Q. Based on your last article about false prophecy, how can you tell whether someone is a false prophet?

A. The basic sign of a false prophet is that his word will go against the Word of God. But, that is also where the problem lies because many people do not know the Word of God correctly and have never been taught the Scriptures so they don't know enough to test the words of a so-called prophecy. But, it is possible to know the Scriptures and to be taught correctly so it is on that basis that I will proceed with how it is done .I'm going to use several Scriptures as my basis and so let's start. There are basically two things that will tell if a person is a false prophet. First, does his word contradict the Scriptures and secondly if his predictions come true or not. So, let's look at the first test, whether his word contradicts the Scriptures. Deut 13.1-5 says " If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying 'let us go after other gods whom you have not known and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the word of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing (examining) you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you."
In this passage, the Lord is saying that if a prophet or a dreamer comes forward with a word to depart from the ways of God (v5) and shows a sign or a wonder, you are not to listen to what he says. In fact, God will cause this to happen to test you to see if you will follow the sign or wonder, or follow the Word of God. You do not follow anyone or their words if it contradicts the Scriptures, no matter what sign they give. An example of a false prophecy can be found in 1 Kings 13.18. In this passage, God told a prophet to do a certain thing and another prophet came along and told him that God told him that he didn't have to do it. The first prophet was deceived and he died. True prophecy cannot be annulled by another prophet unless the first prophet hears directly from the Lord that it was. Another verse that goes along the same lines can be found in Isa 8.20 where it reads "To the Law (Torah) and to the testimonies (prophets). If they do not speak according to this word it is because they have no light (understanding)." In Acts 17.10-11 it says that the Bereans were "more noble than those in Thessalonica for they received the word (which Paul spoke) with great eagerness, examining daily, to see whether these things were true." They did not rely on some "oral law" passed down from the rabbis but checked the Word of God. And the Word they were checking was the Tanak, or "old" testament. Everything Paul taught was out of the Tanak and it could be verified by the Tanak, and that's what we need to do when confronted with anyone's teaching, check it out. Unfortunately, many have been taught wrong doctrine and that needs to be straightened out before they will be able to test anything.
The second thing used to test a false prophet is whether what they say comes to pass or not. Deut 18. 21-22 says "And you may say in your heart,' how shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' "When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." So, if the person prophesies in the name of the Lord and the event does not come true or come about, then he is a false prophet. Now, notice he does it "in the name of the Lord" and that is important. Nobody has all the answers and we see through a glass dimly so we aren't always right about some of our interpretations, but that doesn't make us a false prophet. A false prophet will say that the "Lord has shown me", or has "told me to say" something and if it isn't true, then he is false. Yeshua had these things in mind when he discussed false prophets in Mt 17.10-11 where he says "Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You shall know them by their fruits . Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So, then, you will know them by their fruits" What Yeshua is saying here is that a tree is a person and the fruit is their doctrine. A good tree, or a believer, will have sound doctrine and an unbeliever will have corrupt doctrine. So, how can you know? You have to test their doctrines by the Scriptures. External works is not really the intent of "fruits" here otherwise a false prophet can appear righteous outwardly. But the true prophet will be true to the Word of God and a false prophet can't.
In conclusion, there are two tests for a false prophet. First, check to see if what they say lines up with the Word of God (Deut 13.1-5; Isa 8.20) no matter what sign or wonders happens to occur. Remember, the false prophet may perform many signs and wonders but he wants you to follow the sign and not the Word of God. Secondly, if a person makes a prediction in the name of the Lord and it does not come to pass, then the Lord did not speak. So, in short, check what a person says by the Word of God and disregard any signs or wonders. A sign or a wonder just calls attention to what the person is saying and check the event, if it occurs or not. These are two basic ways to test for false prophets.

Q. There is a man on the radio that says judgment day is May 21, 2011 and he seems to be very sure of it. Is he right?

A. I am familiar with this teaching and have listened to his reasoning and his conclusions and he couldn't be more wrong. He has predicted the same thing before and obviously he was wrong and he is wrong again. This hasn't prevented him from making this prediction and people still listen to him. That is because his listeners are more ignorant of the Scriptures than he is. They make the same fundamental errors over and over again, and he isn't the only one. Many so-called "prophecy experts" on TV and radio are unaware that the Lord has given us a blueprint in the Word that will guide us to what He is doing. Again, as I have said over and over, you must understand the Torah, the biblical festivals, the Temple services and what the Lord has given through the Hebrew prophets to understand prophecy. This man does not understand any of these but misinterprets many verses to come up with that date.
Let's look at the biblical festivals for an example. In Leviticus 23, God lists 8 festivals, if you include the weekly Sabbath day, so let's start with that one. The Lord created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and then rested on the Sabbath day.Why would the Lord take 6 days to create the world and everything in it. He could have done it in a second, or millions of years. It's because he is giving us a blueprint, a pattern, a plan for mankind. We know from several verses found in Psalms and 2 Peter that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to the Lord. So, the six days of creation relate to 6000 years of history since creation. The Sabbath day, or seventh day, relates to 1000 years. In other words, God gave a blueprint of the time when man was created till the Lords day. Adam, therefore, was created less than 6000 years ago. When the 6000 years are complete, we enter into the Lords day, the day of the Lord, the Sabbath rest as it is known in the Scriptures. Now, years always begin on a Rosh ha Shanah, which means "head of the year" so this "day of the Lord" will not begin until 6000 years (6 days) are complete. The first 7 years of this "day of the Lord" will be what is called the "birth pains of the Messiah" or the Tribulation period. So, the time of the end cannot start until a Rosh ha Shanah, year 6001 from creation. May 21st of this year is not a Rosh ha Shanah so this individual is incorrect in teaching that judgment day will happen then. Now, there are seven more festivals given in Leviticus 23. There is Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Rosh ha Shanah, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles. The Lord will fulfill certain aspects of the redemption on these days. One must study each festival with its corresponding services, prayers, themes, idioms and phrases to get a proper picture of what the Lord is trying to communicate in regards to Bible prophecy. It is "prophecy 101" if you will. If one does not fully understand these festivals he will not fully understand Bible prophecy, and this man doesn't. Yeshua was crucified on Passover, he was buried on Unleavened Bread, he was raised from the dead on First Fruits and sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. These are call the Spring festivals. Now, if he fulfilled each of the first 4 festivals by accomplishing something in regards to our redemption, it is reasonable to deduct that the last 3 will be fulfilled on their exact day in regards to something else concerning the redemption. So, one must study the corresponding services, prayers, themes, idioms and phrases of these 3 remaining festivals to see what the Lord is going to do next.
After Pentecost, there is a long growing period of about 4 months for the wheat, then comes the harvest period. On the first day of the seventh month we have Rosh ha Shanah, the head of the civil year. This festival in Hebrew is called "Yom Teruah" or the day of the awakening shofar blast. It is called "the last trumpet " and Paul teaches that the resurrection of the righteous will happen on this day. Judgment will begin on earth after this and if the Lord fulfilled 4 previous festivals on their exact day, he is going to fulfill this on it's exact day also. Ten days later there is another feast called Yom Yippur. That is the day the 7 year Tribulation will begin. We know this from several verses. We know the Lord returns in his second coming on a Yom Kippur from Matt 24. It says that he will return at the sound of "the Great Trumpet" which is an idiom for Yom Kippur. We now that the Tribulation period is 2520 days long, or 7 biblical years of 360 days each. So if he comes back on a Yom Kippur the Tribulation must start on a Yom Kippur. This individual does not take into account any of this and totally neglects God's blueprint for prophecy so his conclusions are way off. After the Lord returns there is one remaining festival called the Tabernacles. This teaches all aspects of the coming Messianic Kingdom and the "tabernacling" among us. It was the day Yeshua was born and it is the day the kingdom will begin on earth. There is not enough room to go into each and every aspect of these festivals but if the Lord gave these festivals it was for a reason and one of those reasons was to show us his plan. Paul says that he taught these things and that those he taught were not ignorant of the times and seasons so that they should not be taken by surprise when prophetic things occur. But, those who are ignorant are living in darkness and they will be surprised like those who are asleep when the thief comes. May 21st of this year is not judgment day and they Lord is not coming because it is not Rosh ha Shanah and it is as simple as that. The Lord has a specific prophetic plan that he has laid out in the Scriptures and he will not deviate from it. This is deceiving many and he will have his reward, but there are many unknowing people who will be devastated in their walk with the Lord because they are ignorant of God's plan. Please, with all earnestness, study the biblical festivals and their prophetic significance. There's plenty of help out there.