S2 f1 1,2. General (negative and positive, alternately). f2 3-8. Particular.
1452 B.C.
Deuteronomy 18)
1: The priests the Levites, and 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 inheritance.
2: Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as He has said to them.
3: And this shall be the priest's due from the people (= priest's custom, cp. 1 Sam. 2:13,28,29. Lev. 7:33,34. Num. 18:8-14), from them that slay and offer up a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep (Heb. Zâbâch, hence to offer what has been slain; to sacrifice); and they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw (the pouch [as a cavity] or first stomach of ruminant).
4: The first-fruit also of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him.
5: 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 for ever.
6: And if a Levite come from any of your gates out of all Israel (i.e. a Tribal Levite who devoted himself to the Aaronic service. Cp. Lev. 25:33), where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord shall choose;
7: Then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the Lord.
8: They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which comes of the sale of his patrimony (an inheritance of an ancestor).
w C g 9-11. Command. Yahaveh your Elohim. h 12. Reason. Abomination. g 13. Command. Yahaveh your Elohim. h 14. Reason. Listening. D i 15-. "Like unto Moses". k -15-17. Listen. Command (positive). i 18. "Like unto Moses" k 19. Listen. Command (negative). C l 20-. Presumptuous prophet. Utterance. m -20. Not to live (negative). l 21,22-. Presumptuous prophet. Testimony. m -22. Not to be feared (negative).
9: When you are come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations (see Ex. 34:13) of those nations.
10: There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11: Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits (see Lev. 19:31), or a wizard, or a necromancer (a seeker to the dead; a medium).
12: For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord your God does drive them out from before you.
13: You shall be devoted (or single-minded) with the Lord your God.
14: For these nations, which you shall possess, listened to observers of times, and to diviners: but as for you, the Lord your God has not suffered you so to do. (Moses is preparing the children of Israel to enter the promise land. Moses was a type for the Deliverer Jesus.)
15: The Lord your God will raise up (notice the transition, and the structure above) unto you a Prophet (= ) from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto me;
to Him you all shall listen (cp. Matt. 17:5. Acts 3:22,23. Moses is prophesying of One like him, that is to say born of woman, Who we should listen to. Another prophet would record His name as Immanuel. Another prophet would name Him the Branch. Over and over the Word foretells of Him. The scribes and Pharisees didn't believe.);
16: According to all that 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, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.' (The people saw the manifestation of God and heard His voice, and it scared them to death. So God sent the Word in a form of someone just like us, born of woman. Someone we could listen to without becoming frightened.)
17: And the Lord said to me (see note on 2:9. This was said before leaving Horeb, so that "The Prophet like unto Moses" was promised at Sinai), 'They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18: I will raise (cp. John 6:14. Acts 3:22; 7:37) them up a Prophet from among their brethren (Here, a Prophet; Priest, Ps. 104:4; a King, Zech.6:13), like unto you, and will put My words in His mouth (cp. John 12:48,49 and note John 3:34; 7:16; 8:28,47; 12:49; 14:10,24; 17:8); and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him. (Jesus is the Living Word. The Word we are able to hear without becoming terrified. It brings us peace of mind.)
19: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen to My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him (cp. John 12:48, and Heb.4:12, where "discerner" means "able to judge" Gr. kritikos. That "word" is the critic" or judge, and will judge all other "critics". The scribes, Pharisees and Kenites didn't believe the words of Jesus. They weren't hearkening to the Word of God. Those of you who do believe and hearken receive blessings. Those who don't have chastisement ahead.).
20: But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods,
even that prophet shall die.' (Anyone who claims to be a teacher of God's Word had better pay close attention to this verse. God becomes very angry, when someone falsely claims to speak His Word. Jesus was speaking the Word of God, and they didn't believe Him. They chose to murder Him. That also was written. See john 7:14)
21: And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ (cp. Jer. 28:9)
22: When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously:
you shall not be afraid of him.