Confessionalists and Evangelicals, (the two dominate groups in my Judah- Southern Kingdom analogy) don’t quote their own prophets as do the Charismatics but they do rely on alternate word-authorities. Evangelicals frequently quote the Founding Fathers or the founding documents treating such words as inspired or the very least deutero-canonical.
And Confessionalists appeal to their own heritage and tradition – whether it be Luther, Cromwell, the Covenanters, Calvin or Knox. And their confessions are quoted in a manner that is de facto equivalent to Scripture or at the very least function in a deutero-canonical manner.
What’s more dangerous, the Charismatic demagogue-showman that can be dismissed out of hand, or the more subtle and credible confessionalist who (Bible in hand) quotes the confession and promotes evils like the Lesser Magistrate doctrine that teaches people to reject New Testament norms and encourages rebellion and violence? To be blunt, those who follow the likes of Benny Hinn and the TBN crowd are lost. No one seriously immersed in Scripture will fall for the likes of that. No one indwelt by the Holy Spirit will be led astray by such blatant deceivers. They are to be pitied but should not be taken seriously. Rebuke them, expose their errors, but do not treat them as those who have standing.
But what of the teacher who is in possession of degrees and doctorates, teaches a tradition that is ostensibly coherent, but does not faithfully represent Scripture? He may also in turn utilize endless philosophical arguments and assumptions in order to justify the political and economic systems of empires and other bestial orders that have exploited and murdered men by the thousands and millions. Is this man not dangerous? There is a veritable army of such men and these false shepherds are held in high regard and their scholarship and ‘Biblical’ expertise is often extolled.
A Christian might rightly recoil when watching Daystar or the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and yet what if a respected confessionalist like D James Kennedy or an Evangelical like David Jeremiah appear on the channel and effectively endorse and partner with the channel and movement's larger cultural projects? How is that man any different? He's part of the same problem or the very least a hireling and opportunist.
How often did the false prophets in Judah lead people into the sins of Samaria? Those who seemed faithful to the covenant and oracles of God were not always so – and so it is today. Who was the greater threat in terms of deception for a God-fearing Jew in the Southern Kingdom – the priest of Bethel or the false Judaean prophet supporting the corrupt court and giving sanction to high place worship – which is what most of Evangelical worship is these days. Based on emotion and tactile extra-Scriptural and cultural proclivities, it is the same impulse that in the context of late antiquity led the Constantinian Church into the embrace of statues, icons, incense, vestments, and other practices such as Advent and Lent.
And Judah suffered not just from the high places but on many occasions the doctrinal and ecclesiastical corruption crept into the temple with the presence of idols and other forms of false worship. At times it must have been difficult or nearly impossible for the faithful to meet their temple-worship obligations – or it must have all but sickened them to do so. And so it is for many of today who struggle to be part of what passes for worship and a New Testament meeting.
The practices were so widespread and persisted for so long that it’s not hard to imagine how some of them became traditions in and of themselves and even a source of pride. One can be sure cultural and historical narratives were constructed that justified such practices and they could be backed up by weighty (yet erroneous) philosophical arguments and reasoned appeals to a tradition, events, authorities, and superstitions. I’m sure there were numerous factions with different narratives and methods of extrapolating doctrine and ethics. And yet all of these claimed to speak in the name of Jehovah and to represent His covenant.
Again, for the man who is serious about following God’s Word, who is the greater threat, who is more likely to deceive him – the Philistine, the prophet from Dan, or the man standing before the true oracular shrine in Jerusalem, backed by the hierarchy and the court and yet speaking falsehood?
In the grand scheme of things, the nations are nothing – a drop in the bucket to be sure. The apostate ecclesiastical bodies need to remain in the larger discussion but their influence and impact with regard to the faithful is minimal. The real threat is always found within. When men claim to be Biblical but promote other ideas and traditions – whether it’s the false narratives of the Magisterial Reformation or Evangelicalism’s bogus read of America’s founding, there is a real threat. For in both cases the false ideas and values are effectively baptised leading to misguided ideals and goals, and in both cases it has reaped a rotten harvest in the realm of economics, ethics, and culture.
Evangelicalism’s utilitarian approach to questions like the standard of living has had profound and destructive ramifications for the Church. Its desire to remain relevant to the culture has generated a litany of compromises and subjugated it to the consumerist ethics of pop culture. This has played out in everything from its mammonism, to its approaches to worship and ecclesiology, to its embrace of feminism, psychology, and divorce. And of course both confessional and evangelical camps have succumbed to nationalism and as such promote militarism and all too often champion war.
Are these not seductions on the order of Balaam? Are these not rebellions such as we see with Korah? The Oracle-Word is supplanted by rival claims to authority and their claims which tickle ears in what they promise, lead the people of God to stumble and sin thinking they do God service. So it is with the usurers and mammon chasers, the men who take up the sword, and those who like the kings of Israel seek help in Egypt and Damascus – in other words turn to the world for help and form alliances with the princes of those lands. The Northern kings did this and were condemned. When Asa formed an alliance with Ben-Hadad he was condemned by Hanani. His son Jehoshaphat of Judah also pursued evil alliances and he was roundly condemned by Jehu. His errors led to his son’s impiety and his marriage with Athaliah of the House of Omri.
In Revelation we read that Jerusalem is called Sodom and Egypt, the city where our Lord was crucified. And yet this is in reference to the Last Days body, the Church as signified by the Two Witnesses. Who slays the witnesses and revels in their death? The world does as to be expected, but they are killed in the districts of the covenant. Is not Church history a story of the False Church persecuting the True? I suppose it depends on what sort of histories you read and how you understand the events. The False Prophets who preach ‘peace, peace’ revel in the supposed glories of Western Civilisation and the Church which produced not just the castles, cathedrals, and universities of Christendom – but they often praise and defend the Crusades and the global empires which emerged at the end of the Renaissance era. For them this glory and power signifies the work of the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God manifest on Earth. For the faithful remnant, these glories are the beast-abominations and tokens of Mystery Babylon, the Bride turned Whore riding on the back of the Beast, the rebuilding of Babel topped by a cheap cross. This is true of Papal Rome, its tributary states and its system of lies, but no less so when it comes to the subsequent history of Protestant-guided nations like Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and the American Empire.
If the Philistines want to let two men marry or if the Babylonians want to kill their children in the womb, what is that to me? They’re lost and will behave as such. They need the gospel. They are outside the covenant. You can train a dog to exhibit human traits but it’s still a dog. A pagan can be compelled to act a certain way by the threat of sword but he’s still a pagan and thus his hypocritical conformity accomplishes nothing in terms of the Kingdom. It reminds one of Christ’s condemnation of the Pharisees – making hypocrite proselytes just as damned and Hell-bound as themselves.
Show mercy, rescue children, do what you can - but don't confuse the tasks and realms. The end result is far worse and always results in evil alliances, compromise, corruption, confused goals and ethics - and ultimately a destruction of the Church's identity and testimony. So it is in our day.
And what of those who engage in false practices and yet do so claiming the blessing and sanction of God? These are the progeny of the false prophets of Judah functioning within the New Covenant. They preach ‘peace, peace’ thinking they stand for right because they oppose the Philistines and Ammonites. They are deluded and while we have no Jeremiah or Isaiah in our day (as these prophets were types of the Prophet), we do have the Prophet’s Holy Word and as such we need to employ it and call out, expose, and denounce the false prophets just as the faithful in the Old Testament were wont to do. That's why I'm critical of these men and their movements. In some respects they are more dangerous and destructive than those who are blatantly false and disobedient to God's Word. My focus is on Judah - what have I to do with Israel or with the Philistines? They are already gone.
See also:
https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-northern-kingdom-analogy.html