The last US election the YouTube prophets were prolific, proclaiming the winner. And when that person was not put into office, there were many and varied responses. I won’t go into that. Because what I want to focus on is the prophet and not the politics.
The prophets in Jeremiah prophesied falsely. They proclaimed peace when God was not bringing peace. I wonder if some of it was because they themselves wanted peace. But also if they didn’t preach peace, the people would hate and try to kill them as they did Jeremiah. Certainly they wouldn’t financially support them either.
When I think of some of the YouTube prophets I think the same. They can preach peace and gain the masses. Or they can preach fear and really gain the masses. But are they speaking what is of God? How many false prophecies must they give before eyes are opened?
I followed one female prophet a few years ago. She currently has 65,000 followers on YouTube and her ministry. I’ve seen a number of things she has spoken that has not come to pass. And yet people in the comments say that everything she has prophesied has come to be. ?? How? It takes quite a distortion. And did I mention that an ounce of anointing oil from her ministry is $25 and baptisms are $30 from what I hear?
Another prophet online I have watched has 675,000 followers on YouTube. He doesn’t believe in the fullness of the Godhead and he regularly titles his videos, “God told me…”. As in there is no room for debate or to be wrong.
This isn’t about bashing but about exercising discernment. Yes, I actually believe that there are people with true prophetic gifts. We see this in the church in Corinth. We’ve seen this throughout Biblical times. And yes, it’s ok for those in full time ministry to be funded by the church people. The Bible commands this. But it can also be a slippery slope.
My questions for those who follow prophets are this:
1) How are do you have to twist a prophecy to show it’s been fulfilled? If you are having to contort their prophecies to fit, RUN!
2) If someone is making money off of baptisms, RUN!!! RUN AWAY from this as this is absolutely an abomination.
3) Does the message of the prophets make you want to run to Jesus and study the Bible and pray? Or does it make you want to make sure you tune in to their channel each week? If you are not consistently being drawn to Jesus and his Word, then this is not something you should be doing. Many are more eager to turn to a YouTube prophet than the Bible. If you have to justify your time spent on their channel verses the Word and following Jesus, you may need to run!
4) If you are seeing video titles that say, “God told me…” this is a good sign that you should run. This verbiage does not leave room for debate but rather is proclaiming they are the official spokesperson of God. RUN!
5) If they are preaching their prophecies more than they are the Word of God. RUN!!!
One thing that challenged me Jeremiah 14 was God didn’t just hold the prophets accountable for preaching a false message, but he also held accountable those who listened to them. It wasn’t just that they listened to them that they were judged, but that they believed them and did not repent. Be careful who you listen to, or you may need to RUN.
Yes, there are true and good prophets. And some of them are on YouTube. But there are many false prophets preaching mostly fear, which is even more profitable than peace.
“Be careful little ears what you hear.”