NOTES for Deu 18:1-22

Israel is called God's people not only because God created it, not because God led it out of slavery, but because this people must listen to the Lord's will and live by His word. Therefore, consulting soothsayers and diviners is a betrayal of their own calling, for they then cease to be God's people. We are heirs to the word given to ancient Israel; we once agreed to follow the promised Prophet (Acts 3:22) and to hear God's will through Him. If an unwillingness to listen to a prophet who knew God's will only in part already leads the people away from their calling to holiness, then what should we call it when we turn away from Christ and go to a “temple of destiny” to listen to “psychics, fortune-tellers, and healers”? Is this not a betrayal of the Spirit of Christ, who ought to dwell in us too if we truly belong to God?