Deuteronomy 13:3

3 But you must not listen to those prophets or dreamers. The Lord your God is testing you, to find out if you love him with your whole being.

Deuteronomy 13:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:3

Thou shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or that
dreamer of dreams
Even though he does give the sign, and work the wonder; for it might be reasonably concluded there must be fallacy in him, and that neither he nor his miraculous sign could come from God, who would never send a person to enable him to do signs and wonders, to persuade men to believe and act contrary to a former declaration of his mind and will; to break a plain law of his, as in ( Deuteronomy 5:7-9 ) , this would be to contradict and deny himself; whatever therefore is contrary to a known law or established doctrine, either of law or Gospel, let it come from whom it will, or pretend to be confirmed by miracles, is not to be received; see ( Galatians 1:8 Galatians 1:9 ) ,

for the Lord your God proveth you, whether you love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul;
for should they be prevailed upon by such a prophet to hearken to his doctrine, and embrace it, and act according to it, it would be a plain case that they did not cordially love the Lord, since they could so easily, and by such pretences, be drawn aside from the true worship of him, and serve other gods; on the other hand, it would be a proof of their sincere affection for God, and of their close and strict attachment to him, that notwithstanding such specious pretences made, and such miracles wrought, yet abode by him and his worship, and could not be wrought upon to forsake him and follow other gods and serve them; see ( 1 Corinthians 11:19 ) .

Deuteronomy 13:3 In-Context

1 Prophets or those who tell the future with dreams might come to you and say they will show you a miracle or a sign.
2 The miracle or sign might even happen, and then they might say, "Let's serve other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let's worship them."
3 But you must not listen to those prophets or dreamers. The Lord your God is testing you, to find out if you love him with your whole being.
4 Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him. Serve him and be loyal to him.
5 The prophets or dreamers must be killed, because they said you should turn against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and saved you from the land where you were slaves. They tried to turn you from doing what the Lord your God commanded you to do. You must get rid of the evil among you.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.