Fruit of false prophets

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to find hope for a change in direction in society by recalling ancient reforms in Judah and following Jesus warning about false prophets.



The passage from the Second Book of Kings recalls that In the reign of King Josiah the Book of the Law was the basis of the return of Judah to adherence to the Covenant.

* [22:8] Book of the law: probably an early edition of material now found in the Book of Deuteronomy

The Gospel from Matthew offers Jesus advice to recognize false prophets by the fruit of their words and deeds.

* [7:15–20] Christian disciples who claimed to speak in the name of God are called prophets (Mt 7:15) in Mt 10:41; Mt 23:34. They were presumably an important group within the church of Matthew. As in the case of the Old Testament prophets, there were both true and false ones, and for Matthew the difference could be recognized by the quality of their deeds, the fruits (Mt 7:16). The mention of fruits leads to the comparison with trees, some producing good fruit, others bad.

Marvin A. Sweeney has written King Josiah of Judah: The Lost Messiah of Israel describing the importance of the religious reform of Josiah.

It argues that early forms of the book of Deuteronomy, the so‐called Deuteronomistic History (Joshua; Judges; 1–2 Samuel; and 1–2 Kings), and much of the prophetic literature (Isaiah; Hosea; Amos; Micah; Jeremiah; Zephaniah; Nahum; cf. Habakkuk) were written or edited to support King Josiah's reform and to present him as the righteous Davidic monarch, who would realize the divine promise of security for the land and people of Israel. Following the tragic death of Josiah at the hands of the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo in 609 b.c.e., Josiah's program of religious reform and national restoration came to an end

Mark Latta comments that in the information overload of our complex world we are subject to all kinds of words of prophecy.

In this world of information overload, where and how can we see the “fruits” of the sources of the massive amount of information (prophesies of a sort) that we absorb. One insight of this discernment is rooted in the principle of love. Are the words, the prophesy, the inputs we receive, rooted in and delivered with the tone and spirit of love? The gift of love and the projection of a loving attitude is truly a fruit born of the Holy Spirit

Don Schwager addresses the question of “What is the test of a true or false teacher”?

Jesus connects soundness with good fruit. Something is sound when it is free from defect, decay, or disease and is healthy. Good fruit is the result of sound living - living according to moral truth and upright character. The prophet Isaiah warned against the dangers of falsehood: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness (Isaiah 5:20). The fruits of falsehood produce an easy religion which takes the iron out of religion, the cross out of Christianity, and any teaching which eliminates the hard sayings of Jesus, and which push the judgments of God into the background and makes us think lightly of sin.

The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3 shows how powerful Scripture is! It has the ability to draw hearts to the Lord.

Maybe you already have a routine for reading the Bible. You might have a daily reading plan, or maybe you have worked your way through one of the Gospels. Perhaps this magazine is your main resource for reading Scripture. If you’ve been doing any of these for even a short amount of time, you surely have a few stories about how the word of God has touched you, moved you, and shaped you. See if you can recall one or two of them today.

Friar Jude Winkler considers possibilities for the timing of the writing of the early Deuteronomy text found in the Temple. The transparent lifestyle of the true prophet includes seeking forgiveness for errors. Friar Jude gives an example from the ministry of Pope Francis.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that coming to grips with the history and reality of our money culture is challenging. He cites the work of Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, Revised Edition (Harper Business: 1993, 2010), 16, 127, 140-141. See also http://www.drawdown.org/  .

Business did not anticipate a time when those resources would diminish or run out. It was inconceivable that the vast plains and forests of the New World could be exhausted, or that the abundant new fuels of coal could produce enough waste to foul the air and the seas, or that the use of oil could eventually lead to global climate change. So the system of rewarding the lowest price, impelling companies to exploit the cheapest sources of labor and materials, could not anticipate a time when the lowest price would no longer be the lowest cost, when seeking the cheapest means to get a product to market would end up costing society the most in terms of pollution, loss of habitat, degradation of biological diversity, human sickness, and cultural destruction. . . .

The fruit of following Jesus Way appears as love, forgiveness, inclusion, and compassion for others. The increasing division between those who live consuming an unfair portion of the world’s resources, preaching an economic philosophy of laissez faire capitalism, and those who migrate in poverty is a sign of our attention to the false prophets in our society.

References


(n.d.). 2 Kings, chapter 22 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 27, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2kings22:3

(n.d.). Matthew 7. Retrieved June 27, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew7.htm

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved June 27, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 27, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). 12th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved June 27, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 27, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/