Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

We've all heard the description "a wolf in sheep's clothing". Do you know where it comes from? There are modern references to a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" fable from Aesop, the famous fable teller, who lived presumably somewhere around the 6th century BC, but no record of such a fable exists prior to the 12th century AD. Thus, the earliest record of this concept comes from none other than Jesus Himself. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Matt 7:15). And we get the image, don't we? The guy looks like a prophet, a believer, "one of us", but in fact it turns out he's not.

Have you ever wondered, "Why a wolf?" Frankly, it only occurred to me recently to ask the question. I mean, are we really looking at predators here, or are we just saying that there are those who look like us but aren't, you know, like tares among wheat? That was another of Jesus's illustrations along the same lines. Is there predatory lines in that? I mean, He used "sheep" and "goats" in another parable. Couldn't that be just as good? "A goat in sheep's clothing"?

As it turns out, it would appear that Jesus used wolves in His description because He intended to point at predators. False believers and false prophets aren't on the scene as benign, misguided folks just mistaken in their beliefs and floating along in the crowd. They are predators.

"Oh, sure, says you," some are bound to say. Just a false alarm. Just conspiracy theory. Is it?

The "wolves" Jesus warned about were "false prophets", people who claim to speak for God. The false prophets of the Old Testament were devastating. In Lamentations we read, "Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading" (Lam 2:14). The error? "They have not exposed your iniquity." The result of exposing sin? "To restore your fortunes." Instead? False and misleading "words from God". In Matthew 24 Jesus warns, "Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray" (Matt 24:11) and "False christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matt 24:24). This is not benign. This isn't simply misguided. It is predatory. Peter warns of false teachers "who will secretly bring in destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1). That is, not merely heresies -- mistaken deviations from what is correct -- but destructive heresies -- false doctrines that destroy. This is not benign. This isn't simply misguided. It is predatory. John calls them "antichrists", one "who denies the Father and the Son". Paul warned Timothy of "those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions" (2 Tim 3:6). Paul said, "These men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith" (2 Tim 3:8). Notice that they aren't simply wrong in their understanding. They oppose the truth. "Well, now, how do you know he's not just talking about unbelievers?" Because he says that they are "disqualified regarding the faith," which requires that they present themselves as qualified for the faith.

"Okay, so false prophets are predators. Surely not all unbelievers among believers are predatory. I mean, doesn't 'tares among wheat' suggest merely that they look like us?" Not if you understand what a "tare" is. Tares are weeds. They certainly do look a lot like wheat. That's what makes them such a problem when among wheat. They're hard to spot. But it wouldn't be any big deal if that was the end of the story. Unfortunately for the wheat, it isn't. Instead, tares are a destructive form of weed. They take nutrients from the planted crop and often harbor poisonous fungus. When Jesus gave the parable of the sower, he spoke of some seed that fell among weeds that "grew up and choked it" (Mark 4:7). Weeds are not merely unwanted or unsightly. They're predatory to other plants. In fact, the "tares among wheat" phrase comes from a parable Jesus told about a farmer who planted wheat and was then attacked by an enemy who sowed weeds in his field. "Enemy" is not "misguided", but predatory.

So what's my point? The Bible assures us that we will have "wolves in sheep's clothing", false prophets, antichrists, "weeds". Expect it. But don't be mistaken. These aren't merely misguided folk. They are predators in amongst the flock of Christ intent on doing damage. They may know the damage they're doing or they may not, but it is damage. The Church has lots to offer -- grace, forgiveness, mercy, love -- lots of things that people would want. As people they would want them for themselves, but as enemies of God they want them without submission to God. So they come in to steal. They come in to steal innocence, to steal blessings, to steal power. They will say things like, "I believe the Bible" and then blatantly violate the Bible. (I recently saw a news piece on a separatist group called the Sovereign Citizen movement which uses, among other things, the Bible to make its case in rebellion against the government. How can a Baptist preacher -- because it was a Baptist preacher they interviewed -- say, "The Bible tells me I don't have to pay taxes or obey the government" when the Bible says, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God" and "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed" (Rom 13:1,7)?) Jesus warned us to be aware. The Bible is full of warnings that these predators will be among us. We're seeing in America today that they are effective at tearing down the church in the name of Christ. Don't be fooled. Be vigilant. That was Jesus's advice.