וכן נביא שעבר על דברי עצמו והכובש נבואתו חייב מיתה בידי שמים ובשלשתן נאמר אנכי אדרוש מעמו. וכן אם יאמר לנו הנביא שנודע לנו שהוא נביא לעבור על אחת מכל מצות האמורות בתורה או על מצות הרבה בין קלות בין חמורות לפי שעה מצוה לשמוע לו. וכן למדנו מחכמים ראשונים מפי השמועה בכל אם יאמר לך הנביא עבור על דברי תורה כאליהו בהר הכרמל שמע לו חוץ מעבודת כוכבים. והוא שיהיה הדבר לפי שעה. כגון אליהו בהר הכרמל שהקריב עולה בחוץ וירושלים נבחרת לכך והמקריב בחוץ חייב כרת. ומפני שהוא נביא מצוה לשמוע לו וגם בזה נאמר אליו תשמעון. ואילו שאלו את אליהו ואמרו לו היאך נעקור מ"ש בתורה פן תעלה עולותיך בכל מקום. היה אומר לא נאמר אלא המקריב בחוץ לעולם חייב כרת כמו שצוה משה. אבל אני אקריב היום בחוץ בדבר ה' כדי להכחיש נביאי הבעל. ועל הדרך הזאת אם צוו כל הנביאים לעבור לפי שעה מצוה לשמוע להם. ואם אמרו שהדבר נעקר לעולם מיתתו בחנק שהתורה אמרה לנו ולבנינו עד עולם:
So too, a prophet that transgresses his own instructions and the [prophet] that suppresses his prophecy, [they] are sentenced to death by the heavenly court. By all three (A regular person that does not listen to the prophet, a prophet that does not listen to himself, and a prophet that suppresses his own prophecy) it says (Devarim 18:19) "I will interrogate him." This is true even if a prophet, who is known to us to be a true prophet (he has already been proven to be a prophet), tells us to transgress one of the [613] commandments that are stated in the Torah or [if he tells us to transgress] many [commandments] regardless of whether they are easy [commandments to keep] or difficult [commandments to keep], [as long as it is only for] a finite amount of time, it is a commandment to listen to him.
So too, we learned an oral tradition from the earlier Rabbis that, with regard to all things except idol worship, if the prophet tells us to transgress the words of the Torah, similar to how Eliyahu [transgressed commandments] by the Mount Carmel incident, we listen to him. [However,] it must be a temporary [change], similar to Eliyahu at Mount Carmel when he brought a burnt offering outside [of the Temple in Jerusalem] and [the Temple] in Jerusalem had already been chosen for [the area to bring sacrifices], and [the law states] that anyone who brings a sacrifice outside [of the Temple (once it has been designated)] is [punished] by being spiritually cut off from the nation. [Nevertheless,] because he is a prophet it is a commandment to listen to him [even if his statements contradict the Torah in this temporary fashion] since [in a situation such as] this it states (Devarim 18:15) "You shall listen to him."
If it would have been asked to Eliyahu and said to him "How could you uproot that which is written in the Torah (Devarim 12:13) '[Do not] offer sacrifices in every place.'" He would have responded, "This commandment was only referring to one who continuously sacrifices outside [of the Temple who] will be spiritually cut off from the nation, as Moshe had commanded. However, I only brought a sacrifice today outside [of the Temple] according to the word of G-D in order to destroy the [false] prophets of the Baal." In this regard, if any of the prophets command us to transgress [a commandment other than idol worship] for a finite amount of time, it is a commandment to listen to them. [However,] if they say [a commandment] is permanently uprooted they are put to death by strangulation, since the Torah states (Devarim 29:28), "For us and our children, forever."
One important implication we can glean from this Halacha is that a prophet that is going to change one of the commandments, even though it is only for a finite period of time, must be directly commanded by G-D to do this. As Eliyahu states (Kings 1 18:16):
A prophet must listen to the word of G-D and convey the message as instructed and we must follow him. However, the question arises, can a prophet infer other ideas from his prophecy or must he only repeat exactly what G-D has commanded?
In the commentary on the Rambam named Avodat Hamelech on this Mishna it states:
ולפי דברינו יהיה כוונת רבנו לבאר דדוקא כשהנביא אומר כן בשם ה' כמו שאמר אליהו אבל אני אקריב היום בחוץ כדבר ה', משא"כ אם לא אמר כן בתורת נביא אלא בא לעשות סיג מעצמו לדבר תורה אף שהוא נביא מוחזק לא מהני ובעינן דוקא בי"ד לכך וכמ"ש בהל' ממרים
So too, we learned an oral tradition from the earlier Rabbis that, with regard to all things except idol worship, if the prophet tells us to transgress the words of the Torah, similar to how Eliyahu [transgressed commandments] by the Mount Carmel incident, we listen to him. [However,] it must be a temporary [change], similar to Eliyahu at Mount Carmel when he brought a burnt offering outside [of the Temple in Jerusalem] and [the Temple] in Jerusalem had already been chosen for [the area to bring sacrifices], and [the law states] that anyone who brings a sacrifice outside [of the Temple (once it has been designated)] is [punished] by being spiritually cut off from the nation. [Nevertheless,] because he is a prophet it is a commandment to listen to him [even if his statements contradict the Torah in this temporary fashion] since [in a situation such as] this it states (Devarim 18:15) "You shall listen to him."
If it would have been asked to Eliyahu and said to him "How could you uproot that which is written in the Torah (Devarim 12:13) '[Do not] offer sacrifices in every place.'" He would have responded, "This commandment was only referring to one who continuously sacrifices outside [of the Temple who] will be spiritually cut off from the nation, as Moshe had commanded. However, I only brought a sacrifice today outside [of the Temple] according to the word of G-D in order to destroy the [false] prophets of the Baal." In this regard, if any of the prophets command us to transgress [a commandment other than idol worship] for a finite amount of time, it is a commandment to listen to them. [However,] if they say [a commandment] is permanently uprooted they are put to death by strangulation, since the Torah states (Devarim 29:28), "For us and our children, forever."
One important implication we can glean from this Halacha is that a prophet that is going to change one of the commandments, even though it is only for a finite period of time, must be directly commanded by G-D to do this. As Eliyahu states (Kings 1 18:16):
וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּעֲל֣וֹת הַמִּנְחָ֗ה וַיִּגַּ֞שׁ אֵלִיָּ֣הוּ הַנָּבִיא֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ יְהוָ֗ה אֱלֹהֵי֙ אַבְרָהָם֙ יִצְחָ֣ק וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַיּ֣וֹם יִוָּדַ֗ע כִּֽי־אַתָּ֧ה אֱלֹהִ֛ים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַאֲנִ֣י עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ ובדבריך [וּבִדְבָרְךָ֣] עָשִׂ֔יתִי אֵ֥ת כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃
When it was time to present the meal offering, the prophet Elijah came forward and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding.
In the commentary on the Rambam named Avodat Hamelech on this Mishna it states:
ולפי דברינו יהיה כוונת רבנו לבאר דדוקא כשהנביא אומר כן בשם ה' כמו שאמר אליהו אבל אני אקריב היום בחוץ כדבר ה', משא"כ אם לא אמר כן בתורת נביא אלא בא לעשות סיג מעצמו לדבר תורה אף שהוא נביא מוחזק לא מהני ובעינן דוקא בי"ד לכך וכמ"ש בהל' ממרים
According to our words, the intention of our Rabbi (Rambam) is to explain that specifically when the prophet says [his commandment] in the name of G-D, like what Eliyahu said, "I offer this sacrifice today outside [of the Temple] according to the word of G-D." However, this is not true, [meaning we do not listen to him,] if he did not say it within the parameters of his prophecy, but rather as a way to make a fence around a Torah matter (biblical commandment) from [his own reasoning.] Even though he is an established prophet, this does not help (we do not have to listen to him), [rather,] we need the courts to [to make such a rule,] as is written [by the Rambam] in the laws of mamarim.This is a very important point and a foundation of Jewish law. Prophets are not listened to because they are authority figures, but because they are simply repeating the word of G-D. Additionally, we only listen to them with regards to rebuke, that they are chastising us to follow the commandments, or if they tell us G-D is suspending or making an additional commandment for a FINITE amount of time. However, we DO NOT listen to a prophet to decide laws or to change any existing laws. We follow the majority of Rabbis to decide on the Torah laws. This is best illustrated in the story of the oven of Aknai where Rebbe Eliezar was arguing with the rest of the Rabbis in his day about whether the oven was pure or impure (Babba Metzia 59b):
חזר ואמר להם אם הלכה כמותי מן השמים יוכיחו יצאתה בת קול ואמרה מה לכם אצל ר"א שהלכה כמותו בכ"מ עמד רבי יהושע על רגליו ואמר (דברים ל, יב) לא בשמים היא מאי לא בשמים היא אמר רבי ירמיה שכבר נתנה תורה מהר סיני אין אנו משגיחין בבת קול שכבר כתבת בהר סיני בתורה (שמות כג, ב) אחרי רבים להטות אשכחיה רבי נתן לאליהו א"ל מאי עביד קוב"ה בההיא שעתא א"ל קא חייך ואמר נצחוני בני נצחוני בני
Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, Heaven will prove it. A Divine Voice emerged from Heaven and said: Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion? Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: It is written: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of the phrase “It is not in heaven” in this context? Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: “After a majority to incline” (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion. The Gemara relates: Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration? Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me.
The point of this mishna in the Rambam is to clarify how and when we are supposed to follow a prophet and when NOT to follow a prophet.
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