Can Prophets make Mistakes??

[Double-G (G²)]

Regarding the notion of Prophets being 100% accurate (with the Deuteronomy passage being quoted), I’ve come to wonder if perhaps that paticular passage is being viewed incorrectly in light of other scriptures.

For example, the “100% accuracy” generally comes from this verse:
Quote:

Deuteronomy 13

.1 ¶ If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

.3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
.4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
.6 ¶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
.8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

There are other ones, of course, related to this.

However, I’ve often wondered what to make of the subject in light of this:
Quote:

“Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.’ And Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’” (2 Samuel 7:1-3)

“But it came about in the same night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ‘Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord,” Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. “Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”‘ (2 Samuel 7:4-7).

To both David, the king, and Nathan, it seemed to the prophet that David’s idea was something to go with. Nathan does not even consult the Lord about it. At David’s suggestion, Nathan, apart from inspiration, assures David that the Lord is with him in this endeavor. He was not speaking from God. He was not being “moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20,21). He was simply following his impulse that such a plan must be a good thing.
”
Though David was sincere and genuine, and though it seems that he probably had a good and commendable idea, the Lord quickly let both Nathan and David know that such was not the case. And in the case of the Prophet, it was not 100% accuracey.

It was a MISTAKE.

Why was he not stoned, killed, or ignored? Obvious was the fact that he wasn’t a false prophet because he messed up….and he was sincere in leading the people toward the Lord. But if 100% accuracey was apparently the way the Deuteronomy passage is to be interpreted, then why what appears to be the inconsistency?

As one of my friends said on the subject, a plain reading of 2 Samuel 7:1-17 winds up the a not-necessarily-100% accuracy track record for even OT prophets as necessary to remain alive or even maintain one’s position as an OT prophet.

In this text we read of David telling Nathan of his heart’s desire to build a temple for the Lord. Nathan’s response seemed fitting:

Quote:
“And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you’” (v.
3).

At this point our minds are called to attention again with the rule of exegesis regarding context. The very next verse begins with a conjunction which contrasts verse 4 and what follows there with verse 3.

“But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan…”

In verses 5 and following, the Word of the Lord to Nathan differs completely from what Nathan the prophet told David to do.

The text seems to indicate that Nathan made clear that he was offering what he believed/proclaimed was the heart of God…..as evidenced when he said “The Lord is with you, so do whatever is in your heart to do.” Saying that seems to be a definate statement indicating someone’s heart and not just their opinion. Perhaps it may’ve been different if he had said “I think that God is with you”, but the phrasing of his statement is where I’m thrown off. It seems that His statements implied that God was with David in WHATEVER DECISION HE MADE.

Yet strangely, Nathan still lives and retains his position as prophet of God.
So, perhaps our definition of “mistakes”/accuracey needs to be reconsidered to see if it’d fit better/more consistently with the text. Otherwise, there are too many gaps/unresolved factors left


Or what of Samuel?

1 Samuel 16:5-7

5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

If perfect judgement/100% accuracey was the standard, then was Samuel fitting the Bill due to his lack of accuracey/perception here? There are other examples besides this…..but the general point I’m trying to make is that perhaps when it comes to our hermenutics we perhaps have some filters/pre-concieved notions that we’ve not truly compared with the WORD OF GOD and that we’re seeing the WORD of GOD through and need to reconsider.

Other things worth considering and that I’ve always wondered about: On the point of prophesy, I’ve always wondered what to make of things such as I Timothy 1:18 & the prophecies made about Timothy
Paul highly valued the gift of prophecy (I Corinthians 14:1), for through prophecy important messages of warning & encouragement…..and Timothy had been set apart for ministry when elders laid their hands on Him (I Timothy 4:14)…

and apparently, at this ceremony, several believers had prophesied about Timothy’s gifts and strengths. What to do with that (as well as I Thessalonians 5:19-21)


Perhaps, however, I’m seeing things wrongly……..