The Test of a Prophet
The Test of a Prophet
Deut. 16-20
“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. You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
How do we discern faithful preachers from those false in an age of information (and misinformation)? On almost any topic, we can find teachers who proclaim the exact opposite to be true. Some preachers emphasize only the “red Letters” of the New Testament. They argue that if you want to know the absolute truth of Christ, then you focus primarily on the words spoken by Jesus (marked out by the red letters in some Bibles). Others teach that we should examine only the New Testament and those portions of the Old Testament that disagree with our modern morality we should disregard as outdated. Some teach that the whole Bible is the product of men and must be “deconstructed.” We see different preachers teach different truths regarding moral issues today. With all the various viewpoints, how do we discern the true from the false?
In Deuteronomy 18:18-22, God addresses this very question. Throughout history, there have always been people claiming to have insight into God’s will. Some are called by God to be prophets; others are false prophets who give a false message. The same is true today. Some are genuine preachers gifted and sent by God; others are charlatans who proclaim their own message. To discern between them, we find that several passages give us insight. The first begins here in this passage. A genuine prophet does not contradict what God has said. In verse 18, Moses reminds the people that the test of a prophet is their faithfulness to proclaim God’s message. The same is true of preachers and pastors today. The mark of a genuine pastor, sent by God to communicate the message of God to people, is their faithfulness to proclaim God’s message. Paul makes this same point to Timothy when he encourages Timothy to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). A genuine preacher recognizes that the power to change lives and the foundation of all wisdom is found in all scripture (Psalm 119:9-11, Romans 116-17). For the genuine preacher, the Bible is not a message to be deconstructed; it is a message one delights in and to be faithfully proclaimed (Jer. 15:16). It is such a burning desire that they cannot preach anything else, even if it means rejection and ridicule from others (Jer. 20:9).
On the other hand, a false teacher distorts the message by only proclaiming what people want to hear. Instead of confronting sin, they justify it by rejecting God's words. A false teacher would rather appease rather than confront people in sin with the need for repentance, forgiveness, and change (Jeremiah 23:16-17). They preach a popular message designed to gain popularity rather than risk rejection, rebuking, and exhorting people to change to be conformed to Christ (2 Timothy 4:2-5).
The task of those who come to proclaim God’s message is simple: Preach the word with faithfulness, conviction, and clarity. God gives a simple test in Deuteronomy: Does their message conform to God’s message? Do we listen to popular preachers who proclaim a message that makes us feel good and affirms our sinful behavior? Or do we listen to preachers who are prophetic, confronting us with our sins and giving us the hope of salvation? Do they proclaim a message that challenges us to be good by manifesting the character of Christ? The greatest threat to the church today is not from without; it is from within. It is preachers in the pulpit who do not faithfully proclaim God’s Word to confront and conform us to Christ. Instead, they undermine the message of God by justifying our disobedience. The answer to this threat is simple and clear: Have nothing to do with them, for “the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of them.”
Deut. 16-20
“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. You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
How do we discern faithful preachers from those false in an age of information (and misinformation)? On almost any topic, we can find teachers who proclaim the exact opposite to be true. Some preachers emphasize only the “red Letters” of the New Testament. They argue that if you want to know the absolute truth of Christ, then you focus primarily on the words spoken by Jesus (marked out by the red letters in some Bibles). Others teach that we should examine only the New Testament and those portions of the Old Testament that disagree with our modern morality we should disregard as outdated. Some teach that the whole Bible is the product of men and must be “deconstructed.” We see different preachers teach different truths regarding moral issues today. With all the various viewpoints, how do we discern the true from the false?
In Deuteronomy 18:18-22, God addresses this very question. Throughout history, there have always been people claiming to have insight into God’s will. Some are called by God to be prophets; others are false prophets who give a false message. The same is true today. Some are genuine preachers gifted and sent by God; others are charlatans who proclaim their own message. To discern between them, we find that several passages give us insight. The first begins here in this passage. A genuine prophet does not contradict what God has said. In verse 18, Moses reminds the people that the test of a prophet is their faithfulness to proclaim God’s message. The same is true of preachers and pastors today. The mark of a genuine pastor, sent by God to communicate the message of God to people, is their faithfulness to proclaim God’s message. Paul makes this same point to Timothy when he encourages Timothy to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). A genuine preacher recognizes that the power to change lives and the foundation of all wisdom is found in all scripture (Psalm 119:9-11, Romans 116-17). For the genuine preacher, the Bible is not a message to be deconstructed; it is a message one delights in and to be faithfully proclaimed (Jer. 15:16). It is such a burning desire that they cannot preach anything else, even if it means rejection and ridicule from others (Jer. 20:9).
On the other hand, a false teacher distorts the message by only proclaiming what people want to hear. Instead of confronting sin, they justify it by rejecting God's words. A false teacher would rather appease rather than confront people in sin with the need for repentance, forgiveness, and change (Jeremiah 23:16-17). They preach a popular message designed to gain popularity rather than risk rejection, rebuking, and exhorting people to change to be conformed to Christ (2 Timothy 4:2-5).
The task of those who come to proclaim God’s message is simple: Preach the word with faithfulness, conviction, and clarity. God gives a simple test in Deuteronomy: Does their message conform to God’s message? Do we listen to popular preachers who proclaim a message that makes us feel good and affirms our sinful behavior? Or do we listen to preachers who are prophetic, confronting us with our sins and giving us the hope of salvation? Do they proclaim a message that challenges us to be good by manifesting the character of Christ? The greatest threat to the church today is not from without; it is from within. It is preachers in the pulpit who do not faithfully proclaim God’s Word to confront and conform us to Christ. Instead, they undermine the message of God by justifying our disobedience. The answer to this threat is simple and clear: Have nothing to do with them, for “the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of them.”
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