FALSE CHRISTS, FALSE MESSIAHS Messianic pretenders in the NT who through dramatic

“signs and wonders” posed a great temptation to the earliest Christians. False Christs or messiahs are

specifically mentioned twice in the NT, both in sections of the Gospels describing the time of the

return of Jesus Christ. First, Matt. 24:24 speaks of “false messiahs and false prophets” who will

deceive many through spectacular miracles. Such figures are so convincing that they are even a threat

to the faith of “the elect,” although Matthew has a strong hope that the elect ultimately will not fall

victim to the deceptions of these pretenders. Mark 13:22 is a parallel passage to Matt. 24:24 and uses

the same language to describe false Christs. Both passages are warnings to Christians to be vigilant in

assessing the claims of any person who claims to be the Messiah returned to judge the world. The

false Christs will be known as such because the actual second coming of Christ will be unmistakable

and in the open, whereas the messianic pretenders plot in secret and will come to nothing (Matt.

24:26–28; Mark 13:23–29).

Other false messiahs in the earliest days of the church were those claiming to be Israel’s military

and political saviors. A misunderstanding of the nature of the Messiah prompted by an exclusive

focus on OT texts promising victory over Israel’s national foes (see Ps. 2; Hag. 2:20–23; Zech. 9:9–

10; 12:7–13:1) paved the way for militaristic messianic pretenders to draw followers into armed

conflict with the Roman authorities (such as Theudas and Judas the Galilean in Acts 5:36–37 and “the

Egyptian” in Acts 21:38). Such false messiahs did not claim divine status, but they were a constant

source of temptation for Jews and Christians in the first century because of their promise of victory

over imperial Roman oppression.

FALSE PROPHET The law warns against those who claim to speak for God but whose words are

not from God. Such false prophets are exposed when their predictions go unfulfilled, but even a

prophet who makes true predictions is false if he or she encourages idolatry. False prophets must be

put to death (Deut. 13:1–5; 18:20–22).

During the monarchy, some false prophets blatantly promoted Baalism (1 Kings 18:19; Jer. 2:8;
23:13). Others seemed orthodox but, motivated by greed (Jer. 6:13; 8:10; Mic. 3:5, 11; cf. Luke

6:26), actually said whatever people wanted to hear (1 Kings 22:6; cf. 2 Chron. 18:5; 28; Isa. 30:10;

Jer. 5:31; Ezek. 22:27–28). A frequent mark of these prophets was that they stressed God’s

faithfulness to promises of blessing while ignoring his faithfulness to promises of judgment.

According to them, Israel would never be defeated, however much the people sinned (Jer. 6:14; 8:11;

23:17; Ezek. 13:10, 16; Mic. 2:6); the false prophets themselves set an example of licentiousness

(Isa. 28:7; Jer. 23:14–15). Ironically, the complacency that this engendered increased Israel’s danger

(Jer. 14:13–16; 23:19–22; 27:9–18; Lam. 2:14; Ezek. 13:5).

Often direct confrontations took place between true and false prophets (e.g., 1 Kings 18; Neh. 6:14;

Jer. 20:1–6; 26:8–11; 28–29; Mic. 2:6). The true prophets pleaded with Israel to reject false

prophecy (Jer. 23:16; 29:8–9). They pronounced judgment on both the prophets and their followers

(Isa. 9:14–15; Jer. 2:26; 4:9; 8:1; 13:13; 23:33–39; 50:36; Ezek. 13; Zeph. 3:4; Zech. 13:2–6). False

prophets would become blind to the truth they denied and become unable to prophesy at all (Isa.

29:10; Ezek. 7:26; Mic. 3:6). Their false predictions would be frustrated (Isa. 44:25; Jer. 37:19), and

in particular the exile that they said would never happen was now inevitable (Jer. 14:15–18).

False prophecy was as much a danger in the NT era as it was in the OT. Jesus warned that “wolves

in sheep’s clothing” would continue to lead many astray. Some would either promote the worship of

false messiahs or even pretend to be the Messiah (Matt. 24:23–24; Mark 13:21–22), but, as ever, they

could be identified by their “fruit” (Matt. 7:15–23; 24:11).

Paul said that any so-called prophet who opposed his own teaching, or who taught error while

claiming that the teaching came from Paul himself, was false (1 Cor. 14:37; 2 Thess. 2:2; cf. 2 Cor.

11:4; Gal. 1:8). Luke called Elymas the sorcerer, who opposed Paul, a false prophet (Acts 13:6–12).

More generally, Peter saw all heretical teachers as direct successors of the false prophets of the OT,

denying the Lord and exploiting the people for gain (2 Pet. 2:1). They replicate the error of Balaam

(2 Pet. 2:15–16). For John, the particular mark of the false prophet was the denial that Jesus is the
Christ (1 John 4:1–3). The third figure in the bestial false trinity in John’s Revelation is called “the

false prophet” (Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10) and entices men and women to worship the dragon rather

than Jesus.

FALSE APOSTLES Dangerous teachers disguised as faithful gospel ministers. In 2 Cor. 11:5 Paul

ironically calls a group of false teachers in the Corinthian churches “super-apostles.” These

deceivers are “false apostles” (11:13) who, like Satan, pretend to be servants of righteousness

(11:14–15) in order to deceive God’s people.

The false apostles in Corinth taught a threefold error: a false Christ, a false spirit, and a false

gospel. The exact nature of the false gospel that they preached is uncertain, but it led Christians away

from true devotion to Christ (2 Cor. 11:3). Their gospel depicted not a humbled and crucified Lord

(see 1 Cor. 1:17–31) but rather a Christ who gave his followers exalted knowledge, supposedly

making them superior to normal Christians (2 Cor. 11:6).

The false apostles of Corinth were likely of Jewish origin (2 Cor. 11:22), and thus they may have

taught something similar to the heresies afflicting the churches addressed in Galatians and Philippians

(see Gal. 2:4; Phil. 3:2–6). These preachers used deception (2 Cor. 4:2; 11:13) and were

domineering (11:20) rather than meek and gentle like Christ (10:1; 13:4). Because of their skill in

public speaking, the false apostles were popular according to the standards of that day, which often

valued persuasiveness over truth (10:1–2). Paul was mocked because he did not speak with the

eloquence and fluency of his opponents (see 10:10). Nonetheless, Paul’s boast was in the success of

the gospel among his hearers (10:8, 12–18) and in his own weakness, which highlighted the power of

God (11:16–12:10).

Revelation 2:2 speaks of false apostles who may have been the Nicolaitans mentioned in Rev. 2:6.

John praises the church at Ephesus for refusing to tolerate the teachings of these false apostles.