Reflection on Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Scripture
“Any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.”

Observation
Moses speaks to the people of Israel. He tells them that God will raise up a prophet just like Moses and they must pay attention to him.

On the other hand, anyone who falsely claims to be a prophet for God must be put to death.

The test for this is fairly simple- if someone makes a claim about the future and it does not come to pass then the prophet is not from the Lord.

Application
Those who claim to speaks from God or on God's behalf must be held to account in order that the people of God are protected from spiritual abuse.

Anyone who claims to speak on behalf of another god is not a prophet of God and should be ignored. That applies to people who channel dead spirits or those who claim to speak from angels.

The other test is this- do their predictions come true? If they do n[t then God is not with them.

Many people claim to be prophets. They make claims and predictions but are not ever held to account for incorrect words. We don't need to condemn such people, especially those who mostly get it right but occasionally stumble, but we do need to have a lot more discernment about who we trust in spiritual leadership.

Prayer
Father give me true discernment to know when those who are speaking are really led by you. Amen.

4 thoughts on “Reflection on Deuteronomy 18:15-20

  1. Amen brother. And there are a lot of "self"-proclaimed prophets out there. But to touch on the subject of true prophets, could we see in them the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit in the O.T.

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  2. Amen, on the good, the bad and the ugly! Good way of putten it my brother (lol). and yes, the Lord does work through His people. Amen ta all you said.

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  3. Yes, you can see it right through Scripture. I have experienced the power of genuine Holy Spirit prophecy myself- both in giving a predictive word that came true and in the giving of a word that cuts through people's situations. I've also received prophecies from others that were from the Lord.There have been times when people have prophesied inaccurately and occasionally ones who have been empowered by an unclean spirit.I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly!

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