True Prophets

“'I will establish a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you, and I will place My words in his mouth; He shall speak to them everything that I will command him. And it shall be that the man who will not hearken to My words that he shall speak in My Name, I will exact from him. But the prophet who willfully shall speak a word in My Name, that which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of the gods of others – that prophet shall die. When you say in your heart, “How can we know the word that HASHEM has not spoken?” If the prophet will speak in the Name of HASHEM and that thing will not occur and not come about – that is the word that HASHEM has not spoken; with willfulness has the prophet spoken it, you should not fear him. (Deuteronomy 18:18-22)”

HASHEM gives guidelines for determining a true prophet. In Deuteronomy 18, two types of prophets are presented and contrasted in order to prepare the Children of Israel. They need only heed a prophet whose prophecy comes true, not fear those prophets who speak falsely. Many Christians derive three supposed prophecies from Deuteronomy 18 in an attempt to prove their beliefs. They believe that this passage predicts one true prophet, elevated to Moses’ status, which will be their deity. They assert that their deity speaks HASHEM’s word and those who don’t follow Christianity will be punished for sin.

The word prophet is being used in this passage with a general implication. Many prophets will come, both true and false. There will be prophets that have certain qualities like Moses, but none of them will reach Moses’ level of intimacy in their relationship with HASHEM.

“Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom HASHEM had known face to face. (Deuteronomy 30:10)”

This verse specifies what sets Moses apart from other prophets. He knew HASHEM with unique closeness that will not be matched. True prophets will indeed be like Moses, in the sense that HASHEM will place His words in the prophet’s mouth and each one speaks what HASHEM commands. Many prophets have fit this description such as Elijah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, along with more mentioned in the Tanach. Numerous prophets will communicate HASHEM’s word like Moses, yet there will never be another prophet like Moses in the sense that he knew HASHEM “…face to face.”

Deuteronomy 13 gives more detail for discerning true prophets, one specification being that HASHEM’s Torah should never be changed. Also, if a prophet tries to convince Jews to follow a god they didn’t know, even having proof of miracles, they should not fear him or adhere to the prophet’s teachings.

“The entire word that I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it. If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!” – do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HASHEM your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love HASHEM, your G-d, with all  your heart and with all your soul. HASHEM, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments shall you observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave. And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death, for he had spoken perversion against HASHEM, your G-d – Who takes you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeems you from the house of slavery – to make you stray from the path on which HASHEM, your G-d, has commanded you to go; and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:1-6)”

The Christian deity does not qualify as a true prophet of HASHEM. Christian scriptures record him performing miracles as proof of his teachings. An explicit warning is issued in Deuteronomy 13 to never rely on miracles to verify a prophet’s message. A true prophet's words must support exclusive worship of HASHEM and observance of Torah. Christian scriptures attempt to change the Torah in Mark 7:19 by declaring all foods clean. Many more such declarations exist. This subtracts from and contradicts Torah, and would be "...the word that HASHEM has not spoken." The Christian deity is a god unknown to the Jewish people. The message of Christianity does not originate from a true prophet.