“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-20)
In these days of fake news the media is filled with those who claim to be authorities on a wide range of topics and issues. These all speak with certainty and an air of authority that is designed to convince others that they are the arbiters and sources of truth. They claim to be able to forecast future events based on current trends and movements as well as past history. The problem is that such individuals contradict one another. Often what they claim is truth is often their opinion or bias or a melange of the opinions of others as well as popular conspiracy theories. Even so many professing Christians behave in this way, under the guise of a Godly anointing that can speak no lie.
If we followed God’s Law in Deuteronomy about such false prophets and gurus, we would rid ourselves of all this nonsense. Moses here was relaying the Lord’s instructions to His people about prophets. Although the priests and Levites had authority to speak on behalf of the Lord regarding His Law, a prophet, however, was one who could speak the word and will of God. He would speak what God told Him to speak to guide people in righteousness, warn them of the consequences of sin, compromise, and immorality, and, at times, predict the future.
The danger here was that anyone could come and claim to be God’s spokesman. One way in which to prevent this was to destroy every vestige of pagan worship. The Lord hated and detested idolatry in all its forms. He commanded His people to shun the practices of the pagans including fortunetelling, magic, and spiritism. The people of God were to execute anyone using these methods as well as prophets who falsely claimed to speak for Him.
Would that we would have an authority who always speaks the truth without question. We need a prophet of the Lord to speak the Word of God to us today. We need to hear the truth. And we do have such a prophet: Jesus, at least for those humble enough to heed His word. And He speaks through His Word, the Scriptures, and through His church. Those who ignore or malign what the Church speaks through humble and godly pastors do so to their detriment. Those pastors and teachers who selflessly preach the word of God warn of the dangers of immorality and unbelief and call the lost to repentance and forgiveness found only in Jesus.