“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ 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. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst (Dt 13:1–5).

Reflections on Deuteronomy 13:1–5

There are few passages in Scripture more overlooked than Deuteronomy 13. Here, the LORD does not warn Israel about an obvious, outward pagan threat, but about an insider — a prophet — a man claiming to speak in the name of the LORD — who performs real signs and wonders. And yet the test is not whether the sign is genuine, but whether the voice is loyal. The LORD Himself says He sends such moments “to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut 13:3).

This reality is one of Scripture’s most theologically clarifying statements: God is willing to test His people, not by the absence of the supernatural — but by its presence. The miracle alone is not the validation, the message is.

The Test Is Not About Spiritual Sensation — But Covenant Fidelity

Moses assumes the sign or wonder might actually come to pass (v. 2). That is to say, this is not a warning against trickery or cheap emotional hype. It is a warning against real, impressive, spiritually compelling moments that subtly detach the heart from the commandments of God.
Will the people follow the voice that moves them, or will they follow the voice that formed them?

For this reason Moses immediately commands:
“You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice” (v. 4).

Here we hear the theology of Scripture’s sufficiency and finality (WCF 1.6). There is nothing — not even a supernatural sign — that has the right to relativize or destabilize what God has already spoken.

God’s Tests Reveal What We Love

When God tests, it is never for Him to learn something about us, but to reveal and refine something in us. Testing is not divine uncertainty — it is divine mercy. A faith untested is a faith unproven. A love untested is a love unrooted.

The text does not say: “to see if you believe in the LORD” — but “to know whether you love the LORD your God. The issue is not merely orthodoxy, but covenant affection, aka, obedience.

And thus the test is intensely pastoral in nature — because God will not allow His people to drift into heartfelt idolatry under the banner of spiritual sincerity.

The Modern Shape of the Same Test

This test is not a relic of the ancient world. This is the world we live in.

• Some today speak of a Jesus who affirms what Scripture condemns, in the name of love and progress.
• Others chase unexamined experiences rather than the Word — interpreting nearness to God by emotional volume rather than by covenant obedience.
• Others prize novelty as though age were a flaw rather than a safeguard.

But friends, God has not changed. He still tests His church. Not always by persecution–but by seduction.

The Call of Deuteronomy 13 Is Loyalty

This passage is not a call to intellectual cynicism or spiritual hyper-policing. It is a call to love God enough to prefer His voice over every other — even when that voice is quieter, older, slower, or less sensational.

“You shall serve Him and hold fast to Him…” (v. 4).

The word “hold fast” is covenantal, adhesive, and marital. It is Ruth clinging to Naomi. It is Israel clinging to YHWH. It is the church clinging to Christ.

Even when other voices sound more convincing in the moment.

The Confessional Heart of the Matter

The Westminster Confession wisely warns that the conscience may never be bound by anything contrary to or beside the Word (WCF 20.2). Deuteronomy 13 is the Old Testament version of that same principle.

The Word is the test of every experience; not the other way around.

This is why we guard the public worship of the church (WCF 21). Because “following the Lord” is not an abstract inner disposition. It is covenantal obedience expressed in ordered worship, holy fear, and unbending delight in what He has spoken.

The Final Word

The greatest threat to the people of God has never been obvious paganism. It has always been religious speech bearing the name of the LORD but departing from His voice. And God, in mercy, lets these moments come — not to crush His people, but to refine them.

The miracle alone is not the validation — it must agree with the voice of YHWH. Remember: even the magicians of Pharoah had some ability to mimic the miracles of Moses. But they did not have YHWH — and that made all the difference.

So we cling to his Word. It is the only way to know the Shepherd’s voice.