Daily Devotional

“Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who make my people stray; who chant ‘Peace’ while they chew with their teeth, but who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths” (Micah 3:5). 

Did you know that Christopher Columbus—the one who sailed to the New World—wrote a book of prophecies in the early 1500s? Written after his third voyage to the Americas, the book discusses certain events that Columbus believed would have to occur before the return of Jesus. He predicted that the world would end in 1656. Later, he revised his prediction, and his reasoning for this was mathematical. He believed that the world had been created in 5343 BC and that it would last precisely 7,000 years. This pinpointed the year 1658. 

Columbus’s “prophecies” were probably a relatively harmless sharing of ideas, and we wouldn’t necessarily consider him a false prophet, just simply mistaken. But through the course of history there have been tens of thousands of people whose prophecies failed, yet who claimed to have been given this information from God. Sometimes these false prophecies have cost people money, time, worry, grief, discouragement, injury, and, in some cases, even their eternal lives. 

The prophet Micah was sent to Israel and Judah to warn of the impending Assyrian and Babylonian invasions into Samaria and Jerusalem because of the disobedience of God’s people. He spoke against idolatry, injustice, and greed. He also condemned the false prophets who were drawing people away from God and offering their untruths in exchange for money. 

False prophets are skilled at deception. That’s what makes them so dangerous. Jesus warned us that in the last days “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). 

The Bible tells us how to recognize these false prophets. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). This simple rule will save us from being deceived: Prophets who contradict the Bible are not from God. 

Dear God, guide me in a deeper study of Your Word so that I may avoid future deceptions.