Deut. 18:14-22
If you read the prophetic part of the O.T., you might notice something about God’s character and priorities. Over and over and over he gives warnings that A) False prophets will come, B) God will hold his people accountable if they listen to these charlatans, and C) He really really really hates it when someone presumes to speak in his name when that prophet is not from him. I’m sure that the President would get royally ticked if I, Keith Bird, stood up at a press conference and said “This is the new policy of the White House. . .” Someone from said White House would immediately make it clear that I don’t have any authorization to speak in the name of the President. I’m just a guy with my own opinions.
Why was he so angry at someone speaking in his name when they weren’t supposed to? Well, for one thing they always were there to deceive people, usually away from the one true God of Israel. God only knows what motivation they had, but my guess is that most of the time it was an issue of money. Maybe sometimes they wanted to feel important about themselves, but I think moolah was the primary reason.
But I want to focus for just a moment on point (B) from above. Remember the story of the Fall of our first parents? Both of them tried to shift the blame to someone else. The woman in particular tried to excuse herself by saying “The Snake deceived me.” Did God accept that excuse? Um, no. Because she really knew better. Just like the people of Israel. If they listened to a false prophet, the Lord accepted absolutely no excuses in that regard.
Why not? How could they tell a false prophet from a true one? Well, he gave them two tests for anyone who claimed to speak for himself. Tomorrow we’ll look at one, but for today we’ll examine the other one in today’s reading. It’s pretty obvious: If what the prophet predicted came true, he passed the test. If not, then he was a false prophet, and the punishment for doing this was pretty severe. Again, the Lord took this a whole lot more seriously than we do.
Why is this important to us? Because God was setting a standard for his word that was pretty high. If a man claiming to be a prophet made a prediction, 80% wasn’t good enough. 99% wasn’t either. Do you remember the soap commercials that claimed to be 99 and 44/100% pure? Still not good enough. If he made one prediction that was not 100% accurate, then he was a false prophet and was subject to the death penalty.
Why is this important to us today? Well, I see three applications. First, this should strengthen our confidence in God’s word. If the standard was any lower, then we might come away wondering “Is the book of Isaiah really straight from God?” If this was just a guy with an opinion, then you can dismiss him. But say he was a prophet, but some of his opinions got somehow mixed in with the stuff from God? Didn’t happen. Either all of it comes from God, or none of it. So you can and should trust it.
Second, I fear for a lot of preachers on TV. Please don’t misunderstand me. I have nothing against preachers using TV per se. I’m referring to anyone who glibly says “God told me. . .” To put it mildly, I’m extremely skeptical of anyone claiming that they’ve received a message from the Almighty which is on the same authority as Jeremiah. And quite frankly, you should be too. The Lord takes it seriously when someone claims to speak directly from his throne, and I haven’t seen a preacher yet who does this that changes my opinion in general about them. And from what I’ve read from Scripture, they have a lot to answer for.
And third, this is a warning to people like me. When I teach straight from God’s word and take care to interpret it accurately for you, I’m on solid ground. But when I present an opinion which doesn’t have as much support from the Bible, I need to be clear that I’m doing that. I need to be extra careful. If I ever say “God told me. . .” then the next thing you should be asking for is book, chapter, and verse.
We all need to be concerned about this. The stakes couldn’t be any higher.
Father God, your word is the only sure light, the only sure path we have in this dark and confusing world. May we listen, and obey.
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