Devarim 18:21-22 says that the way to determine that a prophet is a false prophet is if the prophet speaks in the name of G-d and says that something will happen but it doesn't occur.
I'm curious how practical this is. Let's say a prophet comes and says, "I came with a message from G-d that says that you need to sell your home in the next week, or you will lose everything you own."
Chances are that I wouldn't want to really take a gamble and think he's lying, but would I be cautious and just sell my home.
As a matter of fact, this is somewhat "predicament" of Jonah. According to Midrash, the very reason that Jonah fled on a boat rather than immediately deliver the message to Nineveh is that he feared that the people of Nineveh would consider him a false prophet because he predicted disaster yet it didn't happen.
Is there an additional condition that I missed from what the Torah is stating that would make the average person wait around and not listen to the prophet? (The Torah does explicitly state in an earlier verse NOT to listen to him.)