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These, at various periods in the history of Israel, appeared in large numbers: Ahab had 'about four hundred' of them. 1 Kings 22: 6. Such are described as speaking "a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord." Jer. 23: 16. There were three that opposed Jeremiah to his face — Hananiah, Ahab, and Zedekiah. Jer. 28: 1; Jer. 29: 21. In the N.T. the Lord, early in His ministry, warned His hearers to beware of false prophets, Matt. 7: 15; and in the church, the spirits are to be tried, for many false prophets have gone forth into the world. 1 John 4: 1. They were and are Satan's counterfeits of the prophets of God, and their purpose is, on the principle of imitation, to neutralise the word of God.