Joel M Bradshaw

1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.–Deuteronomy 13

Israel was in an early state with God. Some trusted him and others did not. Almost none of the people entering the Promised Land had seen the Ten Plagues in Egypt. That generation had all but died off. Was Yahweh the one true God? Was he supreme and powerful in a way that other objects of worship were not? Egypt had other gods. What about Canaan?

So Moses painted a scenario where a prophet comes on the scene and works a miracle. That word for ‘miracle’ was the same as when God showed Aaron in Exodus 7 that his staff could become a snake. So these are serious miracles here. A guy works a miracle or gave a prophecy that came true. Now he had you. Now Israel would be tempted to listen further. This had to be one of God’s guys, right? Well, no. For now he was saying to follow after other gods. This chapter gave specific instructions on what to do in that scenario. So what do we learn here?

1. God was not surprised by any of this. Remember God tested Israel’s heart for their sake and knowledge. They needed to know that they had strayed from him. These incidents revealed rebellion and motivations.
2. This was not an open-relationship. Yahweh was exclusively their God. They were to walk with him, fear him, hold fast to him, serve him, obey him, and keep his commandments. They weren’t wander off to other exciting things. Worship is not a buffet where you can try one item this time and another later.
3. Obeying God’s voice means knowing God. And the same God who famously said, “You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3)” would NOT have a miracle worker be his prophet who was enticing others to follow someone else. During this time, they had two tablets and the words of Moses that he was recording. During our time, we have the Bible. The Bible is complete and is all we need.
4. Some read these words in our passage today and then start listening for voices. In the Bible, you have the very words of God. They are objective and a rock for your life. Listening for other voices brings subjectivity into things. You could hear a voice and your friend could hear another voice. Both voices could say things that came true. But then what do you do with that? They could both be wrong, but they couldn’t both be right. By what standard do you orient your life? That very question invites a need for objectivity.
5. Just because a voice sounds true and says things that appear to be the right path, DOESN’T mean it is from God. In this case, the message is more important than the messenger, for we can filter a prophet’s words through what God has already given us in the Bible. Some are tempted today to look to the prophetic voices out there. They go to video platforms that have streams and videos. They invite God to speak to them with their Bible closed. They want an experience just for themselves. They long to connect with spiritual things in a way that brings enlightenment and direction that is NEW and SPECIAL. But the Bible stays closed.
6. There is a great difference between saying “God, please speak to me” with your Bible open and with your Bible closed.
7. Either the Bible is sufficiently God’s Word or it is not. And if you believe it is not, what are you communicating about God and his sufficiency? Why would God expect Israel to follow a miracle worker who preached other gods? In the same light, why would the very God who has spoken objectively in the Bible invite subjective experiences that nobody can prove to be in addition?–JMB