Deuteronomy 18 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Deuteronomy 18

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings¹ as their² inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3 And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for all time.

6 “And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, where he lives—and he may come when he desires³—to the place that the LORD will choose, 7 and ministers in the name of the LORD his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the LORD, 8 then he may have equal portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.⁴

Abominable Practices

9 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,⁵ anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

A New Prophet like Moses

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, or⁶ 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.

Footnotes

[1] 18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the Lord
[2] 18:1 Hebrew his
[3] 18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically
[4] 18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[5] 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire
[6] 18:20 Or and

Commentary

v1-2: The priests, set apart to serve God, had no inheritance in Israel. The people had to provide for them, especially from their offerings. But they do not lose out, since “the Lord is their inheritance.” Moses explains those parts of the offerings that belonged to the priests.

v6: See Josh 21; the Levites lived throughout Israel, fulfilling Jacob's prophecy (Gen 49.7).

v9-14: False religion takes many forms; it was true in Moses' day, and it is true in our day. It was because of these "detestable practices" that the Lord was driving out the Canaanite nations. "The Lord your God has not permitted you to do so" (v14).

The list here is to do with occult practices; the follower of God will seek the mind of God in a way that honours Him. Ten different Hebrew words are listed here (with STRONG'S reference numbers);

QECEM (7081), or MIQCAM: divination (Av), witchcraft, augur, soothsayer (lit; to distribute)
ANAN (6049): observer of the times (Av), enchanter, sorcerer (lit; to cover)
NACHASH (5172): enchanter (Av), (lit; to whisper)
KASHAPH (3784): witch (Av), (lit; to whisper)
CHABAR (2266): charmer (Av), (lit; to fascinate)
SHAEL (7592): consulter (Av), to request or demand from a mumbler
OWB (178): familiar spirit (Av), to request or demand from a mumbler
YIDDEONI (3049): wizard (Av), knowing one, conjurer
DARASH (4191): necromancer (Av), to inquire of the dead
MUWTH (1875): necromancer (Av), to inquire of the dead

Each one of the eight reflects the different techniques of those who follow occultist practices, and each one was, and is, detestable to God. The nations in Canaan had given credence to those who followed occult practices; the Israelites were forbidden from doing so. Other Hebrew words are used elsewhere.

In Lev 19.31; 20.6,27, where the first warnings were given, the words OWB and YIDDEONI are used. YIDDEONI is the same meaning as the Greek word GNOSIS; hence Gnosticism, which was a serious problem in some N.T. churches, and its influence continues today.

Egypt was the place of magicians (CHARTOM), who used enchantments (LAT/LAHAT); see Gen 41.8,28; Ex 7-9. These words described a secret mantra, known only to the initiated.

Occultism had infiltrated Israel; Saul consulted a medium (OWB), in 1 Sam 28; Jezebel used witchcraft (2 Kings 9.22), and Israel (the northern kingdom) was guilty of it (2 Kings 17.17). Manasseh did much evil, and followed occult practices (2 Kings 21.6; 2 Chr 33.6), which was destroyed by Josiah (2 Kings 23.24). By the time of the exile, there was worship to the queen of heaven (Jer 44.15-23); the people in Judah at that time had already been guilty of occultism and idolatry (Jer 19.3,11-12,14). The prophets had denounced all these things; Is 8.19; 27.9; 29.4; Jer 14.14; Ezek 12.21; 13.23.

Assyria (Mic 5.12; Nah 3.4) and Babylon (Is 47.9-13; Dan 1-5) both used occult practices.

Such practices were very different from the form of worship set down in the Torah. Israel was commaned to maintain its distinctiveness. The difference was not a nuance or different emphasis. Such practices were "detestable."

v15-19: In contrast to the false religion around them, the Lord God would raise up a prophet for the people, a prophet whose message was clear, and for everyone. This contrasted with wizards and witches, who often required initiation of some sort, and therefore only a few could be involved; this is especially the meaning of YIDDEONI (above).

We understand that Moses here predicts the coming and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ; He was faithful like Moses (Heb 3.5), He was from among the brethren (John 1.11; Heb 2.17), He spoke God's words (John 17.8), and by His words men are judged (John 12.48-50). Moses was head and leader of the people; he was their shepherd and intercessor, and their king – in all these things, Christ fulfils these words.

v20-22: Testing the words of the prophet. This was always necessary since many claimed divine authority. If his words did not come true, then the people were not to fear him. See also 13.1-3, where a sign did occur, but where the content of the message was false.