What is a false prophet?

Answer 1

The New Testament speaks of two "false prophets": a "historical" one whom Barnabas and Saul [Paul] met during their travels to the island of Paphos:

"...they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus." (Acts 13:6 NLTNew Living Translation)

Whose given name was: "...Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek)..." (verse 8).

And Bible prophecy speaks of another "future" False Prophet who shall be "joined-at-the-hip" [as the saying goes] to a "political/military" leader whom the Bible calls "the Beast." They are both introduced to God's servants, first, in Revelation 13, where God's Word calls them BOTH "beasts!" With the False Prophet taking a lesser role to the First Beast; the Bible introducing the False Prophet as "another beast" [Rev.13:11].

These two will rule the coming brief [three-and-a-half year] prophesied resurrection of the old Holy Roman Empire when the present strife and attacks on the global economy finally collapses it, to the dismay and panic of all the nations of the world -- plunging the world into Jesus' prophesied scenario of "Great Tribulation" [horrifying, unprecedented global distress, that, if left in man's Satan-guided hands, would result in the cessasion of all life on the earth - see Matt.24:21-22].

These two men, the Beast and the False Prophet, are first named as such in Revelation's 16th chapter; where Satan, the Beast and the False Prophet all give voice to the nations of the world to gather their military forces together to repel the "alien invasion" they see forming in the clouds that surround the darkened earth. The "alien invasion," of course will be the returning Jesus Christ and His armies approaching the earth to save it from the demons who rule it... but the deceived nations won't know this:

"...I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouth of the Dragon [Satan; see Rev.12:9], the Beast, and the False Prophet. These miracle-working demons caused all the rulers of the world to gather for battle against the LORD on that Great Judgment Day of God Almighty... And they gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place called Armageddon in Hebrew." (Rev.16:13-16 NLT)

Being future characters in the fulfilling of Bible prophecy... they remain nameless. It's only to God's Believing, Faithful servants who know and trust His Word, to whom God will "reveal" the identity of the Beast and False Prophet... just before Jesus returns:

"...let us tell you about the coming again of our LORD Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered together to meet Him. Please don't be so easily shaken and troubled by those who say the Day of the LORD has already begun... Don't be fooled by what they say. For THAT DAY WILL NOT COME until there is a great rebellion against God and THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED - the one who brings destruction." (II Thess.2:1-3 NLT)

Prophetically... to the very end... the Beast and False Prophet both go "unnamed." Right up to the moment when Christ casts them both into the "Lake of Fire" [Gehenna; the valley east of Jerusalem, which Christ will kindle into flame that will last throughout His entire thousand year earthly ministry, and on into the "eighth day" -- Judgment Day.

"And the Beast was captured, and with him the False Prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the Beast - miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the Beast and who worshiped his statue. BOTH the Beast and his False Prophet were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire that burns with sulfur." (Rev.19:20 NLT)

The world will see both of these men as "heroes"... not "beastly" or "false." Only God's Faithful servants, for whom the Bible was written, will be able to discern the identity of these two, as yet unnamed [and unrevealed], men.

Answer 2

A false prophet is someone who claims to speak for a deity or divine source but is deliberately misleading or deceiving others for personal gain or to manipulate followers. They may provide inaccurate teachings, predictions, or guidance to exploit people's beliefs for their own benefit.

Answer 3

A:Like almost all historical accounts, The Bible was written by the winners, so it is replete with 'false prophets' who are usually left unnamed.

In Jeremiah chapter 28, Hananiah the prophet prophesied that Babylon would be defeated within two years and the treasures of the Temple returned to Jerusalem. Then, to the dismay of the crowd and the prophet Jeremiah, he removed the yoke that Jeremiah had symbolically placed on his own neck. Breaking the yoke, Hananiah prophesied that God would likewise "break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years." The prophet Jeremiah wrote the account, so Hananiah is banished from the record as a false prophet, although his alleged prophecy would come true eventually.

Simon Magus is mentioned in Acts of the Apostles as a false prophet. It is very possible that, rather than a false prophet guilty of 'simony', Simon was a popular Christian leader who fell out with the faction from which the author of Luke's Gospel and Acts came. The story we have here is suggestive of an attempt to blacken the name of a former rival.

Answer 4

some one who says they are a prophet when they really are not