DEUT934 On any given matter, how can we know what the will of God is? A number of the biblical leaders simply asked God and received what were, to their minds, clear and dependable answers. (See, for example, Leviticus 24:10-23 and Numbers 15:32-36, 27:1-11). Already in biblical times, though, people were not sure how to distinguish a true prophet from a false one, for absolutely anyone could claim that a given position was not only his or her own opinion but was rather a message from God. This was not just a theoretical possibility; Jeremiah, in particular, complains often and bitterly of an abundance of false prophets misleading the people. [Jeremiah 6:13-15, 14:4, 23:23-40, 27:9-18, 28:1-17, and 29:21-32. To make matters worse yet, a true prophet might be misled by a false one (1 Kings 13), and a false prophet might even be inspired by God to deceive and entice Israel (1 Kings 22:21ff. God might even seduce a true prophet to deliver a false message (Ezekiel 14:9-11).] The Book of Deuteronomy twice tries to suggest a way to discern the difference between true and false prophets, once claiming that true prophets are known by their ability to predict what will happen (Deuteronomy 18:9-22) and the other time proclaiming that true prophets are those who simply reinforce their traditional adherence to God (Deuteronomy 13:1-6). But the latter criterion reduces prophets to good preachers, for no true prophet, by that measure, can tell us anything new. Moreover, although the biblical prophets certainly do not suggest that Jews worship other Gods, a number of them do announced new rules. 23 The other criterion for true prophecy-- that the prophet foretells events correctly-- also fails as a test, for according to the Bible's own testimony, several of the prophets accepted as true predict things that do not come to be. 24 [Continued at [[EXOD350]] Exodus 20:1 all DORFFDRAG 41-2].
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