False Prophets
I’m not sure where I heard it, but most people see in others what they see in themselves. So if someone rails against how horrible it is to . . . I don’t know, how about use widgets? “You use widgets? That’s terrible! You’re evil because you use widgets. *I*, of course, would NEVER use widgets!”
WRONG! Not only would you love to use widgets, you probably already do in the secrecy of your own home.
Even a cursory reading of the Bible reveals false prophets all over the place. As I write this I’m reading Ezekiel 13. The header for that chapter is, “False Prophets Condemned.” It struck me that these false prophets were probably professional people who were paid a good wage to give their messages.
These folks were telling the general populace, “Don’t worry. It’s okay that the bad guys seem to be winning right now. We’re all going to be alright. God told me so.”
False prophets don’t hear from God. Since God doesn’t speak to them, they don’t believe people like Ezekiel really DO hear from God. It’s a classic case of projection. “It doesn’t happen to me so it’s impossible. You’re just. Like. Me. . . . Guessing about what’s going to happen.”
I don’t mean to minimize the false prophets. Before Jerusalem was sacked the city was packed with refugees from all over the area. Where one person lived before, there was probably ten. Food was scarce. Panic was so close they could smell it. So the false prophets in the city wanted to keep a lid on things. Then along comes Jeremiah, screaming, “We’re all gonna die, man!”
Sorry. A funny quote from the movie Aliens. I couldn’t help myself.
So the false prophets told the king, “Ya gotta shut that guy up or we’re gonna have a riot.” Is there any wonder Jeremiah was dumped into holding tank neck deep in mud?
In case you think current society is any different, take a look at atheists. “I don’t hear from God, so you can’t either. He doesn’t exist.” I ask myself, if He doesn’t exist, why do so many of you try to prohibit believers from worshiping that “non-existing” entity?
Those “prophets” basically told people what they wanted to hear - just like the palm readers and Tarot experts you can find in any county fair. They even have store fronts now. “You’ll meet someone talk, dark, and handsome, then live happily ever after.” In other words, “Babylon will sack the surrounding countryside, but as long as you stay in Jerusalem you’ll live happily ever after.”
Astrologers of today have a science about their predictions. They couch their words so as not to be provably wrong after the fact. Fortune tellers can give you “lucky numbers,” but if you don’t win the lottery they can tell you, “I never said you would.” Things like that. But when was the last time a psychic who claimed to see the future actually won the lottery?
There’s a fraud scheme used on dupes. A scammer will send a bunch people a letter. Half of them say Widgets Inc. will increase in value next week, the other half get letters saying Widgets Inc. will fall over the next week. When Widgets Inc. falls in value, the contact information for those getting the wrong prediction are tossed out. Then the “winners” get another letter, half of them told “up,” the other half “down.” And the process continues until the scammers look like prophets.
“See? I told you it would go up, then down, then down, back up again. Give me your life savings and I can perform miracles. Warren Buffet doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he gives sound financial advice. Only WE have the miracle formula to make you rich.”
People send false prophets money every day, even in modern times. Ever hear of the guy Charles Ponzi?
Who do you believe in, “Don’t worry, be happy,” or, “Live right and enjoy Eternity with God?” The “don’t worry” people tend to produce evil dictators who want to force you into their way of thinking. And though Christianity has produced a crop of the same evil folks, the teachings don’t support that. The “don’t worry” people have NO prohibition on forcing others to “do what’s good.” BTW, guess who gets to tell you what’s good.
Beware false prophets. They’ll only tell you what you want to hear. Eventually you’ll find yourself told to listen to and obey what THEY want.
God gives free will. If He hadn’t, Adam and Eve wouldn’t have eaten that fruit they were told not to.
