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Will There Be Another Prophet?
“There’s
a man in India who claims to be the successor of Ellen White! He says he
has messages for us from God!” “There
is a woman in France who says she is a prophet and speaks on behalf of
God. They say whoever rejects her messages will burn in hellfire.” “Two
young girls in Brazil say they saw a vision behind their house.” “A
West Coast pastor’s wife was sick in bed, and received a message from
Gabriel. She says he told her all we need is compassion, and the church
will return to its original purity.” “A
woman in Texas is awakened each morning by Gabriel, who dictates
encouraging things to her, which she writes out.” “A
man in the Shepherd’s Rod, living in Hawaii, says the Holy Spirit is a
woman and sits beside him on the beach to talk to him.” “A
person overseas says she saw an angel, who told her Jesus was coming in a
few months.” —These
area all instances which have occurred within the past several years. Will
there be another prophet—that is, a genuine prophet? If
a real prophet were to arise, it would be urgent that the people of God be
able to definitely know that fact. Obviously,
at the same time it is important that we be able to identify false
prophets. Here
are some facts you should consider: 1
- What does it matter if we accept someone as a true prophet for a time? When
we accept a prophet, we accept everything he says. This makes the whole
matter very serious. Regardless of what I tell you, you are going to judge
it critically—as you should. I am a frail mortal, just as you are. We
all make mistakes. But
when someone is wholeheartedly accepted as a prophet—every word that
person utters is accepted as total truth by his followers! So it is
dangerous situation to accept a person as a genuine prophet! If you accept
the wrong one as a true prophet, he can lead you to perdition. 2
- What are the new prophets like? Over
200 new prophets arise every year in our denomination. Most of them you
and I never hear about. Interestingly enough, nearly all of them are
women. The prophets generally claim to have seen and listened to an angel,
Gabriel, or Christ Himself. Sometimes
the individual claims to have seen an angel standing nearby. At other
times he reports one or more dreams, or says he has been taken to heaven
in vision. 3
- I never accept anyone as a true prophet, yet, by so doing, I might not
accept a genuine prophet. How can I clearly know when someone is genuinely
inspired to speak only words of truth on behalf of God? Because
this is such a serious matter, God has only sent a few prophets to mankind
throughout all history. He
has given us definite signs by which we can identify a true prophet. There
are a number of tests by which we can identify a true prophet. But, first,
I want to tell you about a special one which most people overlook. When
I was writing the book, Prophet of the End (a book to favorably
introduce Ellen White to the public—and to our own people), I came upon
an interesting fact: When
Ellen White was first called to the prophetic ministry, the Lord provided
a number of ongoing occurrences, which unmistakably revealed that God was
using her. But
a number of years later, when she had produced enough written material to
verify her prophetic status, the special evidences were no longer given
very much. Why
were they not given later on? After
Ellen White had written a many, many testimonies and books—those printed
materials testified to her genuineness, and the people had to accept her
on the basis of what she had written. But,
for the first five years or so, special confirmations were given. What
were these special evidences? Here
are some of them: She
had visions in auditoriums and other gatherings, when many were present. During
these visions, she would not breathe throughout the time she was in
vision, which could easily be thirty minutes or an hour. Sometimes
she would be laying down, and sometimes standing and walking around—all
the while without breathing. While
in vision, no one could move her arms. Yet she was otherwise a frail
woman. Mirrors
were held up to her nose and no indication of breathing was to be found. There
were those who held their hand over her closed mouth, and pinched her nose
shut with their fingers. On one occasion (June 28, 1857), D.T. Bordeaux
did this for 10 minutes. That settled the matter for him. How
would this information help us today in identifying a true prophet? It
is an intriguing fact that all the modern prophets either (1) have all
their visions and dreams when no one else is around, or (2) there is only
a small clique of two or three others (often also claiming to be prophets)
who supposedly see that person in vision. Because
it is so crucial that we know when a true prophet is sent, we can know
that the God of heaven will provide us with unmistakable evidences, as He
did when He sent Ellen White with messages to us. For
the first several years, that prophet will travel from place to place, go
into vision before entire auditoriums full of people, and will exhibit the
same evidences: no breathing, arms that cannot be moved, etc. Tests by
neutral observers will be permitted, and it will be clearly seen the
person is really in vision. On
several occasions she held heavy Bibles. Twice she held a heavy Bible
straight out at arm’s length for a lengthy period of time. On one such
occurrence (early 1845), the Bible weighed 18-1/2 pounds and was held
outstretched for thirty minutes. She only weighed 80 pounds at the time. On
one occasion August 1848), she held a Bible above her sight, and turned
the pages, and, pointing to the passages, quoted them. A ladder was
brought, and it was found that she always turned to the right text and
quoted it—without being able to see what she was doing. Such
evidences as these would be given. Yet
they never are—never. 4
- Are there other tests of a true prophet?
There
are several. Here are several, from chapter four of my book, Prophet of
the End: In
vision, a true prophet has no breath (Daniel 10:17), can speak (Daniel
10:16), keeps his eyes open (Numbers 24:16), and is unconscious of his
surroundings (2 Corinthians 12:2, 4). A
true prophet will speak in harmony with the Bible (Isaiah 8:20;
Deuteronomy 13:1-3), will exalt Christ and not self (2 Corinthians 10:5;
Jeremiah 1:4-9). A
true prophet will reprove men of sin (Ezekiel 3:17-19), live a life above
reproach (Matthew 7:15-20), utter predictions which come to pass
(Deuteronomy 18:21-22; Jeremiah 28:9), will have visions and dreams
(Numbers 12:6), and will be known by his fruits in the lives of others
(Matthew 7:15-20). 5
- Do we need any more prophets? There
is no doubt that we live down at the close of time, and we need help
guidance from the Lord. But we have the Spirit of Prophecy. A vast wealth
of information is in those books, many of which few of us ever read. The
truth is that we do not need any more prophetic guidance. We already have
so much light which we do not use. The
truth is that we are not entitled to any more guidance. God has said that
only those who use what they have, will receive more. When His people do
not obey His law, they will not have the guidance of His prophet
(Lamentations 2:9; Ezekiel 7:26; 20:3, 12, 13-16; Jeremiah 26:4-6;
Proverbs 29:18; Revelation 12:17). Our people in these last days are very,
very disobedient to God’s Word. What
does the Spirit of Prophecy say about this? Were we told that any more
prophets would be sent before the end of time? We
are not told that there will be another genuine prophet after Ellen White,
and we are not told there will not. The possibility is not ruled out, but
we are given little or no encouragement that it will happen. Indeed, when
the brethren would excitedly tell Ellen White about the latest prophet
which had arisen, she would reply, to the effect that they should realize
it could not be a genuine prophet. But
what if they bring a message that is very similar to the messages Ellen
White brought? Ellen
White specifically said that messages given, similar to hers, should not
be accepted as a reason for accepting the person as a prophet. (More on
this later in this tract study.) We
are told that false prophets will arise in the last days. Could they
destroy the effect of the Spirit of Prophecy in our lives? Yes,
if accepted. “The
very last deception of Stan will be to make of none effect the testimony
of the Spirit of God.”—1 Selected Messages, 48. What
better way to do this—than by sending a false prophet to subtly
counterwork her messages. Subtly? Because
they have the Spirit of Prophecy books in their hands, Adventist are
knowledgeable. When a false prophet arises, Satan initially sends very
smooth messages through him—messages which appear to be satisfactory,
and not contrary to the Spirit of Prophecy. One
such prophet gave messages for a couple years, before beginning to oppose
the Bible Sabbath. More on this later. Just
because a person, claiming to be a prophet, arises with a seemingly good
message—is no reason to accept that person as a true prophet. That
is exactly the biggest weakness of our people in this regard: They, all
too frequently, hang on the words alone—and do not consider the other
tests of a prophet! But
what if the messages are very similar to those Ellen White gave? The
present writer consistently found that the false prophets really had
little of significance to say. They are messengers running without having
been given a message from God to carry. So,
instead, they present oddities. We will examine some of these empty
teachings later in this study. 6
- Can you give us some examples of what these people who claim to be
prophets are like? What messages do they bring? Victor
Houtiff taught his followers that they would be the destroying angels of
Ezekiel, and slay the Adventists. This fact has been disputed, but the
present writer has spoken with a number of individuals who confirm it as
true. He also predicted that he would not die before Christ returned in
the clouds of heaven. After
his death, Houtiff’s wife and associates predicted that Christ would
return in the late 1950s. When that did not happen, the movement tended to
break up. The
Hamburg Five arose in the mid-1960s. This was five individuals (some men
and some women), living in Hamburg, Germany, who claimed to receive
visions from God for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They said they
received them when the five were together, and no one else was present. One
of the visions of new light, given them at the time, was of a golden
triangle. This was supposed to have great meaning. Obviously, it means
nothing at all. A
close friend of ours, who speaks fluent German, traveled at her own
expense to Germany a couple years later, and discovered they were smoking. Benjamin
Rodin, a successor to Houtiff in the Davidian movement made a number of
wild predictions which did not come true. After
his death, his wife, Lois, said that God had told her the Holy Spirit was
a woman. Such a theory runs counter to everything in revealed Scripture.
But, Rod followers glibly accepted it, because they regarded her as a
prophet. Two
women, in the mid-1980s, claimed that the Holy Spirit came to them daily
and gave them messages which they wrote down, word for word. (See our
earlier studies on the Spirit Dictations, now in the White Tractbook.) But
never, never does the Holy Spirit dictate every word to the prophet. The
prophet is given the views and concepts, and then writes them in his own
words. The angel may be quoted, but not everything written is a quotation. One
of these two women later wrote a friend of ours and, on behalf of God,
reproved him for his sins. I know the man well, and he has an enthusiastic
missionary style. She told him that he should stop urging people to keep
the Bible Sabbath, for that was not the message for this time. Another
woman who received “spirit dictations,” obtained them every morning
about 5 a.m. She would write for about an hour. In view of the immense
problems and transgressions in our world today, this spirit, like the
others, had remarkably little to say. The present writer read through a
sheaf of about 50 pages of them. One day, the spirit told her that,
beginning the next day, vital new messages of crucial importance would be
given her. Next
day, the spirit told her that he was going to give her counsel on the
colors of the rainbow. Each day thereafter, for about ten days, he spoke
about the meaning of a different color. The instruction was as vapid and
useless as all the other messages. On the day that blue was discussed, not
one word was said about the law of God (cf. Numbers 15). These
spirits have little to say about putting away of sin, but much to say
about extraneous fluff which is of no consequence. A
young man accepted the Davidian message in Riverside (which included the
Lois Roden theory about a woman Holy Spirit), and then moved to Hawaii.
While there he had dreams that a woman, calling herself the Holy Spirit
would come to him with new light. But the new light did not amount to
anything. The present writer read transcripts of the messages. The
woman would sarcastically nag him for a time, and then, after saying a
little more of no particular consequence, would disappear. Then
there is Jeanine Sautron. She lives in France and, as with the other
“prophets,” receives all her visions and dreams secretly, so they
cannot be verified—as Ellen White’s were. When
Michael Dukakis was running for president in 1988, she predicted that “a
man by the name of Dukakis” would become president of the United States,
and it would be he who would enact the National Sunday Law. That
prediction is on record in her published writings. (A man in Oregon prints
them all in English.) Her
followers claim that the prediction is true, and that someday someone by
that name will become president. They refuse to consider the possibility
that Sautron might be a false prophet. As
with many prophets in our time, Jeanine Sautron frequently utters another
time prophecy. According to her, probation has already closed, and the
sealing is past. A date just after the turn of the century has been
announced as the year when Christ will return. |
