beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
To
beware of false prophets is a common warning in the bible but are we
actually doing it? It seems like we are aware of the possibility of
false prophets in theory but don't really expect to encounter them, even
though the bible says that it's almost certain that we will. To beware
is to be on the look out for them - it's not a witch hunt but it does
mean that we try to evaluate what people are saying.
These
wolves look like sheep. If they looked like wolves there wouldn't be
much of a problem. If they came along teaching crazy
stuff it wouldn't be much of a problem because we'd probably notice. The danger is that they will seem
plausible, they will seem attractive, what they are saying will sound
like something that we want to be true. Jesus pulls no punches, they are
ravenous wolves and we are in danger.
How should we go about this, the Bereans in Acts 17:11 give a good example:
They weren't accusing everyone of being a false prophet - they listened to the message with eagerness. But they weren't just taking Paul's word for it - they examined the scriptures every day to see if he was telling the truth
How should we go about this, the Bereans in Acts 17:11 give a good example:
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
They weren't accusing everyone of being a false prophet - they listened to the message with eagerness. But they weren't just taking Paul's word for it - they examined the scriptures every day to see if he was telling the truth