(26) See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: (27) blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I enjoin upon you this day; (28) and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced.
ובא האות והמופת וי״ו במקום או, כלומר או המופת דוגמא מכה אביו ואמו, ועוד הרבה. תניא אר״ע ח״ו שהקב״ה מעמיד חמה לעוברי רצונו אלא בנביא שמתחלתו היה נביא אמת ולבסוף נביא שקר כגון חנניה בן עזור דבר הכתוב והכי קאמר קרא אם יקום בקרבך נביא אמת ובעוד שהוא נביא אמת ונתן לך אות או מופת על דברים שאמר לו הקב״ה ובא האות והמופת שאמר ואח״כ נעשה נביא שקר ואומר לך עבוד עבודת כוכבים ויכול אתה לסמוך עליו בהרבה אותות שראית על ידו לכך נאמר לא תשמע אל דברי הנביא ההוא, וא״ת מאחר שסופו לקלקל למה נתן הקב״ה את רוחו עליו להיותו נביא אמת פן יטעה את בניו. תשובה לדבר כי מנסה ה׳ אלוקיכם אתכם וגו׳ וכ״ש אם יעשה האות ע״י מכשפות או ע״י אחיזת עיניים או ע״י גנבה כגון ששמע דברי נביא אמת והלך הוא ואמר כן בשם עבודת כוכבים לא תשמע לו אלא אחרי ה׳ אלוקיכם תלכו.עברית
The Sifri quotes a Baraitha in which Rabbi Akiva is cited as saying that we must not be misled into believing that G-d would interfere with the position of sun or moon in order to comply with the wishes of a false prophet.
What is meant in our verse is that a true prophet, who has in the past performed miracles, and had thus legitimised himself by having performed such miracles, has become a heretic and the people now believe him, not knowing that he has become a heretic. If such a prophet would call on the people to perform acts of idolatry, he must not be believed, regardless of the fact that at one time he was a legitimate prophet. No true prophet is to be believed if his message entails violating laws of the Torah, regardless of how many times he had in the past demonstrated that he was a true prophet, unless when he did so he said that he suggested such a violation only as a one time emergency measure due to exceptional circumstances.
If you were to ask, that seeing that G-d knew in advance that such a prophet would turn into a heretic, so why did He equip him with prophetic powers in the first place?The Torah answers this question by telling us that it is G-d’s way of testing our faith in Moses’ Torah being the one and only Torah He has given us, and that it will not undergo changes in the course of history. (verse 4)
This is even more true, when the so-called prophet performs acts by a slight of hand which deceive the onlookers into believing that he had performed miracle. The same is true if such a charlatan knows how to trick you into believing that you had heard things in the name of the Lord, things which he had never heard from G-d.
Do not let either your eyes or your ears deceive you when the subject is the inviolability of the laws of the Torah. You must follow only the revealed word of G-d as handed down by Moses in the Torah.
- Why would God test us?
- How do we know if something miraculous we see is truth, or a test?
