From Prophets to Teachers

Table of Contents

Last Updated on Fri June 28, 2024 @ 8:11 pm

Peter teaches us that the Old Testament prophets are today’s teachers. In 2 Peter 2:1-22 Peter reveals to us that teachers today are in the place where prophets were in the Old Testament (2Pt 2:1). Therefore we are to beware of teacher’s or men’s teachings just as we were instructed in the Old Testament to beware of prophets with false prophecies (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). This is a distinction that today’s false prophets don’t want you to know.

Teaching Prophets

We see Matthew warning us to beware of those who call themselves prophets in Matthew 7:15-20, showing that the New Testament has not eliminated prophets from being tested – as some prophets would teach today. Because, you see, today they will come calling themselves prophets to mislead us into thinking they are not in the office that they claim is the false office today – teachers. Yet, it is still by their works and fruit that we know what they are, not by what they claim they are (Mt 7:20). For “Whoever says he abides in Him [Jesus] ought to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He [Jesus] walked and conducted Himself.” (1John 2:6 AMPC)

Some men today want to isolate themselves from detection as false prophets by using this verse in Peter to say that it is the teachers that are false today, not prophets. That is not at all what Peter is saying (and certainly not what Matthew or Jesus says). Peter is saying, and then showing, that the teacher is in the place of the prophet, and because the New Testament prophets teach therefore prophets are now the ones that will bring in the heresies and false doctrines. So if prophets are teaching things for doctrine, then they’re a teacher (Mk 7:7). Doesn’t matter if they call themselves a pastor or prophet or whatever – they’re a teacher if they teach.

As such they’re to be scrutinized and judged in everything they say (Deut 18:20-22; 1Cor 14:29). Don’t let their office or calling scare you from doing what you are commanded to do. Beware of them! Test them! To ignore this point is how the Church becomes deceived (1Jn 2:26), and how you can be turned over to a strong delusion (2Thes 2:10-11) by believing their lies.

For those who guide this people are leading them astray
And those who are guided by them are confused
(Isaiah 9:16 NASB)

New Testament Prophets

The New Testament declares that there are two prophets at work in the Church today (Rev 2:14, 20).

Balaam – the Non-Prophesying Prophet

Balaam is called a prophet yet there is no prophecy we have from him. You might call him ‘a non-prophesying prophet’. What scripture tells us Balaam did was he taught. Balaam was a teacher who was known as a prophet. We can’t necessarily call Balaam a false prophet either because he was careful to not speak anything that God would not bring to pass. He liked his prophet status.

Balaam was also not considered an Israelite. So his claim or fame as a prophet was not bestowed by the God of Israel. Balaam was a prophet who taught God’s people to partake in sacrificing to idolatry [like some prophets today have you give your goods and self to honor their calling over you]. This prophet Balaam brought the teaching to God’s people that it was okay to commit sexual immorality and lewdness. That they should give themselves up to sexual vice (Rev 2:14 AMPC). Sound familiar? Balaam, therefore, trapped God’s people and set a trap and a stumbling block before them to entice them (Rev 2:14 AMPC).

Jezebel – the Prophet of Sex & Self

Likewise, Jezebel is the spirit of one who calls themselves a prophet. The Jezebel spirit prophets teach misleading doctrines that lead God’s people into sexual immorality and idolatry (Rev 2:20). This spirit is noted as being one that is usurping authority where they have none, as Lucifer did (Isa 14:14). This is why Jesus emphasizes “that woman” (Rev 2:20). Don’t miss this point and go off focusing on this spirit to have to be on a female. Realize that He provides no rebuke here to the church that a woman is running the church – something He would have mentioned if Jezebel was an actual woman.

This is emphasized in this way to make the point that this is one that is out of God’s prescribed order, one that is usurping authority – where they have none. One that is making themselves out to be some great one (Acts 8:9-10). This is made even clearer in how Jesus continues by saying that this one ‘calls herself’ (Rev 2:20). This is someone who is usurping a position, a calling, or an office that is not theirs – which is what Jezebel epitomizes. Lucifer did it first in his “I will”‘s (Isa 14:14) but no one thinks of him as a woman do they? Yet that’s the origin of the Jezebel spirit.

They Lead My People

Here we see two New Testament prophets that are leaders, and heads of the Church (Isa 9:16, 3:12, 15). These prophets are easily known by the signs of their fruits (Mt 7:20) – sexual immorality and idolatry [exaltation of themselves]. Peter says of Balaam that he seduced people into sex and won’t heed correction or rebuke for his maddening iniquity (2Pt 2:15-16). Sound familiar? What Jesus is most upset about His people here is that they tolerate (Rev 2:20) and cling to the teachings (Rev 2:14) of these prophets who teach them these lies (Hos 4:6). These prophets also exorcize what Jesus hates – hierarchy, they rule over the laity – the Nicolaitan doctrine (Rev 2:15).

Related: If I Were The Devil

Preachers vs. Teachers

While most Christians use the two words interchangeably and believe that the Bible treats them the same, they are in error. Richard Owen Roberts brings out the simple difference between teaching the word and preaching the word. To teach is to inform someone, to expound upon the word, giving them insight. But to preach is to move someone from where they are to where they belong. This is something rare today. This is why there are no revivals today like there used to be – people are not moved by the spirit of God because God manifests his word through preaching (Titus 1:3; 1Cor 1:21).

This moving is something that Brother Stair has not done and he makes this very clear almost every time he speaks to his congregation. How many times have you heard him say that they are not moved by what he says? How many times have you heard him say they are not changing from what they were?

Therefore Brother Stair is not preaching to his congregation or his listeners – no matter what he says or thinks he’s doing. He is simply teaching them something new or interesting – that’s what keeps their ears tickled and keeps them listening. Yet it’s worse than this. What he is teaching is distorting and perverting the word of God – to his own ends. Remember Brother Stair brags that he does not preach the gospel, he does not preach Christ crucified (1Cor 1:23). He hath stumbled at that stumbling stone (Rom 9:32-33; 1Cor 1:23).

The Foundations Be Destroyed, If…

How they do this is by introducing teachings that destroy the Foundation and deny foundational truths (Psalm 11:3). They will tweak and distort the scriptures to their own desires and ends, which will also bring about destruction – even their own (2Peter 3:16). They move or remove the old landmark and thus change the point of judgment so that their followers will not walk therein (Pr 22:28; Jer 6:16).

**Peter describes these teachings as:**

Destructive [Always tearing down]
Secrets [Things are done in a corner, hidden (Acts 26:26; Eph 5:11)] [Secret Revelations (Rev 2:24; 2Pt 1:20)]
Heretical
Denying God as the Sovereign [Make themselves the highest spiritual authority today (Isa 14:13)]
Shameful (Pr 11:2-31)
Their ways make people question God [Destroy the faith of some (2Tim 2:18)]
Greedy [this does not just apply to money]
Exploiting Gods people
Using Stories [That they make up about their glorious past (Acts 8:9-10)]
Showing corrupt desires (2Pt 2:10)
Despising any authority over theirs and other than theirs (2Pt 2:10; Isa 14:13; Jude 1:8)
Bold [They do this to deceive you into believing it is because they are righteous and therefore ‘bold as a Lion’]
Arrogant [Telling you it’s boldness from their righteousness]
Fearless [Again, the boldness ploy]
Slanderous [This is what scoffers do, and they call it mocking so you think it’s right] (2Pt 2:10)
Blasphemers
Behaving like Beasts [Dogs returning to their vomit (Pr 26:11)]
Acting on fleshly Instincts
Harmful [Their words and actions harm the lives of God’s people, and they cause some to turn away from the faith (1Tim 4:1-2; Mt 24:10). Yes, they are the ones warned of in Matthew 24.]
Doing their pleasures in Daylight [Groping, butt and boob grabbing (even on Video)]
Blots, Spots, and Blemishes upon the people of God [While they blame God’s people for their shame]
They reveal their Pleasures in the midst of the Congregation [Groping, butt, and boob grabbing (even on Video)]
They have Feasts [Gatherings and keeping Feast Days to deceive]
Adulterous eyes
Always sinning
Seducing
Experts in Greed
Accursed
Have left the Straight Way [To follow their own gospel and kingdom]
They Wonder [Up and down the East Coast, around the Farm, across the Shortwave band]
They operate as did prophet Balaam – seducing to sex, won’t heed correction or rebuke for their madness
Loves the payments of wickedness [Sexual favors]
Without water – unable to refresh or quench your thirst [Drying up the bones]
Driven about by unseen storms [Demons, confusion]
Speak empty boasts [They don’t do what they say they will do]
They entice through Lustful desires
They target those seeking to Escape Corruption [This is the purpose of the Overcomer Ministry]
They promise Freedom with themselves [Only by being with them will you be spared the coming destruction]
They are Slaves to Depravity [This is Worthy of Repeating]
Depravity has mastered them
They are worse off if they have really been once delivered [Better for them to have never been saved]
They Return to their former Sins (2Pt 2:22; Pr 26:11) [“I’ve always been like this” (Bro Stair)]

Related: Fourth Strike

Paul adds to this List:

In Romans 16:17-18 Paul gives these attributes:

They cause Divisions [Stirring up one against another. Strife]
They create Obstacles that are Contrary to known foundational truths (Mt 23:4)
They serve their fleshly appetites [Having their brother’s wife (Mk 6:18)]
They Talk – with Flattery to Deceive the heart and mind (Acts 20:30; Eph 5:6, 4:14)

Other important Attributes to note:

They bring Confusion (1Cor 14:33) [You’re never able to grasp where they’re going with their talk, they keep you in a dizzy spin. Followers’ faces reflect this confusion and disorientation.]
They lack Peace (1Cor 14:33) [They promote and produce fear in their followers]
They are Leaders (Acts 20:29-31; 8:9-11; Mt 16:12)
They come from out of Obscurity, they just appear on the scene (Jude 1:4)
They are ungodly – as seen in their works (Jude 1:4; Mt 7:20)
They Pervert God’s Grace (Jude 1:4; Gal 1:6-9)
They teach that Grace covers Sensuality (Jude 1:4; Gal 1:6-9)
They are Prophets (Rev 2:14, 20; 1 John 4:1)
They Lie (John 8:44)
They teach that practicing Sexual Immorality is okay (Rev 2:14, 20) [“The flesh is going to do what the flesh is going to do – let it” (Brother Stair)]
They Disguise themselves as Anointed and Called of Christ (2Cor 11:13; Acts 8:9-11)
They commit Adultery (Jer 23:14; Lk 16:18; Gal 5:19; Lev 20:10; Pr 6:32; Rev 21:8; Mt 19:9; 1Cor 6:9, 18; Mt 5:28, 32; Mk 10:11-12)
They walk in Lies (Jer 23:14)
They lift up the hands of those that do Evil as they do (Jer 23:14) [They protect those who sin as they do, it is those who want to walk holy who they attack because they would expose them]
They don’t want people to Turn from their Evil Ways (Jer 23:14) [Because it would mean that they would be exposed for their evil ways]
They say their way is Peace (Micah 3:5) [Yet there is no peace with or around them (Jer 6:14; 8:11)
They declare war against those who won’t eat with them in judgment on their sins (Micah 3:5) [They feel guilty by those who fast because they feel it is in judgment upon their adultery (1Cor 5:11)]
They deprive God’s people of obeying scripture and Testing Them [1Tim 6:5; Acts 17:10-11; 1Jn 4:1]
They are Fierce (Acts 20:29)
They do not spare God’s people (Acts 20:29)
God’s people do not respond to them as they want them to (Jn 10:1-5)
God’s people do not understand their speech [Jn 10:1-5] [So there is confusion on their faces]
They go from Bad to Worse (2Tim 3:13)
They look to Dreams (Jude 1:8)
They Defile the Flesh (Jude 1:8)
They reject Authority that is not their own (Jude 1:8; 2Pt 2:1, 10)
They Blaspheme those God has glorified (Jude 1:8; 2Pt 2:10)
They are Leaders of God’s people (Jer 23:13; Mt 23:2-4) [Or they present themselves as such]
They lead God’s people Astray (Jer 23:13)
They Prophesied (Jer 23:13)
They Prophesy by Baal – a prince of Hell ruling over the East (Jer 23:13; Eph 6:12) [Boast they have been given spiritual authority over the Southern States]
They are Frustrated (Isa 44:25) [They don’t mind telling and showing their anger because of this frustration. Likewise, they frustrate others.]
They are like a Roaring Lion (Eze 22:25; Pr 28:15) [They do this to deceive you into believing it is because they are righteous and therefore ‘bold as a Lion’]
They are like a Charging Bear (Pr 28:15) [They do this act to deceive you into believing that their boldness means they are righteous]
They have many Widows in their midst (Eze 22:25) [To devour them and their monies (Lk 20:47)]
They accumulate people’s Treasures (Eze 22:25) [From those moving there then fleeing and leaving their belonging and their monies]
They Stir up Division (Titus 3:0-11; Pr 22:10)
They are Warped and Sinful (Titus 3:10-11)
They do not heed Repeated Warnings (Titus 3:10-11)
They are drunk with the blood of the Saints that they have slaughtered and Cast Away (Rev 17:6)
They Appear as a Lamb or Sheep (Rev 12:11; Mt 7:15)
They Prophesy in God’s Name (Mt 7:22) [“Thus saith the Lord“]
They Cast out Demons (Mt 7:22) [Or so their stories say so (Acts 8:9-11; Mt 7:22-23)]
They do Works in God’s Name (Mt 7:22-23) [By they are not the works of God]
They Speak like a Dragon (Rev 12:11; Pr 26:25; Pr 10:11; Pr 24:2)
They think they are above the Law of God (2Thes 2:9; Isa 14:13; Jude 1:8; 2Pt 2:1, 10)
They come with Power, Signs, and Wonders (2Thes 2:9) [Or so their stories say (Acts 8:9-11; Mt 7:22-23)]
They Appear to be Godly (2Tim 3:5; 2Cor 11:14)
They Deny the Power of God (to overcome sin) (2Tim 3:5)
They Oppose true Worship (2Thes 2:4) [They may do this by redefining what worship is or stopping any real move of God]
They make themselves out to be Great Ones, God’s man of the Hour, Son of Man, … (2Thes 2:4; Acts 8:9-11)
They Change biblical Times and Seasons (Dan 7:25) [Or they never get the dates right]
They speak words against God, and His people (Dan 7:25)
They Wear Out God’s people (Dan 7:25)
God’s people will be Deceived by them – for a time (Dan 7:25)
They lose their followers over time (Dan 7:25)
They walk in Darkness (1Jn 2:11; Jn 3:19; Pr 4:19, 2:13; Jn 11:12; 1Jn 1:6)
They are of the World (1Jn 2:16) [Therefore the world likes them but they always deal with the disdain of God’s people]

Calling Themselves Prophets

John, Matthew, Mark, and Luke do use the term prophets rather than teachers, as did Jesus. One reason for this is because they will call themselves prophets – that’s how they come to you (Matt 7:15; 1John 4:1; Matt 24:24, 11; Mark 13:22; Acts 13:6). Jesus emphasized this in speaking of Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality (Rev 2:20).

This defies the teaching that teaches you that there are only false teachers today and not false prophets. This false teaching comes from a false prophet who is teaching you this. This false teaching is forgetting about the three false teachers that called themselves prophets in Revelation (Rev 2:14, 20, 16:13) which can be contrasted with the two true prophets of the Last Days (Rev 11:3-4), and the book of Revelation which is Johns’ prophecy (Rev 1:3, 22:7).

Paul also warns that these falsies also exalt their calling as apostles (2Cor 11:13-15) [another title, like Son of Man]. Jesus also warns us about them in Revelation 2:2. In Revelation John also speaks further of the Last Day Prophet in Revelation 16:13.

Paul, like Peter, warns of the fierce wolves that come to devour, and that we are to Be Alert for them (Acts 20:29-31). These wolves are leaders (Acts 8:9-11) just as prophets Balaam and Jezebel are the leaders who teach in the Pergamum and Thyatira churches (Rev 2:14, 20). Also, take note that they come to us speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:30). Are you getting the picture yet?

In the Church Today

The function of prophets in the Church today is seen in 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 where Paul briefly runs over some instructions on how the body of Christ is to order itself. What we find here is contrary to 99% of all churches today. It’s probably no stretch to say that no one reading this has ever been in a church where this was practiced. Yet this is how the New Testament Church is supposed to function according to scripture.

This alone tells us that the church today has corrupted itself away from God’s design. One of the means of this corruption has come about by teachings from false prophets. Because in Paul’s instructions, there is no single one-man prophet leading the church. Where we see this is in the error of Pergamum and Thyatira where they were led by prophets that led them into sexual immorality and idolatry (Rev 2:14, 20). Those prophets taught, as all prophets do that lead churches today (Isa 9:16). And what do they lead them into? Thus, sexual immorality is a sign that is their identifying sign.

Ye May All Prophesy

In the New Testament church, two or three prophets are to speak and the others are to judge what the prophet said (1Cor 14:29. For ye may all prophesy one by one (1Cor 14:31). Is this what we find today? Anywhere? Then today we do not have the proper function of the prophet ministry. Check, if you will, to see if the prophets today who are leading churches are not showing the attributes (the works) of Balaam and Jezebel (Rev 2:14, 20). Leading the church into their sexual immorality and causing them to idolize them.

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
(1Cor 14:29-33 NASB95)

Final Words from Jesus

While New Testament false prophets will teach you that the New Testament says that it’s not prophets that are false now but teachers that are false. Jesus told us a different story. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-16 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Jesus Did Not Say “Beware of False Teachers”

Jesus also tells us in Matthew 24:24 that these false prophets will show us great signs and wonders. Have you been shown stories of great signs and wonders from your prophet? (Acts 8:9-10) Are you blindly taking their word for it? Or worse, have they convinced you that God will give you some revelation (or witness) that they are approved by God? John told you to test the prophets and Jesus told you that you are to test their fruit that you witness – not the glorious back-stories that they tell of what signs and wonders God did through them in the past (Matt 7:15-20; Acts 8:9-10).