Deuteronomy 18:14-22
How to Pick a Prophet
Prophets with a Purpose: Week 3
We are in a five-week series called “Prophets with a Purpose.” We began with Samuel, the great priest and prophet of Israel. Last week we looked at Jonah, the reluctant prophet. And today we’ll discuss two of the greatest prophets who ever lived.
The very first prophet of Israel was Moses. The people were terrified when God spoke to them directly. So they asked Moses to intercede for them, to listen to God and then tell them what God said. Thus was born the role of the prophet. Moses would go up on the mountainside and talk with God. God would give Moses a message. And Moses would give it to the people. The Old Testament says this about Moses: “Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10).
In today’s passage, Moses is close to the end of his life. He is preparing the people to go on without him. Since he won’t be around forever, he prepares them to receive the prophets that will come in the future. How can they clearly discern God’s voice from all the voices claiming to speak for God? It’s a need we have today. How do you know when someone is truly speaking for the Lord? From Moses’s speech, consider these three principles:
1. Avoid the occult (v. 14)
As the Israelites prepared to move into the Promised Land, God warned them through Moses not to buy into the world’s system of understanding the times and knowing the future. Verses 9-14 speak out clearly against things like witchcraft, sorcery, séances, and divination.
Today we might translate: horoscopes, tarot cards, mediums, and psychics. Magic might be cute in Disney or Harry Potter, but it is absolutely forbidden for the one following God. Why is that? Because God chooses to speak directly to us through a different way, the way of the prophet. All those other things are human efforts to know the future. Prophecy, on the other hand, is God’s effort to guide us. So avoid the occult, and #2,
2. Discern false from true prophets.
In Bible times, many so-called prophets would come along and deceive the people. They would say things like, “The kingdom is not really going to fall. God would never let that happen to you. He cares too much about you.” And then the kingdom fell! False prophets usually carried too positive a message. Reminds me of the “prosperity gospel” preachers today who always promise more, more, more of God’s blessings upon your life, but never call anyone to repentance. Whereas the doom-and-gloom prophets in the Bible usually were the real thing. They were trying to wake up God’s people before it was too late.
Jesus urged his followers, in Matthew 7:15-16, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” Likewise, the elderly apostle John wrote to the church, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). So how do we test the spirits? How do we know if a prophet is truly speaking for God?
God gave two tests in today’s passage. The first one is this:
• Does the message line up with the Bible?
In verse 20 God says, “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.”
If the Bible is God’s word, and the prophet presumes to speak for God, then what the prophet says should line up with the Bible, right? It’s not rocket science, but I’m sure you’ve sat under a sermon or two in your lifetime where you may have wondered, “What does any of this have to do with the Bible?” Maybe it was a good motivational speech, but it didn’t really seem to be...well...biblical! Sadly, I suspect many sermons are preached every week in churches and on TV and radio that may not reflect accurately the word of God.
Preachers are not our only modern prophets. When a well-meaning friend offers you advice, check it against scripture. Is that friend sharing godly counsel? God will never contradict his written word, because God never lies.
Now you can only perform this test if you are familiar with God’s word. Thankfully, you don’t have to have it all memorized, although memorizing key verses for your situation never hurts. Use your concordance or other tools to find scriptures that relate to whatever topic you’re concerned about. Do a little research. And see if the teaching or advice lines up with God’s word.
The second test God gives for checking out whether a prophet is real or not is,
Did the message come true? (v. 22)
You find this test in verse 22 where Moses says, “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.”
I like that word, “presumptuously.” This person has presumed to know the will of God, when in fact they didn’t, because what they said would happen...didn’t!
Now you might call this test the long-view test, because it’s going to take a while to verify sometimes whether a prophet’s message comes true or not. For instance, some of the prophecies of Isaiah didn’t come true for over 100 years! Yet, generally, people could tell Isaiah was the real thing because his shorter-term prophecies came true. Over time you can tell whether a prophet is speaking for God, because you will see a consistency of truth lived out before you. My advice? “When in doubt, wait it out.” Check around. Do a little more research. What does the Bible say? What does another trusted Christian friend say about that subject?
Wikipedia has an article entitled, “Predictions and Claims for the Second Coming of Christ.” The article lists some 51 individuals and groups who have made public claims about the date of Jesus’ return. Interestingly, in 45 of the 51 cases, the date has already past. Hmmm. All this activity even though Jesus himself said no one will know the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36)!
I told you we would talk about two of the most prophets ever today. One is Moses. The other? The author of Hebrews writes, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Someone once said, “Jesus is the best picture God ever had taken.” So my last point is this:
3. Follow the greatest of all prophets.
If you follow Jesus, you will never go wrong. Consider how today’s passage points to Jesus: In verse 18 God says, “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.” While the later verses talk about prophets in the plural, this verse talks about a prophet, one prophet. Perhaps that is why many believe it an early Messianic prophecy. God will raise up one from among the Israelite population, one who will speak for God, one who will tell the people everything he commands. And the name of that one is Jesus.
The Dead Sea scroll community thought Moses was talking about the Messiah. When Jesus fed the 5,000, people wondered, “Could this be the prophet?” (John 6:14). An early disciple, Philip, told his friend Nathaniel, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law” (John 1:45). Peter, after Pentecost, chose our passage today from Deuteronomy to point to Jesus as the greatest prophet of them all (Acts 3:22-23). Stephen did as well in his great sermon right before he became the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:37). The New Testament writers were absolutely convinced that God is talking about Jesus in verse 18.
Think about the parallels: both Moses and Jesus were spared death as a baby. Both renounced a royal court. Both had compassion for their people and interceded for them. Both spoke with God face to face. And both mediated a covenant between God and his people [The MacArthur Bible Commentary, page 221].
Have you ever thought of Jesus as a prophet? In John 12:49–50 Jesus said, “For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken...So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” When we read the words of Jesus, we see the very words of God. Perhaps that is why Mark 1:22 records, “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
Get to know Jesus. Read his words regularly. Know that they are words of life, of truth. Know that Jesus speaks for God. He is our Savior. Let us pray:
Lord, in every time there have been people claiming to speak for you. Even today, as I stand before this church, I recognize the humble task of trying to stay true to your word. Please take away any words of mine that are not from you. Please help us, as your people, to be able to discern truth from fiction, as we listen to preachers, evangelists, teachers, and well-meaning friends. Help us to know more and more of your written word, so we can better sense your spoken word. In the name of the greatest prophet of all, Jesus our Lord, we pray, amen.
