Biblical Keys for Discerning True and False Prophets/Rejecting true prophets/Fear as an Obstacle

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Fear as an obstacle

Those who reject true prophets based on faulty thinking (what they fear is so) do so by:

• Irrelevant measures—“Is this not the carpenter's son?” (Matthew 13꞉54-58

) Or, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” (Mark 14꞉5

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• Misinformation—“Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.” (Matthew 28꞉12-14

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• Misinterpretation—“This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and build it in three days.” (Matthew 26꞉61

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• Tradition or mental inertia—”No man having drunk old wine straightway desireth the new: for he saith, the old is better,” (Luke 5꞉39

), or “We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is...” (John 9꞉29

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• Charges of blasphemy—“...because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (John 10꞉33

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• Incredulity—“And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not” (Luke 24꞉11

) or “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6꞉60

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• Appeals to authorities—“Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?” (John 7꞉47

) In this case, an appeal to authority circumvents direct consideration of the fruit that should be considered.