15 " The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen , you shall listen to him. 16 "This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly , saying , 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God , let me not see this great fire anymore , or I will die .' 17 " The Lord said to me, 'They have spoken well . 18 'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth , and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ' It shall come about that whoever e will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name , I Myself will require it of him. 20 'But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak , or which he speaks in the name of other gods , that prophet shall die .' 21 "You may say in your heart , 'How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken ?' 22 " When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord , if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken . The prophet has spoken it presumptuously ; you shall not be afraid of him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-22
(Read Deuteronomy 18:15-22)
It is here promised concerning Christ, that there should come a Prophet, great above all the prophets; by whom God would make known himself and his will to the children of men, more fully and clearly than he had ever done before. He is the Light of the world, John 12:48. Woe then to those who refuse to hearken to His voice, to accept His salvation, or yield obedience to His sway! But happy they who trust in Him, and obey Him. He will lead them in the paths of safety and peace, until He brings them to the land of perfect light, purity, and happiness. Here is a caution against false prophets. It highly concerns us to have a right touchstone wherewith to try the word we hear, that we may know what that word is which the Lord has not spoken. Whatever is against the plain sense of the written word, or which gives countenance or encouragement to sin, we may be sure is not that which the Lord has spoken.