Just as Deuteronomy 17:14-20 speaks of legitimate political authorities, Deuteronomy 18 follows with some commentaries on legitimate and illegitimate religious authorities. As this chapter appears to be evenly balanced between pointing to obligations to obey legitimate authorities and to punish those who illegitimately place themselves as authorities, let us examine this particular chapter in its entirety to examine what the Bible says about the importance of legitimacy in religious matters, as it is an aspect of the spiritual war between the godly and ungodly.
As the chapter itself divides nicely into four passages, we will examine each of them in turn as they deal with a different sort of authority. Chapter 18 opens with an examination of the responsibility to provide for priests and Levites, then follows with a condemnation of fortune tellers, witches, or spiritists. Then the chapter continues with a prophecy of there being a prophet like Moses to come, followed by the condemnation of false prophets who place themselves up as authorities. Let us now examine each passage individually, in light of their whole context as expressing a distinction between godly and ungodly authorities.
The Obligation to Support Priests and Levites, and the Ministry
Deuteronomy 18:1-8 examines the obligation of Israelites to support the Priests and the Levites. These verses read as follows: “The priests, the Levites–all the tribe of Levi–shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion. Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them. And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever. So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and com es with all the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord chooses, then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.”
Let us examine what this verse says. For one, it says that a Levite is not intended to have an inheritance among the brethren, is not to become wealthy owning land and property because His sustenance is to come from the Lord and not through the ownership of farmland. Nonetheless, because Levites were to settle in towns, they were to own modest homes, that if they moved to serve God in the place where He chooses His name (such as Jerusalem, for example), he was to enjoy an equal portion with his fellow Levites as well as the proceeds from his property sale. It is interesting to note that the Levites were intended to have an equal portion among them, rather than there being a hierarchy among them of some well-favored Levites having a large portion and other Levites having a smaller portion. Instead, they are all to have an equal portion, specifically set by God here.
This is one of the chapters that sets the terms and the reasons for the tithe. As the Priests and the Levites are bound to serving the brethren (that is what ministering means here and elsewhere in the Bible), they are to be provided with the means for an honest and honorable living (though hardly an extravagant one) through their faithful service to their brethren. This appears to be as valid in the New Covenant as it is here in the Mosaic covenant, though Paul was not demanding in receiving this pay, though he did state his right to demand from them in 1 Corinthians 9:12-14: “If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the holy things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.”
Despite the fact that there is no official priesthood in the Church of God (apart from the spiritual and eternal Melchizedek priesthood for which all brethren are in training), the ministry of the Church still has the right to make a decent living as a minister from the titles and offerings of the brethren, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, showing this law to still be in effect with regards to our obligation to provide for those who perform official spiritual service to their brethren.
The Abomination of False Religious Practices
In contrast to this divine command to provide for the godly and ordained religious leadership of Israel, Deuteronomy 18:10-14 gives a harsh condemnation of abominable religious practices that are still known in our own times, and which bring from God a harsh judgment on the land. As it reads: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before teh Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.”
In contrast to the divinely ordained religious leadership that God provided to Israel with Priests and Levites, the Bible harshly condemns all manner of false religious authorities that the heathen followed, witches and sorcerers and the like, who read palms or tarot cards or call up the dead in seances. The wicked practices of psychics and the like are condemned by God as an abomination, and as one of the reasons why the Canaanites were dispossessed from their land. God’s view of these practices has not changed since He condemned them here, as true for wiccans today as they were for the followers of Baal and Ashtoreth some 3500 years ago when Israel first encountered these practices in the Promised Land.
It is noteworthy, and lamentable, that these practices became a snare to Israel, as the later prophets continually lament. The dabbling by Israel into these debased religious practices was one reason why Israel and Judah were themselves cast out of the land and into captivity. The standards of God are eternal, and remain applicable for us today, for we too will be judged if we dabble in the religious practices of the heathen or consider it acceptable to worship the God who demands to be worshiped in spirit and in truth with such abominations. God will not be mocked, and he condemns all such practices as worthy of destruction, placing them under the ban [1].
A Prophet Like Moses
After placing this condemnation upon the religious practices of the heathen, Deuteronomy 18:15-19 returns to the theme of obligation, in this particular case of listening to the prophet like Moses who was to come. As it reads: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly saying, “Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.” And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My word, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.”
Let us briefly return to Exodus 20:18-21 to read the context of what God is saying here: “Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.” So we see here that the visible power and presence of God terrified the Israelites, who rather than showing proper respect and awe of the power of God, were afraid that God came to kill them instead of desiring a personal relationship with them. Israel insisted that Moses be their mediator because they were unwilling to speak with God themselves.
It is in serving as a mediator between God and humanity and an authoritative expounder of the Law of God that Jesus is portrayed here. Let us note that both his serving as the mediator between God and man as well as His righteous defense of the applicability of the law of God are both clearly shown in scripture. As it says in Matthew 5:17-20: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away not one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” These are very strong words–and yet many (perhaps most) of those who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ falsely believe that he came to destroy the Law and the Prophets, to make the law obsolete. This is not so–His very purpose was to expound and purify the law from the corruption of human traditions (many of which later became part of the Talmud) that had obscured the original purposes, intents, and instructions of God.
Likewise, Jesus’ position as the Mediator between God and man, as the High Priest according to Melchizedek, who judged the rebellious host of Israel as wanting for their lack of faith [2] but who serves as a compassionate high priest to repentant sinners [3] is also well known, and discussed in Hebrews 4:14-16: “Seing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This provision of Jesus Christ as our High Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek [4] is itself an answer to the prayer of Job for a mediator so long ago, in Job 23:2-7: “Even today my complaint is bitter; My hand is listless because of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might Him, That I might to His seat! I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me. Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me. There the upright could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.” In the office of righteous mediator and High priest, Jesus serves to deliver us through His sacrifice from judgment who call upon His name and worship and obey Him. The prayers of Job and the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 are therefore answered in the person of Jesus Christ.
False Prophets Condemned
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 closes with a very severe condemnation of false prophets: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’–when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
This is a very serious condemnation and it is worthy of some examination. As opposed to our obligation to obey Jesus Christ, the prophet who is to come like Moses, there is an obligation for the death penalty to be inflicted on false prophets. There are two tests given for false prophets: they preach “other gods” or their prophecies do not come to pass. Now, many of us (myself included) ponder events and speculate as to what may occur [5] [6] [7] without any kind of assumption that we have a divinely inspired ability to see the future. However, there are others who consider themselves to be anointed by God as prophets, and who make false prophets and seek a following after themselves, considering themselves one of the two witnesses or something of that nature. Such people are false prophets whose prophecies of Iran serving as King of the South or who set dates for the return of Christ that inevitably fail, and such false prophets are worthy of death, having spoken presumptuously without the spirit of prophecy within them.
Despite the fact that false prophets of various sorts are distressingly common within our midst, discrediting the faith of those who believe them in error, we know that God has declared war on false prophets and that they will be eliminated once and for all from our midst in the world to come. Let us all take comfort in the prophecy of Zechariah, which states in Zechariah 13:1-6: “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness. “It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother, who begot him, will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother will thrust him through when he prophesies. And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’ And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’ Let us take comfort in these words knowing that false prophets will be condemned to death for speaking lies in the name of God.
Conclusion
We see here in Deuteronomy 18 a balance between the command to obey those legitimate authorities ordained by God (the Priests and Levites, Jesus Christ) and to put to death false religious authorities who speak lies in God’s name (false prophets) or who practice abominations like fortune telling or presuming to speak with the spirit world. In this way we see God’s balancing the requirement to respect authority with the declaration of war on those who are His enemies, whether by presuming themselves to be His ordained prophets without having received such commission or through practicing abominations as if they were proper ways of worship. We see here that God’s standards provide both for mercy and judgment, for both respect for authority as well as warfare against evil. Let us therefore remember to worship God in the manner He commands, and to obey those who are legitimate authorities, and not to be caught up in rebellion to His ways by following false leaders who practice lies and deception and pretend to be godly authorities. The choice is ours to make on whether we will follow God or not.
[6] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/does-north-korea-need-a-bully-beatdown/
[7] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/scrounge-4-gold-history-repeating-itself/
Edge Induced Cohesion 
I was reading about Abemelech today in Judges 9. It’s a parable of perfection as well. I can defintely see that in the sense of leadership. It’s cautionary to avoid racing ahead of what God’s will is. I also liked what ucg.org commentary had to say about judges 9 also. The commentary there talked about how wickedness will expose itself after time by the very nature of it. I liken that to the bramble in the parable which was the ruler at the time, Abmelech. I also liked thinking about the different types of gifts people have in being olive trees, fig trees, wine/grape vinetrees, and then I thought about how if the bramble gets set on fire that it can take down all the trees swiftly. Scary.
On another note, getting into power: It was also interesting how Abemeleck used political moves, PR moves , raising funding, etc to create the appearance that he was a king. There are lessons in this.
But at the same time when evil strikes, God can work with that and bend it so that the right outcome happens eventually anyways. Every generation needs to make the choice for themselves. They’ll come to terms the benefits of the previous generations good or bad choices that went before them and they will set the stage for generations to come.
It’s easy to take for granted taht we dont have to do our own studying and watching in our own lives when the leadership is good. I heard an ABC class that mentioned that people in any point of history generally will be under the leadership that they deserve. I kind of thought about the work supervisors I have had through the years. It is very interesting to paralell their weaknesses with where I was at spiritually.
Thank you for your post. I like reading your blog
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I happen to believe that issues of legitimacy and the standard of behavior happens to be obedience to God whether one is dealing with political leadership (as in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, as well as Judges 9, about which I do plan on writing eventually in my own series on the biblical way of war), so your comment is very appropriate and very appreciated. We do indeed get the leaders we deserve, and God has a standard of behavior both for civil and religious leaders that has remained consistent throughout history and that remains in force. We indeed ought to be careful of the political machinations of the wicked, in whatever realm they are operating (whether in families, in churches, in businesses, or in civil government). But God has not left us without the ability or means to discern such evil behavior either.
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( I know my post is not exactly what you were talking about but it parallels the conceptual item of religious authority)
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