This document provides a summary and analysis of Deuteronomy 18:9-22 from the Bible. It discusses the passage's prohibition of spiritism and divination, and promise from God to raise up a prophet like Moses from among the Israelites. The document analyzes this promise as referring to future Old Testament prophets, and ultimately to Jesus Christ. It provides biblical references showing how Jesus and his followers viewed him as fulfilling this promised prophet. In conclusion, the document exhorts believers to avoid occult practices and trust solely in God's word revealed through his prophets, and ultimately through Jesus.

1. Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Revealed
February 9, 2020
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA
What’s the number one thing?
The glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.
References
• Ackland, Donald F., Studies in Deuteronomy, Convention Press, Nashville,
Tennessee, 1964
• Bromiley, Geoffrey W., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979
• Craigie, P. C., The International Commentary on the Old Testament,
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976
• Honeycutt, Roy L., Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, Broadman Press,
Nashville, Tennessee, 1979
• Jones, Robert E., Explore the Bible Adult Commentary, Deuteronomy,
Winter 2001-02, Lifeway, Nashville, TN
• Kalland, Earl S., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein
general editor, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1992
• Von Rad, Gerhard, Deuteronomy, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia,
1966
• Watts, John D. W., Commentary on Deuteronomy, The Broadman Bible
Commentary, Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1970
• New American Standard Bible, (A. J. Holman Company, Philadelphia,
1976) Study Edition - Outline and Survey by Harold B. Kuhn, Ph.D.

2. Setting and Date
• The book states that it is authored by Moses.
• Clearly, the conclusion of the book that provides details of his death and
burial was added by others, perhaps Joshua.
• The book states that it was presented at Mt. Nebo on the edge of Moab
east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
• The telling took place in 1451 BC or 1406 BC or 1260 BC depending on the
Rabbinic school being asked.
Disclaimer
• There may be no Old Testament book that has generated more debate
with regard to its date of composition.
• Traditional scholarship puts its composition at the time of Moses and
Joshua.
• Modern scholarship might credit the sermons as coming from Moses, but
most believe the composition we have today was assembled during the
time of Hezekiah (715-687 BC) or Josiah (640-609 BC).
‒ All or portions of Deuteronomy were read to begin the revival under
Josiah.
Deuteronomy – Overview
• Deuteronomy is the 5th Book of the Law or the 5th Book of Moses or the 5th
Book of the Torah.
• The name “Deuteronomy” refers to the “Second Telling of the Law”.
• The generation of adults that had come out of Egypt had died off.
• Moses had watched the audience before him grow up.
• They were like his children or grandchildren, and his instructions reflect
that.
• Moses was giving them “final instructions” before they part.
• He was retelling the history, the law and the rules, but also providing the
why.
• The entire ministry of Moses depended on this audience “getting it”.
• Deuteronomy shares many traits with the Gospel of John in the New
Testament.
‒ Moses was 120.
‒ The Apostle John was close to 90.
‒ Moses was one of the few surviving eyewitnesses.
‒ So was John.
‒ Moses and John retold what happened but included the theology
behind it.
‒ Moses and John told their stories on a huge (cosmic) canvas of time.

3. Deuteronomy – Overview
• “Deuteronomy is a book about a community being prepared for a new
life. Hardship and the wilderness lie behind; the promised land lies ahead.
But in the present moment, there is a call for a new commitment to God
and a fresh understanding of the nature of the community of God’s
people.”
‒ Peter C. Craigie
Outline of Deuteronomy
• Preface and Historical Statement (1:1-5).
• First Address of Moses (1:6 -- 4:40).
• Historical and Transitional Statement (4:41-49).
• Second Address of Moses (5:1 -- 26:19).
• Third Address of Moses (27:1 -- 30:20).
• Moses’ Closing Days and Activities (31:1 -- 34:12).
‒ Many scholars believe all three sermons were given on the same day.
A Quick Dash through Moses’ 2nd Address
• Deuteronomy 5
‒ The 2nd address begins with a re-statement of the Ten
Commandments.
‒ He reminds them that this was part of a covenant that God made
with them, and that they and their parents had pledged to keep it.
• Deuteronomy 6
‒ “Obey God and Prosper”
‒ This was taught last week.
‒ This is the heart of faith.
‒ Jesus said that it is the greatest commandment.
• Deuteronomy 7
‒ Moves on to Warnings:
‒ Destroy God’s enemies utterly.
‒ Do not intermarry with them.
‒ Destroy their holy places.
‒ Why?
‒ Chapter 7:6-8, 12-13
‒ How?
‒ Chapter 7:22-26
• Deuteronomy 7-10
‒ These chapters are primarily admonition to keep God’s laws and
warnings to those who might ignore His law.

4. A Quick Dash through Moses’ 2nd Address
• Deuteronomy 12
‒ This chapter opens with another instruction focusing on acceptable
worship.
‒ Deuteronomy 12:2-7
‒ One place of worship and sacrifice.
• Deuteronomy 13
‒ Gives 3 examples of rejecting idolatry and seduction to worship false
gods.
‒ If it is from a prophet or dreamer-of-dreams (13:1-5).
‒ If it is from a family member, tell the neighbors, but you are to be the
first to cast a stone (13:6-11).
‒ If it is a city that turns to false worship (13:12-18).
• Deuteronomy 14
‒ Clean and Unclean Animals.
• Deuteronomy 15
‒ The Sabbatical Year.
• Deuteronomy 16
‒ The Feast of Passover.
‒ The Feast of Weeks.
‒ The Feast of Booths.
• Deuteronomy 17
‒ The Administration of Justice.
‒ Deuteronomy 17:2-5
‒ Slay the idolater.
• Deuteronomy 18
‒ Deuteronomy 18:9-14.
‒ Spiritism Forbidden.
‒ The Alternative.
‒ Deuteronomy 18:15-22.
‒ God will raise up a prophet.
Spiritism Forbidden
• Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NASB
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall
not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 There shall not
be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or
one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For whoever does
these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable
things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. 13 You shall be
blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For those nations, which you shall
dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as
for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.

5. Spiritism Forbidden
• Demons and examples of spiritism in the Old Testament:
‒ Satan in the garden.
‒ Pharaoh’s magicians who could turn their staffs into serpents.
‒ Balaam who could bless or curse.
‒ Saul conjuring the spirit of dead Samuel with the help of the witch of
Endor.
‒ The contest between Elijah and the priests of Baal and the Asherah.
‒ The O.T. writers didn’t spend time distinguishing among demonic
sources chiefly because they knew Jehovah was superior and
would, through His Messiah, destroy them.
‒ The Greeks, on the other hand, studied their evil spirits because they
feared them and felt that they were unavoidable.
• The New Testament is filled with references to evil spirits.
• The term for “demon” is used 67 times alone.
• Nowhere in scripture are demons, evil spirits, diviners, sorcerers,
soothsayers or astrologers denounced as phony.
• Instead, they are treated as dangerous and to be destroyed or
avoided.
• Not because they are fake, but because they are real and exist in
opposition to God.
• When Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians and told them about
various spiritual gifts, one gift may have been the ability to discern or
distinguish the nature of spirits. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
‒ Evil spirits are in this world.
‒ We are foolish to delude ourselves and think the warnings of God
through Moses do not apply to us.
‒ We are not so educated, sophisticated or modern that spiritism
cannot be a snare to us or those we love.
‒ If you don’t believe me, at the very least, acknowledge that it is not
compatible with the worship of Almighty God.
God Will Raise Up A Prophet
• Deuteronomy 18:15-22 NASB
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among
you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16 This is according to
all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the
assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let
me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 The Lord said to me,
‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up a prophet from among their
countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall
speak to them all that I command him. 19 It shall come about that whoever
will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will
require it of him.

6. God Will Raise Up A Prophet
• Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NASB
20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I
have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of
other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 You may say in your heart, ‘How will
we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet
speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come
true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has
spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
‒ Four aspects of Old Testament prophets help us understand the nature
of prophecy in Israel. First, the prophet was not self-appointed but
raised up (called) by the Lord. Second, prophets would follow closely
the pattern modeled by Moses. Third, the prophet would speak God’s
message, not his own, “I will put my words in his mouth”. This aspect
could be tested by whether the prophet’s words came true. Fourth, the
Lord’s prophet would speak with God’s authority. As a result, the Lord
would call into account anyone who failed to heed His message.
Prophets who proclaimed false messages or spoke for other gods
would be executed.
‒ Robert E. Jones, page 102
‒ The Children of Israel have no need for sorcerers, soothsayers,
necromancers, or mediums. God has provided a prophet and
promises to provide His own Word.
‒ Gerhard Von Rad
‒ Peter Craigie writes that this promise of a prophet was seen by early
Judaism as being fulfilled in each of the line of prophets sent by God. It
was later in Judaism that the promise was seen as referring to Messiah.
• John the Baptist questioned:
‒ John 1:21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am
not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
‒ John 1:26-27 NASB
26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you
stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is He who comes after me, the
thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
• Phillip spoke these words to Nathanael:
‒ John 1:45 NASB
45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of
whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

7. God Will Raise Up A Prophet
• Jesus was probably making reference to this passage as He responded to
skeptical Jews in John 5.
‒ John 5:45-47 NASB
45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who
accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you
believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47 But if
you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
• After Jesus fed the Five Thousand:
‒ John 6:14 NASB
14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed,
they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
• After Jesus taught on the final day of the feast:
‒ John 7:40 NASB
40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were
saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.”
• In Jerusalem for His final Passover, Jesus told His disciples:
‒ John 12:48-49 NASB
48 He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who
judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who
sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to
speak.
• Peter in his second sermon delivered at the Beautiful Gate:
‒ Acts 3:22-23 NASB
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.
23 And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be
utterly destroyed from among the people.’
• Stephen in his defense before the Sanhedrin:
‒ Acts 7:37 NASB
37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for
you a prophet like me from your brethren.’
Conclusion Drawn from Deuteronomy 18:9-22
• God has charged His children to guard themselves from the occult, from
mediums, and all forms of spiritism.
• We are to defeat it when we can and flee from it when we can’t.
• In its place, God has provided His Word, first through His prophets and
finally through His Son, Jesus, the Christ.
• Our survival depends on pure holy worship of God on His terms.

8. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.”
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to
pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death” explained in
Revelation 21:8.
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8,
will experience the “second death,” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn
away from sin and believe in Jesus.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.

9. Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/