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Biblical Keys for Discerning True and False Prophets/Rejecting true prophets/Desire as an Obstacle
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Desire as an obstacle
Those who reject true prophets based on rival desires argue on these kinds of bases:
- Distaste for the prophet's words or person, or both: For example, in 1 Kings 22꞉8
reports of a king who said, “There is yet one man, Micaiah... by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”
- Unwillingness to sacrifice in order to follow: Recall the “certain ruler” who asked Jesus, “What lack I yet?” He was very sorrowful in hearing an answer that called for him to give up something he desired (see Luke 18꞉18-25
). In other cases the sacrifice can be social position, sexual or other behavior, or political power.
- Rival desires and allegiances, whether political or personal—“If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11꞉47-48
)
- Unconventional behavior by the prophet, “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners” (Matthew 11꞉19
) or “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day” (John 9꞉16
)
- Objectional behavior by their disciples, where the failures to meet an ideal replace the actual tests for a prophet. (Romans 2꞉21-24
)
- Economic issues—“And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas...saying these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city.” (Acts 16꞉19-22
) or the story of the silversmiths opposed to Paul in (Acts 19꞉24-29
).