“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 29:8-9 NAS

The prophet Jeremiah lived in similar times to ours today.  His was a lone voice calling out for repentance and a returning to the Lord.  On more than one occasion he was physically threatened because of his message of impending judgment.

There were competing prophetic voices in Jeremiah’s day that proclaimed a message diametrically opposed to the one true message Jeremiah received from God.  It is important for us to note that God declares clearly that we are not to listen to the voices of false prophets because they do not represent Him.

Of course this requires us to know the voice of the true Shepherd doesn’t it?  This is the point Jesus made when He said that the sheep will know the right voice to follow as recorded in John 10.  Clearly then, we can and must be able to distinguish between true and false messages today.

One way we can do that is by comparing the message of the false prophets of our day to God’s Word.  A second way is to listen to the leading of God the Holy Spirit.  We can rest assured that God will never lead us into error but always lead us into the light of His truth.

With the cacophony of voices today it is imperative for the Christian to stay “tuned in” to the voice of God and thus avoid the myriad and convoluted teachings that have clearly departed from the one true gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.