“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Last week we started to discuss how God views false prophets who use his name to prophesy falsely. We see other accounts of false prophets in the Old Testament and one story of significance relates to a young prophet and an old prophet.

There was a King at that time in Israel who built golden calves for the people to worship and an altar for the people to sacrifice. A young prophet came out of Judah and prophesied against the altar. The King stretched out his hand to give the commandment for his men to seize the prophet. The King’s hand dried and the altar was torn down just as the man of God foretold (1 King 13:1-5).

The King begged the prophet to pray for his hand to be restored and he did and his hand was healed. The King was so grateful that he begged the prophet to return to his house for a meal and to be refreshed. The prophet declined and explained to the King that God had warned him not to eat or drink with anyone, but to return to his own home.

An old prophet was told the story about the young prophet. He went on his way to meet him, convinced him that he was also a prophet who had heard from God. He told him that God said it was ok for him to eat. The young prophet agreed and while he was eating in the old prophet’s home, God spoke to the old prophet. The revelation was that the young prophet would die on his way home because of his disobedience (1 King 13: 6-22)

As it turns out, the young prophet was killed on the way home by a lion. The story reinforces the point that we need to hear from God for ourselves. Did the old prophet lie or was he testing the young prophet to see whether he would obey God or listen to man? The reality is that the scripture does say that the word of the Lord came to the old prophet concerning the young prophet’s disobedience. Either way, he had clear instructions from God concerning what he needed to do and he caused an old prophet to tempt him into disobedience.

Forget about people’s titles because none of that impresses God. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8).

Published by Anneta Pinto-Young

I am a trained Social Worker who currently provides professional leadership on a programme to support Social Work students and Newly Qualified Social Workers entering the Social Work Profession. Born and raised in Jamaica in a Christian family where my father is an ordained Pastor and Deacon who has served for over 50 years in the ministry. My father is also a trained musician and our family can be described as a musical family. I grew up in a small farming community in St. Peter’s, St. Andrew and my parents also have a small farm. I credit my gift of writing to my father who I watched and listened to over the years as he wrote sermons, poems and other recitals in his capacity in ministry. English has always been an easy subject for me and over the years I have developed an increased interest in writing. I am a Trainer, I sing and have a passion for worship, the spoken word and the free flow of the prophetic anointing. I am married to my best friend Andrew Christopher Young who is an advanced Musician and whose music you can find on YouTube and Facebook. I am a trained Coach and Mentor and I love experimenting with food so I love cooking. I enjoy trying cultural dishes from across the world and I view food as an entry into cultures and languages.

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