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.