This coming Sunday is the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, One key phrase that has importance for this Sunday’s gospel is: “in my name.” It doesn’t take much to assert that “the Word of God came to me…” It was a problem in the Old Testament where several individuals claimed to be prophets or were regarded as prophets by others, but they were not truly commissioned by God. These false prophets often spoke messages that were contrary to God’s will or led people astray. Here are a few examples:

• Hananiah (Jeremiah 28): Hananiah was a prophet during the time of Jeremiah who falsely proclaimed that God would break the yoke of Babylon and return the exiles to Judah within two years. Jeremiah confronted Hananiah, stating that his message was not from God. Hananiah’s prophecy was false, and he died shortly afterward as a sign of his falsehood.
• Zedekiah (1 Kings 22): Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, was one of the false prophets who encouraged King Ahab to go to war against Ramoth-gilead, claiming victory in the Lord’s name. However, Micaiah, a true prophet of God, warned that Ahab would be defeated and die in battle, which ultimately happened, proving the false prophets wrong.
• Shemaiah the Nehelamite (Jeremiah 29:24-32): Shemaiah was another false prophet who opposed Jeremiah. He sent letters to the priests in Jerusalem, urging them to punish Jeremiah for his prophecies. God, through Jeremiah, condemned Shemaiah for causing the people to trust in a lie, declaring that Shemaiah and his descendants would not survive.

But what about prophets that people think were not “authorized”? In Numbers 11 when the Lord assigned 70 elders to assist Moses in leadership and administration of the people, we read:

The LORD then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied but did not continue. Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in the camp, yet the spirit came to rest on them also. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; and so they prophesied in the camp. So, when a young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp,” Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, “My lord, Moses, stop them.” But Moses answered him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of the LORD were prophets! If only the LORD would bestow his spirit on them!” (Nb 11:25-29)

Image credit: The Exhortation to the Apostles | James Tissot | Brooklyn Museum | US-PD