seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 18:14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
The easy English site says this about the prophet.
God promised that he would speak to the Israelites by a prophet. This prophet would be an Israelite, he would not be a foreigner. He would be like Moses. The people were too afraid to hear God directly, so God sent his messages by prophets. The Israelites must obey the prophet. If they did not obey him, God would punish them. They must kill any prophet who did not speak God’s messages. They would know if a prophet was not a true prophet by these tests. The first test was if his prophecy did not happen. The second test was this. The prophet used the name of false gods when he spoke his messages. The third test was if the prophet said things just to please people.
Here are the tests according to bibletrack.org.
Moses warns against false prophets and gives a set of criteria that any true prophet will meet. Here are some guidelines for anyone who professes to be a prophet:
He speaks only God's words
He speaks only God's words
If he lies, he dies
If he speaks for other gods, he dies
If he's ever wrong, you can disregard him
If he speaks for other gods, he dies
If he's ever wrong, you can disregard him
When I was reading the verses this morning, two people came to mind almost immediately. There was Jesus, of course.... but Samuel, who anointed David, also came to mind.
