Deuteronômio 18

Deuteronômio 18

Morgan - Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible - The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.—Deut. 18.15 In this chapter priest and prophet are dealt with. The priest was already among the people by the appointment of God. The provisions that he was to have no inheritance in the land, and that his material needs must be supplied by the people, were restated. Special provision was now made for any priest whose heart prompted him to special service. In dealing with the prophet, Moses enjoined the people to beware of the false, and to know the true. He described the methods of false prophets. They are those of the dark arts, of dealing with the spiritual forces of evil, in a professed attempt to discover the will of God. The true prophet was then described briefly, but graphically. It is impossible to read this description without realizing that it was a prophecy which only found its fulfilment in One, and that the One Who was Himself the Word of God. All the true prophets approximated to the ideal; but in Him it was filled to the full. This section in our readings is of special interest as we realize how perfectly Moses was guided to set forth the true ideals of king, priest, and prophet; and how completely they were realized in our Lord! He was the true King; of His brethren, appointed by God, knowing, doing, and administering the law. He was the. true Priest; of His brethren, without inheritance in His own land, abiding in the service of God, ministered to by the people of God. He was the true Prophet; of His brethren, uttering the Word of God in purity and in fulness. Norman Geisler - DEUTERONOMY 18:15–18—Is this a prophecy about the prophet Mohammed? PROBLEM: God promised Moses here, “I will raise up for them [Israel] 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” (v. 18). Muslims believe this prophecy is fulfilled in Mohammed, as the Koran claims when it refers to “The unlettered Prophet [Mohammed], Whom they find mentioned in their own [scriptures], in the Law and the Gospels” (Surah 7:157). SOLUTION: This prophecy could not be a reference to Mohammed for several reasons. First, the term “brethren” refers to Israel, not to their Arabian antagonists. Why would God raise up for Israel a prophet from their enemies. Second, in this very context, the term “brethren” means fellow Israelites. For the Levites were told “they shall have no inheritance among their brethren” (v. 2). Third, elsewhere in this book the term “brethren” also means fellow Israelites, not a foreigner. God told them to choose a king “from among your brethren,” not a “foreigner.” Israel has never chosen a non-Jewish king. Fourth, Mohammed came from Ishmael, as even Muslims admit, and heirs to the Jewish throne came from Isaac. When Abraham prayed, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” God answered emphatically: “My covenant I will establish with Isaac …” (Gen. 17:21). Later God repeated: “In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Gen. 21:12). Fifth, the Koran itself states that the prophetic line came through Isaac, not Ishmael: “And We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and We established the Prophethood and the Scripture among his seed” (Surah 29:27). The Muslim scholar Yusuf Ali adds the word “Abraham” and changes the meaning as follows, “We gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained Among his progeny Prophethood and Revelation.” By adding Abraham, the father of Ishmael, he can include Mohammed, a descendent of Ishmael, in the prophetic line! But Abraham’s name is not found in the original Arabic text. Sixth, Jesus perfectly fulfilled this verse, since 1) He was from among His Jewish brethren (cf. Gal. 4:4). 2) He fulfilled Deuteronomy 18:18 perfectly: “He shall speak to them all that I [God] command Him.” Jesus said, “I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:28). And, “I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49). 3) He called Himself a “prophet” (Luke 13:33), and the people considered Him a prophet (Matt. 21:11; Luke 7:16; 24:19; John 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). As the Son of God, Jesus was prophet (speaking to men for God), priest (Heb. 7:10, speaking to God for men), and king (reigning over men for God, Rev. 19–20). Finally, there are other characteristics of the “Prophet” to come that fit only Jesus, not Mohammed, such as, He spoke with God “face to face” and He performed “signs and wonders” (see comments on Deut. 34:10). (from When Critics Ask) Excerpt from How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth - Gordon Fee and Stuart Douglass The Function of Prophecy in Israel To understand what God would say to us through these inspired books, we must first have a clear understanding as to the role and function of the prophet in Israel. Four things must be emphasized: 1. The prophets were covenant enforcement mediators. We explained in the preceding chapter (pp. 165–67) how Israel’s law constituted a covenant between God and his people, modeled after the ancient suzerainty treaties and thus containing both stipulations and sanctions. God’s covenant with Israel, therefore, contains not only regulations and statutes for them to keep but describes the sorts of sanctions that accompany the Law: the sorts of blessings his people will receive if they keep the Law, and the sorts of punishments (“curses”) that God will necessarily mete out if they do not. Thus God does not merely give Israel his law, but he enforces it. This is where the prophets come in. God announced the enforcement (positive or negative) of his law through them, so that the events of blessing or cursing would be clearly understood by his people. Moses was the mediator for God’s law when God first announced it and thus is a paradigm (model) for the prophets. They are God’s mediators, or spokespersons, for the covenant. Through them God reminds people in the generations after Moses that if his law is kept, blessing will result; but if not, punishment will ensue. The kinds of blessings that will come to Israel for faithfulness to the covenant are found especially in Leviticus 26:1–13; Deuteronomy 4:32–40; and 28:1–14. But these blessings are announced with a warning: if Israel does not obey God’s law, the blessings will cease. The sorts of curses (punishments) that Israel may expect if it violates the Law are found especially in Leviticus 26:14–39; Deuteronomy 4:15–28; and throughout Deuteronomy 28:15–32:42. Therefore, one must always bear in mind that the prophets did not invent the blessings or curses they announced. They may have worded these blessings and curses in novel, captivating ways, as they were inspired to do so. But they reproduced God’s Word, not their own. Through them God announced his intention to enforce the covenant, for benefit or for harm—depending on the faithfulness of Israel—but always on the basis of and in accordance with the categories of blessing and cursing already contained in Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 4; and Deuteronomy 28–32. If you will take the trouble to learn those chapters from the Pentateuch, you will be rewarded with a much better understanding of why the prophets said the things that they did. Briefly, what one finds is this. The Law contains certain categories of corporate blessings for covenant faithfulness: life, health, prosperity, agricultural abundance, respect, and safety. Most of the specific blessings mentioned will fall under one of these six general groupings. As regards curses, the Law describes corporate punishments, which we happen to find convenient (and memorizable) to group under ten headings that begin with the letter “d”: death, disease, drought, dearth, danger, destruction, defeat, deportation, destitution, and disgrace. Most of the curses will fit under one of these categories. These same categories apply in what God communicates through the prophets. For example, when God wishes to predict future blessing for the nation (not any given individual) through the prophet Amos, he does so in terms of metaphors of agricultural abundance, life, health, prosperity, respect, and safety (Amos 9:11–15). When God announces doom for the disobedient nation of Hosea’s day, he does so according to one or more of the ten “d’s” listed above (e.g., destruction in Hos 8:14, or deportation in Hos 9:3). These curses are often metaphorical, though they can be literal as well. They are always corporate, referring to the nation as a whole. Blessings or curses, it should be noted, do not guarantee prosperity or dearth to any specific individual. Statistically, a majority of what the prophets announce in the eighth, seventh, and early sixth centuries B.C. is curse, because the major defeat and destruction of the northern kingdom did not occur until 722 B.C.; that of the southern kingdom (Judah) did not occur until 587 B.C. The Israelites, north and south, were heading for punishment during that era, so naturally warnings of curse rather than blessing predominated as God sought to get his people to repent. After the destruction of both north and south, that is, after 587 B.C., the prophets were moved more often to speak blessings than curses. This is because once the punishment of the nation is complete, God resumes his basic plan, which is to show mercy (see Deut 4:25–31 for a condensed description of this sequence). As you read the prophetic books, look for this simple pattern: (1) an identification of Israel’s sin or of God’s love for his people; (2) a prediction of curse or blessing, depending on the circumstance. Most of the time, this is what the prophets are conveying, according to God’s inspiration of them. 2. The prophets’ message was not their own, but God’s. As you read the prophetic books with some care, you will easily pick up that each prophet has his own unique style, vocabulary, emphases, idioms, and concerns. The unique features of each of their books is highlighted in How to 2, pages 171–265. Here we want to highlight that, in keeping with what has just been said, we need also to emphasize that God is the one who raised up the prophets to speak his Word to Israel (cf. Exod 3–4; Isa 6; Jer 1; Ezek 1–3; Hos 1:2; Amos 7:14–15; Jonah 1:1; et al.). If a prophet presumed to take the office of prophet upon himself or herself, this would be good cause to consider such a one a false prophet (cf. Jer 14:14; 23:21). The prophets responded to a divine call. The Hebrew word for prophet (nābīʾ) comes in fact from the Semitic verb “to call” (nabū). You will note as you read the prophetic books that they preface, or conclude, or regularly punctuate their oracles with reminders like “This is what the LORD says” or “declares the LORD.” A majority of the time, in fact, the prophetic message is relayed directly as received from the Lord, in the first person, so that God speaks of himself as “I” or “me.” Read, for example, Jeremiah 27 and 28. Consider Jeremiah’s difficult task in relaying to the people of Judah that it would be necessary for them to submit to the imperial armies of their enemy, Babylon, if they wished to please God. His hearers (most of them, at least) considered this message to be the equivalent of treason. When he delivers the message, however, he makes it abundantly clear that they are not hearing his views on the matter, but God’s. He begins by reminding them, “This is what the LORD said to me …” (Jer 27:2), and then quotes God’s command, “Then send word …” (Jer 27:3); “Give them a message …” (Jer 27:4), and adds “declares the LORD” (Jer 27:11). His word is God’s Word. It is delivered on God’s authority (Jer 28:15–16), not his own. 3. The prophets were God’s direct representatives. As vehicles through whom God delivered his Word both to Israel and other nations, the prophets held a kind of societal office. They were like ambassadors from the heavenly court who relayed the divine sovereign’s will to the people. The prophets were, on their own, neither radical social reformers nor innovative religious thinkers. The social reforms and the religious thought that God wished to impart to the people had already been revealed in the covenantal law. No matter which group broke those laws, God’s Word through the prophet held punishment. Whether the guilt for covenant violations lay with the royalty (e.g., 2 Sam 12:1–14; 24:11–17; Hos 1:4) or with the clergy (Hos 4:4–11; Amos 7:17; Mal 2:1–9), or any other group, the prophet conveyed God’s message of national curse faithfully. Indeed, at God’s bidding prophets even installed or deposed kings (1 Kgs 19:16; 21:17–22) and declared war (2 Kgs 3:18–19; 2 Chr 20:14–17; Hos 5:5–8) or spoke against war (Jer 27:8–22). What we read in the prophetic books, then, is not merely God’s Word as the prophet saw it but God’s Word as God wished the prophet to present it. The prophet does not act or speak independently of God. 4. The prophets’ message is unoriginal. The prophets were inspired by God to present to their generation the essential content of the original Mosaic covenant’s warnings and promises (curses and blessings). Therefore, when we read the prophets’ words, what we read is not new in concept but a new wording—in each prophet’s own style and vocabulary—of the same message in essence delivered by God originally through Moses. The exact wording may be unique, and in that sense “novel,” but the concepts expressed restate faithfully what God had already expressed to his people in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The form in which that message is conveyed can, of course, vary substantially. God raised up the prophets to gain the attention of the people to whom they were sent. Gaining people’s attention may involve rephrasing and restructuring something they have already heard many times so that it has a certain kind of newness. But this is not at all the same as actually initiating any new message or altering the old message. The prophets are not inspired to make any points or announce any doctrines that are not already contained in the Pentateuchal covenant. As a first example of this conservation of the message, consider the first half of Hosea 4:2: “There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery.” In this verse, which is part of a long description of Israel’s unfaithfulness in Hosea’s day (750–722 B.C.), five of the Ten Commandments are summarized, each by a single term. These terms are: “cursing,” the third commandment—“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God” (Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11); “lying,” the ninth commandment—“You shall not give false testimony” (Ex 20:16; Deut 5:20); “murder,” the sixth commandment—“You shall not murder” (Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17); “stealing,” the eighth commandment—“You shall not steal” (Ex 20:15; Deut 5:18); “adultery,” the seventh commandment—“You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18). It is as interesting to note what the inspired prophet does not do as what he does do. That is, Hosea does not cite the Ten Commandments verbatim. He mentions five of them in a one-word summary fashion much as Jesus does in Mark 10:19 (cf. Matt 18:18–19; Luke 18:20). But mentioning five, even out of their usual order, is a very effective way of communicating to the Israelites that they have broken the Ten Commandments. For upon hearing five of the commandments, the hearer would think, And what of the others? What of the usual order? The original wording is … The audience would begin thinking of all ten, reminding themselves of what the covenant law calls for in terms of basic righteousness. Hosea did not change a thing in the Law, any more than Jesus did, in citing five of the commandments for a similar effect. But he did impress the Law upon his hearers in a way that simply repeating it word for word might never have done. A second example concerns the messianic prophecies. Are these new? Not at all. Certainly, the kind of detail about the life and role of the Messiah that we find in the Servant Songs of Isaiah 42; 49; 50; and 53 may be considered new. But God did not bring the notion of a Messiah to the people for the first time through the prophets. It had in fact originated with the Law. Otherwise how could Jesus have described his life as fulfilling what was written “in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44)? Among other portions of the Mosaic law that foretell the Messiah’s ministry, Deuteronomy 18:18 is prominent: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their people, and I will put my words in his mouth. My prophet will tell them everything I command him.” As John 1:45 also reminds us, the Law already spoke of Christ. It was hardly a new thing for the prophets to speak of him. The mode, the style, and the specificity with which they made their inspired predictions did not need to be restricted to what the Pentateuch already contained. But the essential fact that there would be a new covenant ushered in by a new “Prophet” (using the language of Deuteronomy 18) was, in fact, an old story. Deuteronomy 18:16 "This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.' Horeb: De 9:10 Let me not hear: De 5:24-28 Ex 20:19 Heb 12:19 Deuteronomy 18 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Deuteronomy 5:24-28+ “You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. 25 ‘Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die. 26 ‘For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 ‘Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’ 28 “The LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. Exodus 20:19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” Hebrews 12:19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die = NLT - "For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, 'Don't let us hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die."