Deuteronomy 18 explained: Priests, Forbidden Practices, and Prophets

Support for the priests (vv. 1-5)

The tribe of Levi received no land of its own, so the other tribes fed them with set portions of animal sacrifices and the first of their grain, wine, oil and wool. This support was owed by law, not left to goodwill, because God had chosen them to serve at the place of worship.

Levites who move to serve (vv. 6-8)

A Levite from a country town who chose to serve at the central place of worship was to get the same food share as those already there, and money from selling his family property did not reduce it. Scholars are not fully sure how this fit with the system of Levites serving in turns.

Practices to avoid (vv. 9-14)

Israel was told not to copy local customs like burning children as sacrifices, reading omens, casting spells or trying to contact the dead. The text bluntly says these practices are why the LORD was driving those nations out of the land.

A prophet like Moses (vv. 15-19)

Instead of fortune tellers, God promises to raise up a prophet who will speak his words, recalling how the people at Mount Horeb (also called Sinai) were so terrified of God's voice and fire that they begged Moses to speak for them. Some read this as a whole line of future prophets, while Christians later read it as pointing especially to Jesus, as the book of Acts does.

Testing a prophet (vv. 20-22)

The law says a prophet who spoke for other gods, or claimed to speak for the LORD without being sent, was to be put to death. The test given is simple: if what the prophet announces does not happen, God did not speak it, and no one needs to fear that prophet.

Key verse: Deuteronomy 18:18

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the promised prophet like Moses means mainly the long line of Israel's prophets, a single future figure fulfilled only in Jesus, or both at once.

Something to think about

When the future feels uncertain, where do people turn for guidance, and how do you decide whose voice is trustworthy?