The prophet's handbook

Mistaken revelation or prediction Deceitful revelation or prediction

However, the simplest way of looking at false prophecy is to see it as “not the word of the Lord.” But why is that such a big deal? Going back to our previous discussion, prophecy is God’s communication of His eternal chronology of events, scripted for His programs and our benefit. Reasonably, then, we can deduce that anything not in His program would not (indeed could not) be uttered by Him. If it is not uttered by God, then by whose inspiration do false prophets speak? The answer, of course, is Satan. Scripture confirms this, identifying him as Baal. Jeremiah, as did the other prophets, told us of the prophets of Baal— those who prophesy by the power of Satan. False prophets receive their inspiration from demons dwelling within them, using their vocals to declare Satan’s aims, wishes, and plans. They obtain their communiqués from the counter journals of Satan, seeking to imitate, as well as frustrate, God’s predestiny archives. Satan’s goal is to interject his proposals into the fixed ordinations of his Maker. Being the god of this age, he has the authority to devise and implement plans for his subjects—something he seized illegally from Adam in the transgression. However, he strives to push these plans off on the chosen elect of God and endeavors to use them to usurp God’s word. The devil plans as things unfold, desiring his own program of intents for humanity to rival what the Lord has eternally appointed. Since he is but a creature—a fallen messenger—he cannot have eternal perspective or foreknowledge of what happens on the earth. Consequently, he schemes as he goes along, for the most part, planning and intruding into the Lord’s programs. Whenever his efforts hint at foreknowledge, it is because of his long history of experience with manipulating God’s creation, as well as anticipating the basic nature of God and humanity. This answers why he is so repetitious and somewhat mundane in his activities. But what has all this to do with false prophecy? Much. What false prophets declare or predict, they receive from Satan’s plan book— what he hopes to accomplish and can accomplish apart from God’s intervention. In fact, true prophecy—God’s—is quite helpful to him, as he can use God’s revelations to formulate his own plans and fortify his work. They aid his frustration and obstruction attempts and, in an atmosphere of unbelief, do much to advance his programs.