The Danger Of False Prophets - Jeremiah 28:15

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. - Jeremiah 28:15

    I was watching the TNT production of “Waco;” the story of the Branch Davidians and David Koresh. Just like many other issues in history, there seems to be two contrasting points of view as to how the events leading to the deaths and destruction of the compound transpired. I will not entertain such arguments. My point here is to address those who claim that they have literally and audibly heard God’s voice speaking to them as Koresh claimed. I know that this subject is going to be both a slippery slope and thin ice at the very same time; that’s why I have chosen it for this post.
    We have been instructed by the Bible and many of the greatest commentators in history to be very skeptical when considering the claims of those who insist that God has made a new revelation available exclusively to them. “But I fear . . . if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4. Lest we forget the words of Jesus Christ Himself in Revelation - “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” - Revelation 22:18-19.
    Does God speak to us audibly? Can we actually “hear” Him speak to us? This is indeed a very, very slippery slope! But the Bible does assure us - God has indeed spoken to us in the past through His prophets.  “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.” -Hebrews 1:1-2.
But does he now choose to speak directly to us? And which of us does He choose to speak to? Are the words of Christ in Revelation now moot because God has, after all these years, chosen to make new revelation? To whom? Even the most star-struck and naive individual must be able to see the speciousness of such claims. And when they don’t, they have false prophets like David Koresh (even his name was a lie!), Jim Jones, and others to convince them otherwise.
    Let us make no mistakes here: God can do as He pleases, in any century, in any era. If He were to choose to speak to one of us today at His behest, He could and would do so! However, according to Holy Scripture - the canon of Scripture is now closed. There will be no new revelation by God to anyone . . . period. So when someone comes forth with the claim that God has spoken directly to them and commanded them to perform some specific act, especially an act that lacks common decency and godliness, we would do well to proceed with extreme caution. John the Apostle gives us a true “litmus test” when we hear such audacious claims -
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” - 1 John 4:1.
    We are all aware of God’s standards as given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The “shalls and shall nots” were and still are literally written in stone. God will not communicate a desire to anyone to defile the holiness of His laws. It would go against His very nature and attributes. So neither should we let some self-appointed prophet nor the ever fluctuating laws of society convince us God’s laws no longer apply! “You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.” - Leviticus 18:4.
    The tragedies of Waco, Jonestown, and other forays into Satanic manipulation have left us with a bitter lesson: we must carefully weigh the words of such men to see if they match the ordinances of God. When the two diverge, we must always trust and follow God’s true and inerrant word before that of men. The prophet, Jeremiah warns us of these wolves in sheep’s clothing - “Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.’” - Jeremiah 28:15. Moreover, God Himself has witnessed against these harbingers of deceit - “For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.” - Jeremiah 29:9.    Lord, we pray that You grant us the spiritual and practical discernment to know Your true word from the falsehoods of the liar.