The terms ot and mofet appear almost always in reference to the exodus from Egypt, either with regard to proving that Moshe was G-d’s messenger (Shemot 3:12, 4:8,9,17,21,28,30) or proving G-d’s power (Shemot 7:3,9, 10:1,2, 11:10; Bemidbar 14:11,22; Devarim 4:34, 6:22, 7:19, 11:3, 26:8, 29:2). In all of these cases, the ot and mofet are miraculous in nature, but on one occasion, Devarim 28:46, by the curses when the people would not fulfill the laws, the phrase ot and mofet does not refer to the exodus and does not appear to relate to any miraculous event. In addition there are other cases, where the word ot is a non-miraculous sign like by the Shabbat (Shemot 31:13,17) and by tefillin (Shemot 13:9,16; Devarim 6:8, 11:18). The conjunction of both words ot and mofet would then seem to mean that 13:2,3 is referring to a case where the false prophet announced that some miraculous event would happen, and it occurred. This would differ from the case in Devarim 18:21,22, where the person predicts the future but does not forecast any miraculous event, see Tigay, 1996, pp. 129,178. Yet, how could the person be able to give a miraculous sign or wonder if the person was going to tell the people to worship idolatry? Would G-d enable a false prophet to be able to perform miracles as a sign?
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 90a, also in Sifrei 84) quotes an interesting argument regarding the ability of the false prophet to give the signs or wonders. R Yossi ha-Galili explains that G-d grants false prophets the ability to predict or even do these signs, but that people should not pay attention to their powers since G-d gave the person these powers to test the people. Rabbi Akiva responded to this claim by stating "G-d forbid" that G-d would give great powers to false prophets. Instead, R. Akiva explains that initially when the person gave the signs, he/ she was really a true prophet, but then later he/ she became a false prophet.
R. Akiva makes sense that it is incomprehensible that G-d would give a “bad” person the power to predict or do signs or wonders to test other people since that would be entrapment. However, R. Akiva's approach is also difficult since would a true prophet really turn so bad? I once said this explanation in my synagogue and somebody said that R. Akiva knew of Acher (Elisha ben Abuyah) who was a great scholar but he turned into a heretic. Yet, Acher was not a prophet beforehand. (With regard to Bil’am’s status, who was not initially a true prophet but he did become a prophet, see our discussion on Bemidbar chapters 22-25, “The bad, the good and the ordinary?” https://lobashamayim.blogspot.com/2014/07/bemidbar-chapters-22-25-balak-bad-good.html)
Another question on R. Akiva’s approach is why would G-d choose to grant these powers to give these signs and wonders to a person of bad character who would turn into a false prophet? Was there nobody else who G-d could have been given the powers to know these signs and was of better character? Presumably, R. Akiva would answer that there must have been a great need to make this particular person a prophet at the particular time even though G-d either knew that the person would become a false prophet (according to the idea that G-d knows the future) or that G-d knew that the person's character was such the person had a good chance of becoming a false prophet (according to the idea that G-d does not know the future).
Abarbanel (1999, p. 213, also see Luzzatto on 13:4) offers a third approach to explain the person’s ability to give signs and wonders. He writes that it only seems that the person was able give a sign or wonder, but really he/ she had no power at all. Nehama Leibowitz (1982, p. 128) does not like the Abarbanel's explanation since she argues that the simple meaning of the Torah is that the person was able to predict a sign or wonder. Yet, the point of the Abarbanel's explanation is that some people truly believe that the false prophet performed the sign, and the Torah is writing from their perspective, that even if you believe in the powers of the false prophet, still you should not listen to the person to worship idolatry. According to the Abarbanel (and R. Akiva for a different reason), 13:2-4 is not entrapment since no sign or wonder happened, and the statement that G-d is testing you is an explanation for those people who (mistakenly) believe that the false prophet has real powers. However, for the person who knows the act is a charade then this was not a test at all.
N. Leibowitz (1982, pp. 131-133), who follows R. Yossi he-Galili, uses this case to support her general view that miracles are no proof of faith. I disagree with this understanding. My understanding is that in the Torah, miracles are a proof for the belief in G-d and Moshe, but that our verses are telling us that in the future after Moshe dies, then miracles will no longer be a source for faith since people are so easily fooled by charlatans.
The three views concerning the false prophet might also be relevant to questions about the creation of the world. The universe has billion of stars, and the question is why would G-d need to create so many stars? Also there are many animals that existed and went extinct. Why did G-d create these animals?
One "answer" to these questions is that all the stars and extinct animals are to test a person's faith, and this would correspond to R. Yossi ha-Galili's approach by the false prophet. A second answer is that it only appears that there are many stars and that animals became extinct as G-d created the world to appear to be much older and bigger than it really is. These answers would correspond to the Abarbanel's opinion that it only appeared that the false prophet could know and do the signs and wonders. The third opinion is that the billions of stars are real and truly many animals became extinct, but each of the stars and the animals had some necessary reason for being created, even if it is not obvious. This approach would correspond to R. Akiva's approach that for some reason G-d had to give a person of bad character great powers even though later on he/ she would become a false prophet.
In the book Just Six Numbers by Martin Rees (2000), he explains that all the stars and galaxies are necessary for our existence since it was needed for stars (supernovas) to explode over and over again until enough atoms were created to make our world, as initially there were just hydrogen and helium atoms, and though the explosions, carbon, oxygen and iron atoms were created. Rees writes (pp. 49,52) “These ancient stars made the atoms of which we and our planet are composed… Accounting for the proportion of different atoms- and realizing that the Creator didn’t need to turn 92 different knobs- is a triumph of astrophysics.” Furthermore, he notes that the number of years this exploding, reforming and re-exploding were needed to make our solar system corresponds to how many years are believed to have transpired from the first stars until our solar system was founded. He writes (p. 10):
The very hugeness of our universe, which seems at first to signify how unimportant we are in the cosmic scheme, is actually entailed by our existence! This is not to say that there couldn’t have been a smaller universe, only that we could not have existed in it. The expansion of cosmic space is not an extravagant superfluity; it’s a consequence of the prolonged chain of events, extending back before our Solar System formed, that preceded out arrival on the scene.
In conclusion, I think the Abarbanel is correct in his reading of the Torah regarding the ability of the false prophet to give signs and wonders, but in reference to these questions concerning the creation of the world, I believe that R. Akiva's approach makes the most sense. For more questions on the creation world with regard to the Torah see our discussion on Bereshit chapter one, "Concordism," https://lobashamayim.blogspot.com/2018/10/bereshit-120-30-description-of-creation.html, and https://lobashamayim.blogspot.com/2014/10/bereshit-11-19-bereshit-some-thoughts.html.
Bibliography:
Leibowitz, Nehama (1905-1997), 1982, Studies in Devarim, translated and adapted by Aryeh Newman, Jerusalem: The World Zionist Organization.
Rees, Martin, 2000, Just six numbers: The deep forces that shape the universe, New York: Basic Books.
Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1996, The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.