“The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” (Deuteronomy 18:14-22 NIV)
We all follow prophets. Does that sound strange? We don’t use the word “prophet” much. But we all follow prophets. Here’s an example: A couple years ago, I was talking with a man here in Tulsa. With passion in his voice, he said, “I have finally found the truth, and it’s changed my life!” I got excited! I said, “Me too! It’s the Bible!” He looked surprised. “The Bible? No way. There’s this website. It actually has the truth! I’ve read over 10,000 documents. It’s all there! Everything is there!” For two hours, he shared all the secret information that he now knows.
He’s found his prophet. See what I mean? Everybody is looking for their source of truth, and sadly everybody is finding a different one. “If you really want the news, you have to go to this site.” “That one? No way. If you really want the truth, you need to listen to him.” “Him? Come on. If you really want to know what’s going on, you need to read what she writes.” “Her? That’s fake news. If you want to ….” We could do this all night, couldn’t we? Everybody is searching. Everybody is listening to someone. On YouTube. On podcasts. On the nightly news. On blogs…
We all follow prophets. A prophet is someone who tells you things you couldn’t know on your own. Maybe they are things that will happen in the future, or maybe they are things that you’ve simply never considered before. A prophet shares with you information that would otherwise be hidden. Can you see how we all follow prophets? Everybody is following somebody, and whom you listen to has a profound impact on what you think and how you act and what you feel.
This is nothing new. The Bible is full of prophets. Do you know who the greatest prophet in the Old Testament was? It’s hard to rank people, isn’t it? How about this: Which prophet wrote more of the Bible than anyone else? Know whom? Moses. Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Together, that’s 20% of the whole Bible. Nobody shared more of God’s Word than Moses. The book of Deuteronomy was Moses’ last message to God’s people.
So Moses made sure to include a strong warning: Watch out for false prophets! In our lesson, Moses said it like this: “The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.” Even 3,500 years ago, before the internet or YouTube or newspapers or phones, everybody was following somebody. There was this constant danger for God’s people—the Israelites—to be led away from God. Maybe by sorcery or witchcraft or idols. Moses said, “Don’t do that! Watch out!”
Instead, in a world of false voices and false prophets, Moses made a prophecy: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” God cares what his people listen to. God cares what his people read. God cares whom his people turn to. God told his people, “You need to listen to my prophet!”
Why? Why doesn’t God just speak to us directly? Have you ever wondered that? Why doesn’t God just talk to each of us directly? The Israelites had learned the answer. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, he descended on Mount Sinai in a cloud with lightning and thunder, and the people were so terrified that they shouted: “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God…, or we will die.” When they saw God’s presence, they realized how sinful they were. Sinners like us can’t speak to God face to face. We need someone to speak to us for God.
So God promised: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.” Whom was God talking about? He was certainly referring to all the prophets he would send his people, one after another: Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi… But notice that God’s promise is singular: “I will raise up for them a prophet…” Whom? Jesus.
Jesus told people: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (John 5:46). Jesus is the Prophet who came to tell us the truth from God. We can’t speak to God face to face, so God hid himself in Christ to speak to us. When Jesus taught, the people were amazed and said, “A new teaching—and with authority!” (Mark 1:27). On Transfiguration Day, when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah, the voice of God the Father thundered from heaven: “This is my Son, whom I love… Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5). Jesus is our Prophet. Listen to him!
How big of a deal is this? Did you hear what was to happen if people spread false teachings? “A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded…is to be put to death.” Death! Do we take false teaching that seriously? The most dangerous person in the world is the person who pulls you away from Jesus. Earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses said that even if your own brother, or your son or daughter, or your spouse, or your friend entices you away from God, do not listen to them! (Deuteronomy 13:6-8). This is serious! There are so many false prophets pulling away from Jesus to hell. We need God’s truth. We need the true Prophet!
Especially considering the worst false prophet in our lives. Do you know who the worst false prophet in our lives is? Me. You. How much of the advice we tell ourselves is good advice? How many of the things we think about ourselves are really true? There are days when I tell myself: “I am good. I’m a lot better than most people. Everybody should praise me.” Is that true? No! Then there are other days when I tell myself: “I can’t do anything right! Nobody cares about me. Nobody pays attention to me. It wouldn’t matter if I weren’t here.” Is that true? No! See our problem? We are always in danger of being led astray by false prophets, including ourselves.
But with so many messages, how can we know the truth? Moses tells us: “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken.” Test what you hear. If it doesn’t come true, it can’t be from God. Like this: Our world says that people are good. That sounds good! Is that from the LORD? Well, does it come true? Do people say kind things? Put others’ needs above their own? Sacrifice for others? Live at peace with each other? Always? No! Instead, Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,” and a lot more (Matthew 15:19). The world says we’re good. Jesus says we’re sinful. Which one passes the test? Which one is true? Our world or Jesus? Jesus!
We constantly need to take the messages we hear and test them to see if they are from God. Let’s try it. “God helps those who help themselves.” Is that from the Bible? No! How about, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)? Yes! God saved us when we couldn’t do anything to help ourselves. Here’s another, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” That one’s true, right? No! Know what Paul wrote in the Bible? “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure…. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). God won’t give us more than he can handle. That’s why we trust in him! See how important this is? There are so many voices. Whom can you really believe? Jesus.
When you say to yourselves, “Nobody cares about me,” is that true? No! What does Jesus say? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16). Are you part of the world? Yes! So does God love you? Yes! When you say to yourself, “Nobody is paying any attention to what I do,” is that true? No! What does Jesus say? “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:4). Isn’t that great? When you say to yourself, “I am all alone,” is that true? No! What does Jesus say? Jesus says, “Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). When you say to yourself, “I’m a lost cause,” is that true? No! What does Jesus say? “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
Do you see the difference? If you want real peace and real joy this Christmas season, listen to your Prophet. Especially about his greatest prophecy. Of all the things Jesus said, he again and again promised his disciples that he would suffer and die and after three days rise from the dead. That is quite a promise! Did Jesus keep it? Yes! Who does that? What person whom we listen to today has died for our sins and then raised himself back to life? No one! If there is Someone who predicted his own death and resurrection and then actually pulled it off for us, I’m with that Guy!
So? There’s a little phrase that Moses added in the middle of his prophecy: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… You must listen to him.” If Jesus is our Prophet, what should we do? Listen to him. When Jesus tells you that he is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), listen to him! When Jesus invites you to “come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), listen to him! When Jesus says “the one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25), listen to him! Watch out for all the false prophets and their promises of secret knowledge. There is only One who came to die for you: Jesus. It is great to know Jesus and his truth! Jesus is our Prophet. Listen to him!
(To listen to this devotion on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch the devotion on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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