The Prophet & The Prophets
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
If you want to hear from God, you listen to His word.
[READING - Deuteronomy 18:9-22]
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 “For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. 13 “You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 “For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16 “This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 “The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. 20 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
[PRAYER]
When God gave His people the Ten Commandments, He gave them the first one, “You shall have no other gods before Me,” and then the second, “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” The ESV says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image.” And of course the KJV says, “You shall not make thee any graven image.”
That second commandment excludes worshipping idols, but it also includes making an image of YHWH as if He were some idol. It also includes worshipping or approaching Him as if He were some idol.
Moses knows that coming into the Promised Land, God’s people will want to hear from Him.
However, they must not attempt to hear from Him the way the pagans attempted to hear from their idols.
[CIT] If you wanted to hear from God, they would have to listen to His word.
[PROP] If we want to hear from God today, we too will have to listen to His word.
[TS] We’ll break this passage down into two PARTS…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Part #1: Don’t Imitate the Detestable Ways of the Pagans (vv. 9-14)
Part #1: Don’t Imitate the Detestable Ways of the Pagans (vv. 9-14)
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
What a blessing to enter the Promised Land! A fruitful land! A land flowing with milk and honey! A land given by God! But a land with temptations. And here was one: “You shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.”
A detestable thing is anything that offends the Lord, but especially an offensive thing of a religious nature.
God’s people were to not learn to imitate those things.
Sometimes we learn things by effort, by intentionally trying to learn things. Other times we learn things unintentionally simply by picking them up. Here Israel would be tempted to learn the detestable things of the pagan nations that already possessed the Promised Land, but Israel would have to decide now to intentionally not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
[APP] We should commit ourselves to not learn to imitate the detestable things that surround us in the world.
The detestable things that God’s people are not to learn are listed in vv. 10-12.
10 “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 “For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.
What do these things refer to? Well, they were all different ways that pagans attempted to her from the spiritual world.
Making a son or daughter pass through the fires of Molech was a Canaanite worship practice.
Divination or soothsaying is the consulting of things like animal guts, smoke formations, oil slicks, and the like in order to foretell the plans and purposes of the gods.
Witchcraft seeks to determine the will of the gods by examining and interpreting omens.
Omens are signs thought to foretell the future.
Sorcery supposedly produces magical power to control future events.
Those who cast spells attempt to bind people by way of magic rituals.
A medium supposedly communicates with the dead.
A spiritist is another name for one who inquirers of the dead.
And one who calls up the dead is like a medium or spiritist who inquirers of the dead for the living.
God emphasizes the absoluteness of this command, saying, “There shall not be found among you anyone…” who does such detestable things.
There is not to be one single person in Israel that practices the detestable things listed in vv. 10-11.
[APP] There should not be one person found among us that is turning to astrology, horoscopes, or anything or anyone other than God Almighty for direction.
Verse 12 states why the other nations were being driven out of the land, but it also serves as a warning to Israel.
12 “For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.
Whoever does detestable things such as these becomes detestable to the Lord. The pagan nations that already possessed the land had become detestable to the Lord and would be driven out of the land.
If Israel did detestable things such as these, they too would become detestable to the Lord. and if they became detestable to the Lord, they too would be driven out of the land.
Israel must be blameless before the Lord in every respect including this one (Deut. 18:13).
14 “For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
The nations that already possessed the Promised Land listened to those who practiced divination, witchcraft, and sorcery. They turned to such people because they thought those people had insight, direction, and knowledge that was otherwise not accessible.
But God’s people were to know better. They weren’t to listen to diviners or witches or sorcerers. They were to listen to God who would give to His people His word.
God’s insight, direction, and knowledge would come through His word.
[APP] Our little ears should be careful what they hear. If the insight or knowledge doesn’t come from God’s word, it will not lead us into the light but into darkness. It will not lead us into joy but despair.
[ILLUS] When I lived in Columbus, Mississippi, my aunt and uncles long driveway was just down from a palm reader and fortune teller.
Not too long ago, I was listening to a story about detectives searching for a missing person—a person they believed was dead. When the usual methods of police work didn’t turn up the body, they called in a psychic who didn’t turn up the body either.
[APP] My point is that the detestable things mentioned in this passage still exist in our world today, and we must be careful not to imitate the world around us in regard to these things.
A quick Google search said that if we wanted our fortunes told here in Mobile, we could go to…
Mobile AL Psychic
or Psychic Readings by Amanda
or Psychic Journey.
But as Christians we don’t need such things. Our fortune and future is wrapped up with Christ who has forever defeated sin and death.
When we need guidance, we turn to Him.
We turn to His word.
[TS] …
#2: Listen to the Prophets (vv. 15-22)
#2: Listen to the Prophets (vv. 15-22)
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16 “This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’
Rather than turning to witches and sorcerers for direction, God’s people would hear from God. They wouldn’t, however, hear directly. They would hear from God through the prophets.
This goes back to Mt. Sinai or Horeb after the exodus.
Moses records in Exodus 20:18-19…
18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”
After seeing the display of God’s mighty holiness on the mountain, the people rightly understood that they had no business communicating directly with such a holy God. They asked Moses to serve as mediator between them and God. And God was pleased with their request.
[APP] There is something here about reverence for God that we should pick up on. In our day, we want to make God like us. We want to make Him familiar. We need to remember, however, that God is holy, that He is other than we are. He is terrifyingly pure, and we are trembling sinners. We too approach God through a mediator—a mediator named Jesus.
17 “The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
This is about the office of prophet.
God would raise up true prophets from among the Israelites.
God would put His words in their mouths.
God would command and the prophets would speak to the people the words of God.
The people didn’t have a say in this. This was God’s decision. He decided who would be prophet and who wouldn’t. This is in keeping with the major theme of God’s sovereignty in this section on Promised Land leadership.
God would choose the king.
God chose the Levites.
And here God will choose the prophets.
19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.
The Israelites were to listen to the prophets because the words they spoke were not their own. They were the words of God spoken in the name of God.
On a smaller scale we know how the authority of a name works.
If I tell Lydia to tell Dalton and Madelyn to come in from outside, and Lydia says to them, “Come inside,” they may or may not come.
But if I tell Lydia to tell Dalton and Madelyn that Dad said come inside, and Lydia says, “Dad says come inside,” Dalton and Madelyn may be more motivated to come in.
When the prophet declared God’s word, he didn’t just start talking. No, he said, “This is what YHWH says,” and then he delivered the message.
The people were to pay attention and heed the word of God.
If the prophet spoke the words of God in the name of God and the people didn’t listen, then God would require it of the people.
In other words, the people would pay the price for ignoring God’s word as delivered by the prophet.
[APP] There’s always a price for ignoring God’s word. Sometimes the bill must be paid immediately. Sometimes the bill comes due later. But there’s always a price.
20 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
The people cannot pridefully ignore a prophet of God who speaks the words of God in the name of God without paying a price.
In the same way, a false prophet cannot pridefully speak what God hasn’t spoken without paying a price.
Israel could expect to encounter false prophets who lied when they said, “This is what YHWH says…” And Israel could expect to encounter false prophets who spoke prophecies in the names of false gods.
In one case, the message was a lie because YHWH didn’t say it.
In the other case, the “god” was a lie because he wasn’t a god at all.
In Deuteronomy 13:1-3, Moses warned the people of Israel…
1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
In Deuteronomy 18:22 Moses says…
22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
An Israelite could always tell a true prophet from a false one because a true prophet would speak in the name of YHWH, everything he said in the name of YHWH would come true, and everything he said would point people to the worship of YHWH.
False prophets spoke in other names. Or false prophets spoke things that didn’t come true. Or false prophets spoke things that turned people away from YHWH and toward idols.
False prophets were to pay with their lives.
There was no reason for the people of God to fear a false prophet.
[ILLUS] False prophets today like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland love to threaten their critics by claiming that no one should touch (i.e., criticize) the Lord’s anointed.
But these charlatans do not speak God’s word and are not God’s anointed servants.
There is no reason to fear them.
[APP] Those who speak to us today but do not speak according to the truth of God’s word speak without power.
They may bark here on earth. They may even bite. But they have no eternal power that we should fear them.
Rather, we should fear God and listen to His Word because He has the eternal power to make us pay for not listening.
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
Ultimately this passage points to Jesus who is The Prophet we all should listen to.
Most of us remember that Peter preached a sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, but he preached another sermon shortly thereafter in Acts 3.
In that sermon Peter called for repentance…
19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
And then Peter spoke of Deuteronomy 18, the very passage we’ve studying tonight. He said…
22 “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. 23 ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
All the prophets pointed to Jesus. He is The Prophet we must listen to.
When priests and Levites were sent from Jerusalem to question John the Baptist, they asked Him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” John said no. “Are you The Prophet?” And John answered no again.
John wasn’t The Prophet, but he was preparing the way for Him.
After John baptized Jesus, the Father spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”
The Father said the same thing on the Mount of Transfiguration but added three words, “Listen to Him.”
When the people were divided over Jesus’ words, some said, “Surely, this is the Prophet.” Others said, “No, this is the Christ.”
Both groups were right.
As the author of Hebrews put it…
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
God does not speak to us through divination or spells or sorcery.
He speaks to us through His Son.
Jesus is The Prophet, the Son of God, the Word made flesh.
He’s the one who was sent for us.
He’s the one who died for us.
He’s the one who rose for us.
We must listen to Him.