In studying the manifestation of prophecy, one of the very first things we must do is make sure we are within the bounds of what is right according to the written and revealed Word of God. It is important that we do this with any manifestation of the spirit; but it is particularly important with prophecy, because there are at least two areas in the field of prophecy in which, under the Law, God decreed the death penalty. It is critical for us to note these areas, even though we are not under the Law, because God, by ordaining the death penalty in such cases, has made it clear that "...they that do such things are worthy of death..." (Romans 1:32.)
The first of these areas is described for us in Deuteronomy 13.
Deuteronomy 13:1-11.
1 ¶ If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
6 ¶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
Clearly, if a prophet incites people to worship or serve other gods, that prophet is not a prophet of God. Under the Law, that prophet was to be put to death. Notice that it was the prophet, not merely his prophecies, that was to be judged. Under the Law, the penalty for doing this -- even once! -- was death; and under the Law, it was the people who were responsible to put him to death. No mercy was allowed in such cases. We should note also that even though we are no longer under the Law, and even though we are no longer required to put such a prophet to death, this has not at all changed the fact that inciting others to worship other gods, through prophecy or without prophecy, is sin, or that "they that do such things are worthy of death."
The second such area is described in Deuteronomy 18.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Here we see that under the Law, the penalty for speaking in the name of the Lord "the word which the Lord hath not spoken" was death. We are not explicitly told in this passage that the people are to put this person to death, nor are we told (as some have assumed) that God will put this person to death. Rather, we are told, "thou shalt not be afraid of him." Here again, it is the prophet, not just the prophecy, that is to be judged. And again, only one instance of speaking presumptuously in God's name is necessary in order to warrant the death penalty.
Some have argued that the Israelites were not to put a prophet to death for prophesying falsely; that God is saying here that He Himself will put the offender to death. I see several things wrong with this interpretation.
* It does not accomplish its major purpose, which is to show that even under the Law, those who prophesied falsely were not under the sentence of death. If God has promised to put to death the individual who prophesies falsely in His name, He has still established that "those who do such things are worthy of death."
* It makes God responsible for everyone who prophesies falsely who remains alive for any significant amount of time. Verse 20 says, "...that prophet shall die," with no additional qualification whatsoever. That would mean that any and every instance of an individual prophesying falsely in God's name and not dying shortly thereafter would represent a breech of God's Word on God's part.
* Nowhere in this passage does it say that God has promised to do that. Instead, this interpretation is a conclusion based on the fact that we can find no instances in the Bible of the Israelites carrying out this command. However, using what God's people have done to determine what it is God said is a very dangerous and inaccurate method of Biblical interpretation. Using this same method, we would be justified in concluding that God never told His people to give the Land a sabbath rest once every seven years, because there is no record of Israel ever carrying out this commandment. Nevertheless, II Chronicles 36:20-21 makes it clear that not only did God give this commandment; He also kept record of each and every sabbath year they missed, and required it of them when the time was right. In light of this spectacular failure by means of this method, it might be wise to find another way to determine what this passage means rather than looking at Israel's obedience -- or disobedience -- of it.
There is another passage of scripture that sheds light on the meaning of this one. While it is true that there is no record in scripture of a prophet being put to death for prophesying falsely in God's name, there is an example of this in a record concerning the future, at a time when Israel is once again under the Law.
Zechariah 13:1-6.
1 ¶ In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, [that] I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
3 And it shall come to pass, [that] when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5 But he shall say, I [am] no prophet, I [am] an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6 And [one] shall say unto him, What [are] these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, [Those] with which I was wounded [in] the house of my friends.
In this record it is clear that prophets have obtained such a bad reputation that they are lumped together with idols and unclean spirits. It is clear also from this passage that anyone still prophesying will be subject to even more immediate punishment -- from those closest to him -- than is described in Deuteronomy 13. No attempt is made here to justify the immediate execution of the would-be prophet. It is taken for granted that the reader understands what is being done, and approves of it.
In the church, we are not required to put people to death for their sins. Nevertheless, God does require that we remove the "leaven" from our midst.
I Corinthians 5:3-13.
3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed,
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7 ¶ Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.
9 ¶ I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
Separating ourselves from a believer who is walking disorderly is the New Testament equivalent of putting that person to death. Fortunately, this is a reversible process. Once that person confesses and forsakes his sin, he is to be welcomed once again as a full part of the fellowship. Moreover, this whole process is to be carried out in love, with the offending believer being treated throughout, not like an enemy, but a brother.
Both Romans 1 and I Corinthians 5 warn us that it is not the offending believer only who is being judged. I Corinthians 5 is aimed primarily at the believers in the fellowship who had not participated in the evildoing, but who had tolerated the continued presence of the offender. And Romans 1 warns us that it is just as evil to approve of evildoing as to participate in it.
Romans 1:32.
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Dare we put our stamp of approval on that which God has declared to be "worthy of death"? Worse yet, dare we actively participate in that which God Himself has openly condemned? This is the boundary that I dare not cross in my pursuit of prophecy, whether it be the manifestation of prophecy or the prophecy of a prophet.