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R4. Testing the Spirits.    [Make a Comment]

We are test every spirit to see if it is from God.

This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):

Key Scripture

*1 John 4:1-3, 6
Dear friends, don't trust every spirit. On the contrary, test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Here is how you recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Yeshua the Messiah came as a human being is from God, and every spirit which does not acknowledge Yeshua is not from God - in fact, this is the spirit of the Anti-Messiah. You have heard that he is coming. Well, he's here now, in the world already! ... We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God doesn't listen to us. This is how we distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.

Supportive Scriptures

Matthew 15:7
Beware of the false prophets! They come to you wearing sheep's clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves!

Matthew 24:4-5
Yeshua replied: "Watch out! Don't let anyone fool you! For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray.

Matthew 24:10-11
At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, many false prophets will appear and fool many people

Matthew 24:23-27
At that time [of tribulation], if someone says to you, 'Look! Here's the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' don't believe him. For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles - amazing things! - so as to fool even the chosen, if possible. There! I have told you in advance! So if people say to you, 'Listen! He's out in the desert!' don't go; or, 'Look! He's hidden away in a secret room!' don't believe it. For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the western horizon.

Mark 13:5-6
Yeshua began speaking to them: "Watch out! Don't let anyone fool you! Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will fool many people."

Mark 13:21-22
At that time, if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here's the Messiah!' or, 'See, there he is!' - don't believe him! There will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing signs and wonders for the purpose, if possible, of misleading the chosen.

Acts 17:10-11
But as soon as night fell, the brothers sent Sha'ul and Sila off to Berea. As soon as they arrived, they went to the synagogue. Now the people here were of nobler character than the ones in Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh every day to see if the things Sha'ul was saying were true.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15
The fact is that such men are pseudo-emissaries: they tell lies about their work and masquerade as emissaries of the Messiah. There is nothing surprising in that, for the Adversary himself masquerades as an angel of light; so it's no great thing if his workers masquerade as servants of righteousness. They will meet the end their deeds deserve.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
Don't quench the Spirit, don't despise inspired messages. But do test everything - hold onto what is good ...

1 Timothy 4:1-2
The Spirit expressly states that in the acharit-hayamim some people will apostatize from the faith by paying attention to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come from the hypocrisy of liars whose own consciences have been burned, as if with a red-hot branding iron.

Commentary

The assumption of Scripture is that professions, teachings, and exhortations of men are made in response to spirit influences that are either from God or from the adversary. If a spirit bringing a teaching is God's Spirit, what he says will be true; if not, it will be false. We must therefore test the spirit of everything that is proffered to us so that we are not misled; 1 John 4:2-3 tells us how:

Here is how you recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Yeshua the Messiah came as a human being is from God, and every spirit which does not acknowledge Yeshua is not from God - in fact, this is the spirit of the Anti-Messiah.

Classical Commentators

This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the Jewish classical commentators.

NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm

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