Deuteronomy 18

This chapter is the final part of the regulations concerning "the offices that lead Israel," which begin at Deuteronomy 16:18. Following the judges and the king in Deuteronomy 17, this chapter addresses the priests and Levites and then the prophet.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 The tribe of Levi receives no land as an inheritance (a portion passed down from generation to generation). The LORD is their inheritance, and the priests' due consists of the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the maw of the sacrifices, together with the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, and fleece.
• Verses 6–8 A Levite from any town who comes to the place the LORD has chosen may minister like his fellow Levites and receive an equal portion.
• Verses 9–14 Making a son or daughter pass through the fire is forbidden, as are divination, observing times, enchantment, witchcraft, charming, consulting familiar spirits, wizardry, and necromancy.
• Verses 15–19 Recalling how the people at Mount Horeb feared to hear God's voice directly, God promises to raise up a prophet like Moses and to put His words in that prophet's mouth.
• Verses 20–22 A prophet who speaks a word God has not commanded, or who speaks in the name of other gods, shall die. If what he says does not come to pass, it is not a word the LORD has spoken.

Key Verses

• Deuteronomy 18:10–11 "There shall not be found among you … a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer" — the principal passage forbidding divination and spiritism (the practice of calling up spirits).
• Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet … like unto me" — a promise the New Testament applies to Jesus.
• Deuteronomy 18:22 "If the thing follow not, nor come to pass … the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously" — the criterion for identifying false prophecy.

People and Places

• Moses: The speaker who delivers the entire chapter to the people.
• Levites and priests: The tribe that lives on offerings and firstfruits rather than on land.
• Prophet: One who receives the word of God and proclaims it.
• Mount Horeb: The mountain where the Law was given, commonly regarded as the same place as Mount Sinai.
• The place the LORD has chosen: The central sanctuary where all Israel gathers for worship.

Points for Reflection

• Jewish tradition reads the "prophet" of verse 15 as referring to the whole succession of prophets who would follow Moses. Christianity, following Acts 3 (verses 22–23) and Acts 7 (verse 37), reads it as fulfilled in Jesus and counts the verse among the messianic prophecies. Many commentators accept both interpretations together. The question in John 1:21, "Art thou that prophet?", also has this promise as its background.
• The criterion in verse 22 is a negative one: a prophecy that does not come to pass is false. Deuteronomy 13 adds that even if a sign comes to pass, a prophet who leads people to follow other gods is a false prophet.
• Although the text does not name a deity, the practice in verse 10 of "passing through the fire" is commonly explained as a custom associated with the worship of Molech.

In the Korean Church

Because the Korean Revised Version renders the diviners of this chapter with native Korean terms such as mudang (shaman) and baksu (male shaman), Korean churches frequently cite this chapter as the basis for teaching believers to avoid fortune-telling, saju (four-pillars fortune-telling), and gut (shamanic rituals). Verse 22 is also cited when discerning unfulfilled prophecies, such as date-setting predictions of the end times.