Deuteronomy · chapter 18 of 34
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Deuteronomy 18 states that the Levitical priests will have no land inheritance, because the Lord himself is their inheritance, and they will live from the people's offerings. Moses then forbids the occult practices of the nations of Canaan and promises that God will raise up a prophet like him, whom Israel must heed. The chapter ends with how to recognize a false prophet.
Moses is on the plains of Moab, with Israel about to enter Canaan, and he reviews the laws that will order the people's life in the land. After the laws on judges and kings (Deuteronomy 16-17), chapter 18 turns to the other servants of God's people: priests and prophets. It makes clear whom Israel is to listen to and whom it is not.
Moses begins with the Levitical priests. The tribe of Levi will receive no portion of land like the other tribes; the Lord is their inheritance. They will live from portions of the sacrifices, from the firstfruits of grain, wine and oil, and from the first wool of the sheep. A Levite living in any town of Israel who wants to serve at the place the Lord chooses may do so and share equally with his brothers.
Moses then warns that, once in the land, Israel must not imitate the abominations of the nations. He lists what is forbidden: making children pass through the fire, divination, sorcery, omens, witchcraft, spells, consulting mediums and spiritists, and seeking the dead. God is driving out those nations precisely because of these practices, and his people must be blameless before him.
Instead of diviners, God will give Israel prophets. Moses recalls that at Horeb the people, terrified by God's voice, asked never to hear it directly again. The Lord promises to raise up from among their brothers a prophet like Moses, put his words in his mouth, and hold accountable anyone who does not listen. But a prophet who speaks in God's name something God has not commanded, or who speaks in the name of other gods, will die. If someone asks how to recognize a word the Lord has not spoken, the sign is that what is announced in the Lord's name does not come true; that prophet spoke presumptuously and is not to be feared.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Levites will have no inheritance among their brothers because the Lord is their inheritance. The tribe that serves God receives no land, but something greater: living from his presence and provision.
Moses lists the practices Israel must not take from the nations, from sacrificing children to consulting the dead, and calls them an abomination to the Lord. Seeking guidance outside his word is a form of unfaithfulness.
God will raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people, and he must be heeded. The New Testament sees Jesus Christ in this promise, though in its own time it also described the line of prophets God would send to Israel.
If a prophet speaks in the Lord's name and what he announces does not happen, that word did not come from God. It is a simple test that protects the people from deceit and shows that the Lord guards his truth from human presumption.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Because the Lord was their inheritance; they lived from the people's offerings. — Deuteronomy 18:1-2
Answer: Making children pass through the fire, divination, sorcery, omens, witchcraft, spells, and consulting mediums, spiritists or the dead. — Deuteronomy 18:10-11
Answer: Because of these abominations, which the Lord detests. — Deuteronomy 18:12
Answer: They asked not to hear God's voice again or see the great fire any more, so that they would not die. — Deuteronomy 18:16
Answer: He will put them in his mouth, and the prophet will tell the people everything God commands. — Deuteronomy 18:18
Answer: When what is announced in the Lord's name does not come about or come true. — Deuteronomy 18:22
Deuteronomy 18 asks where we look for guidance. The forms have changed today: horoscopes, spiritual consultations, readings of the future. But the question is the one Moses asked: do we trust the word God has given, or do we seek answers elsewhere? In a small group you can talk honestly about curiosity toward these things and return to Scripture as the source of direction.
It also teaches us to support those who serve in the church, as the Levites were supported, and to examine carefully anyone who claims to speak for God. A good teacher or preacher is measured by faithfulness to the Word, not by charisma. And for Christians, the prophet like Moses is Jesus, whom the Father commanded us to hear.
Deuteronomy 18 makes clear who serves and who speaks in God's name: priests supported by the people and prophets whose word is tested. With that in place, chapter 19 turns to another way of protecting life and justice in the land: the cities of refuge.
In its original setting, the promise describes the series of prophets God would raise up to speak to the people in place of diviners. The New Testament applies it explicitly to Jesus, the prophet who speaks the Father's words fully, and Christians read it that way without denying the earlier sense.
It refers to a worship practice of the Canaanite nations that involved offering children to their gods, and the Bible condemns it as one of the worst abominations. God forbids Israel from taking part in it in any way.
This chapter gives the test of fulfillment, but Deuteronomy 13 adds that a message leading people to follow other gods must be rejected even if a sign comes true. A true word must agree with what God has already revealed and with the fruit of faithfulness it produces.