When Jesus was talking with His disciples about the end times and the sign of His coming, Jesus said in Matthew 24:24, ሐሰተኞች ክርስቶሶችና ሐሰተኞች ነቢያት ይነሣሉ ታላቅ ምልክትና ድንቅ ያሳያሉ, እስከዚያው ድረስ, if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect. What did Jesus mean? What will these false Christs and false prophets and their deceiving signs and wonders look like? What does the Bible say about false Christs and false prophets?
False prophets in the Old Testament
Not only in the New Testament do we read about false prophets. But also in the Old Testament, we read about false prophets, who were not sent by God.
ነቢያትህ ከንቱና ከንቱ ነገር አይተውሃል: ኃጢአትህንም አልገለጡም።, ምርኮህን ይመልስ ዘንድ; ነገር ግን በአንተ ላይ የውሸት ሸክሞችንና መባረርን አይቻለሁ (ሰቆቃዎቿ 2:14)
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል።; ለሰነፎች ነቢያት ወዮላቸው, የራሳቸውን መንፈስ የሚከተሉ, እና ምንም አላዩም! እስራኤል, ነቢያትህ በምድረ በዳ እንዳሉ ቀበሮዎች ናቸው።. ወደ ክፍተት አልወጣችሁም።, በእግዚአብሔርም ቀን በሰልፍ ይቆሙ ዘንድ ለእስራኤል ቤት ቅጥርን አልዘረጋም።. ከንቱነትንና ውሸተኛ ምዋርትን አይተዋል።, እያለ ነው።, ይላል ጌታ: ጌታም አልላካቸውም።: እና ቃሉን እናረጋግጣለን ብለው ሌሎችን ተስፋ አድርገዋል. ከንቱ ራእይ አላያችሁምን?, በውሸትም ምዋርት አልተናገራችሁምን?, እናንተ ግን, ጌታ እንዲህ ይላል።; እኔ አልተናገርኩም?
ስለዚህ ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል።; ከንቱ ነገርን ስለ ተናገራችሁ, እና ውሸት ታይቷል, ስለዚህ, እነሆ, ተቃዋሚ ነኝ, ይላል ጌታ እግዚአብሔር. እጄም ከንቱ ነገር በሚያዩ በነቢያት ላይ ትሆናለች።, እና ያ መለኮታዊ ውሸት: በሕዝቤ ማኅበር ውስጥ አይሆኑም።, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, ወደ እስራኤልም ምድር አይገቡም።; እኔም እግዚአብሔር አምላክ እንደ ሆንሁ ታውቃላችሁ (ሕዝቅኤል 13:2-9)
Her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, ከንቱነትን ማየት, ሟርትም በእነርሱ ላይ, እያለ ነው።, ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል።, ጌታ ባልተናገረ ጊዜ (ሕዝቅኤል 22:28)
False prophets in the New Testament
In the New Testament there are many warnings about false prophets and false teachers. ጳውሎስ, ዮሐንስ, ጴጥሮስ, ይሁዳ (and others) wrote about them. They warned the saints to be cautious
ነገር ግን በሕዝቡ መካከል ሐሰተኛ ነቢያትም ነበሩ።, በመካከላችሁ ደግሞ ሐሰተኞች አስተማሪዎች ይሆናሉ, ጥፋተኛ ኑፋቄዎችን በድብቅ የሚያመጣ, የገዛቸውን ጌታ እንኳን ክደው, በራሳቸውም ላይ ፈጣን ጥፋት አመጡ (2 ጴጥሮስ 2:1)
የተወደዳችሁ, መንፈስን ሁሉ አትመኑ, ነገር ግን መናፍስት ከእግዚአብሔር ሆነው እንደ ሆነ ፈትኑ: ምክንያቱም ብዙ ሐሰተኛ ነቢያት ወደ ዓለም ወጥተዋልና። (1 ዮሐንስ 4:1)
Jesus warned us about false prophets
ሐሰተኞች ክርስቶሶች ይነሣሉና።, እና ሐሰተኛ ነቢያት, ታላቅ ምልክትና ድንቅ ያደርጋል; እስከዚያው ድረስ, ቢቻል, የተመረጡትን ያታልላሉ. እነሆ, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, እነሆ, he is in the desert; go not forth: እነሆ, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; የሰው ልጅ መምጣት እንዲሁ ይሆናል።. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together (ማቴዎስ 24:24-28)
ከሐሰተኛ ነቢያት ተጠንቀቁ, የበግ ለምድ ለብሰው ወደ እናንተ የሚመጡት።, ውስጣቸው ግን ነጣቂ ተኩላዎች ናቸው። (ማቴዎስ 7:15)
And many false prophets shall rise, ብዙዎችንም ያስታሉ። (ማቴዎስ 24:11)
Jesus warned us of false prophets, and told us, how we can recognize false prophets. We can recognize them by the fruit they bear.
False Christs and prophets do great signs and wonders. Therefore we cannot rely upon their teachings, አስተምህሮዎች, ተአምራት, ምልክቶች, እና ድንቆች.
Jesus told us that we should look at their lives, and what fruit they bear in their lives. Do they walk according to the Word of God, and walk in His commandments? Do they bear የመንፈስ ፍሬ or the fruit of the flesh?
ለምሳሌ, when a charismatic prophet or preacher, preaches wonderful encouraging sermons from the pulpit. And when (ኤስ)he does many signs and wonders, but in private, (ኤስ)he lives like the world.
When the person experiences depression, commits adultery, watches porn, goes to clubs/bars, leaves his/her spouse and gets a divorce, or is habitually living in sin, and do those things which go against the Word of God, you know that the person is not rooted and seated in Jesus Chris. The person is carnal and walks after the flesh, ከመንፈስ በኋላ ሳይሆን.
When you look at the fruit, which a person produces, you will know if you’re dealing with a true shepherd or a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
How do you recognize false Christs and false prophets?
We have accepted too much garbage and false doctrines in the church. And because many Christians don’t examine the Bible by themselves and are led by the flesh instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, there is hardly any discernment anymore. Many Christians follow their pastors, (well-known) ሰባኪዎች, ነቢያት, and evangelists, without studying the Bible for themselves. They accept and believe their words, even if they contradict the Word of God (እንዲሁም አንብብ: የሰይጣን ትምህርት እንዴት ቤተ ክርስቲያንን እየገደለ ነው።? እና ለእግዚአብሔር ስድብ የሆኑ የውሸት ትምህርቶች.
Let us be serious and watchful and look at the fruit of the person; are the fruits they produce, fruits of the Spirit or fruits of the flesh.
አሁን የሥጋ ሥራ የተገለጠ ነው።, እነዚህ ናቸው; ዝሙት, ዝሙት, ርኩሰት, ሴሰኝነት, ጣዖት አምልኮ, ጥንቆላ, ጥላቻ, ልዩነት, ማስመሰል, ቁጣ, ጠብ, ብጥብጥ, መናፍቃን, ምቀኝነት, ግድያዎች, ስካር, ዘፋኞች, እና የመሳሰሉት: አስቀድሜ የምነግራችሁን, ቀደም ብዬ እንደነገርኳችሁ, እንዲህም የሚያደርጉ የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት አይወርሱም።.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, ደስታ, ሰላም, ትዕግስት, የዋህነት, መልካምነት, እምነት, Meekness, ራስን መቻል: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts(ገላትያ 5:21-24)
ኢየሱስ እንዲህ ይላል።, that this is the only way, that we can recognize and discern true and false prophets and Christs.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:24, that these false Christs and prophets could even deceive the very elect, if Jesus didn’t warn us about them. እስቲ አስቡት! These prophets seem so real, and so devoted to God, እውነቱ ግን ነው።, that they aren’t sent from God. Therefore be and stay watchful!
How do you recognize real from counterfeit?
The more you study the Bible; የእግዚአብሔር ቃል, the more you will get to know the real Jesus Christ. If you renew your mind ከእግዚአብሔር ቃል ጋር, the easier you will discern, what is real (genuine) and what is false (a counterfeit). ግን እንደገና….ኢየሱስም አለ።, the only way you will discern false Christs and prophets, is to look at their lives and the fruit they bear.
ኢየሱስም ቀጠለና እንዲህ አለ።, that if these false Christs and prophets say, that the Son of man is in the desert, you should not go there, or in the secret chambers, you should not believe it. You do not have to search for Jesus in places. You shouldn’t be led by supernatural manifestations, which could also be a counterfeit of the devil.
When Jesus returns, everyone will see Jesus, not just one person, or a few persons. He shall return at an unexpected moment. Jesus gave us the example of lightening to compare to His return. Jesus will return like a thief in the night, therefore we should always stay watchful and be prepared to meet Him at His return.
‘የምድር ጨው ሁን’
