Prophetic Standards—Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 4B (Deuteronomy 18)

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. ¹⁶ This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ Then the Lord replied to me, ‘They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. ¹⁹ Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. ²⁰ But any prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’

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                Deuteronomy offers to the people Moses’ last instructions before his passing so that the people may know what is expected of them as they enter the Promised Land. At least that’s the basic message of the book. Of course, these aren’t the actual words of Moses. Nevertheless, they speak to how the people of Judah (Israel) seek to define themselves. One of the key elements of life in Israel was the regular appearance of prophets. Since most prophets emerged from among the people without apparent credentials they could be judged only on the quality of their pronouncements. Just to be on the safe side, there were severe penalties in place to deter false prophets from arising. It should be noted that even the “good” prophets often died horrific deaths. At least in principle, however, there were standards in place so that the people could discern truth from untruth. It’s something that perhaps is needed in our moment in time (just saying).

                So, according to the narrative in Deuteronomy, as the people prepare to cross the river without Moses, they are wondering who will speak for God. That’s not the job of the priests. They have a different set of duties that are liturgical in purpose. Prophets are more often free agents. They appear when necessary to speak for God in particular situations. Moses has already warned against such practices as divination and magic. Instead, they are to remain completely loyal to God and not pay attention to soothsayers and diviners, who they will encounter in the land they will enter. As for who will speak for God, Moses tells them that God will provide a spokesperson. That person will arise from within the community. When that person emerges, Moses tells the people to heed their voice. After all, this is what they requested of God at Mount Horeb since they were too afraid to hear or see signs of God’s presence in person. They wanted a mediator. God promised to do so, to provide the required mediator who will be like Moses. God promises to speak to the people through prophets, putting the appropriate words in their mouths. Those in the community who do not heed these words of God’s prophet will be held accountable.

                Moses delivers another warning to the people. While God will hold them accountable to obey the words/commands of God’s prophets, they will need to be discerning. That’s because not everyone who claims to speak for God is God’s representative. The closing word of our reading is quite clear as to what must happen, should someone claim to speak for God but deliver a different word. So, “any prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die” (Deut. 18:20). Now, that sounds rather harsh, but remember that this word is intended to guide a people who live in the midst of many competing voices (does that sound familiar?), they needed to be careful.

                The reading ends with verse 20, but the chapter continues, and it deals with the question of discernment. The people ask a good question. They want to know how they are to determine if a prophet is speaking a word from God if the person claims to speak for God. Moses, speaking on behalf of God, tells them “If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it” (Deut. 18:21-22). Now, you might respond by asking what that involves. Moses doesn’t give us any further clarification, so we remain somewhat in the dark. Besides, if we look at the prophetic books we see that the fulfillment of a prophetic word might not be immediately apparent. As the concluding word from Deuteronomy reveals, no prophet like Moses will ever appear. He is unique, despite the promise made here, since only Moses saw God face to face (Deut. 34:10). In other words, Moses had a level of intimacy that was not repeated, at least not until Jesus appeared (Matt 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:23-36), something early Christians recognized.  

                The message that Moses delivers here is, as John Holbert notes, “A true prophet’s words must be matched by deeds. If love is the central criterion for relationships between humanity and God, between humans and other humans, and between all parts of God’s creation, then true prophets are those who speak and live such realities” [Connections, p. 215].  I believe Holbert is correct. If love is the defining characteristic of God’s nature then words that express that love would seem to fit the desired criterion. Now, that doesn’t mean a prophet won’t deliver a harsh word, but ultimately it will express God’s love for the world. The important thing to note here is that we are called to heed words that come from God, while reminded that everyone who claims to speak for God is doing so. So, let us be discerning, for as Paul reminded the Thessalonian church: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:19-22].

                So, how might we hear this word today? Who are the prophets? We might think in terms of people like William Barber, who seems to have taken upon himself the mantle of Martin Luther King, who is seen as being prophetic. We hear clergy claim that when they address social justice issues, they too are acting prophetically. I agree to an extent with this claim; however, we need to be careful in making our claims. Walter Brueggemann suggests that most preachers in congregational settings should see themselves more as scribes than as prophets, in that “the preacher-scribe is not cast as a prophet but as a handler of the prophetic tradition who brings to availability a treasure of what is old (tradition) and what is new (contemporaneity)” [Brueggemann, The Practice of Prophetic Imagination, (p. 2 kindle)]. We who are preachers, if we see ourselves in this role, might share important words that speak to contemporary concerns without projecting an air of importance that has not been earned. We are called to speak to matters of justice, but our words, as Brueggemann reminds us, are to be rooted in the text rather than claiming a special word from God. Karl Barth is correct in reminding us that when we preach the Gospel that is rooted in Scripture and points to Jesus, who is the Word of God incarnate, then the sermon becomes a word of God. To say this is not to say that one’s sermon is equivalent to scripture or to Jesus, but simply that God can use our words to speak the truth when we root our words in scripture and point to Jesus who is the Logos of God (John 1:1-18) [See my book The Authority of Scripture in a Postmodern Age: Some Help from Karl Barth].

I hesitate, in my own preaching, to claim the mantle of the prophet, not only because I don’t want to be accountable for my words in the way suggested by Deuteronomy 18, but because I find that to do so would be a bit pretentious. Nevertheless, in a sense to preach, to proclaim the gospel, is to be a prophet [I discuss the gift of prophet in my Unfettered Spirit, pp. 115-119]. As Brueggemann points out “prophetic preaching, ancient or contemporary, is in a contest of competing imaginations—a contest between old Torah imagination that features YHWH as character and agent and the dominant imagination that predictably assimilates God into its powerful socio-political claims.” [Brueggemann, The Practice of Prophetic Imagination (Kindle p. 27)]. To preach the gospel will challenge the dominant imagination, and that can be scary especially when you as a preacher earn a living and even support your family on what the church pays you. Unfortunately, simply pointing to scripture as many a preacher has done may not save your skin!  Yet, as Deuteronomy reminds us, the people did want to hear a word from God. Thus, the contemporary preacher has a unique opportunity but also a tremendous responsibility to deliver a word that is rooted in truth.

As we ponder the implications of this passage for our current moment, knowing that the world is in need of hearing a word from God, it behooves us to be attentive to those who are gifted and empowered to speak. But let us also remember that the promise of Deuteronomy 18 is that this word will come from prophets who emerge from the people. So, it might not always be the profession who will share a word from God, so let us always be attentive and discerning so we don’t miss that word. As for the preachers, well we might want to come to the pulpit with the words from Psalm 19 on our hearts and our lips: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm19:14). With that prayer in mind and in closing, we can take heed of this word from Walter Brueggemann:

I have insisted that the prophetic is not, contrary to some conservative views, a matter of prediction. Nor is it, contrary to some liberal views, a nagging or a scolding or righteous indignation about social justice. It is, rather, a sustained effort to imagine the world as though YHWH were a real character and the defining agent in the life of the world. [The Practice of Prophetic Imagination (Kindle p. 132)].