The Book of Deuteronomy is a
second giving of the law to Moses. The law is given immediately prior to the
crossing of the river Jordan and Israel’s entry into the land promised to its
ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a second giving as the first giving
was set out in the terms of the covenant concluded between Moses and God on
Mount Sinai, on behalf of the people of Israel, immediately after their
delivery from slavery in Egypt.
In Deuteronomy Moses is
fleshing out the law already given.
One of the themes that emerges
from Deuteronomy is that once the people of Israel have finally crossed the
Jordan, the leadership of Israel would be made up of four distinct groups –
Kings, Judges, Priests and Prophets. And in the next few books of the Old
Testament, the Hebrew Bible, we see these groups featuring.
But this morning I want us
to think about one of those groups, the prophets.
Broadly speaking from this
time onwards, and as the people entered the promised land, prophets figured
largely. We only have to look at the Hebrew Bible to see them – great prophets such
as Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, then Daniel and Ezekiel; and others who are
termed “minor prophets” such as Amos, Hosea and Micah.
Prophets consistently, and
regularly, appeared. They were often – though not always – charismatic,
eloquent speakers and preachers. To outsiders and opponents, prophets appeared
to be self - appointed speakers, but to their followers they were seen as God - appointed revealers of truth.
Prophets were generally held
in high regard because they shared truth from God alone. They presented
themselves as the very mouth of God to speak to Israel.
But throughout the time of
the prophets there was an important bench mark. And that is what Moses said in
Deuteronomy 18:15
15 The Lord your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow
Israelites. You must listen to him. Deuteronomy 18: 15
raise up for you a prophet like me
In other words, for a prophet to be regarded as authentic,
the prophet needed to be “like Moses”. They had to be native Israelites and the
important part being that prophets must be like Moses, meaning that the
teaching of a prophet must accord with the words and spirit of Moses.
As Christians of course, we interpret the words
spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 15 as a pointer to the coming of Christ. An idea
that comes up in Matthew 16:13-20
13 When Jesus came to the
region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say
the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John
the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the
prophets.”
Though
when Jesus presses Peter
15 “But what about
you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You
are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
The words of Moses point to
Jesus who was greater than a prophet of course.
Though interestingly in his
gospel John draws several analogies between Jesus and Moses. But that’s for
another time.
What is a prophet?
Chambers dictionary tells us
that a prophet is “someone who speaks on behalf of a deity; Someone who
proclaims a divine message; an inspired teacher, preacher or poet; Someone who
speaks on behalf of a group, movement or doctrine; A foreteller, whether
claiming to be inspired or not;”
That’s what a prophet is.
But Where are the prophets now? Or did God stop using prophets after
Jesus? Well clearly not. We might refer to the likes of Paul as an Apostle but
he proclaimed a divine message. And over the centuries countless other Christians
have been prophetic too.
The trouble is I feel we
tend to associate prophets with the dramatic. And in our age sadly many of
those who claim to be prophets are no such things. For example you may have
seen some news reports a few weeks ago about Pastor T B Joshua who ran a mega
church in Lagos Nigeria. He claimed to be a prophet but his “ministry” involved
the sexual abuse of many vulnerable women.
I like something American minister
Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ in a run down area of
Chicago said “There ain’t no prophet in the written record who is a pastor
of a megachurch”.
It's worth remembering once
again those words spoken by Moses
15 The Lord your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me
Prophets must be like Moses. And I would add as
Christians, we should expect prophets to share the message and values of Jesus Christ.
Being like Moses, or being like Christ, means that a prophet’s words must be
like the words and spirit of Moses and Jesus.
Where are the prophets?
I suspect there are few here
this morning old enough to remember Simon & Garfunkel’s song “The Sound of
Silence”. If you do remember it that song contained a line “The words of the
prophets are written on the subway walls”. I don’t know what Simon & Garfunkel
meant by that line. But for me it has been an indication that we can find words
of prophecy in unlikely places and spoken by unlikely people. In other words,
God can speak to us in ways we may find unlikely, through people we may find
unlikely. After all, he spoke to Moses through a burning bush which is hardly a
normal form of communication – even back then!
I would suggest that God can
sometimes use people to be prophets even if they don’t know it. You may have
views on the climate emergency affecting the world now. But someone like Greta Thunberg
I’d suggest is a prophet. She brings a message that is a reminder from God that
we as his people are custodians of his planet. Likewise Sir David Attenborough whose
Blue Planet programme featuring plastic waste in the oceans did so much to
raise this issue.
And talking of the words of
the prophets on subway walls, the artist Banksy’s paintings have often said so
much. Such as this one in the West Bank of Palestine:
But if we accept that
prophets can be unlikely people, in unlikely places and at unlikely times, how
do we determine if someone really is bringing us a word from God? A God - given
insight?
As Jesus says in
Matthew 7
15 “Watch out for
false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they
are ferocious wolves. 16 By
their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
We go back to the words of Moses
in Deuteronomy God will raise up for you a prophet like me. Is the “prophet”
speaking in manner that is compatible with Moses or more importantly compatible
with Jesus? That is the test.
The second factor for acknowledging a true
prophet, as far as the passage in Deuteronomy is concerned is whether the prophet’s
messages should be proved true by the actual outcome of events.
21 You may say to
yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of
the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message
the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken
presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
Of course this is
rather unhelpful; since prophecies might take the form of warnings, it may be
of little assistance to find that such warnings were true when it was too late
to heed the message!
Didache, a short book on
Christian behaviour and church practice from the 2nd century tell us “The
false and the genuine prophet will be known by their ways. If a prophet teaches
the truth but does not practise what he teaches, he is a false prophet.”
But what of now? Where are
the prophets now?
Antoinette Doolittle 19th century American writer said:
“every time has its prophets as guiding stars;
They are the burning candles of the Lord to light the spiritual temple on
earth, for the time being. When they have sown their work they will pass away;
But the candle sticks will remain, and other lights will be placed on them.”
Who replaces the prophetic
candles that have burned out? Who takes their place on the prophetic candlesticks?
Where are the prophets? Look
around you. Here are the prophets. Each one of us can be prophetic. We can and must speak of Christlike values. We can and must voice our concerns at injustices.
As Christians we are called
to be prophetic. To speak into the age we live in. To speak up for the values
of Christ and challenge those things and values that aren’t Christ like.
Cardinal Basil Hume
Archbishop of Westminster once said:
“whenever the poor are afflicted or
neglected, or whenever human freedom and dignity is not respected, then the
church has a duty to sound a prophet’s note, and it must be prepared to be
unpopular on matters which concern politicians as well.”
Where are the prophets?
