At any rate, one thing we should be able to agree on is what is revealed to us in the opening verses of Deuteronomy 13 and also in Deuteronomy 18 dealing with false prophets. In fact, it’s fascinating and demands our attention and contemplation. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 13 first.

1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 ESV)

Let’s look very carefully at the words of Moses in the above passage. First, Moses offers a warning to the Israelites about “prophets” or “dreamer of dreams.” He’s not talking about daydreamers here. He’s speaking about people who receive information that could only come from sources outside of themselves. They either see in their mind’s eye a vision of sorts or while they are sleeping, they have a dream that purports to be from some external supernatural force or being.

Notice, Moses is not saying that this would never happen. In fact, Moses is warning the Israelites that it most likely would occur and they needed to be ready when it came. Second, Moses indicates that if someone comes to them who claims to be a prophet or dreamer of dreams and what he says comes to pass, the people of Israel need to be very wary. Why? Because in the case of a “false” prophet or dreamer of dreams, the ultimate goal would be to direct Israelites away from Jehovah to another “god.” This is also true of Christians today and the many voices out there claiming to be prophetic. I’m not going to tell you who is and who is not “from” God. You’re supposed to use your own knowledge of God’s Word, discernment, and prayer to help determine it.

Moses provided the Israelites with a way to discern reality behind the prophet. Moses says prophets and dreamer of dreams would come to them and foretell events that may in fact come to pass. That alone would dazzle most people, wouldn’t it? Clearly then, the test for veracity is not whether the prophesy or dream did come to pass. Moses is saying if some prophet/dreamer of dreams comes to them, foretells something and it does comes to pass…that’s a given that there is a possibility it will come to pass. Simply because it comes to pass is no indication that it squares with God or is fromGod.

So, if the test is not in the fact that the prophesy or dream comes to pass, what is the actual test that Israelites could use to determine the veracity of the individual making the prophesies or sharing the dreams? The test for that individual is found in the God/god that they point Israel toward. This is extremely important...