We Need Divine Guidance
What is God making clear to Israel in Deuteronomy 18 when He forbids several vile practices of the nations in Canaan? Very simply put: We need TRUE guidance from God.
Before God shows them how to follow Divine guidance rightly He eliminates the wrong options.
Deuteronomy 18:9–12 (ESV) “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
For as long as humans have been on the Earth, they have acted in ways detrimental to their well being for the sake of inquiring of the spirits beyond. These hideous practices listed here show that humans will do anything to acquire a supernatural "leg up" in life. They offered their sons or daughters in the fire of their "gods". They consulted self-proclaimed fortune tellers. They turned to those who claimed to speak to the dead.
I think it was G. K. Chesterton who said, "When man stops believing in God he does not believe in nothing, he believes in anything." Nothing could be truer. For as Western Civilization turns away from historical orthodox Christian practice, they do not turn only to atheism. A few do for certain but most turn to extreme spiritism of any form to sooth their own spiritual appetite.
This is the human condition. We want supernatural guidance for our own natural advancement. We can take it so far as to eliminate our own children for it's gain. How sad. And what you have being forbidden by God here is both the quest for supernatural enlightenment on the part of the consumer and the offering of supernatural enlightenment on the part of the dealer. For God alone will give them guidance concerning.
So God gives clarity how to hear His guidance.
1. It will come from a brother among them.
Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
The FACT is this Christian: We have our faith today because of Jewish men/women who heard from God. We owe the Jewish people a debt of gratitude for being the vehicles through which our Bibles came into being. The New Testament AND Old Testament books were written by those Prophets among God's people who spoke in God's Name. Their guidance is invaluable and their influence has been immeasurable. That's the power of God-breathed authorship through God's chosen instruments. God raises them up. We do well to listen to the Bible and what God says. The fact that you don't like parts of it is evidence of it's otherness and holy nature.
2. It will call us to account.
Deuteronomy 18:19 (ESV) And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Before God shows them how to follow Divine guidance rightly He eliminates the wrong options.
Deuteronomy 18:9–12 (ESV) “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
For as long as humans have been on the Earth, they have acted in ways detrimental to their well being for the sake of inquiring of the spirits beyond. These hideous practices listed here show that humans will do anything to acquire a supernatural "leg up" in life. They offered their sons or daughters in the fire of their "gods". They consulted self-proclaimed fortune tellers. They turned to those who claimed to speak to the dead.
I think it was G. K. Chesterton who said, "When man stops believing in God he does not believe in nothing, he believes in anything." Nothing could be truer. For as Western Civilization turns away from historical orthodox Christian practice, they do not turn only to atheism. A few do for certain but most turn to extreme spiritism of any form to sooth their own spiritual appetite.
This is the human condition. We want supernatural guidance for our own natural advancement. We can take it so far as to eliminate our own children for it's gain. How sad. And what you have being forbidden by God here is both the quest for supernatural enlightenment on the part of the consumer and the offering of supernatural enlightenment on the part of the dealer. For God alone will give them guidance concerning.
So God gives clarity how to hear His guidance.
1. It will come from a brother among them.
Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
The FACT is this Christian: We have our faith today because of Jewish men/women who heard from God. We owe the Jewish people a debt of gratitude for being the vehicles through which our Bibles came into being. The New Testament AND Old Testament books were written by those Prophets among God's people who spoke in God's Name. Their guidance is invaluable and their influence has been immeasurable. That's the power of God-breathed authorship through God's chosen instruments. God raises them up. We do well to listen to the Bible and what God says. The fact that you don't like parts of it is evidence of it's otherness and holy nature.
2. It will call us to account.
Deuteronomy 18:19 (ESV) And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
We do not hear from God simply for our pleasure. Some people like to listen to good preaching. They even compare preachers as if they were athletes or celebrities. We can love good preaching and still NOT do anything commended in the sermons. God says in verse 19 that we are accountable to what His prophets speak. Do not go to the Bible for self-advancement endeavors. Go to God's Word for life transformation through actions in line with His guidance.
3. It will be tested and measured for results.
Deuteronomy 18:20–22 (ESV) But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
The people of Israel were not to be naive! I love the alignment here. God is expecting His people to be discerning and thoughtful when it comes to those who would offer Divine guidance. How often this very basic idea is skipped by the people of God. Jesus warned consistently about false teachers. Paul, Peter and John also gave clear instructions to refuse to listen to those who mislead us from God. How many cult followers have paid dearly because of their own ignorance? Here in Deuteronomy 18 we learn that God's guidance is so important, we cannot simply grasp for anyone to give it; we must be careful and considerate to apprehend it.
And then we will know what God has said and be blessed when we do it.
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