Tyndale Open Study NotesDeuteronomy 18

The term Levitical priests refers to the whole tribe of Levi. All Levites served the Lord in some way.

However, in a strict sense, only the descendants of Aaron were priests. The other Levites were not priests. They served as assistants to the priests (see 12:12).

the LORD is their inheritance: The inheritance of the Levites was spiritual, not territorial or material. They possessed the Lord by giving their whole lives to his service. This idea is the remarkable reversal of the idea that the Lord possessed Israel (see 7:6).

In ancient Israel, people considered the shoulder, cheeks, and stomach of oxen and sheep as the best cuts of meat. They honored God's priests by giving them these best parts (see Leviticus 7:28–34).

received money from the sale of his father’s estate: The Levites served full-time at the tabernacle and later at the temple. Even so, they could still own property, such as towns and pastureland (see Numbers 35:1–8).

The Levites were to receive support from the regular offerings that God set apart for them. They did not have to give up their own property in order to serve.

• Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire: Some Canaanite religions practiced child sacrifice to please their gods. God strictly warned Israel against participating in this practice (Exodus 34:15–16; Leviticus 18:21; 20:2–5).

  When they did, it brought God's judgment (2 Kings 17:16–17; 21:6; Ezekiel 23:37). 

• divination: In the ancient Near East, diviners (people who tried to learn the future) were seen as experts at reading signs called omens (events believed to show what would happen next). One common method was extispicy (examining the internal organs of animals). They studied the liver, kidneys, and other organs of sacrificed animals to look for signs.

• conjury: Conjurers tried to call up the spirits of the dead. People believed these spirits could give secret knowledge or power.

• Diviners would use divining cups to interpret omens (see Genesis 44:5). They would place drops of oil in water, and the spread of the oil indicated a message to the diviner. This is similar to reading tea leaves.

• sorcery: This involved performing unusual acts or signs to mislead people (Exodus 7:11; Malachi 3:5).

• cast spells: These spoken formulas (special words believed to have power) were used to harm people. The person speaking the spell would call on a curse to destroy or injure someone. Balaam, a false prophet, was hired to do this against Israel (Numbers 22:2–6).

• medium or spiritist: These people claimed they could speak with the spirits of the dead. They were believed to be especially skilled at calling up and communicating with these spirits (see 1 Samuel 28:3–25).

a prophet like me: This would be extraordinary because Moses had no equal among the prophets (see 34:10–11). This prophet would come from among your brothers. Israel had to listen to him (18:19). The prophets of Old Testament Israel would partially fulfill the role of God's spokesmen. Israel had to obey them.

Later, Judaism anticipated this prophet as a key messianic figure (see John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40). The New Testament identifies Jesus as this prophet (Acts 3:18–26).

The prophet (18:15) would be the Lord’s spokesman, as Moses was (see 4:10–17; Exodus 7:1).

To refuse to listen to the spokesman of the Lord is to refuse to listen to the Lord himself. God speaks through his chosen messengers.

Any prophet whose prediction does not come true must be identified as false, even if that person says he speaks for God.

A claim alone is not enough. If the message does not happen as promised, the prophet is not from God.