Written by: Dr Pearl Kupe
Article source: Supplied
The Bible tells us that in the last days deception will be at an all time high, and we are certainly witnessing extreme levels of deception in this era and dispensation.
Matthew 24:24 says “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”.
Mark 13:5-6 also admonishes us to be alert and says the following: “5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: 6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Call to action & to be alert!
It is of extreme importance that believers be alert and vigilant to ensure that they are not misled, deceived or derailed from kingdom purpose.
In this article I discuss four of the top reasons why believers tend to be deceived by false prophets.
1. Love of money, fame, influence & material things. When Yeshua was led into the wilderness by Holy Spirit, the devil approached him and tried to derail Him from His mandate by making certain offers to Him (Matthew 4:1-1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the ). Those offers all fell into three main areas, namely; lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16-“For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world.” . The devils strategy was to sidetrack Yeshua by tempting Him with physical pleasure, material possessions, wealth and all the material possessions He could see, and with pride in those achievements and possessions. If Yeshua had any sort of craving for any of the things that the devil was presenting to Him, He would have failed the test and been derailed from His overall ministry purpose. Yeshua was just about to be released into His full ministry. Thankfully He passed the test of resisting all these offers the devil made to Him. The devil will try the same strategy on us and will succeed if he finds any craving or obsession for money, material possessions or fame in us. Understand that the enemy can identify a great call of God on an individual and knows just when they are about to be released into ministry. He purposefully identifies many such people and appeals to their craving to become famous and well known.Social media has intensified this desire to be popular and well known and to mortise that popularity. He also appeals to their craving and love for money and material things to derail them from entering into their God ordained redemptive purpose.
2. Impatience, ambition and Greed. Impatience and greed are closely related to the love of money, fame, influence ad material things. Many people who fall into the hands of charlatans and false prophets hate the principle of process. They do not want to wait until their character is developed and they are taught and trained for kingdom purpose. They are impatient and they can’t wait to be processed and for the fullness of time of the promises that God made to manifest. They are greedy for quick microwave success and will seek out those who promise them easy wealth and quick fame. They are extremely ambitious and anxious to climb up the ladder with extraordinary speed. Ambition and vision An ambitious person has a strong desire for success and that success is usually defined by the world.A person with vision and purpose however, tends to be more focussed and usually gets it from God and not the world.False prophets know and understand this and will be generous in “prophesying” quick success, fame and influence to the ambitious at heart.
3. Love of signs, wonders and miracles. Many people are besotted with the supernatural, especially those coming from the African nations. We have an unusual and unhealthy fascination with supernatural. Meetings at which there are manifestations of the supernatural are the ones that will be the most populated. The enemy knows this and that is why he will tap into the “simon the sorcerer” and “pharaohs magician”occultic powers to hold people spellbound and deceive them. Signs and miracles are good and are what God does naturally. The Bible tells us in Matthew 15:26 that “healing is the children’s bread”. In other words, it is what our Abba Father specialises in and does with ease, so we should not be awestruck and tongue tied when He does. We must accept it as part of what He does and who He is. The Bible tells us in Mark 16:17-18 that “… these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover”. It’s very important to understand two things from the reading of this scripture:
a) Signs and wonders are not the sole purview of Fivefold ministers. It is true that certain Fivefold ministers, may carry specific graces concerning the manifestation of miracles. It is also true that all believers, who believe, can also operate and flow at a certain level of manifesting miracles. They can also pray for people to be healed and they will be healed and can also cast out demons and they will flee;
b) Secondly, another very important principle is enunciated here, and that is that signs and wonders follow the It is NOT the believer who is supposed to follow the signs and wonders. Many people who fall into the hands of false prophets, charlatans and wolves, do so because they have followed a wrong pattern. We follow Yeshua because we desire Him and want to have an intimate relationship with Him, not because of what He has. When we get this pattern right, we will enjoy our Christian walk with him!
4. Failure to read and know the Word of God. Most, if not all false prophets either do not know the word or they know it and take it out of context so as to deceive. Failing to know the word makes you extremely vulnerable to being deceived. False prophets hate being questioned and challenged on the word or the protocols they employ. Their pride, arrogance and narcissistic tendencies will not allow them to have their authority questioned. 2 Timothy 4:3 talks about a time when people reject truth for deception and says “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold”. Many people suffer from “itchy ear syndrome” and prefer to forgo sound teachings so their can take a shortcut to what they believe is success.
It is important that we be like the Bereans, who Paul describes as being noble minded because they questioned, scrutinised and examined everything. Acts 17:11 says “11Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.“
5. Failure to pray-Praying is a two way communication with God. It is not only about speaking to, but is also about hearing from and fully communing with Him. Failing to pray, therefore means we will fail to Hear Him when He speaks to us and directs us. Prayer is one of the key ways that enables us to hear God and be led by His Spirit. When we fail to pray, or we pray with our own flesh and carnal agenda in mind, we will end up connecting to wrong associations, like false prophets.
I pray for any and all who may have connected to wrong people and false prophets to repent and ask for forgiveness for connecting to wrong altars. I pray that everyone be delivered from every occultic and wicked influence and to be cleansed of every witchcraft and python spirit of divination. May every soul tie that has been created with any wicked associations be broken in the name of Yeshua and may you be divinely set free by the power of His blood and the name of Yeshua Hamashiach!
Please be sure to confess any involvement with wrong people, to repent of it and renounce it, break off and soul ties that may have been created, take authority over any evil spirits and pray for the ability to discern going forward.
Ke Nako!
Pearl Kupe-Attorney & International consultant to world leaders & International organizations. She is the International President-Global Forum for Women Entrepreneurs- www.gfwe.co.za . Personal website on www.Pearlkupe.co.za. She is the TBN Africa DSTAV channel 343 Host on Ambassador of Change, Sundays at 13h00 and Wednesdays at 09h30 and 19h30(SAST).
You can follow Pearl on facebook page Pearl Kgomotso Kupe.
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Date published: 12/02/2025
Feature image: Image for illustrative purposes only. Artwork adapted from www.freepik.com
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