Once God had proved the authority of Moses it was not always necessary for true prophets after him to do all the miracles he did. But through Moses God gave tests for future prophets. At that time any “prophet” failing these tests was put to death. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 has one of these tests:
But the prophet who presumes [thinks] to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken? ’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously [thinking wrongly]. You need not be afraid of him.
ERV: But a prophet might say something that I did not tell him to say. And he might tell people that he is speaking for Me. If this happens, then that prophet must be killed. Also, a prophet might come that speaks for other gods. That prophet must also be killed. You might be thinking, “How can we know if something a prophet says is not from the LORD?” If a prophet says he is speaking for the LORD, but the thing does not happen, then you will know that the LORD did not say it. You will know that this prophet is speaking his own ideas. You don’t need to be afraid of him.
Yet God also knew that some dreamers and leaders might foretell events that actually happen. (This might be by luck, or by clever powers like the Egyptian magicians had.) So, in Deuteronomy 13, God told how to test such cases:
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’… you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 13:1-3.)
We have seen three tests: All true prophets after Moses were proved true by…
- “Signs”—if they had any—clearly showing the Creator’s power over creation. (The weaker power of magicians was no proof.)
- All that they foretold coming true. (God never lies or makes mistakes.)
- Agreeing with what God had revealed about Himself through Moses. (God does not deny Himself or deny His own teachings.)