Deuteronomy 18:15-22
15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’
17 “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’
17 “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Moses foretold of a Prophet chosen and sent by God in the manner of Him. This meant a deliverer, a priest, and leader to rule over His people. He would come out of Israel and the people were told to listen and take heed to His words when He came. God said that He would put His words in that Prophet’s mouth to speak as the LORD Himself to them. Those who refused to listen would answer to the LORD; this means that those listening to other self-proclaimed prophets not sent by God nor having words of truth would have no lasting effect. They would be revealed as false prophets by presumptuously speaking things which never come to pass, and their messages should not cause us to fear Him who has the power of eternal judgement (Luke 12:5) as the One sent in His name and power, Jesus the Christ. Jesus is the Messenger who is deliverer from the bondage of sin and death, the eternal Priest in the heavens (Hebrews 8:1), and ruler over all (Hebrews 2:8). Him we must hear (Acts 7:37), for there is no other with words of eternal life (Acts 4:12, John 6:68, John 12:47-50). What Jesus the Christ of God spoke, we are to heed and live, or ignore and perish as those who listen to prophets not sent by God and therefore not speaking truth to life (Romans 6:23), but lies to destruction and certain judgement (Hebrews 12:24-25). We see then that Christ Jesus is the Prophet raised up to be heard as prophet, priest, and king to be listened to for eternal life. Anyone bringing another message is a false self-proclaimed prophet who has no words of life or power over death and judgement. He is the Prophet to be Heard who is greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:3). Why would we listen to any other?
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