Which other scriptures warn against false counsel similar to Job 13:4? False Counsel Identified in Job 13:4 “Yet you are smearing me with lies; you are all worthless physicians.” (Job 13:4) Old Testament Passages Warning Against False Counsel • Psalm 1:1 – “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or set foot on the path of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” • Psalm 26:4-5 – “I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites. I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.” • Proverbs 12:5 – “The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.” • Proverbs 13:20 – “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” • Proverbs 19:27 – “If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.” • Isaiah 8:19-20 – “When they say to you, ‘Consult the spirits of the dead …,’ should not a people consult their God? … If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” • Jeremiah 14:14 – “The LORD said … ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in My name … a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds.’” • Jeremiah 23:16 – “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes.” • Ezekiel 13:3 – “Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.” • Micah 2:11 – “If a man of wind were to come and falsely declare, ‘I proclaim to you plenty of wine and beer,’ he would be just the preacher for this people!” New Testament Passages Warning Against False Counsel • Matthew 7:15 – “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” • Luke 6:39 – “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” • Acts 20:29-30 – “Savage wolves … will distort the truth to draw away disciples after them.” • 1 Corinthians 15:33 – “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” • 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 – “Such men are false apostles … Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” • Galatians 1:8 – “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned!” • Colossians 2:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception … rather than on Christ.” • 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – “They will not tolerate sound doctrine … will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” • 2 Peter 2:1 – “There will be false teachers among you … introducing destructive heresies.” • 1 John 4:1 – “Test the spirits … for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” • Revelation 2:2 – “You have tested and proved that those who call themselves apostles are not, and found them false.” Common Threads to Notice • False counsel often comes from seemingly religious sources (prophets, teachers, “angels of light”). • Deceitful counsel is rooted in human ideas or demonic influence, not God’s revealed Word. • Listening to it leads to spiritual drift, harm, and judgment. • Scripture repeatedly calls God’s people to discernment—testing every message against the Law, the testimony, and the gospel. Living It Out Today • Stay anchored in daily Bible reading; measure every teaching by the whole counsel of Scripture. • Seek fellowship with believers who value truth over novelty. • Ask, “Does this counsel exalt Christ and align with His Word?” • Be willing to graciously confront error and lovingly direct others back to biblical truth. |
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