Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris 

Being that the State is indeed a system of plunder and destruction of social order through political violence, and that God eventually punishes these societies and brings their tyrannies to an end, the rulers are in need of men to spin the opposite and “official” narrative that all is well in Babylon so her crimes can go on indefinitely without any negative consequences, or so the rulers imagine.

False prophets are thus enlisted to tell everyone the opposite of the truth, so as to extend the life of the Babylonian plunder system and keep everyone blind to its true nature. They are sent to get people to repeat their slogans, e.g., that “taxation is the price we pay for civilization,” rather than the truth that taxation is theft. They are to get people to believe that police officers are “heroes” who exist for “public safety” and the upholding “law and order,” rather than as the violent enforcement arm of the decrees of politicians.

As a couple of God’s prophets (the real ones) repeated, one way to know a false prophet is to find out who, in a statist society that is sure to bring about the opposite results, tells everyone that things are going great, that the rulers have everything under control, are doing their jobs, and that there’s nothing to worry about. In other words, the job of the false prophets is to tell men that the way things are—our excessive taxation today, profligate government spending, a piling-up of debt, billions of dollars in monetary inflation to support it all, thousands of intrusive man-made legislative decrees, etc—can go on like this forever, that political plunder is sustainable and never meets God’s judgment.

As one prophet put it, 

“They have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace” (Ezekiel 13:10). 

When average men might begin to identify the inherent violence and robbery of so-called “governments,” the false prophets come along to say everything’s peaceful, or at least lawful. They give men the opposite picture of reality. We’re told that “this is a free country.” That there is no political slavery today because we live in a “democracy.” That the State is sent by God for the goodness of social order. That we’re “safe” from all enemies and troubles because of the military-police state. That this is a “free market” society. That our prosperity can be without end. That we’re the envy of the world. That the only people in prisons are “bad guys” who committed “crimes?” That without the state there could be no “order” and no “justice.”

As another prophet makes clear, using the same phrasing as Ezekiel, false “prophesying” is intended to hide the damage done by the political interventionists, who wreck society, rob people, dis-integrate the economy, and subjugate the populace, yet obviously need to cover this up, console them in the destruction, and make them think otherwise — hence the hundreds of millions of Americans who still repeat the tired phrases that “this is a free country” and “the best country in the world.”

“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11). 

Since men (though usually after much pain) might always begin to realize they’ve been getting absolutely robbed by tax agents, that prices are indeed rising across the board, that their property is being transferred to the military class and corporate elites, etc., the false prophets of Pharaoh come along and tell them the plunder system is (allegedly) for their benefit, that it’s (allegedly) for their “freedom,” that the rulers are (allegedly) really just “leaders” who are “selfless” and “benevolent” and work to “stabilize” the otherwise (allegedly) unstable free market economy, that it would (allegedly) be “chaos and anarchy” without them, and that everything is going to be alright as it stands. 

“The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading” (Lamentations 2:14).

There is every reason to see the evils that will come upon us for approving of these wicked statist systems of the world, and so the false prophets of the State come to tell people otherwise: That there are no wounds, that what they’re seeing (if they even see it) isn’t really the case, and that people who are down just need to lift their heads back up and appreciate all the “good” that the rulers are doing for them. 

“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end [thereof]?” (Jeremiah 5:31).

The State’s need for false prophets

The State’s need for false prophets is thus essentially to cover up the necessary and inevitable damage that comes along with such systems that violate God’s law order and substitute man-gods and their violence for peaceful social order. 

Real prophets are those who, with the Biblical prophets, tell people about the judgment that is coming to people who erect statism systems and worship at their altars. They teach that this is not a peaceful or free society, as we have been made to believe by the state propagandists who prophesy lies, but rather an unstable, statist plunder society that’s bound to go belly-up for its sins of robbing and murdering people. (We know just how successful the false prophets have been when we consider how much this position is mocked by the average person, who would consider the Biblical prophets, who preached the destruction coming to sinful statist orders, to be “conspiracy theorists”). 

The ruling elites can’t allow people to see this, so they have to employ false prophets to spin the lies of a “free country,” a “booming economy,” a “powerful military,” the “heroic police officers who protect us,” etc. They have to make people think that Babylon’s excesses and evils can go on forever and that they will never come under judgment and great tyrannies for their sins of setting up wicked and violent systems. 

“Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, ‘Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine'” (Jeremiah 14:13). 

The ungodliness of the false prophets

The goal is to attempt to prove that men can continue in disobedience to God and never pay the price for it — that Babylons never fall and empires are forever. The false prophets of Babylon—the professors, media pundits, academics, journalists, public school teachers, public health officials, pastors, priests, deacons, and statists in general—exist to make everyone believe that the statist plunderers can violate God’s law forever, without consequences for their sins.

“They have lied about the LORD and said: ‘He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine”‘ (Jeremiah 5:12). 

God tells us that sin—namely here the violence, murder, and intervention of the statist systems of men—brings judgment; the purpose of the false prophets is to say otherwise: that it brings about social order. The false prophets want men to believe that we can sin—worship the false god state, rob as much property from people, kill foreigners in war, execute men on the roadside for being insufficiently obedient to one of Pharaoh’s officers, or hold millions of men in cages, etc—as much as we want without there being any necessary effects tied up with it. 

The false prophets want to deny not only what we might call the “economic” or “moral” effects of state slavery, but the theological-praxeological effects of disobeying God. They want to take men away from God so that they believe man’s violent systems can work forever.

“Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:13-14).

The real prophets

The Biblical prophets disagree with the false prophets of the statist order who tell us that everything is going to be great in the future of statism — that no shortages, wars, labor camps, prisons, famines, rising prices, increasing tax plunder, etc., lie ahead for those who think they can substitute political violence for God’s natural order.

God says He’s going to punish those who turn to violence and politics over obeying His commandments. 

“Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am going to plead your case, and exact full vengeance for you; And I will dry up her sea, And make her fountain dry'” (Jeremiah 51:36).

Far from those who believe the evil American Empire to be eternal and that no one could ever overcome us because “we have the strongest military in the world,” God says He destroys Egyptian systems and sends other statists to carry it out.

“Moreover, I will make the Nile canals dry, And sell the land into the hands of evil men, and I will make the land desolate, And all that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the Lord have spoken” (Ezekiel 30:12). 

Far from those who think we’re going to be fed forever while we support a political plunder system, those men who choose human kings to rule them and order their societies instead of the Lord their King should expect famines. 

“Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry, and his spring will be dried up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article” (Hosea 13:15). 

God promises destruction to those people who pervert His law and order by advancing statist systems. 

“One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them” (Ezekiel 5:12). 

He destroys those who chase after the “law” systems of men instead of the Kingdom of God.

“You have kept the statutes of [the evil king] Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations” (Micah 6:16).

How to know who’s a false prophet

The basic way to know who’s a false prophet is thus to compare them to the Biblical prophets. What did the prophets tell us? And what are men telling us? The prophets of God all tell us that these political systems, based in violence, are abhorrent to God and will soon come under judgment, leading to wars, poverty, famines, lawlessness, and the overall destruction of society. 

Thus, anyone who tells you otherwise—that Babylonian systems are good ways to organize societies, that Babylon is not an enemy of God that brings judgment in the form of societal destruction, that all is well in Babylon and to relax—is a false prophet, whether paid or unpaid, wittingly or unwittingly.

They are false prophets because they do not get their knowledge from God. “They are prophets of the deceit of their own heart” (Jeremiah 23:26). This reliance on their own “wisdom” is why we’re told to not believe in their lies. 

“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD'” (Jeremiah 23:16). 

For if they were following the word of God, they would know that judgment is the result of statism — that destruction and desolation are the predictable economic effects of such political intervention into society. 

The false prophets

Now we know who the lying, false prophets are: those who contradict the word of God, which promises judgment and destruction of statist systems that violate His natural order. 

When the U.S. Treasury Secretary (Janet Yellen) tells you that the economy is doing “very well” and that there will be “very good outcomes for the US economy” or that we’ve been having “good, solid growth,” you know you’re dealing with a false prophet. 

When the Federal Reserve Chairman (Jerome Powell) tells you that the economy that they have manipulated, distorted, and destroyed, is “very strong,” you know you’re dealing with a false prophet. 

When longtime crony economists (Paul Krugman) of the central bank, interventionist regime tells you the economy is “surreally good” or that we “shouldn’t be so down on the economy,”  you know you’re dealing with a false prophet. 

When typical government-shill outlets (NPR) tell you that there’s “strong growth,” you know you’re dealing with false prophets. 

When you hear it from the ivory tower (Harvard) that “the economy keeps getting better,” you know you’re dealing with false prophets

When economic columnists tell you “the U.S. economy is great, stop worrying about it,” you know you’re dealing with a false prophet — and that we should be worried.

The false prophets are, in short, those who try to tell you things different than what the Biblical prophets said, and what real men on the ground already know for themselves: that prices are rising, that homeownership is a bleak prospect for young people, that the rich are getting richer, and many are struggling to get by. They’re the people who talk about “indicators” and “fundamentals” and say they’re looking good.

False hopes

The false prophets are sent to keep the people in the dark about the truth of the statist systems they live under: that the poor are being robbed and plundered to fund the elites who have seized power. 

And they have been rather successful. Americans are in for a rude awakening to have trusted in the prophets of Baal for so long, thinking that everything will continue on this way forever. 

“Stocks always go up!” — “Just put your money in a 401k and forget about it!” — “The dollar is strong!” — “Keep saving for retirement!” —  “Gold is a worthless investment!” — “Keep your money in a bank so you can earn interest! — “Treasury bonds are the safest investments ever, being backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government!”

Everyone who trusts in these statist systems will see their false god fail them in every area that they have monopolized for themselves and made such claims — protection, national security, poverty, education, healthcare, retirements, etc.

This is what the real prophets teach, coming straight from God. Sin brings statism brings slavery, not freedom. These people are not “protectors,” but plunderers. 

“They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust” (Jeremiah 5:17).

Most people still believe that Babylon is going to feed them forever, and that there are no repercussions for having violently intervened in the private economy of decentralized production and free exchange. They believed that socialism—even the “conservatives” who also trust in government plunder and planning—would save them. 

But God brings judgment on these plunderous political systems that are used for nothing more than conspiring against the people and His plan for liberty and prosperity. 

“The fig tree [shall] not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, the yield of the olive [shall] fail, and the fields produce no food, the flock [shall] be cut off from the fold, and there [shall] be no cattle in the stalls” (Habakkuk 3:17). 

Most Americans are so fooled by the false prophets of Pharaoh—repeating the generational lies that this is a “free” country—that they won’t see it coming when it hits. 

“While people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). 

Conclusion 

Any Christian should be well-trained in discernment and skepticism toward the words of men if they have been reading their Bibles, especially when these men contradict the word of God. 

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). 

We will never get out of bondage so long as the false prophets are believed to be telling us the truth. We have gone so far off-course and down the road to serfdom precisely because of these false prophets who tell us that the State has come to serve “the people” — that our system is one of “consent of the governed” instead of plunder by the ruling elites and their beneficiaries. 

To be fair to the false prophets of Pharaoh, who are nevertheless wicked liars and fools themselves, it’s also what the sinful people themselves wanted to hear: That their false god system of statism is doing good. Men don’t like hearing the truth, and they mock it when it does come their way. As one prophet said men want, 

“Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isaiah 30:10). 

We must always remember that no matter how evil these systems are, it is the sin in men’s hearts that allows them to happen. And no matter how much people idolize these evil systems and believe they are the “saviors” of humanity, we have a Godly obligation to preach the truth and point out these evils, just as God had instructed the prophet Ezekiel to “confront Jerusalem with her abominations” (Ezekiel 16:2).

Prayer 

Lord God, be with us in these times where men spin a multitude of lies to defend the plunder of their masters, doing so either for a paycheck or prestige, or simply because they are fools of the regime themselves. These lies have brought great bondage upon us, and our people still can’t see it. Lead our people to come back to Your word so that they can know what is going on in the world and stop falling into these endless traps that the systems of men set for them. Bring them back to the real prophets so that they may discern Your will. “My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place” (Jeremiah 50:6). Show our people the way again, Lord, for they have bought into many lies. Keep watching over us as our neighbors foolishly support false gods and remain ignorant to the shackles they have placed on their own ankles and ours. Turn them away from this bogus patriotism, idolatry, and voting for new masters that the false prophets have taught them to buy into. And bring the false prophets themselves either to repentance, or to a ruinous fate. Amen.