Zech. 13:4-6

4 And it shall come to pass in that day [yowm], that the prophets [nabiy'] shall be ashamed [buwsh] every one ['iysh] of his vision [chizzayown], when he hath prophesied [naba']; neither shall they wear [labash] a rough [se`ar] garment ['addereth] to deceive [kachash]:

5 But he shall say ['amar], I am no prophet [nabiy'], I am an husbandman ['iysh] [`abad] ['adamah]; for man ['adam] taught me to keep cattle [qanah] from my youth [na`uwr].

6 And one shall say ['amar] unto him, What are these wounds [makkah] in thine hands [yad]? Then he shall answer ['amar], Those with which I was wounded [nakah] in the house [bayith] of my friends ['ahab]. KJV-Interlinear

4 Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; 5 but he will say,' I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.' 6 And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' NASB

False interpretations of life, false evaluations, and false opinions, all of these begin with the young. They grow up rejecting the instruction of their parents, and then they become the prophets of the current generation. Whatever generation that current generation might happen to be in history.

They give their opinions, make their predictions, and try to influence society in an effort to advance themselves, then things go wrong. Where are they then?

Here in these verses, is their position on life.

They disavow their role in the errors of the world. Blaming others for whatever the problems might happen to be, they disrobe from the uniform of the prophet the hairy robe. Elijah wore a hairy robe. John the Baptist wore a hairy robe.

But the false prophet tries to wear the uniform, which they did not earn the right to wear.

In Gods eyes, they are but commoners, workers of the earth, who promoted themselves to the role of the public voice. Politicians, news media types, celebrities and many others in society, are guilty of the assumption of this false authoritative position in society.

When their error is discovered, then they become eager to hide their pretentious role in making or influencing public policy.

They hold that they are but life long farmers. Just doing their jobs like everyone else. Others, others in power, others who have the power and resources to do this or that, are to blame, not the spreaders of false prophecy. Prophecy is broadly defined here, as any and all propaganda spread to the public in order to influence the public s mind.

And that is the real foundation behind the efforts of those who would be famous, their greed and deep lust for public recognition for their wisdom and views on life. Approbation lust is what drives their ego.

But inevitably, things go wrong, and then the public, those who become wise to the deceitful ways of the false prophets, put the question to them. They try to hold them to account.

And the response from the false prophets is what? Lies.

What are those injuries between your arms?

Well the response is that, These injuries came from our friends. The injuries are not our fault, but it is their fault.

The injuries come from idol worship and the promotion of false prophecy.

Do you recall what we have been studying these past few days?

The driving force, behind the failures of the world, is the rejection of truth. People believe anything and everything when they ignore truth in their life.

Children reject their parent s instruction, or they just don t get any instruction. Society accepts virtually every type of life style. And why not? No one seems to be getting hurt because of it.

Consequently, society deteriorates ever so slowly from generation to generation and eventually the pot of troubles for the world boils over.

And now the Bible confesses in behalf of the false, would be, prophets. Those who would lead the world by means of their verbal influence and grand ideas, and finally recognize that despite their social background, despite their education from the finest institutions, despite their wealth and resources of power and position in this world, they really lack the necessary qualifications for the office they presume to be qualified for.

Namely, they lack Bible doctrine, therefore they lack the necessary education required to be able to read life properly, therefore they lack Gods view on reality, therefore all of their views are false, and therefore when life is viewed through a false set of facts, trouble becomes inevitable.

Their bruises are in their soul, and have been caused by their pursuit of the false opinions of the world. These are self-inflicted wounds, and not wounds inflicted by others. This is the nature of the false prophet.

They never assume responsibility for their own thoughts or actions. They desire the power and authority of high office. They desire the adulation of the masses. They want to be recognized as an authority in the matters of the world. They want to be given credit for their efforts. They want folks to know the extent of their effort. But they will blame others when things go wrong, or when things just don t go their way.

Their views are always self-centered.

Finally, in that day, which is in the time of the end of the Tribulation, when the world has lived through nearly seven years of the most formidable disasters, and failures of human effort to cure mans problems, these noble and honorable and wise folks who think that they know all there is to know about life, will bail out.

The world will be reeling. Masses of folks around the world will be in a world of hurt. And what do those, who would be wise in the publics eyes, do? They seek to separate themselves from the world s problems, and they refuse to do anything to correct them. They leave the people of the world to suffer.

Betrayal of truth, results in the betrayal of those over whom you seek power and authority.

Now is the time to post a prayer.