#35: False Teachers Part 2: Their Numbers
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?” So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
I Kings 22:6 NKJV
There is a road near our church that our family calls False Religion Freeway. It starts with a large Hindu temple, one of the most elaborate sites in the world and filled with more ornaments and idols than most other buildings in North America. After you drive past the gated temple and make a left you will pass a World Mission Society Church of God building. This cult believes in god the father and god the mother who came in the flesh in South Korea. Blocks away is a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall where Jesus Christ’s deity is denied and millions are being led to destruction through the false teaching of a few false prophets in the secretive Watchtower. Just after our own church comes a large Roman Catholic Church where Jesus Christ is said to be sacrificed over and over by “priests” in the mass each day. All around our homes and churches are false teachings, false religions, and perversions of the Word of God. It is sometimes discouraging to see so many deceivers so close together.
When Jehoshaphat asked for the Word of God to be proclaimed, 400 false “prophets of the Lord” were immediately made available. King Ahab had 400 false prophets as part of his retinue. Given that Israel’s army was relatively small in comparison to neighboring countries like Syria, the number dedicated to prophecy is all the more staggering.
Some have tied the 400 prophets in I Kings 22 to the 400 prophets of Ashteroth (of the groves) in I Kings 18:19. Many Bibles cross reference to these two verses. The numbers are the same but there seems to be disagreement over whether or not these are the same 400 prophets. One of two scenarios seems to me to be the case: 1) The prophets of Ashteroth became false prophets of the Lord after the defeat of the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel; or 2) These were simply 400 men who claimed to be prophets of the Lord with no relation to the prophets of Ashteroth. I find the second scenario more in line with the text.
The lesson is this: False prophets and teachers are numerous. There is a huge demand by the world for these false teachers because ears itch to hear a false word of the Lord. We need to guard ourselves from them lest we fall under the spell of their fables.
How can we guard ourselves against false prophets and teachers? Know the truth! Know God’s Word so well through reading it and listening to faithful preaching that any false presentation puts you on alert and guard. Know the Lord Jesus Christ so well that counterfeits are easy to fake. I suspect married couples could easily spot a fake spouse who came into their home. Our King, Lord, and God has revealed Himself to us through 66 books of the Scripture. Shouldn’t we know Him well enough to spot and reject frauds?
Jehoshaphat recognized immediately that the 400 were not true prophets of the Lord (vs. 6). May the Lord Jesus Christ guard our hearts, minds, and souls from the false prophets filling the highways and byways around us.
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Copyright ©, LikeTheGreatMountains.com, 2020
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2 Comments
Al · May 12, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Loved that comparison to recognizing our spouse. Oh that we know Jesus so well.
God often communicated the people of God committed adultery when they had idols.
Jesus came and they should have recognized the Father through Him. They did not.
But to as many as received Him …
There is no substitution for knowing God’s Word. In Psalm 119, it has become my counselor. Upon meditating on that years ago, I could not help but see that it has become my friend.
bastahl1 · May 12, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Thank you for the helpful comments and tie ins to the Word. You make a good point about the friendship we can and should have with the Word of God.
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…” (Philippians 3:9-10)