It is not a verse to quote to pander extrabiblical teaching to the masses and draw men and women unto a ministry brand. When Christ crucified is preached, the testimony of the Son of God taking the wrath of God upon Himself for our sins and reconciling us back to the Father by grace through faith in Christ, then we witness the spirit of prophecy in action.

Stay alert! Now more than ever, we are in a time when the church needs to wake up and to not be afraid to judge righteously within the church and to discern the true from the false. True God fearing leaders will not shy away from their words and teachings being inspected to see if what they say is so and in accordance with Scripture, and if they do, run. God did not send them. Ears are being scratched in this time, and it is time for God’s sheep to wake up and to stop leaning in for another scratch. Come out from among them.