Proper 4 (OT)

Deuteronomy 18:15-22

¹⁵ “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— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. ¹⁹ And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. ²⁰ 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.

I have often wondered how long you are to wait for the word to come true? What about Jonah, didn’t he say the city of Nineveh would be destroyed? Does a Prophet always speak the Word of the LORD or can he wager on a horse race and lose? Many have set forth the requirement of a true prophet, to always be correct.

I would never claim to be a prophet, because I know that I am a sinner. I have erred in the past, and I am certain that I will err in the future. All Christians still are called to proclaim the Word of God. They are to proclaim Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of sins. They are to lead holy lives.

If the requirements of a prophet are to always speak the truth, then who can be a prophet? If the requirements of a Christian are to be holy, then who is able to become a Christian? All have fallen short of the glory of God.

Jesus Christ is Holy and also a true prophet. He is the one who takes our place in punishment. Jesus gives us his place, as he has redeemed you. We do not become Christians, but Christ makes us Christians.