What does it mean that false prophets are wolves in sheep's clothing?

In Matthew 7:15, Yahshua warns us, saying, “Beware of false prophets.” He compares these false prophets to wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Yahshua also tells us how to identify these false prophets: “By their fruits you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20).

Throughout the hebrew scriptures and the tradition, we are warned about false prophets (Ezekiel 13, Matthew 24:23-27, 2 Peter 3:3). False prophets claim to speak in the name of YHWH our Elohim, but they tell lies. To gain people’s trust, they come to them “in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). No matter how innocent and harmless these teachers may appear on the outside, they have the nature of wolves: they are determined to destroy the faith, cause spiritual carnage in the congregation of the blessed, and enrich themselves. They will “secretly introduce destructive heresies,” “bring the way of truth into disrepute,” and “make merchandise of falsehood” (2 Peter 2:1-3).

False teachers dress in “sheep’s clothing” so they can blend in with the sheep without arousing suspicion. They generally do not openly state what they believe; rather, they mix some truth with their falsehood and carefully choose their words to appear orthodox. In reality, they follow “their evil desires” (Jude 1:17-18), and “they never stop sinning; they entice unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed” (2 Peter 2:14).

In contrast, a true prophet teaches the Word of God YHWH in its entirety (Deuteronomy 18:20). Wolves in sheep’s clothing twist the Word of YHWH our Elohim to deceive or influence people for their own purposes. Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his ministers disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).

The best way to protect yourself from wolves in sheep’s clothing is to heed the warnings of Scripture and know the truth with the Lord's help directly through His Ruakh, that is, His Blessed Spirit, which confirms the truth for us, who confirms the truth to us. A believer who “correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) and carefully studies the Scriptures will be able to identify false prophets. Christians must judge all teaching according to what Scripture says. Believers will also be able to identify false prophets by their fruit—their words, actions, and lifestyles. Yeshua said, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 12:33; cf. Matthew 7:20). Peter described false teachers as people of “depraved conduct” who “indulge in pleasures” as “slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:2, 13, 19). If a teacher in the congregation of the elect does not live according to the Word of God, he is one of those wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Here are three specific questions to identify false prophets, or wolves in sheep’s clothing:

1) What does the teacher [moreh] say about Yahshua (Himself)? In John 10:30, Yahshua says, “I and the Father are one” [ekhad]. The jews and some hebrews understood Yahshua’s statement as an affirmation of being Elohim YHWH and wanted to stone him (John 10:33). 

Anyone who denies Yahshua as Lord (1 John 4:1-3) is a false prophet.

2) Does our beloved teacher [moreh] Yahshua preach the true gospel?

Anyone who teaches an incomplete or unknown gospel will be eternally condemned (Galatians 1:9). Any gospel other than what the ruakh of Yhwh tells us (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is not the true good news.

3) Does Yahshua demonstrate godly character? Yahshua said to beware of teachers whose moral behavior does not align with what the Scriptures says (The Bible was not canonized in a single event, but rather through a processthat culminated in the 4th and 5th centuries In AD 363, the Council of Laodicea stated that only the Old Testament (along with one book of the Apocrypha) and in response to Martin Luther's demands, the Council of Trent on 8 April 1546 approved the present Catholic Bible canon)

 Our Blessed Teacher says we will recognize wolves in sheep's clothing by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20).

It doesn't matter how large the congregation and its preacher are, how many books and videos they have sold, or how many hundreds applaud them. If they "teach something else and do not conform to the sound words of our Father Elohim Yahweh and His earthly manifestation, our Lord Yahshua, and to the doctrine that accords with godliness," then they are a wolf in sheep's clothing (1 Timothy 6:3).

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