A prophet will I raise up unto them 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.
Moses is near the end of his life. He tells Israel what God will do after him. God will raise up a Prophet from Israel's own people and give Him His own words to speak. Two questions follow. Who is this Prophet? And what is it like to hear Him?
This promise comes in a chapter that has just warned Israel against fortune-telling and contact with spirits.
Here is the divine resource of the Lord's people, at all times and in all places... He shows them very clearly that they had no need to turn to spirits of the dead, enchanters, wizards or witches, all of which were detestable to the Lord.
Jewish teachers have proposed various candidates — Jeremiah, Joshua, or a whole line of prophets. None of them fits the words "like me."
How else could we explain a man like Abarbanel twisting the words of Deuteronomy 18:18, quoted here, and applying them to Jeremiah?... Completely untenable is the theory of Aben Ezra and others that Joshua is meant. Joshua only added to Moses' work, and in hardly more than one direction. In no adequate way does he stand out as the prophet raised up from his brothers like Moses. So some of the most distinguished Jewish teachers have tried to read this one prophet as a line of prophets! That goes against the use of the language as much as against the facts of their history... The role of mediator, whose words people must obey or die, points to what was unique in Moses. And it is true in the highest degree of no one but the Messiah.
The words "from among their brothers" answer something the people themselves had asked for at Sinai.
God remembered how the thought of hearing God Himself speak at Sinai had terrified Israel (Ex. 20:18-20). They had asked for someone to stand between themselves and God. So the Prophet spoken of in verse 18 is the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). He would faithfully speak the words He received from God.
Jesus spoke of His own words in the same way.
The Son never claimed that anything He spoke was His own. This made the rejection of His words all the more serious for those who claimed God as their God. Every word He spoke was the Father's, for "The Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak." Not only the substance of what He said, but the very words were the Father's. In obedience to the Father, the Son made known every one of them.
Commentators differ over how far "like me" reaches. One reads it as implying superiority, because this Prophet brings a change of covenant.
He foretold that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like himself — like him, yet superior to him (Deut. 18:15, 18). There would be no superiority in this prophet if he did not introduce a new state of things — that is, the new covenant. Moses brought in the old covenant. Christ will bring in the new covenant.
Another asks what the word "prophet" means here, and points out what Moses does not claim.
The word "prophet" here seems to point to the divine authority of the lawgiver rather than to the power of seeing the future... The One this passage speaks about was to be "a prophet," Moses says, "like me." The Jews acknowledged the authority of Moses as their lawgiver appointed by God and the founder of their system. But he himself foretold the coming of another of equal authority — he does not say higher. And this one they were to hear in all things.
The people dreaded God's own voice at the mountain. Hearing this Prophet is different:
How precious is the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the man Christ Jesus. He speaks not in thunder, not with flaming fire or flashing lightning, but in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and crushed spirit... We have this voice in the holy Scriptures. We must never forget this. The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
- Raised up. God's answer to a people tempted by mediums and diviners was not a technique but a Person — a Prophet He Himself would provide.
- From among. He comes from Israel's own family. He is the mediator they begged for at Sinai, when God's own voice terrified them.
- In His mouth. The Prophet speaks nothing of His own; Jesus said the Father gave Him the very words, not just the substance.
- Like Moses. Commentators differ on whether "like me" means equal authority or greater. Either way, no earlier prophet fits. The description lands on the Messiah alone.
- Hear Him. The same voice still reaches us in Scripture, no longer thunder from a mountain but mercy spoken to a broken heart.
And it shall come to pass that the man who hearkeneth not unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
God promises a Prophet like Moses, and then adds a warning in His own voice. Refuse what that Prophet says in God's name, and God Himself will call you to account. So who is this Prophet? And what does God mean when He says He will "require it" of the one who will not listen?
Moses never names the Prophet he foretells. The New Testament does. One writer says we do not even need the apostles' quotations, because the whole New Testament proves the point:
So plainly we have the true prophet put forward, Christ Himself. Men refuse to believe, but the Holy Spirit affirms over and over that it applies to Him — through Peter in Acts 3, and through Stephen in Acts 7. In fact we do not even need these quotations of the passage. The entire New Testament is itself the unanswerable proof that Christ is the prophet meant here. It also proves the folly and sin of listening to anyone else.
This warning grows out of something the people asked for. At Sinai they heard God speak and could not bear it. God's answer was a Man who drew near to them and spoke the words His Father gave Him:
He spoke what the Father gave Him to speak, for He had become flesh to draw near to us. He was truly a Man among men, walking in grace and depending on God... They had been afraid of the voice of divine majesty. It spoke in the middle of fire and storm, from the smoking mountain where God gave the law. God therefore promised to raise up One "from among their brothers," who would speak in divine grace.
The verse warns, but first it offers something tender. God's own voice now comes to people through the lips of a man:
How precious is the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the Man Christ Jesus. He does not speak in thunder, nor with flaming fire or the flash of lightning. He speaks in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and the crushed spirit. It falls like the gentle dew of heaven on thirsty ground. This voice we have in the Holy Scriptures... The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
The verse does not explain the phrase. One commentator spells out what God promises to do, and who must answer for it:
If someone would not listen to God's words spoken by this Prophet, God would require it of him. God would make this a serious issue that the guilty person could not escape... He is the one Prophet whom everyone is responsible to recognise and believe.
Peter quotes this promise in Acts 3 with sharper words: the soul who will not listen is "destroyed from the people." What comes before the promise explains why the choice is that stark:
The law was bound to fail to bring people near to God. "Man shall not see me and live" had been His word to Moses himself. The veil in front of the holiest place bore witness to that all through those years... There must be, then, another Prophet and a different message. If a person hears Him, the way to God that is otherwise closed opens for him. If he will not hear Him, there is indeed no remedy: "every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people."
The verse asks for a hearing because of the sender: the Prophet speaks in God's name. When the Son came, God asked for more:
People were to receive a prophet because he spoke in the name of Jehovah who sent him (Deut. 18:18-19). But now men had to believe in the name of the Speaker Himself — the Only-begotten Son. Israel had to believe the message of the prophet, but not on his name. But now God called the people to believe on the Son, for Jehovah's "name is in Him" (Ex. 23:21).
- Asked for. At Sinai Israel begged not to hear God's voice from the fire. The promised Prophet is God's answer to that fear — One who speaks in grace.
- Given. That Prophet is Christ. Peter says so in Acts 3, Stephen in Acts 7, and the whole New Testament proves it.
- Gentle. His is not the voice of thunder but the still small voice of love and mercy. We have that voice now in Scripture: the voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
- Required. God Himself takes up the refusal of those words, and no guilty person escapes it. The law could not bring anyone near God, so apart from this Prophet there is no remedy.
- Named. People heard a prophet for the sake of the name that sent him. We believe on the Son for His own name, because God's name is in Him.
But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.
Verse 20 comes right after God's promise to raise up a Prophet whom Israel must obey. Having promised to speak, God now guards His own voice. Two kinds of false prophet face the death penalty here.
The verse is the dark reverse side of the promise before it. One commentator separates this offence from another case: a prophet whose sign comes true, but who uses it to pull people into idolatry:
God's Prophet was to be obeyed. On the other hand, anyone who claimed to be a prophet speaking in God's name, when God had not given him such a message, had to be put to death (v.20)… A false prophet might give a sign that came true. But when he used it to lure others into serving false gods, he had to be put to death, for the case proved that satanic power was at work in him. In Deuteronomy 18:20 satanic power may not be involved, but the prophet was presuming to speak, and had to be put to death.
One man is driven by satanic power, the other only presumes. The same sentence falls on both.
"Presume to speak a word in my name" means putting your own mind into God's mouth. Writing on the same offence in Ezekiel, one commentator explains why God treats it as a capital crime:
To be a prophet out of your own heart guarantees God's judgment. However gracious and merciful He is, He must be jealous of His majesty and truth — and such a prophet misrepresents and profanes them completely.
The same charge falls on preaching and teaching today:
Every man who prophesies out of his own heart, who utters his own mind, whose preaching and teaching is not according to the oracles of God, is a false prophet, a blind leader of the blind… They are self-called and self-sent. Behind them stands the father of lies.
The severity makes sense once you see who the promised Prophet is:
So the true prophet is plainly put forward here: Christ Himself. The Holy Spirit applies this passage to Him over and over, in the face of all the unbelief of men — Peter does so in Acts 3, and Stephen in Acts 7… The entire New Testament is itself the unanswerable proof that Christ is the prophet meant here, and that listening to another is folly and sin.
The passage also supplies a permission. One commentator applies it to anyone who arrives with a message God never gave:
If anyone presumes to come with a fresh revelation, with some new truth that is not in God's word, we must judge the man and his message by the standard of scripture. We must reject them completely. "You shall not be afraid of him." False prophets come with big claims, high-sounding words and a show of holiness… But they cannot stand the searching power of the word of God. One simple clause of holy scripture strips them of all their impressive trappings. It tears their wonderful revelations up by the roots.
Israel's later history shows the sentence carried out. God named both the penalty and the year:
Hananiah was a false prophet. Unsent by God, he prophesied lies in His name. To him came the word of God, "Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD." So Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month (Jer. 28:15-17)… His word always comes true.
The law also pressed on true prophets. One writer traces Jonah's flight from God to this very rule:
His first thought is of his own position, and whether the consequences of that message might damage his standing as a prophet of God… He seems to have reasoned something like this: "God will pardon the city, and I, Jonah, the LORD's prophet, will be exposed as a lying prophet, because the judgment I announced did not happen. Has not the LORD Himself spoken through Moses: 'the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak… that same prophet shall die'?"
- Promise. God promised a Prophet who would speak His words. Verse 20 guards that promise and outlaws every counterfeit voice.
- Presumption. Two men die here: one energised by satanic power in the name of other gods, one speaking his own mind in God's name.
- Profanation. Prophesying out of your own heart misrepresents God's majesty and truth, so God's judgment is certain.
- Proving. Do not fear the man; test him. Measure every fresh revelation by scripture, and one clause of it undoes the whole display.
- Precedent. Hananiah died in the very year God named, and the same law weighed even on Jonah, a true prophet.
And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word that Jehovah hath not spoken?
Moses has just warned that a prophet who speaks in God's name without being sent must die. But how would ordinary people tell the difference? This verse puts their question into words, and God answers with a test anyone can apply.
The question is practical. Israel had to test such a claim somehow, and the test given needed no special insight — only time.
God's Prophet was to be obeyed. But anyone who claimed to be a prophet speaking in God's name, when God had not given him such a message, was to be put to death (v.20). Was there any question whether a message came from God? Then Israel was to watch whether the man's prophecy took place as he said. If not, it was not from God.
The next verse makes the outcome the judge. If the word fails, the speaker spoke on his own — and no one owes him fear.
The next mark was this: if something was spoken and it did not come to pass, the prophet had spoken presumptuously. They were not to be afraid of him.
His enemies later applied this standard to Jesus, and it held. They had to find another charge, because this one gave them nothing.
They could not condemn Him by the test laid down long ago in the Scriptures: the test of words that fail to come true. For in their presence the Lord spoke the word of healing to the paralysed man. He was so helpless that only a most unusual method got him in front of the Prophet of God. His word took effect at once, as crowds in Capernaum could testify, and the man was able to carry away his bed before their eyes. This proved the validity of the Lord's claims.
A warning of judgment is not the same thing as a prediction. When people repent, God may hold back the threatened blow — and that is not a failed prophecy.
Suppose what we are told is the voice of God in the church says something that never comes to pass, or that the event proves false. Suppose it was given as prophecy — not merely a threat of judgment turned aside by repentance, but a definite prophecy which has proved untrue. Then we can say at once that it is not the testimony of God, and we have done with it as no true light.
Jonah is the classic case. He announced Nineveh's overthrow, the city repented, and the judgment did not fall. He feared for his standing as a prophet.
The temptation in Jonah's case was not small; but where was his faith? God had charged Jonah with announcing judgment on Nineveh. Could He not take care of the character of His prophet? The Ninevites repented, so the judgment Jonah announced did not fall. Did they then think Jonah a false prophet? Not at all. They were only too glad and thankful that they had been pardoned and spared.
The test runs one way only. A sign that comes true does not prove the messenger speaks for God.
The false prophet might give a sign that proved correct. But when he used it to lead others into serving false gods, he had to be put to death, for the case proved that he was driven by satanic power.
Against such a man, God's people are not told to argue.
We are not called on to analyse the false doctrine, or to weigh the evidence put forward for it. We reject both, with firm decision. We do it simply because we have the certainty of the truth and the love of it in our hearts. "You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams" — even though the sign or wonder had come to pass. "For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
The answer ends by removing the hold such a man has on people. False prophets work by impression.
Suppose someone dares to come with a fresh revelation, with some new truth not found in the Bible. We must judge him and his message by the standard of Scripture and reject them completely. "You shall not be afraid of him." False prophets come with great claims, high-sounding words and a religious manner. They also try to surround themselves with dignity and weight that can fool those who do not know better. But they cannot stand the searching power of the word of God. Some simple clause of holy Scripture will strip them of all their impressive surroundings. Those who know the voice of the true Prophet will not listen to any other.
- Question — God expects the honest "how may we know?" and answers it, instead of leaving people to guess.
- Test — words that fail to come to pass were never God's words; the event exposes the speaker.
- Limit — a warning of judgment turned aside by repentance, as at Nineveh, is not a failed prophecy.
- Reverse — a sign that does come true still proves nothing if the message leads away from God.
- Freedom — both tests end the same way: you owe such a man no fear, because you already know the true Prophet's voice.
When a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing followeth not, nor cometh to pass, that is the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously be not afraid of him.
Moses has just warned Israel away from the fortune-tellers of the land they are about to enter. God promised them a Prophet instead. But anyone can claim to speak in God's name, so how is an ordinary Israelite meant to spot a fake?
God's answer is not a feeling or a hunch. It is public record: did the man's word come true? The Old Testament is full of predictions that did.
There were fulfilments during Old Testament times, for example Jeremiah's prediction of 70 years of captivity (Jer. 25:11-12) and the return to the land after 70 years (Jer. 29:10; Ezra 1:1), Isaiah's prediction of the coming of Cyrus (Isa. 44:28; 45:1), Daniel's predictions about the four world empires (Dan. 2; 4; 7), and so on. As a matter of fact, the fulfilment of a prophet's words was the test for his authenticity (Deut. 18:22).
Moses gives the negative side of the test. Scripture also gives the positive side. One writer shows that Jesus met it in front of the men who wanted Him condemned.
They could not condemn Him as guilty of this charge by the test laid down of old in the Scriptures of failure in the fulfilment of His words. For in their presence the Lord spoke the word of healing to the paralysed man... His word took effect at once, as crowds in Capernaum could testify, and the man was able to carry his bed away before their eyes. This proved the Lord's claims beyond doubt. Was it not written, "when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet" (Jer. 28:9)?
A sign that comes true is not enough on its own. What the man teaches also decides the case.
So that, if the thing spoken does not follow, the LORD has not spoken it: we are not to be afraid. But suppose a sign or a wonder does follow. If we are then told to do, or to listen to, anything contrary to the revealed will and knowledge of God, we are to pay no attention to it at all — not if it were an angel from heaven, or an apostle himself.
The last line of the verse tells the hearer not to fear such a man. False prophets trade on atmosphere, and Scripture strips it away.
If anyone presumes to come with a fresh revelation, with some new truth not contained in the divine Volume, we must judge him and his message by the standard of Scripture and reject them completely. "You need not be afraid of him." False prophets come with great pretensions, high-sounding words and a religious manner. They also try to surround themselves with a kind of dignity, weight and impressiveness which can easily overawe the ignorant. But they cannot stand the searching power of the word of God. Some simple clause of holy Scripture will strip away all their imposing surroundings. It will tear up their wonderful revelations by the roots. Those who know the voice of the true Prophet will not listen to any other. Those who have heard the voice of the good Shepherd will not listen to the voice of a stranger.
God can call off a judgment when people repent. That is not a failed prophecy. Jonah feared it would make him look like one.
The temptation in Jonah's case was not small; but where was his faith? Was not God, who had charged Jonah with announcing judgment upon Nineveh, able to take care of the character of His prophet? When the judgment announced by Jonah did not take place because the Ninevites repented, did they consider Jonah a false prophet? Not at all. They were only too glad and thankful that they had been pardoned and spared.
The warning has a purpose. It clears the way for the one voice worth hearing.
How precious the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the Man Christ Jesus. He speaks not in thunder, not with flaming fire or the flash of lightning, but in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and the crushed spirit... We must never forget this. The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
- Question — Anyone can claim to speak for God. Israel needed a way to tell, and God gave one.
- Test — Did the word come true? Read forwards, the same test proved Christ's claims in front of hostile witnesses.
- Limit — A sign that comes true proves nothing if the message leads away from God's revealed will. Not even an angel is an exception.
- Exception — A judgment called off by repentance is not a failed prophecy. Nineveh was simply glad to be spared.
- Freedom — One plain clause of Scripture strips a false prophet bare. You owe him no fear — only the true Prophet's voice deserves your ear.