Boxy
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- Posted: Wed, 02 Mar 2005 22:26:08 +0000
On the nature of prophets:
Deuteronomy 18:22 "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
Now, to give it in context:
Deuteronomy 18:15-22 15 "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy 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.
17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
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.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
In this instance, we should note, a prophet is not only those who "tell the future", per se, but one who specifically speak unto them all that I shall command him. Thus, a prophet isn't simply a fortune-teller or one who dispenses curses, but one who dispenses judgment, counsel, authority, etc. etc. And, I suppose, this is the reason why we sustain the highest church leadership as "prophets, seers, and revelators".
Now, examining the last verse in particular, given that we are exposed to the entirety of the context:
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD,
If a man purports to be a prophet of God..
...if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
This is the crux of our argument. Now, supposing that such a structure of "neither... nor" indicates that the two conditions are not the same, we must analyze their shades of meaning, courtesy of Dictionary.com.
To assume that in this context that "follow" means "proceed" (highlighted in green) is to disregard that the followings of said prophet are supposed to "follow" the basic precepts of the Gospel (highlighted in blue).
Yet, I suppose the understood words "the LORD" should be inserted after "follow". However, given the context, I would imagine that it's not that far of a stretch, considering that there will be a Prophet (Christ) that follows the LORD (Elohim).
..that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
If a prophet said something similar to "worship me and give me all your money", I would severely doubt his legitimacy, considering that the whole "worshipping" of faulty men is a little off-kilter with the Gospel sweatdrop
By that token, I could easily determine for my own self whether Mohammed was a prophet, a point which I intend to investigate 3nodding
Deuteronomy 18:22 "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
Now, to give it in context:
Deuteronomy 18:15-22 15 "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy 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.
17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
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.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
In this instance, we should note, a prophet is not only those who "tell the future", per se, but one who specifically speak unto them all that I shall command him. Thus, a prophet isn't simply a fortune-teller or one who dispenses curses, but one who dispenses judgment, counsel, authority, etc. etc. And, I suppose, this is the reason why we sustain the highest church leadership as "prophets, seers, and revelators".
Now, examining the last verse in particular, given that we are exposed to the entirety of the context:
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD,
If a man purports to be a prophet of God..
...if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
This is the crux of our argument. Now, supposing that such a structure of "neither... nor" indicates that the two conditions are not the same, we must analyze their shades of meaning, courtesy of Dictionary.com.
Quote:
come to pass:
To occur.
follow:
1. To come or go after; proceed behind: Follow the usher to your seat.
2.
a) To go after in or as if in pursuit: ?The wrong she had done followed her and haunted her dream? (Katherine Anne Porter).
b) To keep under surveillance: followed the suspect around town.
3.
a) To move along the course of; take: We followed a path to the shore.
b) To go in the direction of; be guided by: followed the sun westward across the plains; followed the signs to the zoo.
4. To accept the guidance, command, or leadership of: follow a spiritual master; rebels who refused to follow their commander.
5. To adhere to; practice: followed family traditions.
6. To take as a model or precedent; imitate: followed my example and resigned.
7.
a) To act in agreement or compliance with; obey: follow the rules; follow one's instincts.
b) To keep to or stick to: followed the recipe; follow a diet.
8. To engage in (a trade or occupation); work at.
9. To come after in order, time, or position: Night follows day.
10. To bring something about at a later time than or as a consequence of: She followed her lecture with a question-and-answer period. The band followed its hit record with a tour.
11. To occur or be evident as a consequence of: Your conclusion does not follow your premise.
12.
a) To watch or observe closely: followed the bird through binoculars.
b) To be attentive to; pay close heed to: too sleepy to follow the sermon.
c) To keep oneself informed of the course, progress, or fortunes of: follow the stock market; followed the local teams.
13. To grasp the meaning or logic of; understand: Do you follow my argument?
To occur.
follow:
1. To come or go after; proceed behind: Follow the usher to your seat.
2.
a) To go after in or as if in pursuit: ?The wrong she had done followed her and haunted her dream? (Katherine Anne Porter).
b) To keep under surveillance: followed the suspect around town.
3.
a) To move along the course of; take: We followed a path to the shore.
b) To go in the direction of; be guided by: followed the sun westward across the plains; followed the signs to the zoo.
4. To accept the guidance, command, or leadership of: follow a spiritual master; rebels who refused to follow their commander.
5. To adhere to; practice: followed family traditions.
6. To take as a model or precedent; imitate: followed my example and resigned.
7.
a) To act in agreement or compliance with; obey: follow the rules; follow one's instincts.
b) To keep to or stick to: followed the recipe; follow a diet.
8. To engage in (a trade or occupation); work at.
9. To come after in order, time, or position: Night follows day.
10. To bring something about at a later time than or as a consequence of: She followed her lecture with a question-and-answer period. The band followed its hit record with a tour.
11. To occur or be evident as a consequence of: Your conclusion does not follow your premise.
12.
a) To watch or observe closely: followed the bird through binoculars.
b) To be attentive to; pay close heed to: too sleepy to follow the sermon.
c) To keep oneself informed of the course, progress, or fortunes of: follow the stock market; followed the local teams.
13. To grasp the meaning or logic of; understand: Do you follow my argument?
To assume that in this context that "follow" means "proceed" (highlighted in green) is to disregard that the followings of said prophet are supposed to "follow" the basic precepts of the Gospel (highlighted in blue).
Yet, I suppose the understood words "the LORD" should be inserted after "follow". However, given the context, I would imagine that it's not that far of a stretch, considering that there will be a Prophet (Christ) that follows the LORD (Elohim).
..that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
If a prophet said something similar to "worship me and give me all your money", I would severely doubt his legitimacy, considering that the whole "worshipping" of faulty men is a little off-kilter with the Gospel sweatdrop
By that token, I could easily determine for my own self whether Mohammed was a prophet, a point which I intend to investigate 3nodding