Deuteronomy 18:15-2215The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. 17And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 18I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? 22When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:15‑22)
The Prophet
IN THIS chapter spiritualism, now known as the occult, in all its forms and phases, spreading so rapidly in these last days, is strongly condemned by the Word of God. It is man turning away from the light to darkness, from God Himself to the power of Satan.
But Moses knew that the faithless people would not always continue to walk with God as he had told them to do, so he said: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him shall ye hearken."
God's answer to man's unbelief and failure is always Christ; and so we are not left in doubt as to the One He is looking on to here. He is the true Prophet of Israel, our blessed Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Both Peter and Stephen, when addressing the Jews, quoted this prophecy and identified the Lord as that Prophet; He had already come (Acts 3:22; 7:3722For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (Acts 3:22)
37This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. (Acts 7:37)). But more than that the whole New Testament is a testimony that He is the Prophet referred to here. "Hear ye Him" were the words the disciples heard from above the holy mount, words which set aside Moses and Elias (Matt. 17; Luke 9).
In times past God had spoken through Moses and the prophets but in these last days God has spoken unto us by His Son (Heb. 1). All now turns upon the testimony of Him, and all others disappear like the stars before the light of the sun.
Moses goes on to remind the people that at Sinai they had been afraid of the voice of God speaking out of the fire on the mountain, and that they had not wished to hear it any more. But he said that this Prophet, the Lord Jesus, should come with the words of God in His mouth, not with thunder and lightning, but full of grace and truth. He would speak to them in God's name, and any one who did not listen to Him God would surely judge.
It was a serious thing to break God's holy law and to reject Him even in the dim light of the Old Testament, but it would be a far more solemn thing to reject the Person and words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the full blaze of the light of Christianity. God has no other Saviour, no other salvation; to reject Him means eternal judgment. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3).
But there would be false prophets arise and Moses warns the people against them. They were to be destroyed out of the land. There will be many false prophets in Israel in the coming days but their judgment will be fully carried out we learn from Zechariah 13. Peter warns of the false prophets and teachers in Christendom in the last days, "who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them," but they will "bring upon themselves swift destruction." (2 Pet. 2:11But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1).)
Memory Verse
Messages of the Love of God 6/22/1975