October 15, 2013
THE PROPHET SHOWS THE WAY
Deuteronomy 18:9-22
Terence Babler
Central Truth
Though we may be living in a land full of distractions, wayward paths, and plenty of bad advice, God provides the way for us.
Key Verse | Deuteronomy 18:15
"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him." (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Deuteronomy 18:9-22
Abominable Practices
9 When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, 1 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.
A New Prophet like Moses
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or 2 18:20 Or and who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 18:9-22
The funny thing about these Journey devotionals is that often when I read the passage and then read the "Traveler's Log," what I picked up on first isn't what the writer necessarily centers on in the devotional. I sometimes think, "How did I miss that?" or "Huh, I didn't see that the first time."
That has happened here as I have read, reread, and prayed over this passage. Each time I go over it, I pick out something else that speaks to me. As a dad with elementary school age kids, I often approach Bible passages seeking perspective on how I can be a better father for my kids, and here I did it again.
In Deuteronomy, Moses is giving some final instructions to the Israelites before they enter into the land God is giving them -- much like a commencement speech at graduation. In this passage, Moses issues several warnings against going astray by falling in with the locals and imitating their worldly ways of witchcraft and other spiritualism. Some ways of straying seem obvious, but others are more subtle. In verse 10 we read, "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire . . . ." Kids pass through fire every day in our fallen world. In fact, we all do. Not hot coals and flames, but the pressure to fit in, to be in the right social circles, and to have the right possessions. They are all distractions and detestable to the Lord when we worship them instead of Him.
That is what Moses is calling God's people to stay away from. Today, this passage can encourage us to teach our kids to not be imitators of the fallen world, but to rely on God who loves them. He loves them so much He would have His own Son take the fall for our sin.
But how do we know the right path? Verse 15 says that the Lord will raise up someone from their own people whom they should follow. That someone is Jesus. God put the words in His mouth, and "you shall listen to him."
Discussion Questions
1. What are some of the detestable things we find ourselves imitating in this land?
2. Who can you put your trust in? (Proverbs 3:5-6)
3. How can you know if a prophet is true? (Deuteronomy 18:21-22)