There are so many false prophets that have risen up over the years and even more that are presently active in the world today. To make matters more confusing, many of these “prophets” profess the name of Jesus and they also appear to live generous, kind and wholesome lifestyles. Even false prophets can show outwardly attractive fruit. How then are we to know if someone is a false prophet?
Matthew 7:15-16 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.”
None of us want to be misled by false prophets. God loves us and He wants to protect us. He wants us to be in the truth and to not be deceived. Because of this, God has given us a few tests so that we can use in order to discern whether or not someone is a false prophet. In the verse above, most people believe “fruit” to be good deeds and outward actions. To paraphrase, ” we will know that someone is a true prophet of God based on how their actions.” This is a great starting point that needs to be taken into consideration.
However, this first instruction can only take us so far, especially considering how there are many prophets who profess the name of Jesus, they consistently display good deeds (fruits), but they also preaching a false gospel that can’t save anyone. What are we to do next? The next test is also found in God’s Word:
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death. You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.”
Everyone makes mistakes, including prophets. But according to God’s Word, a true prophet of God will never give a false prophecy that does not come to pass. If a person makes even just one false prophecy by saying, “This event will happen at this time,” and then it does not happen, God’s Word tells us that this person is a false prophet. No excuses. No exceptions. In the Old Testament, God took this so seriously that he commanded the false prophet to be put to death (v 20). A false prophecy is a type of “fruit” that one bears and is something that we need to take into serious consideration. God tells us in His Word that a true prophet will never produce this kind of bad “fruit.” This gives us the ability to take prophets of the Bible, like Daniel, Isaiah, Micah, and David and verify whether or not they pass the test of a prophet and to see what kind of “fruit” they produced.
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God’s Word vs Biblical Prophets
Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
- Around 400 BC, Micah prophesied that the Messiah was to be born in the city of Bethlehem. In Matthew chapter 2, we read this fulfillment that Jesus truly was born in Bethlehem.
Isaiah 16:5 “In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it– one from the house of David.”
- Around 700 BC, Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come from the bloodline of David. In Luke 18, we read about the blind man and others calling Jesus the Son of David. We also read in the gospel genealogies that Joseph is a descendant of the bloodline of David.
Psalm 22:16 “A pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.”
- Around 1,000 BC David prophesied the nails that would be driven through the hands and the feet of the Messiah. This is centuries before crucifixions were invented. Yet in John 20:25, we see the disciple Thomas saying that he will not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead unless he puts his finger where the nails were in Jesus’ hands.
Daniel 9:26 “The Messiah will be put to death and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
- Around 500 BC, Daniel prophesied that that the Messiah would be killed and then following that, the temple/sanctuary would be destroyed. This gives us a timeframe saying that the Messiah would be killed BEFORE the temple was destroyed. And that is exactly what happened. Jesus died around 30 AD, then the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
All 4 of these men made prophesies. All of their prophecies came true and none of them ever made a single false prophecy. They have passed God’s test as a true prophet. Some might say, “The Bible doesn’t record everything the prophets did. Maybe they did make a false prophecy and it just wasn’t recorded in the Bible.” This is nothing more than biased speculation without any honest ground for taking this position. Let’s now pivot and focus on some of the prophets of Mormonism to see if they pass the test as true prophet of God.
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God’s Word vs LDS Prophets
#1: Helaman 14:27 “And he said unto me that while the thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days.”
- The beginning outline at the beginning of this chapter clarifies that this prophecy is in reference to the death of Christ. It says that darkness will cover the whole earth for 3 days, but we know from the gospel accounts that this darkness only happened for 3 hours (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44). Therefore, this prophecy in Helaman is incorrect and it never came to pass.
#2: Alma 7:10 “And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.”
- The LDS Prophet Alma prophesied that Jesus will be born in at Jerusalem…not Bethlehem. This is a false prophecy. Some might respond and try to say, “Well, Bethlehem is in the land of Jerusalem and that is what Alma is talking about.” That still leaves us with the problematic question of: Why was Micah able to get it precisely correct and Alma was not?
#3: Joseph Smith – 1835: “The coming of the Lord, which was nigh – even fifty-six years should wind up the scene” (History of the Church, Vol. 2 p. 182).
- Smith prophesied that Jesus would return with 56 years which from this point in time would have been 1891, but we know that this did not happen.
#4: D&C 84:3-5 “Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased. Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation. For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house.
- Smith prophesied that God told him that the temple would be built in Missouri and verse 5 clarifies that it would happen BEFORE this generation passes away. That generation passed away a while ago and there has never been a temple built on the lot in Missouri that Smith prophesied about. Even after Smith died, the following LDS prophets and apostles who were within that generation sincerely believed in the prophecy of JS and that the temple of New Jerusalem would be built before they died. But again, no temple was ever built.
#5: D&C 114:1 “Verily thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can, and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto all the world.”
- In the spring of 1838, Smith prophesied that God told him that David Patten would serve his mission the following spring, 1839. However, David Patten was shot and killed in October, 1838. The other 11 apparently still managed to serve this mission but Patten never served the prophesied mission due to his death.
#6: According to LDS leaders, Jospeh Smith said that God showed him that there are people living on the moon: “The inhabitants of the moon are more of a uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth, being six feet in height. They dress very much like the Quaker style and are quite general in style or fashion of dress. They live to be very old; coming generally near a thousand years. This is the description of them as given by Joseph [Smith] the Seer, and he could see whatever he asked the Father in the name of Jesus to see.” (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, Vol 2, p 166)
- Joseph claimed that God told him that there were people living on the moon. Astronauts have been to the moon and we now know that there is no one living on the moon.
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I know there are some who will say, “Paul, there are explanations for each of these ‘failed’ prophecies that you listed. Haven’t you done your research?” To answer this, I am going to list an example that both LDS and Bible based Christians can agree upon.
The Hadith are a collection of Islamic writings where Muslims wrote about their prophet Muhammad. In the Hadith called, “Sahih al-Bukhari,” it says that Muhammad married a girl name Aisha when she was 6 years old and then later slept with her when she was 9. But it’s okay because Muslims have an explanation for this. A response I have heard before is, “Paul, sometimes girls in the Middle East mature faster than girls in other areas around the world. Mary and Joseph got married when she was only a teenager, right? This is no different.”
I am hoping that we all can agree that this is not a legitimate explanation and does not justify the actions of Muhammad sleeping with a 9 year old child. My point here being: just because there is an explanation, that doesn’t automatically dismiss the critique. We need to honestly evaluate the explanation and decide if it is more reasonable to accept it or reject it.
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I say all of these things out of nothing but truth and love. I do not want you to be misguided and God wants to protect us from being deceived as well. Please pray and critically think about these things:
#1 – If Joseph Smith lived in the times of Moses, what would have happened to him?
- He would have been killed because he made false prophecies that were proved to be incorrect. According to God’s Word, one false prophecy makes someone a false prophet.
#2 – Is it wise for us to put our trust in a religion that is built on men who have made false prophecies?
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According to God’s Word, if anyone gives a false prophecy, we are to put that person to death. For us today, the application is that we should cut off or put to death the teachings of anyone who has ever made ever made a false prophecy. This is God’s way of protecting us from being deceived.
We need to put our trust in Jesus and His Word (John 17:17 & Psalm 119:105). I encourage you to read the gospel of Matthew and read about all of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled so that you can grow in your knowledge of the Savior. When it comes to eternal life and living in the presence of God, Christ alone is enough!
Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!
JLLDS Ministries 