The Prophet We Must Hear Text: Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Introduction: Mediating the Terror of God
We live in a sentimental age. Our culture wants a God who is a celestial teddy bear, a divine affirmation machine, a cosmic grandpa who pats us on the head regardless of what we do. We want spirituality without holiness, comfort without conviction, and a relationship with God that requires no mediator because, after all, we are basically good people and He is basically a nice deity. This is the great lie of our time, and it is a deadly one.
The Bible, from start to finish, presents a radically different picture. God is not safe. He is an all-consuming fire. His holiness is so utterly pure, so terrifyingly absolute, that for a sinful man to stand in His unmediated presence is to be undone. This is not a bug in the system; it is a central feature of reality. And it is the necessary backdrop for understanding our text this morning.
Just before our passage, Moses gives a blistering condemnation of all pagan attempts to bridge the gap between man and the divine. He forbids divination, soothsaying, witchcraft, and necromancy. These are all corrupt, human-centered attempts to manipulate the spiritual world, to get information and power without having to deal with the holy character of God. They are attempts to get around the front door and climb in through a window. But God does not deal with us through shadowy mediums and demonic whispers. He deals with us through covenant mediators. He speaks to us through prophets.
This passage is God's gracious provision for a people who rightly understood that they could not bear a direct, unmediated relationship with Him. At the foot of Mount Sinai, surrounded by thunder, lightning, and the very fire of God, they trembled in terror and begged for a go-between. And God, in His mercy, said they were right to be afraid. He agreed to their request. And in doing so, He established the office of the prophet and gave a promise that finds its ultimate, perfect fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Text
"Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers; you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of Yahweh your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God; let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ And Yahweh said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their brothers like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it will be that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ Now you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him."
(Deuteronomy 18:15-22 LSB)
The Gracious Provision (vv. 15-18)
We begin with the promise itself, rooted in the history of Israel's holy fear.
"Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers; you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of Yahweh your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God; let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ And Yahweh said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their brothers like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)
The people's reaction at Horeb, which is another name for Sinai, was not cowardice. It was sanity. They saw the unvarnished holiness of God, and it terrified them. "Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God... or I will die." This is one of the most intelligent and theologically sound things the Israelites ever said in the wilderness. They understood the Creator/creature distinction in their bones. They knew that the infinite gap between a holy God and sinful man could not be crossed by them. And God commends them for it: "They have spoken well."
Their fear created a demand, and God's grace provided the supply. The supply is a prophet. But not just any prophet. He must meet three qualifications. First, he will be "like me," that is, like Moses. Moses was unique. He was a covenant mediator, a lawgiver, a deliverer, and he spoke with God face to face. This promise, then, is not just for a succession of ordinary prophets like Isaiah or Jeremiah, though it includes them. It points to a final, ultimate Prophet who would fulfill the role of Moses in a greater way.
Second, he will be "from among you, from your brothers." God's mediator would not be an angel or some other alien being. He would be one of them, a true Israelite, a true man. He would be their kinsman redeemer. This is a profound statement about the incarnation. God's ultimate Word to us would be spoken in human flesh.
Third, God says, "I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." The prophet is not a philosopher sharing his insights. He is an ambassador delivering a message. His authority comes not from his own brilliance or charisma, but from the fact that the words he speaks are not his own. They are God's words. This is the foundation of biblical inspiration. The prophet is a mouthpiece for God.
This promise points down through the centuries, past all the other prophets, and lands squarely on Jesus of Nazareth. The Apostle Peter, preaching in the temple courts, quotes this very passage and applies it directly to Jesus (Acts 3:22-23). The author of Hebrews tells us that "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son" (Heb. 1:1-2). Jesus is the Prophet like Moses, only greater. He is our brother, true man. And He spoke only what the Father gave Him to speak (John 12:49). He is the final and ultimate Word from God.
The Solemn Obligation (v. 19)
Because the prophet speaks God's words, the obligation to listen is absolute. The consequences for failing to do so are severe.
"And it will be that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him." (Deuteronomy 18:19 LSB)
This is a terrifying sentence. "I Myself will require it of him." This is not a matter of social disapproval or a bad grade in theology class. This is a personal, divine reckoning. To ignore the prophet is to ignore God. To disobey the prophet is to disobey God. The issue is authority. Does God have the right to speak and be obeyed? The Bible's answer is an unequivocal yes.
And if this was true for the prophets of the Old Testament, how much more is it true for the final Prophet, the Lord Jesus? To hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to turn away is not a neutral act. It is not simply choosing a different spiritual path. It is a direct act of rebellion against the King of the universe. It is to look at the ultimate self-disclosure of God in the face of His Son and to say, "No, thank you." And for that, God Himself will require an accounting. The final judgment is nothing more than God fulfilling this ancient promise. He will require it of every person who refuses to listen to His Son.
The Divine Safeguard (vv. 20-22)
But with such a high-stakes system, how are the people to be protected from frauds? What about the charlatans and the spiritual snake-oil salesmen? God provides two clear, objective tests.
"But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ Now you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:20-22 LSB)
The first test is theological. Does the prophet speak in the name of Yahweh alone, or does he introduce other gods? This is the test of orthodoxy. Any prophetic utterance that contradicts the prior, settled revelation of God is false by definition. If a "prophet" tells you to worship God by means of an idol, or to disregard the moral law, he is a false prophet, and the penalty is death. This is God's fierce protection of His own name and His people's purity.
The second test is empirical. If a prophet makes a prediction in the name of Yahweh, does it happen? "If the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken." This is a pass/fail test. There is no curve. Ninety-nine percent accuracy is one hundred percent failure. God does not miss. His Word does not fall to the ground. Therefore, any prophet who speaks for Him must have a perfect track record in predictive prophecy.
This is a high bar, and it is meant to be. It weeds out the presumptuous, the arrogant, and the deluded. A true prophet's authority is not in his emotional appeal, but in his verifiable faithfulness to the God who is, and who speaks, and whose word is truth. When a man is shown to be a false prophet by this standard, the command is simple: "you shall not be afraid of him." You are to disregard him entirely. His power is a sham, his authority is counterfeit, and his threats are empty.
Christ, the Final Prophet
So where does this leave us today? The office of prophet, in the Old Testament sense of bringing new, authoritative, verbal revelation from God, is closed. It is closed because the final Prophet has come. Jesus Christ is God's last word. The canon of Scripture is complete because the revelation it bears witness to is complete in Him.
This means we are not to be running around looking for new prophets to tell us the future or give us a "word from the Lord" that is not already contained in the Bible. The modern charismatic practice of "prophecy" utterly fails the Deuteronomic test. How many "prophecies" about elections, or healings, or revivals have been given in the name of the Lord, only to fizzle out into nothing? By God's own standard, these are presumptuous words, and we are commanded not to fear those who speak them.
Our task is not to seek new words, but to submit to the final Word. We have the prophetic word made more sure, as Peter says, which is the testimony of the apostles concerning Jesus Christ, now written down for us in the New Testament (2 Peter 1:19). The Bible is the mouthpiece of the ultimate Prophet.
Therefore, the command of Deuteronomy 18 echoes down to us with even greater force. "You shall listen to him." You shall listen to Jesus. How do we do that? We immerse ourselves in the Gospels. We study the letters of His apostles. We submit our lives, our families, our churches, and our cultures to the authority of every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, which has been given to us, finally and fully, in the Son.
The choice set before Israel is the same choice set before us. God has graciously provided a mediator, a Prophet who speaks His very words. We cannot stand before the fire of His holiness on our own merits. We need a go-between. That go-between is Jesus. To listen to Him is to find life, forgiveness, and acceptance with the holy God we were right to fear. To refuse to listen is to invite the day when God Himself will require it of you. Therefore, listen to Him.