False Preachers and Teachers

I would like to show you how many times in the bible that Israel is accused of being a false prophet, pastor and priest. Also, I would like to show you how many times the Israelites are accused of not believing truth and throwing true prophets in prison and not listening to them. My goal is to eventually get all the scriptures showing who the true false prophets and priests and pastors were throughout the entire bible. I will add scriptures as I read throughout the bible looking for all them specifically.

In the Old Testament, we find prophets in Israel who claim to speak for God, but who are clearly false prophets.

These would include men like Zedekiah and the 400 “prophets” who assured Ahab and Jehoshaphat that “God” would give

Israel the victory over Syria’s army, led by Ben Hadad (1 Kings 22:5ff.). There were those prophets who spoke from their

own inspiration, claiming that God had spoken through them (Ezekiel 13:2).

There are also prophets who appear to have acted wrongly or to have “gone bad.” Miriam and Aaron, for example, wrongly

opposed Moses (Numbers 12). The “old prophet” lied to the “young prophet,” claiming to have received later and overriding

prophecy, thereby leading the young prophet astray (1 Kings 13).

There was at least one true prophet who spoke too quickly, without consulting God, who later had to retract his statement.

When David told Nathan of his desire to build a temple for God, Nathan too quickly gave David his approval,

without seeking God’s guidance. When God spoke to Nathan that same night, it was revealed to Nathan that God had other

plans (2 Samuel 7:1-17).

Jesus warns the Pharasees and Sadduces in Matthew 23 concerning the false prophets-

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; andsome of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

After reading the above scripture and the below I hope it leaves no doubt that the false pastors, preachers and teachers from the past and in that generation up until the end was Israel.

JEREMIAH

Jer 4:9 And in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes and the Priests shall be astonished, and the [g]Prophets shall wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God, surely thou hast [h]deceived this people, and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace, and the sword pierceth unto the heart

Jer 5:31 The [u]prophets prophesy lies, and the priests [v]receive gifts in their hands, and my people delight therein. What will ye then do in the end thereof?

Jer :13-14 13 For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given unto covetousness, and from the Prophet even unto the Priest, they all deal falsely.

14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people with sweet words, saying, [m]Peace, peace, when there is no peace

Jer 7:88 Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

Jer 9:3-6 3 And they bend their tongues like their bows for [d]lies: but they have no courage for the truth upon the earth, for they proceed from evil to worse, and they have not known me, saith the Lord.

4 Let everyone take heed of his neighbor, and trust you not in any [e]brother: for every brother will use deceit, and every friend will deal deceitfully,

5 And everyone will deceive his friend, and will not speak the truth: for they [f]have taught their tongue to speak lies, and take great pains to do wickedly.

6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceivers: [g]because of their deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.

Jer 12:10 Many pastors have destroyed my [j]vineyard, and trodden my portion under foot: of my pleasant portion they have made a desolate wilderness.

14:14-18 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I have not sent them, neither did I command them, neither spake I unto them, but they prophesy unto you a false vision, and divination, and vanity, and deceitfulness of their own heart. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Concerning the prophets that prophesy in my Name, whom I have not sent, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land, by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16 And the people to whom these prophets do prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine, and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them: both they and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them 17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them, Let mine eyes drop down [l]tears night and day without ceasing: for the virgin daughter of my people is destroyed with a great destruction, and with a sore grievous plague.18 For if I go into the field, behold the slain with the sword: and if I enter into the city, behold them that are sick for hunger also: moreover, the Prophet also and the Priest go a wandering [m]into a land that they know not.

Jer 22:22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

Jer 23:1-2,13-18,21-22,30-38 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. 13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies:they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.17 They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord.34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house.35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken?36 And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken?38 But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord;

This entire chapter 26 of Jeremiah should be read in its entirety, because it shows how Israel did not want to hear truth and killed the prophets that were from God. They wanted to hear what sounded good instead of truth.

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying,2 Thus saith the Lord; Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house.11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Jer 27: 9-10,14-16,18 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.

14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.15 For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you?

18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.

Jeremiah chapter 28 tells of how a false prophet Hanniah taunts Jeremiah and how Israel chooses to believe the false prophecies that bring security instead of believing the truth that nebukadnessar was going to go to war with them. I won’t put the entire chapter here. You can look it up if you choose to.

Jer 29: 15,19,21,23,31-32 Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

19 because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.

21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;

22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.

23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.

24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.

27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?

28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying

31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:32 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.

Jeremiah imprisoned

Jer 37: 13-21 13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.18 Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?19 Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?20 Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die the. 21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Jer 38- Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

2 Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.

3 Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.

4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

8 Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king saying,

9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

Jeremiah prophecies to the King, but he does not listen.

Jer 15-24

25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:

26 Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.

27 Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.