Read Deuteronomy 18:9-22 at Bible Gateway.
Previously: deuteronomy 18:1-8, authority of the levites
(Please review the teaching tools of scripture, especially the Hebrew paragraph divisions and chiastic structures. The paragraphs marked by an “s” at their close are weak paragraphs, which indicate a change of facet but not a change of theme or topic. The paragraphs marked by a “p” at their close are strong paragraphs, which indicate the completion of a theme or topic.)
This section, Deu 18:9-22, is the fifth and final section explaining the fifth commandment, Honor your father and mother. (The fifth commandment is explained in Deu 16:18-18:22, and this is my summary of it.)
Deu 18:9-22 {s} Authority of the prophet
This passage begins with the command, not to the prophet concerning his responsibilities, but to the people not to do the abominations of the nations around them. The following list of abominations are from the Hebrew Bible; the definitions are from Strong’s Concordance and Webster’s English Dictionary:
Causing children to pass through the fire: ancient paganism revolved around sun worship at its heart, and often associated with it were rituals involving fire, as fire was seen as the expression of the sun’s intrinsic property on earth. Passing children through the fire meant consecrating their children to an idol that represented the sun, by literally passing them through burning flames, and sometimes meant even consuming them as sacrifices in the fire (God had previously prohibited this practice as an abomination in Lev 18:21).
Divination: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.
Soothsaying, literally an observer of times: a specific kind of divination specifically to foretell future events using hidden or occult or magic arts.
Enchanting: from a primitive root meaning to hiss, or whisper, and might be specifically related to snake charming (snakes were believed to be the embodiment of demonic forces); to influence by incantation.
Sorcery: using power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits.
Charming: chanting or reciting magic spells.
Consulting a ghost or familiar spirit: communicating with the spirit of a dead person, or communicating with a spirit or demon acting as a servant or guide.
Necromancy: conjuring the spirits of the dead in order to reveal future events or influence the course of events.
God has forbidden all of these practices that seek information or influence from the very real occult side of the spiritual world. They are abominations. All of us have seen the rise in popularity of these practices in the modern day, even among believers (how many Christians have told me there is nothing at all wrong with the Harry Potter books?). These are wicked ways that God is calling His people to turn from, if they would like Him to heal their land.
“For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.” Deu 18:14
The Lord acknowledges man’s innate sense that something greater than himself or what his eyes can see exists; but has not appointed soothsayers and diviners for His people; for His people, He has appointed a Prophet, one like Moses from among their brethren.
The first occurrence of “prophet” in Torah is in Gen 20:7, when God names Abraham a prophet. This passage is part of a larger chiastic structure, in which Abraham the prophet is a matching pair with Abraham the intercessor for Sodom and Gomorrah. The pairing reveals that just as the ministry of intercession is the ministry of speaking to God on man’s behalf, the ministry of prophecy is the ministry of speaking to men on God’s behalf (it is really the ministry of mediation).
God desires to communicate to men … and He does so through His word which is declared by His prophets. He does not use sorcerers, mediums, or witches. Something might be communicated through sorcerers, mediums, and witches, but it will not be the word of God by the Spirit of God.
God’s prophets that He will raise up will be like Moses from among His people. I think there are several things we can learn from this. Moses was the acknowledged spokesman for the Lord; there were not a dozen or a hundred different spokesmen all competing with each other. He raised up a single individual. If you study, there was usually one single individual as the acknowledged spokesman for that generation. All that the Lord commanded Moses, he did. He was obedient to commandments, in other words. Moses was meek. Those carrying true authority from God “do not lord it over others” but they are humble and lowly in heart. God confirmed Moses as His spokesman by supernatural signs and wonders. Not every prophet performed wonders but many did.
But the true test of a prophet, is that he will encourage the people in their devotion, worship, and obedience to the Lord God, not discourage them. He will turn God’s people to Him and not from Him. His word will never contradict the established written word of God. God’s people do not have to fret about being drawn away by deceivers in the last days, if they know His written word back and forth, inside and out.
And that thing that the true prophet prophesies will come to pass. If it does not come to pass, they have shown themselves to be a false prophet speaking presumptuously in the name of the Lord. Every single “prophet” who has stood up declaring that certain end time disasters will occur by this or that date and time, or the world will end (or the rapture will occur) by this or that date and time, is a false prophet who has spoken presumptuously in the name of the Lord – stop listening to them!
Heed the man who does meet these requirements; his authority is from God!
Continued: deuteronomy 16:18-18:22, fifth commandment chiastic structure
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