Deuteronomy 18

A PROPHET’S role was, above all, to be God’s spokesperson—to understand God’s will and then transmit it to the people. Up to this time, Moses had been acting as God’s spokesperson—God’s prophet—and this had been at the Israelites’ request when they were at Horeb (verse 16)—that is, Mount Sinai (see Exodus 20:18–19). God had agreed to speak through Moses and had put His words in Moses’ mouth; He had revealed His will to Moses in all matters. Now that Moses was about to die, a successor was needed—someone who would be like Moses (verse 18).

Was Moses speaking of only one successor here? No, he was speaking of a number of successors—a prophetic ministry that would help guide Israel in future years. In verses 20–22, the question is raised concerning how to distinguish true prophets from false prophets, so clearly more than one prophet is in Moses’ mind here.

However, the prophetic ministry would not continue forever; it would culminate in one final Prophet, Jesus Christ, after which an Old Testament type of prophetic ministry would no longer be necessary.⁵⁰ It is clear from certain New Testament verses (John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40) that the Jewish people were expecting some kind of special Prophet, and they thought it must be Jesus. And Jesus Himself said that Moses had written about Him (John 5:46)—surely referring to this passage in Deuteronomy. Jesus fulfilled the requirement for being a “prophet like Moses,” because He spoke whatever the Father told Him to speak (John 12:49–50). The Apostle Peter quoted verses 15 and 19 when he announced that a “prophet like Moses” had indeed come in the person of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:22–23).

So in conclusion, though Moses was talking about a succession of prophets who would be raised up to continue his own work, he was also pointing to the final Prophet, Jesus, who would supremely reveal the nature and mind of God—because He had been sent from God, and indeed was God Himself (John 6:38; 7:16; 10:30; 14:9).

19–22 The people were required to listen to God’s words spoken through His prophets (verse 19); but how were they to know for sure if a particular prophet was speaking God’s words or just his own words?

Moses here gives a number of tests. First, a true prophet speaks only in God’s name, under God’s authority; in everything he says he acknowledges that God is the source of what he speaks. Second, a true prophet speaks only what God has commanded; the prophet never contradicts what God has already said and he never adds to what God has said.⁵¹ In Israel, any so-called prophet who failed these two tests was to be put to death (verse 20).

The third test of the true prophet was this: his predictions had to come true (verse 22). This test could sometimes be misleading because even false prophets could occasionally appear to predict future events accurately, either by deception or by chance (see Deuteronomy 13:1–5 and comment). Furthermore, sometimes a true prophet’s predictions did not come to pass quickly, and people stopped believing him; the prophet Jeremiah had this problem. But over a period of time, a true prophet’s words would always be fulfilled, and so this test would give additional proof that the prophet in question was indeed a true prophet of God.

For further discussion of prophets and prophecy, see General Article: Prophecy and Predictive Words.