How can you tell a true prophet from a false prophet? The question was an urgent one for the audience that Deuteronomy 18:15-20 addresses. After Moses, who was the pre-eminent prophet-dies, how will the people know the will of God? They can’t consult sooth-sayers and mediums like the nations around them do, so how would they know who speaks for God? When we stand at the threshold of something new, we know that the path ahead will be both challenging and rewarding. We wonder how it will turn out for us. God’s compassionate response to the people’s complaints is a powerful testimony to the love God holds for His people.

The events in this passage took place at the end of Moses’ life as the Israelites prepared to enter the Promised Land. Moses was the only leader they have ever known, and his impending death put the people in danger. This passage represents Moses’ last words to the people, both present and future. Moses called the people to belief and a life lived according to God’s instructions. Moses told the people to remember what they asked for because God promised to do it. God promised to send someone else like Moses to speak God’s word to all the people. Anyone who did not pay attention was in deep trouble.

The people were afraid to listen directly to the voice of God, so they asked Moses to act as a mediator on their behalf. Moses provided the people of Israel with a way of knowing and understanding the course of human events, a way that was completely different from that of their neighbours. Moses set the standard for every future prophet. However distinguished a future prophet’s role might be in Israel, none would be like Moses until the Mediator of the New Covenant came. That Mediator was Jesus.

The role of a prophet was to settle the unsettled. Prophets, according to the old saying, “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.” Some churches are filled with people who love to speak the truth. They use words as weapons and then walk away from their prophetic work relieved to have “gotten that off my chest” while the congregation sits shell-shocked and uncertain how to proceed. On the other hand, a prophet like Moses speaks the truth in love.

Moses promised that God would raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people. God fulfilled Moses’ promise by sending prophets to reveal God’s will and presence to the people. These prophets who preceded Jesus spoke in God’s name by using the phrase “Thus says the Lord,” but Jesus spoke from His own authority.

The comparison between Moses and Jesus is striking. Moses, in his role as leader of the people and spokesman for God, was instrumental in founding the first kingdom, the kingdom of Israel. Though he was followed by many genuine prophets, none of them compared to him. Jesus also marked the coming of a new kingdom. It was not a political kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of God. Moses mediated the covenant, which was to be the constitution of Israel, whose true king was God. The prophet Jeremiah signaled the end of this age and pointed forward to a new covenant and a new kind of kingdom. These points of the past were fulfilled in Jesus.

The phrase “the Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me” speaks of the coming of the Lord. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy during His earthly ministry, so it was appropriate that Moses appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration. There are three standard prophetic offices of the Coming One—Prophet, Priest, and King—along with two more expectations: the Sage and the Suffering Servant. Each of these five ideals was a subject of intense interest in the century before the coming of Christ. Texts in the Dead Sea scrolls show how lively the issues were.

When a prophet made a prediction in the name of the Lord and that prediction did not come true, the prophet was stoned to death. The failure of the prophecy demonstrated the false nature of the so-called prophet’s credentials. Since the people were to obey God’s prophet without question, to prophecy falsely was to usurp the place of God. Such an act was a sentence of death to the false prophet. There were a few tests that could be used to determine whether a prophet was speaking the word of God:

  1. The true prophet does not seek to be a prophet. No prophet in the Bible wanted to be a prophet, but it was something that they did because they could not avoid God’s call.
  2. The true prophet seeks neither self-promotion nor riches. Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian of leprosy by Elisha’s word in 2 Kings 5, but Elisha would not accept any payment or gift.
  3. The message had to be given in the name of the Lord. The true prophet speaks God’s Word, not his or her own.
  4. The true prophet’s words do not contradict what we already know about God from Scripture.
  5. The prophecy must come to pass. Does the prophet lead others to be disciples of Jesus or of themselves? Does his or her preaching lead to repentance and transformation or to complacency and self-absorption?
  6. Is the prophecy presumptuous? Does it misuse the Lord’s name?
  7. Does the prophet use practices such as sacrificing children, sorcery, omens, witchcraft, the casting of spells, or consulting the dead?

Our humility about having the whole truth and our affirmation of God’s many voices does not eliminate the reality that some revelations are superior to others, some speakers more insightful and transparent to God, and that God may choose to be more present in some people than others.

The characteristic of false prophets is the failure of their predictions to always come true. Sometimes false prophets speak and it happens as they said, but they are representing false gods and trying to turn people from the true God. Other times false prophets are more subtle and identify with the true God but speak lies. If the prophecy was not fulfilled the people would know that the prophet had spoken presumptuously, and that God had not spoken. The people could also be assured that they need not fear the prophet and that the prophet would die for his arrogance.

What if the prediction doesn’t take place immediately? What if the fulfillment is based on the response of a human being? How do we figure it out? The key is to humbly obey God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:2-3, “proclaim the message, be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itchy ears, they will accumulate for themselves to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.”

Even today, Christians should avoid making predictions about the future because the Bible says in Matthew 24:34-44, “No one knows.” If God’s people focus on mysteries they were never intended to unravel, they will neglect the Master’s ongoing work in this day and time. Those Satan cannot dissuade, he will distract. We can know the truth by avoiding the ways of the world, by listening to and obeying God’s messengers, and by testing the message of God’s prophets.

(An audio version of this message can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/deuteronomy-18-verses-15-20-prophecy–58456393)

Bibliography

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  2. Maxwell, J.C., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 5: Deuteronomy (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 217-219)
  3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
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  8. “A Prophet That is False.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/gloriouslife
  9. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), January 28, 2024.” Retrieved from firstimpressions@lists.opsouth.org
  10. Bruce Epperly, “The Adventurous Lectionary-Epiphany 4-January 28, 2024.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure
  11. Barbara Bruneau, “God Pause for Monday, January 22, 2024.” Retrieved from communic@luthersem.edu
  12. Dr. Kari Vo, “A Prophet Like Moses.” Retrieved from www.lhm.org
  13. Dan Clendenin, “Test the Spirits.” Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net
  14. Meg Jenista, “Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-20.” Retrieved from https://cepreaching.org/authors/meg-jenista/

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