If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah: the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you spoke falsely against the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 28:15-16)

Caiaphas and Hananiah may seem different from each other. Caiaphas spoke truth and Hananiah spoke lies. But both were false prophets. In Caiaphas’ case, he prophesied truth but had a wrong understanding of the prophesy.

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor are you taking into account that it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.” Now he did not say this on his own, but as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation;and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they planned together to kill Him. (vv. 49-53)

There are many false prophets in the world. Most of them do believe what they say and lead people astray. Those without the Holy Spirit are bound to disobey God. The distinct feature of false prophets is that they speak what most people want to hear.

Hananiah spoke about what the Israelites wanted to believe. He opposed to Jeremiah’s prophesies. Therefore, he gave people false hope and assurance. We believe that the reprobates go as destined. But the false prophets and teachers will receive more severe punishment than those who sin in ignorance.

Caiaphas knew that Jesus would die for the children of God. But he misinterpreted it and believed what he wanted to believe. He made the Jews reject Jesus Christ.

Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was in their best interest for one man to die in behalf of the people. (John 18:14)

His interest was to guard his position and wealth. So were the interests of the chief priests and the Pharisees.

Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we doing in regard to the fact that this man is performing many signs? If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our place and our nation.” (vv. 47-48)

The sins of these false prophets and leaders are written in Matthew 23:13-36. Even now, the false prophets and teachers are doing the same things. We must be careful when hearing their messages because they always use Bible verses to promote false teachings. There are two things that we must avoid: legalism and antinomianism. I think it is not wrong to say that all false teachings promote either legalism or antinomianism. Legalism is no better than antinomianism. Both deny the total grace of God and what it does to one’s life.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13)