I am not really an outdoorsman, though I love to go camping and canoeing / kayaking. Over the years camping transitioned from a tent to a tent trailer and then to a trailer with the comforts of home. There wasn’t much that we did not bring. We would go to provincial parks, mostly in the lower part of Ontario. As far as wildlife I often joked and said we go camping to see a robin? Yes, we would see other birds, maybe a deer or two, a porcupine but when hiking or biking the trail you felt safe, as the robins would keep to themselves. Then one year at the park we usually tried to go to, they posted a warning sign that said there was a bear in the area, so beware. We did not leave food out, but our trailer was a hybrid and the ends were made of canvas and not bear proof. The warning really made you think about your surroundings. I really did prefer the thought of being safe around wildlife we were accustomed to. If I was to go on a hike and at the beginning there was a sign that said beware there has been mountain lion sightings, the hike would then be the distance and time it took to get back to the car. The same goes for canoeing. If there was a sign that said a great white shark or very large crocodile had been sighted, there would be no canoeing. Yes, there are no crocodiles or great whites in the rivers we paddled in, just making a point, although the very large fish (maybe musky) that my son almost caught could have been.
The phrase watch out means “to be on the lookout for potential danger.” The word beware is used “to warn someone to be very careful about something or someone; used to warn people of something dangerous.” So you are constantly on the lookout for potential danger. Other ways to say it is, be on your guard, be alert, keep your eyes open, take heed, stay clear, be careful. For the most part people will be cautious and steer clear, but when it comes to the warnings given to the church, most have ignored the warning and act as if there really is no danger, even though scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is. If someone’s yard had a sign posted, beware of the dog, it would be foolish just to walk in and expect a friendly dog. The church has ignored the warnings to beware and watch out and have treated the false teachers as friendly.
Throughout the Old Testament there were false prophets who led God’s people astray by following other gods and rejecting the word of truth God had given to them. False teachers continued in the New Testament and now are everywhere in the church as the church did not heed the warnings given. Throughout scripture, God’s people accepted what was false to be truth and rejected what was truth and believed it to be false. The false prophets they lifted up and the prophets of God they wanted to kill. Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Nothing has changed till this day. Remember satan’s objective is to get God’s people to turn away from God and that is what false prophets and teachers have done and continue to do. False prophets / teachers take the word of God and distort it and bring the word of truth into disrepute. Disrepute means, “lack or decline of good reputation: a state of being held in low esteem.”
We saw right at the beginning how this happens. God told Adam, Genesis 2:16 “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Then Adam told his wife because she knew about the command. satan did no approach Adam but spoke to Eve and said Genesis 3:1 “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” satan then lies and says that God did not speak truth. 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Then Eve went to Adam, even though God had already given him the command. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” The same spirit was present in king Ahab’s wife Jezebel. 1 Kings 21:25 “There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.” And we see that same spirit in Revelation. Revelation 2:19 “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” Adam listened to his wife and Romans 5:12 “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” Adam should have answered as Job did when his wife (prompted by satan) tried to get him to curse God and die. Job 2:9 “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” This was part of satan’s effort to get Job to curse God and those efforts continue to this day, but most are oblivious to it.
Paul then describes how this deception is still happening then and now. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Preaching a different Jesus means other gospels are taught. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” False teachers are leading people astray by deceiving people to follow a different Jesus and other gospels. Just because you go to church does not mean the Spirit of God is present. When a different Jesus and other gospels are preached, a different spirit is received. Look at what happened when Micaiah prophesied against king Ahab. 1 Kings 22:21 “Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. “‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ 23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.” This is why it is crucial to test the spirits. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Today the church is filled with false prophets / teachers even though the church was warned to beware and to watch out. Luke 20:45 “While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” Matthew 16:6 “Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the yeast / leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.” As Job found out, he had to be careful of those around him. Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 9:3 “They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the Lord. 4 “Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. 5 Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. 6 You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.”
