Types of false prophecies: the flesh

Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16 ESV)

Deshen Daily yesterday discussed the first type of false prophecies called “the demonic”, meaning “prophecy” originating from demons and not from God. Let me discuss a more common and problematic form of false prophecy of the type I have called here “the flesh”. This is the type I am guilty of, and probably many of you too. This is the type that is so common in Church and responsible for many of our problems with the prophetic and sometimes leading to catastrophic consequences.

The LORD speaks about some false prophets in the verse above. He said these prophets were speaking words which were coming from their own minds and not from the mouth of the LORD. In other words, they were speaking things they have framed in their minds or thought about but when they said it to the people, they told them it was what the LORD was saying. There are two types here we should distinguish. There are those who do it intentionally, and say things they know are not from God but make the people believe they received it from God. These are deceivers, who often do this to financially exploit their victims.

The second type is a little subtle and tricky. It is for those who truly hear God’s voice but heard something that is just from their minds and assume it was from God. They can minister it believing it was from God without an intention of deceiving anyone. This is the old battle of flesh vs Spirit, learning to distinguish what is your mind (flesh) or from the Spirit of God. As we grow in our abilities to hear from God, it is but normal we can make this mistake. We should not stop or be discouraged but rather know how to communicate it to people when we are not sure.

This “fleshly prophetic” is the most common false prophecies amongst God’s people today. We assume many things are Spirit whereas they are nothing other than our minds and emotions at work. As we grow up in the faith, we learn to hear God better and better. Tomorrow, I will conclude this mini-series with the most confusing of all false prophecies which occurs when the Spirit actually spoke but the message got corrupted.

MEDITATE

I have struggled to condense volumes of teachings in the devotional above. Please re-read as needed to ensure you fully grasp what it is saying.

APPLY THE WORD

When God poured out His Spirit on all flesh, errors like this one will be inevitable. It is God’s desire that every single believer functions in the prophetic. Just grow in your intimacy with the Spirit.