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This small group Deuteronomy 18 Bible study guide contains commentary, discussion questions, cross-references, and application to encourage life change. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.
Deuteronomy 18 Bible Study And Questions – Serving God, Avoiding Cultural Sins, and a Prophet Like Moses
Outline
I. Provision for the Levites (1-8)
II. Be blameless before the Lord (9-14)
III. A prophet like Moses (15-22)
I. Provision for the Levites (1-8)
Discussion Questions
• What does it mean that the Levitical priests were to have no portion or inheritance?
• Where would they live?
• How would they eat?
• What does it mean that the “Lord is their inheritance?”
• Would it be enough for you if the Lord is your inheritance?
• How would you act differently if the Lord was your inheritance?
• What were the people to do to provide for the Levites?
• Was this “fair” or not? Why?
• Is there any New Testament parallel to this concept?
• What are the pros and cons of a pastor or minister being supported by his congregation?
• How would a traveling Levite minister be supported?
• Consider your tithe and offering. Are you happy to give it or reluctant? Does your offering plan need to be adjusted or updated?
Cross-References
Numbers 35:1-8 – The Levites are given cities scattered throughout the land to live in.
Proverbs 3:9-10 – Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Proverbs 19:17 – Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will repay him for his deed.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 – The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
1 John 3:17 – But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. The Levites shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel –
The Levites were a special tribe. They were to minister to the Lord. At the Golden Calf incident, Moses asked the tribes of Israel which tribe would stand with him for the Lord. The Levites alone responded to the call (Exodus 32). From that time forward, the Levites had a unique role in Israel. Their member served at the Tabernacle and later the temple. Some of them were priests. Others assisted the priests by taking care of the facilities and grounds. Only they were allowed to set up, take down, and transport the tabernacle. There were craftsmen building things needed, gatekeepers, guardians, musicians, singers, judges, teachers, and scribes.
Simply put, they served as the spiritual leaders and servants of Israel at large. Not all of them would have lived at the Tabernacle. Cities were apportioned to them to live in throughout the twelve tribes. However, they were not given whole swaths of tribal lands like the other tribes. A few of the Levitical cities were designated as cities of refuge where manslayers could seek protection (Joshua 20:7-8).
2. The LORD is their inheritance –
They were to work for and invest in God’s kingdom instead of their own. While they would not have the same opportunities for wealth as others, their spiritual riches were more than enough.
Mark 8:36 – For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
True blessing comes from God, not money. An outsider might look at them and think their lot in life wasn’t fair since they didn’t have the same material opportunities as others. However, they were not to look at things this way. Instead, they should consider it a unique privilege and blessing to be able to serve.
Reflect – Would you have preferred to be a Levite serving God or a member of one of the other tribes?
Certainly, every person could serve God. That was not exclusive to the Levites. Every believer has received a spiritual gift and unique abilities which are to be used for building God’s kingdom. There are many people, roles, and gifts, but one common purpose. We are to seek to fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the gospel with the lost and discipling other believers to do the same, all while humbly giving God the glory.
Reflect – Is the Lord your inheritance? What would that look like if you viewed Him in that way?
Look at the inheritance we have!
1 Peter 1:4 – An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
Application – We can be about the business of building our own kingdom or God’s. We can build up treasure on earth or in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). Let us not be like the rich fool who proudly accumulated so many things on this earth, but died without God and could take none of it with him (Luke 12:13-21).
What are a few specific ways you can invest in God’s kingdom now?
3. And this shall be the priests’ due from the people –
Some of the Levites would have jobs to provide for themselves and their families. But not the priests. The priests would rely on the support and offerings of the other tribes. When a person brought a sacrifice, the priest was allowed to eat certain portions of it. That included both animal sacrifices and grain offerings.
The tithes brought in would help sustain the priests so that their time was free to serve the people spiritually.
The system is similar to modern-day taxation. Taxes pay the wages of government workers who are supposed to serve the people. That includes soldiers who fight to protect us or construction workers building infrastructure for our use.
In the New Testament, churches function in like manner. Offerings pay the wages of some church leaders. That is fair and right. It allows these people to focus their time on serving the flock and doing things such as hospital visits, teaching, preaching, counseling, discipling, etc. While this is fair and right, it is also important that every believer is to serve. We should never think, “I am paying the pastor to do the work so that I don’t have to.”
1 Timothy 5:17-18 – Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
The worker is worthy of his wages. We should happily contribute to Christian workers who are invested in building God’s kingdom. At the same time, they take this as a sacred charge and work. It would be wrong for an employee to take wages and then not perform the thing he is paid to do. In a similar manner, it is wrong for an elder, pastor, or missionary to receive wages and then live a life of indulgence.
Application – Are you contributing financially to the Lord’s work? Do you do this grudgingly or happily (2 Corinthians 9:7)? Evaluate your giving and prayerfully consider whether any adjustments should be made.
4. Traveling Levites should be treated with hospitality –
We see this in verses 6-8. From time to time, Levites were called to travel and minister to the Lord. That service was similar to the itinerant preacher who travels around to various congregations to share the Word. There were many rural communities that could be blessed by the Levites bringing the Word. They had access to the Scriptures, which would have been kept in the tabernacle. In addition, the Levites would have been better educated so that they could read and teach the Scriptures.
When they did travel around, the local people were to welcome them and share their meals. Basically, they were to host them and make them welcome. Verse eight mentions that food was to be shared equally with them. In other words, they were not to be given scraps or leftovers. Whatever the people had, should be shared generously with these traveling Levites.
It was a culture of hospitality. This same culture can be seen in Luke 10 where Jesus commands the disciples to stay and eat with those who hosted them on their mission trips. In turn, the disciples were to politely eat what they were offered (Luke 10).
II. Be blameless before the Lord (9-14)
Discussion Questions
• What were some of the abominable practices of the residents of the land they were to avoid?
• What were the dangers of these practices?
• What was to be done to an Israelite who did these things? Why?
• Why was God judging the people of the land?
• What are some of the abominable practices of the society you live in?
• Why do many people simply follow the crowd?
• Should Christians “go with the flow?” Why or why not?
• How can you stand up to and even go in a different direction than the cultural forces around you?
Cross-References
2 Corinthians 7:1 – Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 1:15-16 – But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. Avoid the abominable practices of the people of the land –
Here are the specific practices mentioned.
• Child sacrifice
• Divination
• Fortune telling
• Interpreting omens
• Sorcery
• Charming
• Mediums
• Necromancy
• Speaking to the dead
Every type of black magic, witchcraft, sorcery, and engagement with demons was forbidden. All of these practices were common in Caanan. It was one of, if not the, most evil cultures in the history of humankind. Pits have been discovered where many young children were buried after being sacrificed.
It was for these very things that God had pronounced judgment on the peoples of the land. If they themselves started doing these things they would also incur God’s judgment.
It was truly sick and disgusting behavior. God knew that such deeds were contagious. His people were also susceptible. The way to keep holy was to stay far away from these things and punish those who engaged in them.
He commanded them to be holy.
Deuteronomy 18:13 – You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.
God has always called His people to a higher standard. Sadly, the Israelites fell into the same types of sins as the people they drove out of the land. Idolatry, sorcery, and even child sacrifice were all engaged in. That is why God, in turn, judged them.
Today God also calls us to be different.
The same command to be set apart given in Isaiah 52:11 is repeated in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 6:17 – Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you.
We are called to holiness.
1 Peter 3:15-16 – “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Reflect – As God knows we cannot reach His standard of holiness, why does He command us to be holy? What is our role in this sanctification process?
Application – The world around us is a dark place. Like in the time of the Canaanites, there are many abominations.
• Sex trafficking
• Child slavery
• Drugs
• Pornography
• Prostitution
• Gangs
• Pedophilia
• Homosexuality
• Transgenderism
• Adultery
• Fornication
• Demon possession
• The theory of evolution
• Abortion
Besides many recognized abominations, there are many “respectable” sins. When was the last time you heard a sermon on gluttony? Yet in America, around 40% of adults are obese and an additional 31% are overweight.
Reflect – What are other common sins which are considered “normal” or acceptable?
When was the last time you heard a sermon on idolizing sports? I admit, I read too much news about football.
We live in a society that is crazy about pleasure, money, sex, and power. God calls us to be blameless. He calls us to be different than the world around us. He calls us to swim against the current instead of floating with it. We could look back and say, “Those Canaanites sure were sinful.” However, it would be more productive to evaluate our own lives.
Application – Consider your own life. What sin has a grip on you? Confess it to the Lord and surrender to the Holy Spirit. Recognize that this grieves Him. Look to the cross for the power to live a changed life.
III. A prophet like Moses (15-22)
Discussion Questions
• What can you learn from verse 15 about the source of a prophet’s ministry?
• Why were the Israelites afraid to approach God?
• What was God’s solution to this?
• Why did God purpose to raise up such a prophet?
• What was this prophet going to do?
• Who is this prophet like Moses?
• What was God going to do to those who don’t listen to this prophet?
• How could they and we know if a prophet is real or not?
• What are some of the signs of a false prophet?
• How should you respond to someone who claims to be a prophet today?
Cross-References
John 1:21 – “Are you the Prophet?”
Acts 3:22-23 – Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.
Acts 7:37 – This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. The Lord your God will raise up a prophet like me –
Moses prophesied that God would raise up another prophet like him. The Jews even at the time of Christ were still waiting for this prophet. They asked John the Baptist if he was it.
John 1:21 – And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
Jesus was the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus, of course, is not only a prophet. He is also a priest and a king as well as the sacrificial lamb.
Jesus would be a prophet like Moses. So what was Moses like?
Deuteronomy 34:10-12 – And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Moses knew the Lord face to face.
In addition, the Israelites were afraid to interact directly with the LORD. They wanted a mediator to go in between. That was because of God’s awesome power and holiness.
Deuteronomy 18:16-17 – Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, They are right in what they have spoken.
Therefore the immediate context here as well as the extended context in Deuteronomy give us the answer as to what it means to be a prophet like Moses. Moses knew God face to face and directly represented God to the people. He was the mediator to bring God’s law, the Old Covenant, to the people. In addition, he interceded for the people to the Lord. His plea for their lives to be spared resulted in their salvation (Exodus 32).
Now how is Jesus similar? Jesus was in the very throne room of heaven face to face with the Father from eternity. He directly represented the Father to the people. He was the mediator to bring the New Covenant. He intercedes for us. And indeed, His mediating on our behalf results in our salvation.
In theological terms, God is described as being transcendent. He is unknowable and incomprehensible unless He makes Himself known to us. In the Old Testament, He did that through Moses. In the New Testament, He did that through Jesus. That highlights another aspect of God’s nature, His immanence. That means that He draws close to us. As we see at Mt. Horeb, if He does that directly it is a terrifying and potentially deadly encounter. Therefore, He does it through His intermediary. That is Jesus, a prophet like Moses.
2. Just as you desired on the day of Horeb –
The Israelites were afraid of directly encountering God. He was terrifying. Therefore, God approached them in a gentler way through Moses. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Father’s plan to approach us and to be approachable. Jesus was the most approachable person who ever lived. He welcomed the worst of sinners and the outcasts of the outcasts.
3. Whoever will not listen to my words, I will require it of them –
God offers mercy and forgiveness to those who hear His words and respond. To those who don’t, there is judgment.
John 5:24 – Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
4. How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken? –
There was a simple test to determine if a person was a false prophet. If they made a prophecy about the future that didn’t happen, they were false. God is not right eighty or ninety percent of the time. He is right all the time. Even one error shows this person is not a prophet.
That was the test. The self-labeled prophet who failed the test was to be put to death.
Today many self-proclaimed prophets make all kinds of predictions. Not all come to pass. The wise listener will apply the same test today that was prescribed to the Israelites.
Application – Test the spirits. Before you get caught up in emotion and follow online prophets, test their words. Check out all of their predictions. If even one of them does not happen, then stop following their teachings. Test everything that teachers and preachers say, whether they are online influencers or in your local congregation. Compare their words to Scripture (Acts 17:11). Rather than being misled by charisma, look at the substance. Look also at the lifestyle.
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