and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, 'Let thou shalt not hearken unto the and that prophet

us go after other gods'

words of that prophet

be put to death."

shall

The expression, "If there arise," etc., assumes the possibility of the appearance of prophets in their midst. The test by which they were to determine whether a prophet was true or false was this, "and he give thee a sign and the sign come to pass

saying, 'Let us go after other gods.'" The giving of this test assumed unmistakably that there would arise true prophets who would bring a message to them from God. The credentials which a prophet was to bring, said Moses, were that he should give a sign or wonder which was to come to pass. Of course, if the sign or wonder which he gave did not come to pass, it was self-evident that he was not sent from God; but if the sign or wonder did come to pass that fact was not in and of itself a sure guarantee that God had sent him, for there is a world of evil spirits which at various times worked through false prophets as they did through the magicians who opposed Moses when he went to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. These magicians possessed supernatural power which was from Satan, the adversary of God. If the sign or wonder came to pass the final test of the prophet was to be found in the character of his message, namely, if he said, "Let us go after other gods," that message was positive proof that the supernatural power which he manifested in giving the sign or wonder which came to pass was not from God but from the evil one. This test also assumed that if the message which the prophet brought was, "Let us go after the Lord," then this message was to be the final proof that God had sent the prophet.

B. Exposition of Deuteronomy 18:20-22

Again, in Deut. 18:20-22 God supplemented the original test in the following words, "But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him. to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die." This passage unmistakably assumes the

appearance in Israel both of true and of false prophets. The identification of the true prophet is that he should speak in the Name of the Lord what the Lord commanded him to speak. Upon the appearance of a prophet speaking in the Name of the Lord, should Israel say in her heart, "How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?" the absolute test of the prophet is found in the following words: "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: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him." Hence the final test of a prophet and his message was found in his speaking in the Name of the Lord, and in the fulfillment of the prediction. This same passage also assumes that two types of false prophets would appear: first, the one who speaks in the Name of God that which God had not commanded; secondly, the prophet who would speak in the name of other gods. According to this verse, if a prophet spoke in the Name of God presumptuously, or if he spoke a message in the name of the heathen gods, God positively says, "that same prophet shall die." The context shows that He is not talking about a natural death, for such would be no sign whereby Israel might know whether the message was true or false, when delivered by a prophet speaking presumptuously in the Name of God. Hence the death here coming to either type of false prophet is a judgment which God would send upon false prophets, whereby Israel would know conclusively that they were false. Such a prophet arose in the days of Jeremiah (Jer. 28:1-17) in the person of Hananiah, who spoke a message presumptuously in the Name of God and who died in the seventh month of the same year, which death was the judgment of God sent upon him, and which was God's method of showing Israel that Hananiah was a false prophet.

At different times in Israel's history God raised up prophets who, according to His promise in these passages from Deuteronomy, gave a sign in the Name of God which came to pass. The fact that they spoke in the Name of Israel's God and that the sign came to pass was God's absolute guarantee that these prophets were speaking His word just as Moses had, and that their words were as authoritative and binding upon Israel as those which

he had given through Moses. Israel in the prophetic days was very cautious to ascertain what message was from God and what was not. When such men as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, et al., appeared upon the scene and gave the Divine credentials of their Divine calling, their words were accepted and preserved until this day, as one finds them in the Prophets and Psalms. Hence these writings are the Word of the Living God and are to be received at their face value and acted upon even in the same way as the Five Books of Moses are to be accepted.

Corroborative proof sustaining the conclusion just arrived at is found in the fact that there is a unity of thought, plan and purpose which runs through the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. These thirtynine books are, according to the scholarhip of the world, accredited to about twenty-odd authors, who wrote at different times in a period of approximately one thousand years—from Moses to Malachi. It is but natural that discrepancies and contradictions should appear in the works of men who lived during such a long period. Is it possible now for anyone to gather thirty-nine other books from Hebrew writers who have lived at various times during a period of a thousand years and find them displaying perfect unity, plan and purpose flowing through them without any contradiction? To this question the universal answer is "No!" Furthermore, in no literature covering any like period of time can such unity be found. Therefore this collection of thirty-nine books stands in a class by itself, since it is free from discrepancies and displays perfect unity.

This unity cannot be explained reasonably upon any basis other than that the Spirit of the Living God spoke in and through their authors, consecrated men of God. The conclusion arrived at is not of modern origin, but was the faith of the Hebrew race in the centuries prior to the beginning of the common era. In the first century of this era, Josephus, the noted Jewish historian, in his letter against Apion, contrasted the sacred books of the Hebrews with those of the Greeks and claimed that the Hebrew Scriptures were justly considered by them as the Word of God. Following is his statement: "For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another (as the Greeks have), but only twenty-two books,

which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that time; and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add anything to them, to take anything from them, or to make any change in them; but it is become natural to all Jews immediately, and from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if occasion be, willingly to die for them.”*

The Jews, according to Josephus, had sufficient and positive evidence which led them to the conclusion that the Tenach was the very Word of God; therefore, they were, "if occasion be, willing to die for them." They had no more sufficient proof than the present generation has. One of the infallible proofs that the thirty-nine books, commonly called the "Old Testament," are the Very Word of God is the fact that numerous prophecies which were spoken by the prophets of Israel during a period of a thousand years antedating the fifth century before the common era, and which deal with cities, countries, nations and their condition and destinies during this common era, were fulfilled even in the

* Josephus claimed inspiration for only twenty-two sacred books whereas the Tenach as it has been preserved to the present day contains thirty-nine. When the facts are known it will become apparent that the twenty-two books mentioned by Josephus are those which are counted as thirty-nine in modern times. The difference in the count is seen in the fact that Josephus counted the two books of Samuel as one, whereas now they are counted as two; the same count obtained with reference to Kings and Chronicles. Josephus counted the twelve Minor Prophets as one book, whereas they in modern times are counted twelve. These different viewpoints account for the difference in numbers.

most minute and detailed manner. These predictions cannot be explained upon the basis that their authors were shrewd, farsighted politicians who, seeing the trend of events of their day, arrived at the conclusions expressed in the prophecies. It is unthinkable to suppose that anyone, regardless of his shrewdness, insight and comprehension, could penetrate the veil separating him from the future and could accurately detail in the most specific and minute manner the condition of nations and peoples five hundred years in the future. It might be conceded possible but at the same time most highly improbable that some statesman might have sufficient mental grasp to depict in a vague, indefinite and general way the condition of his country even a century or two later; but no rational man will concede that even the most brilliant statesman who has ever lived had sufficient intelligence and insight into human affairs which would enable him to give a clear, accurate and minute outline of the history and fortunes of his nation five hundred to a thousand years later.

The prophets of Israel, on the other hand, with boldness foretold accurately what fortunes and calamities during the common era would come to the nations which surrounded Israel and their lands. Furthermore, they painted most accurately pictures of the desolations which have obtained in many of these countries during this era and which continue to the present day. The only rational explanation of their ability to portray the future as they did is that THEY SPOKE THE MESSAGES* WHICH GOD GAVE

*To those who feel that the Bible is purely of human origin and full of mistakes and errors, the author would like to call attention to the fact that the old challenge which has many times been proposed to skeptics, infidels, and atheists has never been accepted. The challenge is this: Let those who discredit the Bible as the Word of God produce a volume like it which will stand the severe test of centuries, as the Bible has done. Let them select men from the various callings of life (but if they choose, let them appoint the most highly-educated university professors-experts in their fields-and scientists) who can produce a number of volumes which, when taken together, harmonize and constitute a unity. It will be necessary for them to begin their work where the Bible begins, namely, with the creation of the world. Let them, therefore, write a history of the world from its creation to the present time since the Biblical historians wrote an account of the world from creation to their own times. Let them also look out into the future and outline accurately the specific courses of the various nations, delineating the vicissitudes and changes of nations, peoples, and cities.

Since rapid progress has been made in the sciences of psychology and sociology, let experts in these fields be employed who will be able to analyze