Part 1 - Testing the Fruits

If we can nail down the correct interpretation of “Fruit” then we will begin to clearly see the meaning of this entire verse of scripture.

The “fruit” has been interpreted to mean many things.  Here are the most common:

Common Interpretations for “Fruit”:

• Actions
• Situations
• Supposed Blessings or Curses
• Results (Their life, Prophecies or Message)

Let’s review each of these and then determine what the true fruit is.

Does the “Fruit” mean “Actions”

If fruit were actions, then the scripture would read like this:

"15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their ACTIONs. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good ACTIONs; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil ACTION.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil ACTIONs, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good ACTIONs.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good ACTION is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their ACTIONs ye shall know them." - Matt. 7:15-20

Can we judge by looking at actions?  Are actions the fruit by which we shall know them?  As we consider actions as being the fruits, we quickly become aware of righteous people doing things that would be generally accepted as being wicked.  For example, Abraham intending to kill Isaac (Gen. 22), Nephi killing Laban (1Ne. 4), God commanding his people to commit genocide (1Sam. 15:3), and the list goes on.

On the other side of the coin, we can see that doing things that are generally accepted as being good, like praying or giving gifts, are condemned as being evil by the prophet Moroni when our intention is not in alignment with our actions, (Moro. 7).

“8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.
9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.” – Moro. 7:8-9

In his example, Moroni tells us that the wicked and the righteous are doing the same action.  They are both praying and they are both giving a gift.  But one is blessed and the other is cursed.

Actions that we suppose are inherently good can in fact be evil, and seemingly bad actions can be good.   So, actions are a poor indicator of true prophets and cannot be the “fruit” by which we know the righteous from the wicked.

In addition, one of the deceptions of the Wolves is that they “come is sheep’s clothing”.  By outward appearance, they look like sheep and they outwardly act like sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  So we cannot judge by the outward appearance of their actions.

Does the “Fruit” mean “Situations”

By situations we mean the observable circumstances, places we find them in or even the people they associate with.  For example, do we see them in a bar, associating with prostitutes or other sinners, in prison, or other situations.  If fruit were situations, then the scripture would read like this:

"15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their SITUATIONs. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good SITUATIONs; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil SITUATION.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil SITUATIONs, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good SITUATIONs.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good SITUATIONis hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their SITUATIONs ye shall know them." - Matt. 7:15-20

This version of the “Fruits” focuses on the “Appearance of Evil”.  We are told to avoid the appearance of evil.

“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:22

One recent example of this came up when one friend was speaking to another friend about Warren Jeffs, the Prophet/Leader of the Fundamental Latter-Day Saint Church.  The first friend said, “By their fruits we shall know them, and being in jail seems to be very bad fruit!  I mean if the leader of your church is in jail, then, there’s something wrong with the message of the church.”

At first glance, this seems to make a lot of sense.  However, further considering the implications of these statements, we must conclude that all people who end up in jail are false prophets and not worth listening to because they have “Bad Fruit”.  The following list of spiritual leaders who found themselves in jail produces surprising results:

• Jesus Christ – Imprisoned and Sentenced to Death by the leaders of the people.
• Daniel in the Lion's Den
• Joseph imprisoned by Potiphar
• Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego condemned to the fiery furnace
• Many of Christ's Apostles were imprisoned and put to death
• Joseph Smith – Imprisoned multiple times
• Various early LDS Leaders – Some of whom were imprisoned and some of whom had warrants for arrest but fled to Mexico.
• John the Baptist – eventually beheaded by the king while in jail.
• Alma and Amulek, Abinadi and various other Book of Mormon prophets and missionaries
• The Jews under Hitler

If the fruit were the situations, then all the above would be false prophets.

In addition, if we used the situation to judge the wolves from the sheep, then the Good Shepherd himself would have failed this test on multiple levels.  He spent his time with the prostitutes, tax collectors, the sick and impure.  He ate food and drank wine with such persons and was judged as a glutton and a winebibber, (alcoholic).

“33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!” – Luke 7:33-34, Matt. 11:18-19

Christ certainly was not one to abstain from the appearance of evil.  Not that he did anything truly wrong or harmful, but that he did what was right regardless of how it looked to others.

In short, we cannot distinguish true prophets from false prophets based on the situations or circumstances in which we find them.

Does the “Fruit” mean “Blessings or Curses”

If fruit were Blessings or Curses, then the scripture would read like this:

"15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their BLESSINGs or CURSES. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good BLESSINGs; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil CURSES.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil CURSES, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good BLESSINGS.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good BLESSINGS is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their BLESSINGs or CURSES ye shall know them." - Matt. 7:15-20

There are many stories in the scriptures which illustrate the problems of judging the righteous by their blessings or curses.  One clear example is given in the story of Job.

Job had it all, good health, wonderful family, incredible wealth and a life many would envy.  When he lost his health, his wife told him to “curse God and die”.

After loosing his family and wealth, his friends determined that Job had displeased God and was being punished for sinning.  These friends were looking at the obvious curses Job had been given and determined that Job had done something to displease God.  They were judging Job by the blessings and curses he was receiving.  To his friends, this obvious curse Job was experiencing was more than enough to determine his fruit was bad and a sign that God was displeased with him.  They did not know the mind of God who was well pleased with Job the whole time.  They would have rejected any message he had to share because it was clearly “Bad Fruit”.  Later, Job gained more than all he had lost.  (See, The Book of Job)

Others, like King Noah, were very wicked but had all the riches, health and power anyone could want.  They may appeared to be blessed.  King Noah was also the head of the church.  This did not make him righteous. (See, Mosiah 11)

Today we see many who sit in positions of power or influence who appear to be blessed of the Lord and yet they may have no relationship with God or Christ.  Also, we see many humble people, who have very little of what we would call blessings, and they are the friends of God.

Because this is the case, judging a person by the blessings or curses they appear to have is not a good way to determine whether they are a true or false prophet.

Does the “Fruit” mean “Results?”

By results, we mean what happens to people.  Not so much what situations we see them in as discussed previously, but more focused on the observable results from a hindsight viewpoint.  Under the topic of results we will consider the following sections:

• Results of Their Life Choices
• Results of Their Prophecies
• Results of Their Message

If fruit were RESULTS, then the scripture would read like this:

"15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their RESULTS. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good RESULTS; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil RESULTS.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil RESULTS, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good RESULTS.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good RESULTS is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their RESULTS ye shall know them." - Matt. 7:15-20

Results of Their Life Choices:

We heard someone say the following:

“My uncle lost his wife and children in divorce because of his beliefs, so the fruit was bad, and I don’t want it for me and my family.”

Using “The law of Universal Application”, we could apply this same judgment universally to all those who joined the church and lost their families, but because they made the same choice we did or would want them to make, we say they did the right thing and will be blessed for it.

This means that we are judging based on our limited information regarding what lead up to the result and based on our own perception of what is right and what is wrong.

For example, If a woman were to join the church and loose her family for doing so, then from the perception of her family she and the church would fall into the “bad fruit” category but members of the church might say that she and the church were “good fruit” and that she was willing to give up everything to follow truth.

Such judgments are entirely based on our own perceptions of the results.  If we like the results then we say they are “Good Fruit” if we don’t we call them “Bad Fruit”.

We judge the results by our desires and perceptions which are flexible to what we want.  This tends to be a poor indicator of truth and universally creates conflict because one side says it is good fruit and the other side says it is bad fruit.  Neither are correct because temporal results are not the fruit by which we judge.

Results of Prophecies:

This is another interpretation of fruit commonly used to prove that a person is not a true prophet.  It would seem that if a prophecy did not come true that the person was deceived and therefore they were a false prophet.

Like the other results, this could take time to observe.  Many prophecies are not fulfilled for hundreds of years, well beyond the normal life span of the common man.  If we were to wait to see if the prophecies were true, we might never accept a true prophet.

Aside from that, many prophecies are based upon the direction of society or individuals.  They are often given with the intent of avoiding the calamity they are prophesying. When the circumstances change, then the prophecy become null and void.

A perfect example of this is the prophet Jonah who after being swallowed by a whale delivered a message of destruction to Nineveh.  When they repented and were not destroyed as Jonah expected, he himself complained to the Lord that the city had not been destroyed and that his prophecy had not come true.

This common false logic is used to attempt to prove Joseph Smith and others to be false prophets.  They point at prophecies which did not come true and attempt to use it as evidence to destroy Joseph’s reputation by proving him a false prophet and thereby prove the church to be false.

When all things are considered, we must conclude that this also is an ineffective and inaccurate method of judging “fruits”.

Results of Their Message:

Like other results we look toward the future, however when looking toward the future results of the message, we have more to go on and can use our own logic to reason out where this message might lead us.

If we attempt to reason out with our own logic the results of the message, we may not see those things which are subtle and hidden.  Often times in the scripture we see a non-linear line of logic.  By non-linear we mean that A does not go through B to get to C as would be expected by standard reasoning.  We are often told to do something that seems unrelated in order to get the results we want rather than focusing on the results themselves.

One example is when Naaman is told to dip seven times in the Jordan river to be cured of leprosy, (2Kings 5).

Another example is given in the book of Joshua as the children of Israel take the city of Jericho by bringing the walls of the city down by shouting and blowing trumpets.  This was not a logical or reasonable battle plan according to the standards of men.

We see yet another example found in Mosiah 4 where King Benjamin is telling us to “Remember the goodness of God and our own unworthiness” telling us that “I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall…” and then goes on for four verses listing the natural but seemingly unrelated results of following his advice.

We see the world according to our own preconceived notions.  Our perception is greatly impacted by our beliefs, our morals, our desires and our world view.  Because of this, many people will read King Benjamin’s sermon as if he were giving us a check list of “To Do’s” rather than a list of natural results to a seemingly unrelated and benign instruction given just prior.  Ultimately, when people use their own logic and reason and against King Benjamin’s actual instructions, they miss the entire point of his magnificent sermon.

Such examples of seemingly illogical and yet highly effective direction would easily cause those who rely entirely on the understanding of men to reject inspired principles and directions as being for fools.

Simply put, our reasoning alone will fail us.  Especially when attempting to understand God’s ways which are not the ways of the natural man.

We may also realize that relying on our own logic and understanding that we reject new ideas before they have had time to grow.  This does not mean the ideas were wrong or bad, only that you did not provide fertile ground for the seed to be planted, (see Alma 32).

This leads us to another problem.  We can’t recognize true and false prophets by comparing the message they share with our own beliefs and view points.

Because we acknowledge and accept our own limitations in understanding and reasoning, we are counseled to “Believe ALL Things”.

“Believing ALL Things” means that we even believe those things which are contrary to our current belief schema or world view.

This further adds to the confusion as we attempt to determine whether a person is speaking as a false prophet or a true prophet.

Although attempting to reason out the results of the message using our own views and logic is not encouraged, understanding the true and unbiased results of these beliefs is actually the end goal.

We want to see where this philosophy and belief will lead us.  But, just as Mosiah tells his people to focus on a seemingly unrelated task to receive certain seemingly unrelated results, so too if we put our attention on the true fruits of these various prophets, we will see the results of the message clearly and with little effort.  The true fruits will quickly reveal the wolves who masquerade as sheep.

Part 1 Conclusion:

We have explored all the major interpretations of “Fruit” which are used to attempt to determine whether a prophet is a wolf or a sheep.  There are obvious flaws in all of them.  There must be another less common interpretation of “Fruit” which is more accurate and which unlocks the key to understanding the scriptures in question.