Why the warning about False Prophets if there are no more prophets?
Got to have a real one, to have a false.
Got to have a real one, to have a false.”
No, the real ones were in the past. The warning in Deuteronomy was contemporaneous with the times of the prophets, though the principles are universal (if anyone claims to speak for God, and it doesn’t come to pass or is incorrect, even if it happens only once, he is not a prophet). A false prophet can arise at any time, and because people tend to so easily want to follow them, we are warned about them (multiple times).
The situation today with charismatics and the “new apostolic movement”, where people are running around willy-nilly claiming for be prophets and apostles, is completely out of control and is uniformly unbiblical. From Bethel (where Bill Johnson is held up as an “apostle” and “prophet”), to the Toronto Vineyard and its demonic “Toronto Blessing”, to IHOP/Mike Bickel, and on, and on, and on, false prophets and apostles are everywhere these days.
And what is happening is that a carnal desire for both power (signs and wonders, miracles) and direct personal revelation is leading many into outright deception. If, as these people claim, they are constantly getting personal messages directly from God, then who needs the Bible? See the problem here? If Satan were going to devise a perfect deception to pull people away from the scriptures and get them focused on themselves instead, he couldn’t do better than what is happening right now.
At Bethel, they are neck deep in preaching blatant paganism, they constantly seek new and more spectacular experiences (such as alleged “gold dust” that “miraculously” fell from the ceiling - actually found to be plastic glitter that was dumped onto the ventilation system), and they virtually worship Bill Johnson as an “apostle.” At the Toronto Vineyard, what they claimed was a “move of the Holy Spirit”, and described as God “doing a new thing” (run if you ever hear that phrase), involved various self-proclaimed prophets spouting nonsense and parishioners exhibiting uncontrollable fits of laughter “holy laughter”) and rolling around on the floor making animal noises. There is ZERO Biblical basis for any of this, but it mirrors perfectly the behavior of those who are demon oppressed or even possessed. Look up the Kundalini spirit and Kriyas, and you will see the direct connection to paganism. And as for IHOP and Mike Bickel, they also focus intently on constantly chasing new experiences and feelings, and have many self-appointed prophets and apostles who strangely never seem to get anything right. Yet that doesn’t deter them, they just brush it off by saying that they “need more practice.”
And these examples are only the tip of the iceberg. This stuff has become rampant in recent years and it is causing widespread disillusionment when the “prophecies” don’t come true and when a miracle that is arrogantly proclaimed (rather than humbly prayed for) fails to materialize. It’s all self-focused, constantly seeking spiritual “power” and new emotional highs, rather than doing what we are told to do in scripture, namely to preach the gospel, making disciples of all men, and to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.