I have been trying to refine an illustration I posted about a week ago. Please consider this story and give feedback.
Suppose a man approached you with these words, "I am God's prophet. An important one, too. I should be compared to John, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. I have come to explain to you the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Bible." He starts handing you books he has written that detail the meaning of each element of every prophecy of God. Not only that, he reveals to you—by means of these books—that things you didn't even think of as prophecies actually were prophecies, and he tells you what they mean, too!
Once you have read all the books, he says, "Oh. One more thing. You have to prove yourself approved by God. Here's the requirements for that." He hands you another stack of books, "Study up on those, you are going to be judged according to how well you meet those requirements!"
This man dies after about thirty years, then a small group of men comes to you with more writings. This small group says that the other man was confused, he wasn't a prophet by himself. Instead, there was a whole group of folks and together they make a true prophet. But only about 13-17 actually decide what it is God is trying to say. This group changes many of the meanings of the elements of the prophecies, and many fulfillments change after the due date comes and goes unfilfilled. This group tells you it is a shame you got your hopes up based on what they said, you were just a little overeager.
Over the next 90 years, this same group keeps coming back and revising what God said would happen, often after the fact. They extensively revise what is required to please God during this period of time, too, adding and subtracting as time rocks on, sometimes even adding to and then coming back to remove the addition.
Would you teach your son that this group speaks for God? (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)
AuldSoul