Reading God’s Word can surely show us a lot. Two questions that have occurred to me recently were answered in the daily reading and designed memory process. The first concerned false prophets and the idea that the Children of Israel asked Moses to request the Lord not to talk to them.
(Exodus 20:18, 19
All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”
Have you heard any messages about this that essentially condemned the Jews for not wanting to hear from God? I have. Then I read this passage in Deuteronomy 18:15-22.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. 16 This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ (ED: Exodus 20) 17 Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name. 20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
This passage answers two questions. First, it addresses the question of the people not wanting to “hear from God.” But check verse 17. God commends the people for being circumspect. It seems as if they really understood God and His holiness and realized that even hearing His voice could condemn them. So they requested that Moses be the “go-between.” He became the mediator, a picture of Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Isn’t that a great picture? No one is worthy to directly approach God, but He sent a Mediator, His Son, to take that place. Moses was a picture of that, as were the priests. Then the rest of the passage we cited in Deuteronomy becomes crystal clear. God was not just “picking on” false prophets. This statement did not just come out of the blue. Since God recognized that Moses would not live forever–as our Mediator does–he took the practical step of telling the people to look for other messengers, prophets, who would deliver God’s message to the people.
Now the rest of that paragraph makes tons of sense. Moses told them that another prophet would replace him. (V. 15) God would put “His words” into the mouth of the prophet. If the people did not listen, the penalty was the same as if they ignored God’s words from the mountain. That is a sobering responsibility–for both the listeners, and for the prophet.
So the declaration in v. 20 now makes tons of sense.
But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.
With God’s command to listen and obey what the prophet says, comes the burden of making sure that what is said is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The temptation for mortals is to exercise and exceed their authority to their own benefit.
James (3:1) carried that concept into the New Testament.
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
Then Moses’ final comment is that we do not need to fear a false, or presumptuous prophet. Just for the record and our guidance, a test for false prophets is given. First, is what he said in accordance with what God has already said? That is the implication of “My words in his mouth.” Since God will not change His mind or contradict Himself, everything “new” that comes from the prophet must agree with everything already said. No changes will happen. (Good lesson to apply to some teachings that are promulgated today. “This is a new time....” NOT!) But I digress.
Second, if the prophet advises or advocates worshiping any other God, he is false. This is a “just to make sure you understand” the first rule. No other gods. Period. If anyone strays from that is is a fake. And the third is a practical test. If he makes any predictions, they will come true completely, with no near misses or errors. Just to verify His agents, God said that He would give a prophet a vision, or insight into the future. And if the prophet is truly God-sent, the vision will come true. Have you read Daniel lately? His visions were astoundingly accurate–and detailed. No sweeping generalizations like a king will fall, a mountain will erupt, a famine will come. They were specific and detailed, just as were Joseph’s visions in Egypt.
These three tests guided the people to listen to and obey prophets then. They guide us today. What a great insight.
The second question that I have heard is related to this. Have you ever heard a pastor or leader say, “Don’t follow me, follow Jesus?” At first blush this seems to be appropriate and godly. It shows his humility. That may not be the case. Let’s check how Paul instructed his readers.
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1)
This is repeated in Philippians 3:17. Granted we are not to put ourselves up as the standard, as Moses warned in Deuteronomy. But neither are leaders exempt from the requirement to follow the pattern that God has given. Then in my memory verses for the past few weeks, I realized that this train of thought was replicated in Psalm 119:77-80. Read with me.
May Your compassion come to me so that I may live, for Your instruction is my delight. (Notice the pattern being followed. ED.) 78 Let the arrogant be put to shame for slandering me with lies; I will meditate on Your precepts.
79 Let those who fear You, those who know Your decrees, turn to me. 80 May my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes so that I will not be put to shame.
You and I will not, in all likelihood, hear a voice from God. He has pretty much given us all that we need to know in His instruction, precepts, decrees, and statutes. (Just for fun, read the whole chapter and count how many different ways God’s Word is labeled.)
Notice specifically verse 79. Sounds like Paul, doesn’t it? Follow me as I “make my heart blameless regarding Your statutes.” The arrogant are shamed in that they do not follow the “instruction” and “precepts.” David was probably the author and he was a “man after God’s own heart.” And he was slandered by those who did not follow the Law. But his prayer was that he stay true to the Word.
If a teacher cannot ask people to follow him as he follows Christ, he might need to reevaluate his own path. I want to follow Christ so that people who follow me will not be put to shame, as David put it.
Read and memorize. It is good for the soul.
One other thought from Adrian Rogers. Moses met God at a burning bush at Sinai. Then he led the people out of Egypt to Sinai, to meet God at a burning mountain. Check Exodus 20:18.
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