Deuteronomy 13:1-3: If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—’ and let us serve them,’ 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.
Re’eh, meaning “See,” includes Deuteronomy 11:26 through 16:17. This Torah Portion describes the enemy of false prophets and gives us the instructions for knowing whether or not someone is a false prophet. First, a false prophet often does signs or wonders. Moses and Aaron were the first Godly prophets who gave signs and wonders in Exodus chapter four. Pharaoh’s mediums could perform the same signs and wonders until it came down to manipulating the dust of the earth, such as the plague of gnats or lice in Exodus 8.19. The false prophets stated, “This is the finger of God,” which the Bible defined as the Holy Spirit in Luke 11:20 and Matthew 12:28. The water turned to blood, and the frogs were a manipulation of the waters, not turning dust into something alive like God did in Genesis when He created humans and animals. By studying the Bible personally, we can gain enlightenment and knowledge about these truths.
Are the prophets trying to lead you away from the commandments of the Holy One? Christians do not realize how important it is not to say that Yeshua did away with God’s instructions, because according to what is written in this Torah Portion, that would make Him a false prophet, and we know that is not true. He gave us a renewed spirit so that we would be inclined to walk in the righteousness of obedience.
Deuteronomy 13:2 & 5: Saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—’ and let us serve them…to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
It says in this portion that we will know that God has sent a prophet with a message if what they say happens. In the Bible, the prophets spoke of judgment in the form of exile and oppression if the people didn’t stop their disobedience, repent, and realign. Whatever they said, happened. There are many self proclaimed prophets who have given dates of Yeshua return or said something was going to happen in the near future publicly and what they proclaimed never happened. Yet, they are still preaching and teaching. That is not good, because when people believe you are speaking for the Holy One and then what you say doesn’t happen, who do they lose faith in? You or God?
We like to apply the term false prophet to anyone who has a different perspective than us, or anyone who challenges the authority of the Vatican, the seminary, or the status quo of Biblical authority. I love that in Judaism, wrestling with the Scriptures is practiced and encouraged. We have different filters made up of experience, culture, and personality that affect how we process the written word. God made it that way. We should humbly understand that the Holy One has conversations with everyone, and we do not know the details of other people’s conversations. Let’s not be so proud that we don’t learn from someone else’s intimacy with God. If they see something differently, we don’t have to cast them aside, instead, we should get curious and ask, “Are they showing me a new way to be close to the Holy One that I have never seen or heard of before?” Using the instructions contained in Deuteronomy 13, as long as they are not leading us into idolatry-the worship of other things or people, disobedience, or keeping us from walking in covenant with the Holy One, even if someone is saying something different from the masses, you don’t have to be afraid of them. You should, however, be very particular about whom you give spiritual authority.
Three things burn up in the end: the beast, the devil, and the false prophet. I identify the beast as a consolidation of rulers who rules with his earthly nature. Remember that in Genesis 1:24-25, God created beasts out of the earth, specifically red earth. In contrast, He created humans with red earth and Divine Breath. The devil seems to be interchangeable with the wicked in the synoptic gospels of Luke 8:12 and Matthew 13:19 (the evil or wicked, not evil one, the one has been added.) The false prophet is a consolidation of anyone who deceitfully leads people away from the path of righteousness. The Greek word planao, translated as “deceived” in Revelation 20, means to cause one to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way, lead into error, lead away from truth, or to cause one to sin. There are no instances in the Bible where a celestial being did any of these things. The examples we have are when someone who has influence, uses it to cause others to stumble. Balaam was a false prophet who led the Israelites into disobedience and sin. In King Hezekiah’s day, a messenger named Rabshakeh, who was a type of false prophet, visited the Israelites, telling them in their own language not to trust in Yahweh but to submit to the King of Assyria. Bar-Yeshua, whose name means ‘son of salvation’, was employed by a man named Sergius Paulus in Acts 13:6, attempted to lead his Employer away from the path of righteousness, causing Paul to blast him with the following statement, “O you, full of all deceit and trickery, son of the devil (wicked), enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).
Deuteronomy 13:18: Because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
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