NOTES for Deu 18:19
The attitude toward the prophets, as we can see, is from the Torah's point of view an indicator of faithfulness to God. There is nothing surprising here: a prophet is above all God's witness, and therefore to believe the prophet means to believe God Himself. Yet, on the other hand, the Torah itself contains everything necessary for those who want to fulfill God's will. Why, then, is prophetic ministry mentioned here, in the Torah, and mentioned as something without which the Torah is not complete?
One can say, of course, that this concerns a special charismatic component of the Torah, that the Torah itself presupposes constant development, that revelation is not completed either by Moses or by any of the later prophets. All this is so, but this mention of prophetic ministry by the Torah has one more aspect, one that concerns everyone.
Of course, not everyone is given prophetic ministry. Even so, everyone has, or at least should have, living relations with God. And the Torah itself is not simply legislation; it is not a collection of rules of behavior or moral norms. The Torah is a description of the path that leads to God. It can be compared to a map, which has value only when it is used for its purpose, to chart a path toward the goal.
But as a rule, a map alone is not enough for this task; a compass is also needed. Relations with God, personal revelation, become such a compass for a person. And the Torah itself points the reader to this compass, making clear that without direct revelation it is useless, that it is impossible to follow it on the basis of the letter alone. And in order not to be limited to the letter alone, it is necessary to feel that breath of God, that spirit of which the prophets spoke. Then the Torah will come alive, turning from a code of laws into the living word of revelation.